The Forced Bride (13 page)

‘No, thank you. I always preferred backgammon.’

‘Yes,’ he said quietly. ‘I remember.’ He paused. ‘There is a set in the cupboard over there, if you would like a game.’

‘Oh, no.’ Her disclaimer was hasty. ‘I—I only ever played against my father.’

‘And a different opponent would naturally be out of the question,’ he said expressionlessly and returned to his chess

problem.

There was another silence.

‘I see there are books here, but I brought some others with me,’ Emily mentioned eventually. ‘They’re upstairs. But they

might not appeal to you.’

‘They are romantic books, perhaps—for women The search for Mr Right’ His faint smile did not indicate any particular

amusement.

She said coolly, ‘One of them’sAnna Karenina. I don’t think she fits that category. And there are some detective stories

too. You’re welcome to borrow them—if you want.’

‘Grazie,’ he said. ‘And the cupboard also contains a radio, a pack of cards, three jigsaw puzzles and a game of Snakes

and Ladders. Even without television, we do not lack for entertainment,’ he added sardonically.

‘Never a dull moment,’ Emily commented and got to her feet. ‘I’ll go and find the books.’

She had to steel herself to enter the bedroom. She didn’t want to look at the bed either but, to her annoyance, she found

her glance drawn to it. She was surprised to see that it had been neatly made, its pillows plumped up and the covers

smoothed. As if it had never been occupied. His handiwork, she realised with bewilderment, and quite the last thing she

would have expected.

She lifted the bag out of the bottom of the wardrobe and turned, only to cannon into Raf who was standing right behind

her.

Her mouth went dry. Oh, God, surely he couldn’t have construed her departure upstairs as some kind of invitation she

thought, hugging the bag defensively against her body. ‘What—what do you want’

‘To help you with these,’ Raf told her curtly, taking the bag from her slackened grasp. ‘What else’

He walked away from her out of the room and, after a brief hesitation, Emily followed him downstairs.

She said stiltedly, ‘I’m sorry. I—I thought…’

‘I know what you thought.’ He was putting the chess pieces back in their box. ‘But you were wrong.’ His tone bit. ‘So

let us leave the subject.’

‘But can’t you see now why I want to leave here’ She looked at him pleadingly. ‘It—it’s so cramped. And if we

keep—bumping into each other, it’s bound to lead to—to misunderstandings,’ she ended miserably.

‘Only in your own head,cara .’ He sounded bored, his attention now focused on the contents of the book bag. He went

through them all, then chose the new Patricia Cornwell, which Emily had mentally reserved for herself.

Not that she intended to argue about it, she told herself. Anything at all that might keep his mind off her had to be a

bonus.

It was almost a relief when she could disappear into the kitchen and begin preparations for supper.

But once the chicken had begun to sizzle in the oven and the vegetables were prepared, there was nothing to detain her

and she came back to resume her seat on the other side of the hearth. And to wrestle with her unhappy thoughts.

Eventually, she cleared her throat. ‘Rafaele—may I talk to you’

‘With pleasure.’ He put his book aside. ‘But I thought you preferred silence.’

‘I suppose that’s really one of the things I want to talk about.’ She swallowed. ‘The way things are, you can’t really mean

for us to live together—not in any real sense—when we leave here. Not even on a temporary basis.’

‘But that is exactly my intention,cara . I thought I had made that clear.’ He shrugged. ‘And the duration of the marriage

has yet to be decided.’

She stared across at him. ‘And that’s all you have to say’

‘What else is there’

‘I’d have thought—plenty.’ She took a deep breath. ‘I—I acknowledge that I made you angry over the annulment thing.

But can’t you now also acknowledge that you’ve punished me enough And let me go Let us both go, in fact’

His brows lifted. ‘You think this is my only reason for being here—to teach you a lesson’ He sounded politely curious.

‘In your own words—what else is there’

He said slowly, ‘Perhaps—that you are a beautiful girl with an exquisite body.’

She flushed. ‘Even if it was true, I’d be just one more on a long list,’ she said tautly. ‘As we both know. So please don’t

think that offering me meaningless flattery will make last night—what you did to me any more acceptable.’

