She felt all his attention on her like the sunlight dappling through the bougainvillea, sending sparking glints into her eyes and warming her skin in peppering licks of warmth.
“I was advised to be careful how much I take public and when,” she explained. “Otto offered me a settlement if I keep quiet about the details in the marriage contract. Conversely, if he puts up a fight around my pulling my money, I want some bargaining chips.”
“I appreciate you want to be cautious, but you didn’t come to me so I could help you play defense. You want me to attack. Let’s rattle his cage.”
He narrowed his eyes in thought, then looked her dead in the eye.
“Let’s announce an engagement of our own.”
Chapter Six
“WHAT?!” ELECTRICITY SHOTthrough her nerve endings, leaving them scorched and tingling, charged up and crackling. “Have you lost your mind?”
“It wouldn’t be real, only for show.”
That didn’t reassure her, not when he was reminding her that he didn’t really want her. His remark about looking in a mirror had been a false compliment. All he really wanted was to use her, same as every other man in her life.
“Hear me out,” he commanded as he set aside his cutlery and counted off on his fingers. “It conveys to him that you have found yourself an ally, one who isn’t afraid to use this information you’re holding. How much damage will it do if it gets out?”
“I’m not sure.” Otto hadn’t wanted the scandal, but… “It would damage his personal reputation, but it’s not illegal or anything like that.”
As ammunition went, it wasn’t deadly at all. Otto would have to admit he’d known for years that she wasn’t his, but he could spin it by saying he had been generous enough to raise his wife’s by-blow.
On the other hand, Mira would rather have someone on her side if and when that truth came out, even if it was only a for-show fiancé. She would especially love it if her fiancé was someone Otto couldn’t influence against her.
“Don’t wait for him to use it,” Rocco continued. “Put him on the defensive. Make him answer to why his daughter threw over the fiancé he picked out for her and took up with his competitor. The markets will see your jumping ship as a signal that Vorstoben is headed into unsettled waters. Thatwillhit him where he’s tender. I imagine he’ll say you’re slumming or something equally unpleasant, but everyone knows you and I don’t need each other’s money. The conclusion will be that you’re following your heart.”
Mira had to take a sip of wine to dampen a throat that had turned as arid as a desert. “I’ve never done anything to deliberately provoke him.”
“Are you afraid to? Is he violent?” His tone tightened with aggression.
“No.” Just mean. But what did Otto think? That he could treat her the way he had and she would meekly allow him to continue intimidating her?
He probably did believe that, seeing as she had never fought back before.
“Engaged, though?” she asked. “Surely going on a date is enough?”
“A date could be dismissed as a business meeting. No. Let’s make him think we’ve been lovers for a while, that he missed seeing it. That will knock him off his stride.”
Lovers. Her heart lodged itself in her throat, where its stumbling beat was so strong, she had to resist pressing a hand there.
“Then you introduce me to those social circles Otto has done his best to lock me out of. I will close deals before he knows they’re on the table. Trust me, Mirabella, he will feel pain and lots of it.”
“I would like to save face around the broken engagement,” she admitted. There was still a chance that Axel would try to marry Otto’s real daughter. She wanted to be ahead of that, not look like the rejected party. If she was already engaged—
“Perfect.” Before she realized what Rocco was doing, he had tapped his phone and was saying, “Biglietti per l’opera, per favore.”
“Stasera?” a woman asked.
“Sì. Tonight,” he added in English for Mira’s benefit, then rattled off more instructions that were too rapid for Mira to follow.
“But—” Misgivings flexed through her.
Rocco was right, though. She needed to be on the offensive. That’s why she’d come to him, wasn’t it? What was the risk? That Otto would hate her? He already did.
Rocco finished his call, then asked, “Are you worried you won’t have anything to wear? I asked her to notify a boutique that we’re going to the opera. We’ll finally have our date, cara.”
Rocco poured himself a drink, then checked his phone again, even though he’d looked seconds ago. Still nothing from Silvio.
