He almost laughed. Fair point. “We need to talk.”
She glanced towards the kitchen. “But first, coffee?”
“Right.” A girl after his own heart. Not that he had a heart, but he did have an appreciation for coffee, and it was everlasting. He pulled the short black from the machine. “How do you have it?”
“With milk.”
He wrinkled his nose a little but set about making a coffee to her taste, then placed it on the kitchen counter. “Well, Allegra, it turns out, last night, we made the most of being in Vegas.”
She pulled her lips to the side. “Meaning?”
There was no other way to say it, and in the back of his mind, he wondered why he was even trying to break the news to her gently.
“We got married. Congratulations.” He stared at her as those words hammered into his brain. Words that had been uttered by the celebrant, and he saw her eyes widen in response, as perhaps those same recollections flooded her, too. But it wasn’t just the pronouncement of their marriage. It was the fact that Luca had indeed done as the celebrant had suggested, and kissed his bride.
He'd kissed her like there was no tomorrow, and hell, he’d liked it. A lot.
CHAPTER 1
HER MIND WAS A MAELSTROM OF memories and fears. A jumble of disparate pieces she could hardly connect. For a moment, she stood there in the sun-drenched penthouse, staring out at the view without seeing any of it.
There was her flight. Her meeting. Her genuine fear that she might never get out of there alive. The ultimatum she’d been given—the promise that her debt would be erased if she became the mistress of one of the head guys in the money lending operation.Eighty-five grand is small time for me, darlin’. A tiny price to pay to have you in my bed.She’d run. Fear had turned her veins to ice, as she’d realised that the ‘repayment plan’ she’d come to discuss was akin to prostitution, not the legitimate arrangements she’d thought.
A chill ran down her spine even now as she faced up to who she’d borrowed money from.
And then, somehow, she’d…married this guy?
She wanted to laugh. To tell him he was crazy. But even as those words ran through her mind, she saw it.
The bright, turquoise lights of the chapel, the bunch of peonies she’d been holding—though God knew from where. Theway her hair had been loose around her shoulders. The way he’d kissed her.
She’d drunk a lot of vodka oranges. They’d been one dollar a pop at the bar around the corner from her dive of a hotel. She’d figured she could drink just enough to blot out the reality of her situation before high-tailing it to the airport and getting home. Home, to try to find a way out of this mess. There had to be a way. Didn’t there?
Because she’d sooner die than sell her body for sex. A shudder of revulsion ran through her anew, that had nothing to do with the man opposite.
“It’s not ideal,” he drawled in that spicy, European accent of his. Another flash of memory. They’d sat side by side at the bar for at least an hour before he’d spoken to her. Him, in his own world, cradling what looked to be a scotch. Her, throwing back vodkas and trying to blot her grief and panic.
She couldn’t remember what he’d said, but she did remember the effect his voice had had on her. She’d thought nothing could reach through her stupor and make her feel, certainly not a man. Not after what she’d been through that afternoon.
But maybe that actually explained the strange power he’d held? Maybe in the midst of her darkness and despair, she’d wanted to see something good in someone. To feel less alone.
She’d clung to him.
Hell, she’d married him.
“Married,” she whispered, shaking her head and squeezing her eyes shut. “I can’t believe it.”
He made a grunting sound of agreement.
“I can take care of it.”
Her eyes widened. She was pretty sure he meant by making the whole thing go away, but she’d already been burned once in the last twenty-four hours, by presuming that people weredecent and good. She didn’t intend to make the same mistake twice. “What does that mean?”
“An annulment will be easy enough to get, given the circumstances,” he said darkly, something flickering in his eyes. She bit into her lower lip, nodding quickly.
“Okay, great. What do we need to do?”
“I’ll arrange it. Just give me your details.”