‘I shall consider myself rebuked.’ He watched her for a moment. ‘But at least when you find another husband you will

have some experience of married life to take with you. Comfort yourself with that.’

‘You’re all heart,’ Emily said bitterly. ‘But, after due consideration, I think I shall prefer to remain single.’

She paused. ‘However, while we’re on the subject, I understand you are intending to remarry. Is—is that true’

‘Perfectly true.’

She leaned forward, her voice suddenly intense. ‘Then how can you possibly be here with me—like this What about the

woman you love I—I presume you do love her’

‘Yes,’ he returned coolly. ‘But she has a husband, just as I have a wife. And, as I cannot live with her as I wish, then you

make a charming substitute,carissima . After all, who better to share my bed at this juncture than the wife I have so cruelly

neglected in the past’

‘We have very different ideas on cruelty,’ Emily said cuttingly. ‘Won’t she care that you’ve decided to begin sleeping with

me—after all this time’

‘She knows that our marriage was solely a matter of convenience, certainly. But so was hers, and she is realistic enough

to understand that these arrangements have their obligations and their inevitable compromises.’ He gave her a level look.

‘For us, happiness is the future, not the past or even the present.’

‘That’s an incredibly cynical viewpoint.’ Emily lifted her chin. ‘I wouldn’t want to think of the man I loved having even

duty sex with another woman.’

‘Especially if duty also becomes a pleasure,mi amore ,’ he murmured, his mouth twisting. ‘Is that what you were going to

say’

‘No,’ she said. ‘Especially if I thought he was forcing himself on someone who didn’t want him.’

‘Do not let it trouble you, Emilia,’ he said softly. ‘I am sure a man that you loved would do none of these things. That you

would fill his heart to the exclusion of all others.’ He smiled at her. ‘But until you find this prince, you will continue to be

my wife. And—do your duty. As I shall do mine.’

‘You’re quite adamant, aren’t you’ she said bitterly. ‘There’s nothing I can say—nothing I can do to persuade you to

release me from this—unspeakable situation’

‘You exaggerate,cara ,’ Raf drawled. ‘You have spoken on the subject quite frankly. And it is hardly a life sentence,’ he

added with another faint shrug.

‘Although it already seems like it.’ She looked back at him, her green eyes clouded with resentment. ‘Does your future

wife realise,signore , how easily you break your promises And what a casual approach you have to commitment’

‘When I make my vows to her, Emilia, they will be kept.’ There was a sudden harshness in his voice. ‘And, when she is

all mine, I will belong to her as completely. There will be no other—ever. Now, do you have anything more you wish to

ask’

‘No,’ she said quietly, aware of an odd twist of the heart. ‘If she’s prepared to settle for your future fidelity, that’s her

concern.’After all, someone as glamorous and sexy as Valentina Colona would hardly see me as any kind of rival, even in

the short term .

She swallowed. ‘At the same time, I feel really sorry for her husband.’

‘There is no need, I assure you. He is content to settle for what he has.’

‘Then there’s nothing more to be said.’ Emily got to her feet. ‘And I’d be better employed checking on dinner.’

‘One duty at least that you can perform without reservations,carissima ,’ he said blandly and picked up his book.

In the kitchen she attempted to relieve her feelings by slamming the oven door and clanging saucepans together, but her

sense of mingled anger and bewilderment persisted unabated.

I can’t bear what’s happening to me, she thought swallowing. I have to get away from him. But how

Even without the snow, she couldn’t think of a place to go where he wouldn’t be able to trace her and follow. Financially

her options were limited too. Until her twenty-first birthday, she had no direct control over her affairs and she was

beginning to realise how deeply this could matter.

Up to now, admittedly, Rafaele had kept a light hand on the reins, as well as strictly maintaining his distance, so she’d

been able to stifle her resentment at the arbitrary way his dual role in her life had been imposed, in the sure knowledge

that it would soon be over.

Now, in the space of twenty-four hours, there were suddenly no more certainties and her countdown to freedom had

turned into a test of her endurance that she dared not fail.

