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‘That’s a bit unfair,’ she said, trying to sound stern while the bubble of pleasure burst, creating a warm glow through her entire body. ‘Seeing as she’s never even met me—well, not properly,’ she corrected, remembering the altercation on the street.
* * *
Damn it, why isn’t she furious?
‘Alison, it’s not just unfair of her. It’s libellous. She’s basically suggesting you’re a prostitute in a national newspaper.’ Dominic ground out the words, still so furious with Mira he could barely speak. But the truth was he was just as disgusted with himself. He should have guessed his ex would pull a stunt like this. And he hadn’t done a damn thing to prevent it, or protect Alison.
In fact he’d basically set her up for exactly this kind of attack.
An attack that she was uniquely vulnerable to, not just because she appeared to have no sense of guile whatsoever, but because, as he had just discovered, she had been in much harsher financial straits than he had assumed.
As well as Mira’s bitchy comments, the Post article had included a detailed description of the harsh realities of Alison’s life before he had ‘plucked her from obscurity’—and it had turned his stomach. The struggles she’d faced in the last twelve years had been a great deal harder than he had imagined. It seemed she and her mother had been living in abject poverty through her teens—ever since the night his father had thrown them off the estate. Alison had been supporting them both since the age of fifteen with a series of part-time jobs. And her debts had only increased after her mother’s death from an overdose of prescription painkillers four years ago.
He’d exploited her destitution to feed the rags-to-riches Cinderella narrative his publicist had used to explain their ‘fairy-tale romance’ but now it had backfired on him spectacularly. Because he’d had no idea how close it was to the truth.
His father had destroyed her life that night... But his father hadn’t been the only one responsible for what had happened to Monica and by extension her daughter.
He pushed the bitter memories to one side.
Do not go there. You can’t go back and solve what you did.
But, unfortunately, telling himself that didn’t make him feel any less responsible. Not just for what had happened that night, but for the trashing of Alison’s reputation now.
‘I’m going to sue her and the newspaper. I refuse to have you slandered in that way,’ he said, because that at least was explainable.
Maybe his marriage to Alison was essentially a business arrangement, but by this time tomorrow she would finally be his wife, so of course he would have to protect her reputation.
‘Wouldn’t it be better just to ignore it?’ Alison asked, her teeth tugging on her bottom lip again, and sending a now incendiary shot of heat to his groin.
‘No, it would not.’
‘But, Dominic, what about the Waterfront deal?’ she said as his furious thoughts galloped ahead of him.
‘What about it?’ he barked. Why was she being so damn reasonable and accommodating about this outrage?
‘Surely getting embroiled in a legal battle with a British tabloid isn’t going to be good for that? Especially if they find out our marriage is essentially a business arrangement after all.’
I don’t care about the damn deal.
He opened his mouth, to say the words that ricocheted through his consciousness. Then closed it again. As his fury and indignation slammed into a brick wall.
What the hell had he just thought? Hell, what had he almost said? Out loud?
He did care about the deal. The deal was everything. The deal was why Alison was here. Why he was here. The only reason this marriage was happening. And she was right: if he sued Mira and the London Post the real reason behind their marriage would come to light.
‘The deal will be fine,’ he said, even though he wasn’t entirely sure.
Calm
the hell down and think.
‘I told the business manager to point out to the consortium you were a virgin. That you have never slept with another man before you slept with me. Making you the furthest thing from a prostitute.’
The foolish spurt of pride hit him unawares—the way it had when he had told Etienne.
What the heck was that about, too?
Alison’s lack of experience was something he could use, to help make their marriage seem more authentic and to help him secure this deal. That was the only reason it was relevant. Why should he care if he was her first?
