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Shock froze Rebel for a second. ‘He was manhandling you, and trying to force you to do a dangerous move you weren’t ready for!’
Carla’s mouth pursed. ‘You were there for only a few minutes, Miss Daniels. I only meant I wasn’t prepared to do that move at that time of the morning when I’d barely warmed up.’
‘A dangerous move is a dangerous move, no matter the time of day it’s performed,’ Draco inserted with unmistakable gravity. Although his bleak expression cleared a moment later, Rebel’s heart squeezed at the naked pain and guilt he carried for what had happened to his sister.
‘Then you’ll be pleased to know I succeeded in my attempt this afternoon,’ Carla said.
Olivio smiled with smug satisfaction. ‘Now that we’ve cleared that up, perhaps we can get on with the evening? Draco, Carla has a few people she’s dying for you to meet. I promise to take care of your beloved while you’re away.’
Short of offending their host—a move she didn’t doubt Olivio would hold against Draco—she had no choice but to slide her hand through Olivio’s proffered arm.
Draco’s gaze dropped to the point of contact, his nostrils flaring slightly. Olivio’s laughter held a touch of edgy mockery. ‘She’s only going across the room, not to the ends of the earth.’
When Draco’s eyes gleamed dangerously, Rebel smiled, thinking it wise to defuse the situation.
‘He told me before we left our suite that he’ll kill any man who strays too close to me tonight. Perhaps I ought to level the playing field by stating that I’ll gut any woman who looks at him the wrong way. Does that help, darling?’
Draco’s gaze caught hers, the promise of retribution echoing clearly, before dropping to her mouth. ‘It helps.’
‘Such passion,’ Olivio drawled.
Rebel placed her tongue firmly in her cheek. ‘You don’t know the half of it.’
Carla slipped both her hands through Draco’s bent arm, her gaze daring as it met Rebel’s. ‘Come on. It’s almost time for us to take our seats and I may not have time later.’
Rebel walked away, the smile pinned on her face hopefully disguising the fact that her insides were still knotted with an unhealthy mix of anger and jealousy. Draco might not have romantic intentions towards Carla, but the younger woman clearly had other ideas.
‘So when is the big day?’ Olivio enquired in between playing the attentive host to his mingling guests.
Rebel frowned, dragging her eyes from where Carla was plastered to Draco’s side as they chatted with a basketball star and his wife across the room. ‘Big day?’
‘The wedding. Surely that’s what every woman thinks about the moment she’s proposed to?’ His brown eyes drilled into hers, as if hoping to catch her in a lie.
‘A wedding takes time to plan. Besides, I have a championship to think of before we get round to setting wedding dates.’
‘Ah, yes. I understand you dabble in cross-country. Or is it jumping?’ His teeth were bared in a semblance of a smile, but his eyes were slowly hardening, a hint of a sneer in the espresso depths.
Rebel tossed her head. ‘I’m sorry, is there an insult in there somewhere? Only I despise insinuation.’
Another guest approached. Olivio slipped into charming host mode, chatting and smiling until they were once again alone. Then he turned so his back was to the room. ‘My Carla needs a man like Draco in her camp to keep her at the top of the game.’
‘Isn’t she already at the top? And isn’t Draco’s offer of representation going to achieve what you want?’
‘The sort of contract he’s offering is one that can be broken at any time. What I need from him is a firmer commitment.’
Rebel arranged her features into fake astonishment. ‘What are you saying? That you want me to give up the man I love to your daughter?’ Her voice caught, her whole body clenching hard with a stormy sensation that had nothing to do with the role she’d agreed to play.
‘I’m in a position to make sure it’s worth your while.’
Struggling with the sudden pounding of her heart, she lifted her hand to her throat in a dramatic pose. ‘And how much is ripping out one’s own heart and throwing it under a bus worth these days?’
Olivio assessed her shrewdly. ‘Will a million euros do it?’
Over his shoulder she spotted Draco and Carla, now standing alone. His head was bent towards her shorter form as she murmured in his ear. Rebel couldn’t dismiss the evidence that they made a striking couple.
Looking away from them, she stared at Olivio. ‘Sadly, I don’t think you’ve thought this through properly. You want me to walk away from a dynamic, wildly successful man, whose net worth I’m guessing eclipses yours many times over, and who I also happen to be in love with, for a mere million euros?’ She injected as much sarcasm into her voice as possible. ‘And even if I was crazy enough to consider your offer, you forget, there’s nothing between Carla and Draco.’
