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“What did he say?”
“Nothing you need to know. Suffice it to say, he won’t be bothering you again.”
“Nate—”
“Stop.” His gaze hardened. “He isn’t a nice man, Mina, you knew that. He didn’t have nice things to say. All you need to know is that I communicated the point that you are mine. You are safe from him. End of story.”
She took a deep breath. Absorbed the deadly glimmer in his eyes. Who was he that he could so cavalierly tell Silvio Marchetti to call off the dogs and expect that he would? Had she jumped from the frying pan into the fire with him? Or did she trust Nate like she instinctively felt she could?
“What about my mother?” She’d been avoiding her calls to her mobile all day, with no idea what she’d even say if she did pick it up.
“She called me after I spoke with Silvio. Was worried about you, wanted to reassure herself you were okay.” His smile was grim. “I told her you’d like a few days of privacy to enjoy our honeymoon and then you would call her.”
Her mouth dropped open. “What else did you say?”
“That we are in love. That today was a mad, passionate impulse on our part.” He lifted a broad shoulder. “It seemed as good a story as any to get Silvio off your back. I mentioned your cold feet were a product of our short but intense courtship.”
Oh, mio Dio. She pressed her hands to her face. “You did not.”
“I needed to give him a good reason to leave you alone, Mina. Now he has one. A man like Silvio would consider you used goods.”
Used goods? She shook her head at the insanity of it all and paced to the end of the terrace. Now Silvio and her mother thought she had been intimate with Nate while she’d been engaged to Silvio. Maledizione. She didn’t even want to think of how her mother had reacted. Or the harsh words that were undoubtedly on her voice mail.
“What did Silvio say to all this?”
“He said he was done with you. I said, Good. Because I’d take him apart if he came anywhere near you. So put your mind at ease, Mina. It’s going to be fine.”
Easier said than done. Her head spun as he disappeared inside and returned with a bottle of champagne and two glasses. She watched him warily as he uncorked the bottle. “I think the brandy was quite enough.”
“You’re wound tight as a bow.” He worked the cork out of the bottle, a loud pop cutting through the air. “A glass of wine will help. And,” he added, flicking her a glance from beneath dark lashes, “I have a proposition for you.”
His request to deliver the Marc de Grazia Guardiola personally to his hotel room filled her head. He didn’t mean—
“No, I don’t mean that.” His mouth twisted as he read her thoughts. “As much as I think that would loosen you up, what I have in mind involves another business proposition for you and I. Because like it or not, Mina, we are stuck together.”
They were? Hope flared inside of her. “You’re proposing we stay married?”
“I see no other option.” He poured the champagne in the glasses. “As certain as I am that I got the message across to Silvio today that you are untouchable, I’m not about to set you loose on the streets of Capri like...an orphan searching for a home.”
She frowned.
He waved a hand at her. “The point is I need that ring to show my grandfather. You need to be protected. So we stay together for the year and, like our original plan, we both get what we need.”
Relief flooded through her. “I don’t want to be a burden. I could work for one of your hotels. Pay my way. I’m a very good chambermaid.”
“You’re smarter than that.” He handed her a glass of champagne. “You proved to me what an innovative thinker you are that day at the Giarruso. You have great ideas, Mina. I’m offering to take you on as my protégée for the year.”
“Protégée?” Her fingers tightened around the stem of the glass.
He nodded. “I own a chain of luxury hotels from one side of the globe to the other. The best of the best. If you want to learn about business I can teach you everything you need to know.”
She frowned. “Why would you do that? I mean, I know you said I had good ideas, but surely you must be too busy for something like that?”
He leaned back against the railing, champagne glass in hand. “I got my start in business from someone who took a chance on me. I believe in paying it forward.”
She thought about what few options she had—as in none without a cent to her name, without a home to go back to. She’d made a decision when she’d left with Nate: to stand on her own two feet; to not allow herself to be controlled by anyone anymore; to make her own way in the world. The only path left was forward.
Nate was offering her a chance to fulfill her dream—to follow in her father’s footsteps. A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to work with the best because he thought she was smart and had potential. Because he thought she was more than the pretty face her mother had always pegged her as.