Demanding the annulment had been a supreme mistake. What on earth had made her think she could challenge him like

that and get away with it

I was angry, she thought. It was as simple as that. And maybe I simply wanted to make him angry too.

But why That was the question that she could not answer.

Had she allowed the stories in the gossip columns to get to her at last Was this some kind of—personal backlash

because she found herself being air-brushed out of his life in this arbitrary way An impulsive but misjudged bid to remind

him that she still existed

Yet why should she even care—when she herself was supposed to be in love with Simon

None of it made any sense, she thought unhappily.

Yes, she’d been stupid to attract his attention so blatantly, when she could just have accepted his terms and faded quietly

out of the picture, which was, after all, what she’d always expected would happen.

Even so, she’d never dreamed her attempt to needle him would have such dire consequences. At most, she’d expected

an icy rebuke. Never this kind of retribution.

But then, what had she ever really known about Rafaele Di Salis, except that her father had trusted him, even though the

younger man had owed him some mysterious debt

And, apart from the stories in the scandal sheets, and in spite of the enforced intimacies of the previous night, Emily

thought, biting her lip, he was still pretty much of an enigma to her.

For instance, all she knew about his family background was that his parents were both dead, and that was information

that she’d gleaned solely from her father, who’d warned her that it was not something that Rafaele cared to speak about.

He’d also suggested that she shouldn’t ask questions, but wait until her husband chose to discuss the subject with her.

Only he never had.

But when we’ve been together before, we’ve barely had conversations, thought Emily, let alone discussions. Talking is a

sharing thing, and I must have known even then that it was dangerous to share. That I needed to keep him at arm’s length.

I wish I’d also realised how unwise it might be to make him angry.

For a moment it was as if her eyes blurred suddenly and she ran an impatient hand across them. She couldn’t afford any

sign of weakness. She’d tried rejection and she’d tried pleading with him, all to no avail. Now, all that was left to her was

survival.

I will get through this, she told herself, and I’ll walk away when it’s over without a backward glance. I have to.

The living room was empty when she went in to set the table but, just as she’d finished arranging the cutlery, Raf

appeared from the cellar with a handful of candles and a selection of pottery holders.

‘Oh.’ Emily hesitated as he put two of them on the table and lit them. ‘Isn’t that a little extreme After all, this is hardly

formal dining.’

‘You saw the lights flickering,si ’ There was faint impatience in his tone.

‘Well—yes.’So it hadn’t been her eyes, after all.

‘I think we may lose the power,’ he went on. ‘And I thought it would be safer to make other arrangements now rather

than later.’ He paused. ‘I would rather not test the cellar steps in the dark.’

‘No,’ she said with constraint. ‘Of course not.’

His brows lifted. ‘You don’t like candlelight’

She shrugged evasively. ‘I’d prefer it not to be a necessity.’

His glance was faintly mocking. ‘You favour romance over practicality,cara  How very sweet. I am encouraged.’

‘Actually,’ she said, ‘given the choice, I’d like you to fall down the cellar steps and break your neck,signore .’ And heard

his low laugh follow her back to the kitchen.

As a meal, it turned out better than she could have hoped. What the chicken lacked in flavour, it made up in succulence,

and the vegetables were perfectly cooked. And Emily discovered, to her great surprise, that she was ravenous.

‘There isn’t a great deal left for tomorrow,’ she said ruefully, eyeing the carcass.

He shrugged. ‘The bones will make soup. So do not worry, Emilia, and drink some more wine.’ He refilled her glass.

‘Believe me, I will not allow you to starve.’

There was a silence, then she said slowly, ‘Will you tell me something’

‘Perhaps,’ he said. ‘Ask me and I will decide.’

It didn’t sound particularly hopeful, but she ploughed on.

‘My father told me you’d offered to marry me because you owed him—big time.’ She swallowed. ‘I’m just curious to

know my—market value.’

There was a silence. Then, at last, ‘The debt is immeasurable,’ he said expressionlessly. ‘But it was the only repayment he