His Poor Little Rich Girl (16 page)

‘Talk to me, for God’s sake,’ he demanded.

She waited for a moment to compose herself. ‘Alessandro, I’ve always wanted to tell you why I did what I did. Why I chose Craig instead of you. I’ve always wanted to explain.’

Alessandro’s expression darkened broodingly. ‘I know why you chose him. He had money and I didn’t.’

‘It was about money but not the way you think,’ Rachel said. ‘What you said the other day about my father is so true. I have spent most of my life trying to please him. Do you have any idea of how hard it is to be perfect all the time? I tried to
be the best daughter I could be. I tried to be the best I could be at school but I never made the grades my father made. The only time I was able to please him was when I agreed to become engaged to Craig. I had this one chance to be the perfect compliant daughter. I couldn’t turn it down.’

He didn’t speak. He just stood there waiting for her to continue. It didn’t make the telling any easier.

Rachel took a breath and released it on a sigh. ‘My father came to see me just before you did that night. He told me if I didn’t agree to marry Craig he would never speak to me again. I told him you and I had started seeing each other. He told me you were only interested in me to get ahead in life. He was so angry and I was so frightened of being cast adrift by my only living relative I just went along with it. I couldn’t see I had any choice. My father would never have agreed to us being together. I was going to lose either way. I chose to keep what little family I had. It was the wrong choice. Sometimes it’s better to be alone than have family who don’t want the best for you.’

Finally he spoke. ‘You could have explained that to me that night. Why didn’t you?’

Rachel hugged her arms across her body. ‘I was going to but then Craig barged in. Anyway, you told me the other day you had only wanted to marry me because you saw me as a way into society. It seemed to confirm everything my father had said about you.’

Alessandro pushed a hand through his hair. ‘I should never have said that to you the other day.’

Rachel looked at him in surprise. ‘Are you saying it wasn’t true?’

His frown made two lines appear above the bridge of his
nose. ‘What is the good of going over all of this now?’ he said. ‘It’s too late to change anything.’

‘Did you love me back then?’ she asked.

His gaze was steady on hers. ‘I thought I did but it didn’t last so it can’t have been the real thing, if such a thing exists.’

Rachel felt her heart squeeze in disappointment. ‘So it was always just lust …’

‘I was twenty-seven years old back then, Rachel,’ he said. ‘I had spent most of my youth on the streets. I didn’t know what love felt like because after my father died I sure as hell hadn’t had anyone to love or who loved me back. You were out of my league but I wanted you. When you chose Hughson I hated you so much it was like a poison in my body. I wanted to show you what you had missed out on. It drove me. I worked harder than anyone I know to get where I am now.’

‘But you’re not happy,’ she said.

His eyes hardened. ‘I sought success not happiness. Some people are lucky enough to have both.’

‘I want both,’ Rachel said. ‘But if it came to a choice I would chose happiness over success.’

‘What a pity you didn’t think like that five years ago,’ he said with an embittered look.

‘Do you think our relationship would have worked?’ she asked.

‘It might have for a time,’ he said. ‘It’s been my experience that most relationships have a use-by date.’

‘Don’t you think that’s because you’re not prepared to work harder at making them work?’ she asked.

‘What are you suggesting, Rachel?’ he asked with a mocking look. ‘You want to try again? See what happens this time around? Forget it. I told you the terms of the deal. You got
your backing. In less than three weeks we’re over. You go back to your life and I go back to mine.’

‘A relationship is not a business transaction,’ Rachel said.

He gave her a look that cut her heart in two. ‘This one is, little rich girl, and you’d better not forget it.’

R
ACHEL
didn’t see Alessandro for the rest of the day. Lucia told her he was working on an important business project and did not want to be disturbed.

‘He told me to remind you about Rocco Gianatto coming this afternoon to see you about fabrics,’ Lucia added. ‘He should be here any minute. I’ll make coffee and bring it in when he arrives.’

‘Thank you, Lucia,’ Rachel said. ‘I’ll wait for him in the salon.’

Lucia brought in a smartly dressed man in his forties a short time later. Rachel rose from the sofa and greeted him with an outstretched hand. ‘It was very good of you to come here to see me, Signor Gianatto,’ she said.

‘It is no problem,’ Rocco said with a smile. ‘When Alessandro called me he told me about his little accident.’

