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“Italy. An island off the coast. Nobody goes there but the Vieri family.”
“Your family owns their own island?”
I’m shocked and he laughs softly. “You will soon learn that my family owns a lot more than one small island. Not all of it is good. Serenita is special, though. We will marry there.”
“In Italy?”
I must sound shocked because he nods, turning to face me with an amused grin.
“I will show you the world, Bella. We will explore it together.”
His hand finds mine and as we stare at the painting side by side, a warm sensation floods through my entire body. I have never been so happy. So cared for and so needed. To experience those feelings with a man like Killian Vieri is unexpected and not altogether unwelcome. I can’t believe how lucky I have been because he is everything I want and a lot more besides. I am just astonished he isn’t already married because who wouldn’t be ecstatic about marrying a man like him?
I am in so deep I couldn’t clamber out if I tried and I turn to face him with a broad smile and whisper, “Then I should sign your contract.”
He nods, his eyes gleaming as if they are on fire, and my breath hitches when he directs that powerful gaze in my direction.
“Come.”
He leads me across to the desk and instead of directing me to one of the two seats set before it, he leads me around to the throne and holding it out gently, guides me inside.
I see a pile of paper on the desk covered with small print and I raise my eyes.
“Is this it?”
“Yes. You may read through it, and if there is anything you disagree with, we will negotiate.”
“Okay.” I lift the first page and he says with amusement.
“You may need longer than an hour to read through this.”
“Then you will allow me an extension even if it takes all week.” I say in a hardened voice, causing him to laugh out loud.
“Spoken like a true Vieri, Purity. Are you certain we’re not related already?”
“Unless your family was brought up in Heaven, I doubt it.” I say quickly and he replies with a dark whisper against my ear, “My family would be more at home in hell.”
It causes a shiver to run through my entire body and I can’t decide if it’s his words or his proximity that caused it.
I am so confused by my reaction to this man and as the words swim before my eyes, I realize I am out of my depth. Numbers, figures and weird foreign words don’t make any sense to me and after a couple of pages I am so bored I really can’t face reading the rest.
In a show of bravado, I flick through the pages and say firmly, “You asked me to trust you, Killian. This will be the first test of that. If there is anything in here that I don’t like, I trust you to change it on an ad hoc basis.”
“Ad hoc.” He laughs out loud. “Where did you hear that from?”
“I’m not stupid, you know.” I say tartly, and he smiles. His mouth betraying him as it twists into an amused grin.
“You are far from stupid, Purity. In fact, you are many things, but stupid is not one of them.”
“What things?” He is so close now we could touch lips and I wouldn’t mind seeing what that would be like, and he whispers against them. “You are beautiful, courageous and bold. You aren’t afraid to speak your mind and you are honest. I can tell you have a caring side and yet question everything. You are pure like your name and untouched. That makes you more valuable to me than any of the riches I own. You. Are. Everything.”
My eyes burn as I turn away and stare at the contract resting on the blotter on the polished wooden desk.
He whispers in my ear. “All I require is your signature, and then we can begin.”
My fingers hover over the pen and a moment’s doubt filters through my mind. I should read it thoroughly. Dissect every word, but I’m new to this. I don’t understand contracts and business speak. I work on gut instinct and my own judgment. He is a good man. I can tell that already because he saved me from the bad ones. He has been a gentleman and I do believe I’m safe with him. If anything, I feel a little foolish even hesitating and so I grasp the pen and boldly sign my name with a flourish, confident that I am doing the right thing.
“Good girl.” His husky voice is soft against my ear and his lips dust my cheek as he whispers, “You are mine now.”
