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‘The truth is that I took an executive decision to do this myself. My sister is incommunicado, but I’ll deal with her when she reappears, and if she still wants to take over a hotel chain I’m sure there are plenty of others I can steer her towards.’
Orla was feeling increasingly disorientated. ‘But … why?’ she asked again.
Antonio’s eyes were dark. ‘Because I know how much it means to you. Because, to be quite frank, the Kennedy Group ethos doesn’t exist without you there. And apart from that, it’s a very viable business investment. The Kennedy Group has the potential to grow once again and become even stronger than it ever was, in the right hands. Your father has increased your shares so that you have equal, if not more, say than he does in the day-to-day running of things.’
Orla blanched.
Antonio sounded grim. ‘It was part of the deal, that you had to have more power.’
The thought that this man had laid that out, when her own father had never seen fit to acknowledge her role, made her feel ridiculously vulnerable and exposed. Still reeling, Orla asked a little belligerently, ‘And what’s your stake in it all?’
Antonio’s face took on a stern regard. ‘Forty per cent.’
Orla’s belly quivered. ‘So we would be … partners.’
He nodded. ‘Yes. As any investor would have been.’
Orla felt constricted all of a sudden, the thought of Antonio being in her day-to-day life, for the foreseeable future … that he’d had the temerity to go behind her back and seek more power for her—it was too much to take in.
She backed away a little, terrified of the direction her wayward thoughts wanted to travel, down dangerous roads, flights of fancy. ‘You really think that it’s a good idea that we work together? You left your own family business behind a long time ago….’
Her mouth pursed. She had to stop herself from reminding him that only a few days ago they’d said goodbye and yet this would mean … the opposite. She couldn’t even let her mind grasp that right now. It was too dangerous.
‘Pardon me if I fail to believe that you suddenly want to immerse yourself in that world again.’
Antonio’s jaw clenched. A muscle throbbed. ‘Ask me why I’m showing you this house, Orla.’
Suddenly Orla didn’t want to. It felt like the most loaded question in the universe. But Antonio was a huge immovable force. And she refused to show him how intimidated she was.
She steeled herself. Pretending like she didn’t care what his answer would be. ‘Why are you showing me this house?’
He was quiet for a long time and then he finally said, ‘Because … I want to buy it for you.’
Hope flared so bright inside Orla that she felt dizzy before she clamped down on it ruthlessly. He was just playing with her. And she’d unwittingly given him the key to the most vulnerable part of her. He just wanted her, nothing more.
Unable to keep a slight tremor of emotion from her voice and hating herself for it, Orla said, ‘You know, most men give a woman a diamond bracelet or flowers. This is taking it a bit far, don’t you think? After all, we were only together for, what? Two, three weeks? Or maybe you want to set me up in some convenient location?’
Antonio’s eyes flashed and his jaw tightened, but he just said, ‘Do you like the house, Orla?’
The ball of emotion got bigger in her chest. Getting angry now, she answered, ‘Do I like the house?’
She threw her arms open, feeling prickly, vulnerable and reckless. ‘This house is my dream come to life! Is that it, Antonio? You’re not quite finished showing me how easily you can dominate my life? Now you want to set me up so you can come and go as you please?’
His eyes flashed again but with something far more ambiguous this time. Something hot. Biting her lip, Orla turned away, her eyes prickling ominously.
From behind her she heard him say, ‘I want to buy this house for you.’
She couldn’t face him again. Tears were starting to fill her eyes in earnest now. This was torture. Swallowing the lump the size of her throat, she said thickly, ‘That’s really not necessary, Antonio. I can buy my own house if I really want to and I have no interest in becoming a mistress—’
He cut her off. ‘But if I do buy the house for you it comes with a condition.’
Her heart was aching. ‘Antonio, like I said, I really don’t want to—’
‘The condition is that I come with the house.’
She stopped dead. Her heart thumped. Had she just heard …? She turned around slowly, vision slightly blurry. Antonio had that look on his face again. Nervous.
‘What did you just say?’
