Total pages in book: 159
Estimated words: 157450 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 787(@200wpm)___ 630(@250wpm)___ 525(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 157450 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 787(@200wpm)___ 630(@250wpm)___ 525(@300wpm)
Alessia is confused. This is not what happened. Does he know that her mother helped her? Is her mother okay? What did her mother say?
He tightens his hold on her arm. “You should be ashamed of yourself. But we’ll deal with that later. Right now let’s go and collect your things, I’m taking you home.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
I storm down Cheyne Walk.
Fuck it. I need a drink to help me calm the fuck down. I snatch a look at my watch. Alessia’s not expecting me back until seven. I have time. I do an about-face and head back to Oakley Street, with the Coopers Arms firmly set in my mind as my destination.
The wind whips around me, but I don’t feel the cold. I’m too angry. I cannot believe Caroline’s reaction.
Or maybe I knew it would be bad.
Did I? That bad? Throwing-me-out-of-the-house bad?
Bollocks to that.
Usually the only person who makes me this angry is my mother.
Both of them are appalling snobs.
As am I.
Fuck.
I’m not! No.
What will Caroline say when I tell her I want to marry Alessia?
What will my mother say?
Marry someone with money, darling.
Kit chose wisely.
My dark mood grows darker still as I stomp into the night.
* * *
“I am not going with you,” Alessia says, her voice shaking and betraying her fear.
“Let’s discuss this outside.” Anatoli tightens his grip on her elbow to the point of pain.
“No!” Alessia cries, and she wrenches her arm free from his hold. “Don’t touch me!”
He glares at her, his neck reddening and his eyes narrowing to icy pinpricks. “Why are you behaving like this?”
“You know why.”
His mouth presses into a hard line. “I came a long way for you. I am not leaving without you. You are promised to me by your father. Why are you dishonoring him?”
Alessia flushes.
“Is it the man?”
“Man?”
Alessia’s heart beats faster. Does he know about Maxim?
“If it is, I’ll kill him.”
“There is no man,” she whispers quickly, her fear spiraling out of control, sucking her down deeper into her despair.
“That friend of your mother. She sent an e-mail. She said there was a man.”
Alessia is dumbfounded.
Magda?
Anatoli takes the basket from her and clasps her arm once more at the elbow.
“Let’s go,” he says, and he leads her toward the automatic door, dumping the shopping basket on the nearby stack. Alessia, still reeling from his sudden appearance, allows him to lead her out into the street.
* * *
I stand at the bar nursing a Jameson. The amber liquid sears my throat, but it calms the violent storm as it pools in my stomach.
I’m a fool.
A priapic fool.
I knew that bedding Caroline was going to come back and bite me on the arse.
Fuck.
She’s right, though. I’ve never thought beyond my dick. Until Alessia. And then that all changed.
Changed for the better.
I’ve never met anyone like her, someone possessing nothing—except her talent, her resourcefulness, and her beautiful face. I wonder what I would have made of my life if I’d been born in lowlier circumstances. Maybe I’d be a struggling musician—if I’d even learned to play. Shit. There’s so much that I take for granted. I’ve been coasting through my life, everything handed to me on a plate, nothing affecting me and doing exactly as I pleased. Now I have to work for a living, and several hundred people depend on me and my decisions. It’s a daunting task and a huge responsibility that I have to accept if I want to maintain my lifestyle.
In the midst of this turmoil, I found Alessia, and in an indecently short time I’ve come to care for her more than I’ve ever cared for anyone. More than I’ve ever cared for myself. I love her, and she loves me and cares for me. She’s a rare gift, a wonderful woman who needs me. And I need her. She’s a woman who makes me step up my game.
A woman who makes me want to be a better man.
Isn’t that what one wishes for in a life partner?
And then there’s Caroline. As I stare despondently into my glass, I have to admit that I hate arguing with Caroline. She is my best friend. She has been forever. My world feels out of kilter if we’re at loggerheads. It happened occasionally, when Kit was here to mediate, but she’s never thrown me out of the house before.
What’s worse is that I had meant to ask for her help sorting out Alessia’s legal status in the UK. Caroline’s father is a senior director in the Home Office. If anyone can help, he can.
But that’s out of the question for the moment.
I drain my glass. Caroline will come around.
I hope she’ll come around.
I slam the glass on the counter and nod to the barman. It’s 7:15, it’s time to go. I need to get back to my girl.