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‘But Lily needs more.’ Darcie drew breath and faced reality—knowing it would make him change his mind. ‘If you do this, then you’d be in her life. You’d have to have a relationship with her.’
‘I wouldn’t really be in her life.’
‘You couldn’t avoid her. Children pick up on—’
‘I’m at work all day and I travel a lot. I’ll be on the fringes. Her primary relationship is already with you. I would only pop in here and there.’
Something made her doggedly deny this would be that easy. ‘If you didn’t really want her, she would know. She would feel it.’
His mouth thinned. ‘I would want her to be happy and secure. She would understand that. Did you have concerns about this with your previous groom?’
‘Shaun loved Zara and I knew he would love Lily because of that.’ She lifted her chin. ‘But you don’t believe in love. And apparently you don’t believe in marriage without love. Ergo, you don’t believe in marriage.’ She questioned him. ‘Sowhywould you do this? Why would you evenwantto?’
He gazed beyond her for a moment and then looked back. His blue eyes cooler, sharper somehow. ‘Because there are advantages to my getting married. Especially to someone like you.’
‘Likeme?’ She stiffened. What did he mean by that?
‘We have much in common,’ he said. ‘Neither of us is ruled by excessive emotion. At least—’ a rueful smile curved his mouth ‘—not usually. We’re able to recognise a good deal and we both understand the sacrifices needed to make sure it happens. We can coolly work through the benefits and the costs of any kind of arrangement.’
The benefits and the costs? Darcie shivered at his clinical assessment of their commonalities, and in reality he was wrong.
She’d had no real choice other than to keep her cool in the office. And if she had a real choice now she’d stomp out of here in a heartbeat. Only the thought of Lily kept her back. And okay,hekept her back. Her desire for themboth.
‘You’re able to suppress your appetite and emotions in the business environment. You have extraordinary control, Darcie. It’s admirable.’
‘It’s not some admirable strength, Elias,’ she said harshly. ‘It was a necessity.’
‘Because you needed the job. You needed the money.’
‘Yes.’
‘Even so, plenty of people couldn’t cope the way you did. They’d get another job. You didn’t. You stayed. You were determined to, I think.’
She lifted her chin. Yes, there was that. She hadn’t wanted to be bettered by him. He was the challenge and she’d revelled in rising to his requirements and never letting him know how close to the edge she really was. But long term it was unsustainable because of how she really felt.
Something gleamed in his eyes. ‘You’re a match for me, Darcie. And I won’t deny the appearance of stability in my personal life would be advantageous for me at this time.’
Elias Greyson liked to win and he was very used to it. But this particular challenge was one he now wanted with a need that sliced bone deep. But she’d been dependent upon him for her job and only now did he understand why she’d so desperately needed that income. That power imbalance had prevented her from being completely honest—perhaps even completely herself—with him. And here he was setting himself up for more of the same, was he not? Because hergratitudeto this marriage could constrain her behaviour. He was going to have to be careful, ensure they fully communicated. He was going to have to keep this controlled. But recapturing his usual cool clarity was challenging because there was one last piece of the Darcie puzzle he’d yet to properly solve. While there were still shadows and secrets in her eyes, some things she couldn’t hide, and that included the very basic, very strong, chemistry sparking between them. And suddenly all that mattered—the urge overriding reason—was that she did not walk out the way she’d walked out this morning. The next time she left him it would be on his terms and at a time of his choosing.
‘You said not all marriages are for romance or based in love. They’re a solution to a problem,’ he said harshly.
She didn’t move. ‘Yes, but I still don’t understand what problem you face. This would be a huge imposition—an awfully big sacrifice for you to make.’
That this allwasabout a child had made him feel both better and worse. He didn’t want to think of Darcie pregnant by some other man. Yeah, it was an appalling gut reaction—he’d no right to feel possessive or jealous. Yet he had.
‘You don’t think I’m capable of making a sacrifice for someone?’
Colour flooded her face. ‘No, that’s not what I meant.’
‘Sure it was,’ he said softly. Offended all over again.
Surely he was a better bet than the jerk who’d walked out on her only moments before their wedding?
‘But you’re still not grasping the advantage for me,’ he said more calmly than he was feeling. ‘This would be convenient.’
‘Convenient?’
The flight had bought him time to consider the pros and cons of joining forces with Darcie on a more permanent basis and the more he’d thought about it, the more sense it had made. She’d been right in that he didn’t believe in marriage, but marriage could be viewed as simply another merger. Political alliances dating back hundreds of years, across all cultures had succeeded. Without confusion or complications, they worked. And although he certainly didn’t believe a couple should stay together for a child, the point here was he and Darciewouldn’tstay together. It was only until Lily’s guardianship was awarded to Darcie that the arrangement needed to last.
