bride would wear anything else.”
“I’m not your bride. I’m your decoy. And that only for a year. But as you said, a year can be a very long time. I can’t take the responsibility for something that…that priceless….” She pushed his hands away when they attempted to draw her back into his embrace. “For God’s sake, during the height of Castaldini’s economic problems, before King Ferruccio was crowned, people were saying that if only Castaldini sold half of those jewels, they’d settle the national debt!”
“Oh, I did propose the solution. But Castaldinians would rather sell their firstborns.”
“And you want me to wear a ring from a collection that revered, for any reason, let alone a charade? You expect me to walk around wearing a kingdom’s legacy on my finger?”
“That’s exactly what you’ll do as my bride. In fact, you yourself will be a new national treasure. Now that’s settled…”
“Nothing’s settled,” she spluttered, feeling she was in a whirlpool that dragged her deeper the more she struggled. “I won’t go to Castaldini. Now tell your pilot to turn back.”
A look came into his eyes that made her itch to hit him again. One of such patient reasonableness. “You knew you’d go to Castaldini sooner rather than later.”
“I thought you said I could say no to your blackmail.”
His nod was equanimity itself. “I said I wouldn’t expose your family if you said no. But if you say yes, I’ll make sure they will never be exposed.”
Ice crept into her veins again. “Wh-what do you mean?”
“They’ve committed too many crimes. It’s only a matter of time before someone finds out what I have. Marry me and I’ll do everything in my power to wipe their trail clean.”
“That’s just another roundabout blackmail.”
“Actually, it’s the opposite. Before, I said I’d hurt them if you say no. Now I’m saying I’ll help them if you say yes.”
Her head spun, her thoughts tangling like a ball of twine after a wicked cat had gotten to it. He was the feline to her own cornered mouse.
“I don’t see how that’s different. And even if I say yes…”
He caught her hands, pressed them into the heat of his steel muscles. “Say it, Gloria mia. Give me your consent.”
“Even if I do…”
“Do it. Say you’ll be my bride.”
She squirmed away from his intensity. “Okay, okay, yes. Dude, you’re pushy.”
He huffed mockingly. “Such eagerness. Such graciousness.”
“If you think I owe you either, you’re out of your zillion-IQ mind. And this doesn’t mean anything’s changed. Or that’s it’s not still under duress. It certainly doesn’t mean I consent to going to Castaldini now.”
He sat back, all tension leaving his body, a look of gratification sweeping across his breathtaking face. “Give me one reason why you’re so against going.”
She had to blink to clear the glaze of hypnosis from her eyes. “I can give you a volume as thick as your prenup.”
“One incontestable reason should suffice. And ‘because I don’t want to’ doesn’t count.”
“Of course what I want doesn’t count. You made that clear.”
His pout made her want to drag him down and sink her teeth into those lips that had just reinjected his addiction into her system. “I made it clear that I changed my mind, about many things. Be flexible and change yours.”
“I don’t owe you any flexibility, either. I let you steamroll me by letting me think this was going to be a short trip inside my country. I didn’t sign on to leave it.”
“As my bride, you will leave it. Though not forever.”
“Yeah, only for a one-year term. But I get to choose when that will begin.”
“I meant you’d always be free to return, to go anywhere. This time, you can go back to New York tomorrow if you wish.”
“I don’t want to leave New York in the first place. I can’t just hop to another country!”
“Why not? You do that all the time in your work.”
“Well, this isn’t work. And speaking of work, I can’t drop everything with no notice.”
“You’re on vacation, remember?”
“I have other things to do besides work.”
“Like what?” He met her fury with utmost serenity.
“Okay, I changed my mind, too. You’re not a bulldozer. You’re an ocean. You’d erode mountains. No, a tsunami. You uproot everything, subside only with everything submerged under your control.”
He chuckled. “As much as I enjoy having you dissect and detail my vices, food is becoming a pressing issue. I had the chef prepare favorite dishes from Castaldini for you to sample.”
Her hands itched to tweak that dimpled cheek, hard. “Don’t