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‘Are you serious?’
‘I’m very serious.’
‘Because?’
‘Because I already have a job, Corso. It’s decent work,’ she added defensively, when she saw the incredulous look in his eyes. ‘And it pays me an honest wage. I can’t just announce that I’m about to fly off with the King of Monterosso on a whim.’
There was a pause which went on a little too long to be entirely comfortable. ‘And there’s nothing I can do to change your mind?’ he said at last.
‘Nothing,’ she said firmly.
‘Are you quite sure about that, Rosie?’ he said, in a voice she’d never heard him use before. ‘Because I’m thinking your salary must be very modest and probably not enough for your current needs. Am I right?’
Instinctively, Rosie sat up straight because although the words weren’t exactly athreat, they were definitely underpinned with something disquieting. ‘What does my salary have to do withyou?’
Corso gave a reluctant sigh as her defiance washed over him and for a moment he felt something close to regret. Because he hadn’t wanted to do it like this. He’d hoped she would demonstrate the compliancy which was as familiar to him as the sound of his own heartbeat—of people doing what he wanted them to do, without question.
‘Why don’t you just think of it in terms of an opportunity?’ he questioned silkily. ‘The tour would take less than a month. You could request unpaid leave and go back to your job once it’s over. If you like, I can easily have my people sort that out for you.’
‘How very convenient,’ she said faintly.
‘Or you might think about leaving the railway altogether and trying something new. I have connections you could utilise. You could use the degree you have worked so hard for,’ he continued smoothly. ‘And I am prepared to be generous, Rosie. Very generous.’ The sum he mentioned provoked an instinctive widening of her grey eyes, but just as quickly the look vanished—to be replaced by a quiet fury which he found strangelyattractive.
‘You think I’m someone you can just move around the place however it suits you, like a pawn on a chess board?’ she demanded. ‘You can’t just rearrange my life for me and you certainly can’tbuyme. I’m not one of your adoring subjects, Corso—in fact, I’m the very opposite!’
Again Corso felt the frisson of unexpected heat, because he was finding her truculence intensely provocative. Her rosy lips were parted. Her cheeks were flushed pink. And despite the thick sweater and workmanlike trousers which flapped around her ankles, he was moved by an urgent desire to take her in his arms and kiss her.
‘I would advise you to consider two things,’ he said unevenly, as the blood pounded hot and sweet around his veins.
‘Which are?’
Briefly, he savoured her challenge before preparing to quash it, because surely to reprimand her would remind her of the natural order of things. ‘Firstly, I do not expect to be spoken to in such a manner.’
‘Well, there’s a simple solution to that. You can always leave.’ She tilted her chin. ‘Nobody’s stopping you.’
‘And secondly,’ he continued, trying to ignore the thick plait swaying like a blonde snake against the luscious curve of her breasts. ‘I think you’ll find that interest rates on credit cards are very high. And if you’re not careful, you could spend the rest of your life servicing your debt.’
He got a reaction then and it was more profound than he had expected. All the fight went out of her. Like a hot needle lancing into a balloon, she seemed instantly to deflate. As she slumped back onto the chair, her face grew even paler. Her grey eyes were filled with alarm and a look of fleeting reproach, which somehow made him feel guilty. But not for long.
‘What are you talking about?’ she husked.
‘If you like, we could play games all evening, Rosie.’ He shrugged. ‘You could feign ignorance and outrage. Or you could accept that I know all about your current difficulties.’
‘What...?’ she whispered. ‘What do you know?’
‘I know about your large credit card debt. That the reason you’re able to live in this cottage is because you help clean the big house of the estate on which it stands. I gather you have a wealthy absentee Sicilian owner to thank for that. And living rent-free enables most of your salary to reduce the money your mother owes to the courts, which is a frightening amount, by most people’s standards. I know that you and your sister are guarantors and committed to paying it off.’ He paused, and suddenly he was curious. ‘What did she do, Rosie?’
He saw the faint flicker of fear which crossed her pale features. ‘I’m surprised you haven’t found that out, too.’
He shrugged. ‘My investigation threw up only the bare facts, which were sufficient for my needs.’ He narrowed his eyes as he looked at her. ‘But I’m advising you that if radical action isn’t taken quickly it could ruin your and Bianca’s future, because long-term debt can grind you down.’
‘And someone in your position would know all about long-term debt, of course,’ she said sarcastically.
But Rosie’s heart had started racing like one of the high-speed trains she rode every day of her working life.Howhad he found out their secret, when she and Bianca had done everything possible to keep the whole affair quiet?
And then she wondered how she could have been so naïve.
His advisors would have rooted around to discover stuff about her—just as they must have known exactly when she would arrive home today. They would have studied her shifts to ensure that the King didn’t turn up to an empty cottage. He was simply using the knowledge which was always available to him.
