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‘No, you don’t understand.’ The colour surged in her cheeks. ‘I want to marry you.’ She looked defiantly into his eyes. ‘But if there is a baby it has to be brought up and educated in England, here at Haversham Park with me.’
Something flickered in his eyes, and his heavy lids fell, masking his expression. ‘I accept, Penelope,’ he said, his deep voice not quite steady.
For a second Penny wondered if he was laughing at her, and if she had just made the biggest mistake of her life, then he kissed her, and it wasn’t in the least amusing. He was taking her mouth with a hungry, raw possession, and she didn’t care, because if he had been gentle with her she thought she would have cried, unable to stand the pretence. This way it was simply sex…
‘Penny,’ he groaned her name, his lips softening, gentling on hers.
Maybe not so simple as she was transported back in time to the first time they’d met, in this same kitchen, to their first kiss. She placed her hands on his broad chest, and responded with the same helpless longing.
She whimpered as he slipped his hands under her sweater and she felt his fingers hot on her naked flesh. She looped her arms around his neck. His mighty chest heaved, and then he took her hands from his nape.
‘Not yet,’ Solo said softly. ‘I have too much to arrange.’
All Penny wanted to do was arrange his gorgeous body naked on the kitchen table and, with a guilty flush of colour at her erotic thoughts, she stepped back, avoiding his gaze.
‘You said James was on holiday.’ He reached out and cupped her face between his palms. ‘When is he due back?’ he demanded, staring down into her beautiful face.
‘Eight days or so,’ she murmured.
‘That should be fine—and Brownie?’
‘It’s her bingo night. I drive down to the village and collect her about ten. Why the sudden interest?’ she asked.
He looked into her eyes and smiled. ‘Because you and I are going to Italy in the morning. With James away and Brownie here to look after the house, it is perfect timing. So pack a bag, and then let’s have something to eat. I’m starving.’
‘Italy! I can’t go to Italy.’
Solo placed a kiss on her brow and set he
r free. ‘You can and you will, but for now do as I say. I need the laptop from my car, and I’ll use the study.’ Slanting her an almost boyish grin, he left her standing in the middle of the kitchen totally confused…
Penny sliced carrots and wished she were slicing Solo’s neck. What had she done? What did she actually know about the man she had agreed to marry other than she hated him? Solo was a very private man. The first time they were together all she had known about him was that he was a wealthy businessman, and he lived in Italy. She had asked about his family, and he’d told her he was an only child and his parents were long gone, and he had no relatives. Her young heart had filled with compassion and she had kissed him, thinking how awful to be so alone in the world. Now she wasn’t so sure, if it weren’t for James she wouldn’t be in this mess…
Penny gasped, horrified where her thoughts had taken her; for a nanosecond she had actually thought if it weren’t for James she would not happily, but willingly, have walked out of her family home, and out on Solo Maffeiano.
She loved her half-brother, and she glanced around the kitchen, the familiar room she had known all her life, the only home James had ever known. She could walk out, but she would still be stuck with a huge debt, and how could she explain to James they had no money, and no home?
Her lawyer’s plan for her to sell up and start afresh with James was finally consigned to the dustbin of useless ideas. Solo would not allow it. One didn’t need to be a genius to see he could delay the sale for ever if he wanted to. He had the money and the power; he was in complete control.
She shivered, suddenly feeling cold. Gathering up the carrots, she dropped them in the pan with the chopped meat and onions. Solo was used to the finest food. Well, tough!
He was getting beef stew and potatoes.
Washing her hands under the kitchen sink, she dried them with the kitchen towel, and sat down at the table. Penny sighed and stared out of the window, at the overgrown garden, and wondered where her life went from here.
James’s and Brownie’s futures would be secure, which was a major consolation. They need never know the circumstances of the proposed marriage, never know the happy couple actually despised each other, if Penny was careful. Their lives would not change, except for the better, with Solo’s money to make life easier.
Would it really be so bad? she asked herself. Apart from this visit to Italy Solo was insisting on, she might hardly ever see him once she was back. His interests were worldwide; he had told her he didn’t get back to his home in Italy as much as he would like. So it was reasonable to suppose he would not spend much time in England.
She let out a breath. Her own innate honesty forced her to admit that being able to keep her own home, having great sex occasionally, and the possibility of a child of her own was not a bad deal. When had she become so cynical? Penny sighed, and, folding her arms on the table, she rested her head. Just for a moment.
The death of her father had turned her life upside down. Then, just when she’d thought she was over the worst of her grief, and was beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel, Solo Maffeiano had walked back into her life, and turned it upside down again.
She was bone-weary and so tired. Once she had loved Solo so much, marriage to him had been her dream. Now it was her nightmare. Her long lashes fluttered over her cheeks, her breathing slowed, and she slept.
That was how Solo found her. She looked so young, so defenceless, and for a moment he questioned if he was pursuing the right course. He still had not got over the shock of discovering he was her first lover. The blond youth had to have been an idiot, or perhaps with the idealism of the young he had respected Penny too much.
He hardened his heart. Damn it to hell! She had not been that innocent. Penny had quite happily deceived her boyfriend and him… She owed him, and this time there was going to be no mistake. She’d marry him, and like it.