Rachel wasn’t sure what she was supposed to say. Alessandro had told her nothing other than he did not want the press to know about his illness. She wondered if this was a test of some sort, to see if she would be indiscreet at the first opportunity that presented itself. ‘He is finding it rather frustrating,’ she said at last.

‘Yes, spraining his ankle would be rather a nuisance but no doubt you are cheering him up,’ Rocco said.

Rachel blushed but forced herself to stay focused on the business at hand. ‘Here is my portfolio,’ she said, opening it before him on her laptop.

‘Alessandro must be very impressed with your work to put his money in your business,’ Rocco Gianatto said after several moments of perusing her designs. ‘He is a very careful investor, but then who is not these days,
sì?’

‘I am very fortunate to have his support,’ Rachel said.

‘Your designs are quite lovely,’ Rocco said. ‘I am sure you will do very well.’

‘Thank you.’

He reached into his briefcase and handed her a thick folder of fabric samples. ‘Here are some of my best fabrics,’ he said. ‘All top-of-the range quality. Have a look through at your leisure. I will leave my contact details and if you have time to visit the factory before you return home I would be very happy to show you around.’

‘You’re very kind,’ she said.

‘Not at all,’ he said with another charming smile.

Rachel was about to offer Rocco more coffee when Alessandro appeared in the doorway using only a walking stick. Rachel’s eyes widened a fraction but Alessandro simply smiled and moved over to where she was standing. He leaned on the stick and placed his other hand around her waist.

‘So you have met my lovely young companion,’ he said to Rocco.

‘Yes, she is quite lovely, Alessandro,’ Rocco said. ‘Not your usual type at all. Perhaps you will keep her a little longer than the others,
sì?’

Rachel bristled. ‘I am not used to men discussing me as if I am not in the room,’ she said.

Alessandro pressed a kiss to the top of her head. ‘See what
a little firebrand she is, Rocco? Maybe I will keep her a little longer than the others. She is certainly very entertaining. I think I will miss her when she goes back to Australia.’

‘If you are not careful I will leave right this minute,’ Rachel shot back.

Alessandro gently tapped her on the end of her nose. ‘You know you don’t mean that.’

I do, I do!
Rachel wanted to scream out loud but instead pressed her lips tightly together. Of course she couldn’t leave, not without repaying every penny he had given her. He had covered all his bases. He was too street smart to have left himself open to exploitation. He was toying with her, amusing himself while his business associate looked on in amusement. He couldn’t have planned a more effective revenge. It made her love for him turn sour. How could she have been so trusting to have opened her heart to him about Craig’s treatment of her, only for him to have turned her into a rich man’s plaything, a toy to be picked up and put down when his interest faded?

The door had barely closed on Rocco Gianatto’s exit when she swung around to glare at Alessandro. ‘How dare you treat me like a cheap little trollop you’ve bought for your entertainment?’

He leaned on his stick but even so he towered over her. ‘You’re being overly sensitive. You know the terms we laid down. You agreed to act as my mistress in public. That fact that you chose to sleep with me in private is neither here nor there. It is no one’s business but our own.’

She ground her teeth together. ‘How can you be so coldblooded about this? Of course it’s different. It changes everything.’

‘You are making things complicated when they don’t need to be,’ he said evenly.

‘I don’t like people thinking I am sleeping with you for money,’ she said. ‘You have to admit that’s what people are going to automatically assume once they hear about you backing my label. It’s certainly what Rocco Gianatto assumed and as far as I could tell you were actively encouraging him to think it.’

‘Why do you care so much about what people think?’ he asked.

‘Why do you care so little?’ she flashed back.

‘You’ll have to get used to it, Rachel, because I’ve released a press statement,’ he said. ‘By morning everyone will know you’re my mistress.’

‘I could release my own press statement,’ she threw back.

His eyes pinned hers. ‘You could but you know what will happen if you do. You read and signed the agreement.’

‘I wish I hadn’t come to see you,’ she said, stalking to the other side of the room. ‘You’re the last person I should have come to. I should have known it would backfire on me.’

‘How has it backfired on you?’ he asked. ‘Your company is safe. You’ve got what you want. I could have continued to refuse to help you but I didn’t.’

Rachel turned around to face him. ‘You don’t get it, do you?’

