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“A brilliant conclusion.”
He shot her a look. “Do not push me,” he said softly.
She started to speak, then obviously thought better of it. The woman wasn’t a fool.
“I’m sure you and Norton thought this was very clever. I’m not sure how you managed it, how, exactly, you got my grandfather to sign this—this bit of legal mumbo jumbo—”
“Me?” Alyssa huffed. “Me? I didn’t have a damned thing to do with it!”
“I had little to do with it, sir,” Norton said, the words tumbling from his lips in a rush. “Your grandfather’s attorneys did most of the work, then sent the papers to me, after which my client signed it in front of a notary and we sent it to Spain by messenger so that your grandfather could sign it, too, and then—”
Lucas pounded his fist on the desk again. By the end of this charade, he thought grimly, the damned thing would be fit for firewood.
“I have no interest in the back-and-forth steps, Norton! I’m talking about…” What was the phrase? Lucas had spent four years at Yale; he had a condo in New York. America was his second home but right now, his English was failing him. “I’m talking about the setup. The preparation you and McDonough and the charming Miss McDonough put into this—this sting.”
“Sting?” Alyssa shot forward. This time, her finger almost poked a hole in his chest. “Your grandfather gets together with my father and they agree to—to sell me to you and you accuse me of a sting?”
She gasped as Lucas caught her wrist and yanked her arm behind her back. The action brought her to her toes. Brought her body suddenly against his.
His response was instantaneous. Just the feel of her, the soft fragrance of her, and he hardened like stone. Her eyes widened in pretended innocence until they were big enough to swallow him whole.
“Isn’t my reaction the desired effect, amada?” he said, so softly that only she would hear him. “Dangle the bait in front of the mark? Pretend innocence, then show outrage, and do it so well the poor sap believes it?”
“Hijo de una perra,” she hissed through her teeth.
Lucas grinned and drew her closer.
“Don’t be like that, chica. Just because I’m wise to you doesn’t mean I don’t find you appealing. But I’m not a fool. I don’t buy my women—and if I did, I would not pay with my name and my fortune. That you thought I would insults my intelligence.”
“What I thought,” Alyssa said, her voice trembling, “was that you were too horrible to get a woman on your own. And, clearly, I was right.”
She gasped as he tightened his hold.
“So horrible you kissed me as if you never kissed a man before? As if having me drink from your mouth is what you’ve waited for all your life?” His smile faded. “Or are you that fine an actress? Shall we try it again and see?”
“Prince Lucas,” Norton said quickly, “please, sir, you’ve got this wrong.”
The lawyer’s voice quaked. He looked, Lucas thought with grim satisfaction, like a man watching a lighted match falling oh-so-slowly toward a box of dynamite.
“Miss McDonough—Alyssa is telling the truth. This was your grandfather’s idea. And my client’s,” he added quickly.
“I find that difficult to believe.”
“It’s true, sir. Prince Felix can confirm it. Miss McDonough knew nothing about the arrangement until Aloysius’s death.”
“That’s when you told her the happy news? That she would become a princesa?” Lucas smiled coldly. “But you’re a bright girl, amada. You must have known how easily such good luck could slip through your fingers. How hard you must have worked to come up with a scheme that would keep me from getting away.”
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nbsp; “Sir,” Norton pleaded, “call your grandfather. Let him confirm my story.”
“Why should I bother? I’m not going to honor this—this joke of a contract, Norton. You managed to defraud an old man, but—”
“Your grandfather paid half the sale price, Your Worship. Only half. And I did not—”
“Half is more than this desolate piece of land is worth.” Lucas dropped Alyssa’s wrist. She stumbled back, rubbing at the welt his fingers had left in her tender flesh. “You want more, sue us for it.”
“I strongly urge you to phone Prince Felix,” Norton said quietly. “I have no wish to sue you, sir, but I have an obligation to see my client’s wishes to their rightful end.”
