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She clamped both hands over her face, feeling sick to her stomach. She had been used. By everyone.
Francesca and Vasile had used her—were still planning to use her. She’d tried to shut that appalling reality away, not think about it because there was nothing she could do about it. She had to go through with it, for the sake of her father. But now the discovery that Marco had been using her too was overwhelming.
‘There’s no need to hide, bella mia.’ She felt Marco’s fingers on her wrists, pulling her hands away from her face. ‘The fact that you are not what you seem to be is nothing new to me. I know what the face of deception looks like.’
A sudden wave of anger washed over her, heating her blood, making her back straighter. She whipped her hands down, jerking her wrists free of Marco’s grip and lifted her chin in defiance.
‘You are despicable,’ she said.
‘As despicable as falling into another man’s bed only days before your wedding?’ he sneered.
‘You knew—but still you…’ She drew in a shuddering breath. ‘I felt so guilty. I tried to stop it, but you were so…persistent.’
‘You wanted it as much as I did,’ he reminded her.
‘You set me up!’ Claudia cried. ‘Appearing outside the Ritz. Following me to Wales.’
‘You ought to be used to set-ups,’ Marco said. ‘But you don’t like it when the tables are turned on you. Personally, I rather enjoyed myself. And I thought there was a certain poetic justice in the location—Wales always was special for us.’
Claudia’s head was throbbing and her mind spinning with what she was hearing. She’d never seen Marco behave like this before. Had never heard him use such a harsh tone of voice. Had never heard him say such cruel things.
‘You’re so different,’ she said, running her eyes over him almost desperately, as if by looking hard enough she might see some sign of the Marco who had meant so much to her. ‘I don’t even recognise the man in front of me.’
‘Is this better?’ he asked, stripping off his jacket, then his shirt.
‘What are you doing?’ She stared in shock at his naked torso. Her heart started to beat out a rhythm of alarm and a surge of adrenaline flooded her body.
‘This is how you’ve seen me most frequently over the last couple of days,’ Marco said. ‘I thought seeing me like this might help you get things in perspective.’
‘I’ve got everything in perfect perspective,’ she snapped, thinking just how much her world had changed in a matter of minutes. ‘Thank you for showing me, in case I hadn’t fully realised yet, just how much of a brute you are.’
She straightened her shoulders, refusing to take even one step backwards, although part of her wanted to turn tail and flee. Another darker, instinct driven part of her wanted to let her eyes roam over his naked skin. But she kept her head up, meeting his gaze steadily with her own.
She was wearing the smart high-heeled shoes she’d changed into for a day in the city, giving her three inches of extra height, but still he towered over her, making her feel shorter than she was.
‘You do realise nothing has changed,’ Marco said. ‘We are still the same
people we were half an hour ago. You’re the same woman who made love to me, only days before her wedding.’
‘It wasn’t like that,’ Claudia protested. ‘I would never have done that if…’ She bit her lip—it was so hard to explain. ‘The wedding—it’s not what you think.’
‘What do I think it is?’ Marco asked smoothly.
‘It’s just a business arrangement,’ she said.
‘Is that better than the alternative?’ Marco asked. ‘The traditional reason for marriage—that you’ve fallen in love.’
Claudia dropped her gaze, suddenly flustered.
There was another alternative—blackmail. But she couldn’t tell him that. If she did, he would discover the power Vasile had over her. Then he could take that power and use it for himself.
The man she’d thought he was would never do such a thing, but now she knew he was ruthless and had no honour. She could never expose her father to him.
‘It’s not going to be that kind of wedding—it will be platonic, a business arrangement only.’ Claudia lifted her hand and pushed her hair off her face.
‘To get your hands on your trust fund five years early,’ Marco said derisively.
‘How do you know about my trust fund?’ Claudia said in shock. Her father had always kept it quiet to protect her from people interested in her only for the money she would have one day.