‘What am I supposed to get?

Rachel shook her head at him. ‘Never mind. I’m being stupid as usual.’

‘You’re not stupid, cara,’ he said. ‘I wish you would not denigrate yourself all the time.’

She let out a sound that was half a laugh. ‘You’re so nice
to me and yet you want me to leave at the end of the month and never see me again.’

‘It has to be that way, Rachel,’ he said.

‘Why does it?’ she asked.

‘You live in Australia and I live in Italy,’ he said. ‘There’s one obstacle and there are probably dozens more.’ ‘You won’t compromise, will you?’ she asked. ‘No.’

Rachel gave him a tight little smile. It seemed important now to hide from him how much he had hurt her. Let him think she was after his money instead of his love. It was easier that way. ‘I guess it was worth a try,’ she said. ‘I quite fancy being the wife of a billionaire. Maybe you could give me a few contacts of yours or even set me up on a blind date once you’ve finished with me.’

A hard look came into his eyes. ‘I’ll see what I can do,’ he said and left without another word.

Rachel let out a heavy sigh. What was the point of winning a battle when the war was already lost?

Alessandro came in for dinner and frowned when he saw the empty seat opposite his. He felt his chest tighten. Surely she wouldn’t have called his bluff? She had too much to lose. She wouldn’t walk away from such a binding contract. It would be financial suicide. ‘Where is Signorina McCulloch?’ he asked Lucia.

‘She is not feeling well,’ Lucia said. ‘She’s gone to bed.’

‘What’s wrong with her?’ he asked, frowning.

‘Female trouble,’ Lucia said matter-of-factly.

Alessandro looked at the empty chair again, his heart rate settling back down to normal again. ‘See that she gets everything she needs, will you?’

‘Sì, signor,’
Lucia said. ‘I have already given her some paracetamol and a hot-water bottle.’

‘Grazie.’

‘Signor …?’

‘Lucia, I employ you to cook my meals and keep the villa tidy,’ Alessandro said stiffly. ‘I do not need your advice on my love life.’

Lucia pursed her lips.
‘Sì, Signor. ‘

Alessandro picked at his food and ignored the wine altogether. Lucia came in with another course but he waved her away. ‘I’m not hungry.’

‘Do you want coffee?’ she asked as she cleared the table.

‘No.’

‘A cognac?’

‘No.’

‘Signor?’

‘What?’ Alessandro snapped.

‘I was about to take a cup of tea up to the signorina,’ Lucia said.

Alessandro stood up and reached for his stick. ‘You go home, Lucia,’ he said. ‘Have the rest of the night off, tomorrow too, if you like. I can look after Signorina McCulloch.’

Lucia beamed at him.
‘Grazie, signor. ‘

Rachel was lying in bed when there was a knock at the door. ‘Come in, Lucia,’ she said.

The door opened and Alessandro appeared carrying a cup of tea with one hand while the other grasped his walking stick. ‘I gave Lucia the rest of the night off,’ he said.

‘Oh …’

‘How are you feeling?’ he asked. Rachel felt her cheeks heating. ‘I’m fine.’

He handed her the tea. ‘Do you want biscuits or toast or anything?’

‘No, this is fine,’ she said.

There was a beat or two of silence.

‘I’m sorry for being such a nuisance,’ Rachel said, not looking at him.

‘You’re not being a nuisance.’

A moment of silence passed.

‘Do you often have painful periods?’ he asked.

‘Not often,’ she said. ‘I guess it’s the stress or the travelling or both.’

He sat on the edge of the bed. ‘It must have been a very worrying time for you over the last couple of years,’ he said.

‘You have no idea,’ Rachel said on a sigh. ‘I’ve fought back so many times. It’s cost a fortune in legal fees trying to clear my name. Craig fraudulently used my name in several loans he had taken out. I had no choice but to cover them as best I could. I tried to get another business loan but no one would come near me after that. That’s why Caitlyn put in so much of her own money. We’ve both worked so hard and the thought of losing it all was so terrifying. This trip to Italy was my last hope.’

‘But you’re OK now,’ he said. ‘That’s the main thing.’

‘Yes, thanks to you.’ She looked up at him. ‘I can’t tell you how grateful I am. I’m sorry I was snarly with you earlier. I can be such a cow sometimes.’