He was a sly, selfish, power-hungry and nasty old man who’d seen her as the single obstacle spoiling the glorious plans he had made for his only child.
In fact, she had been terrified of him from their first meeting.
She will manage my father as well you will see,’ he’d ordained. ‘She is my opposite in every way that matters and with her I am complete. ‘She manages me fine,’ he had murmured softly. She could still conjure up that smile now and feel the warmth of it fill her. Hostile? She had begun to get very nervous at that point, frightened even. ‘She doesn’t look strong enough to manage you, never mind a hostile father-in-law!’ ‘What the hell are you playing at, Nic?’ he’d muttered urgently. And the hushed conversation they’d shared before they’d gone in to the ceremony had confirmed his disbelief. She remembered how strangely he looked at her-as if he couldn’t believe the kind of woman his employer had decided to marry.
That was the first time she met Toni-when he stood witness for Nicolas. And she was shy-still shy even though he had just guided her through the most intimate journey a man and woman could share with each other.Ī week after that, they married in a registry office in London. He admitted that to her later-weeks later when his single-minded campaign to break through her shy reserve was successful-on a night when she lay in his arms on a bed of fine linen, their bodies damp, limbs tangled, his hand gently stroking her long hair across the pillow. She didn’t know then that the great Nicolas Santino stood there like that in silence because he was completely and utterly love-struck. His hair was so black that it reminded her of midnight, gleaming damply but not dripping wet like hers. The rain had caught him too, but only briefly, so the drops sat on the expensive silk of his jacket in small crystal globules that could easily be brushed away. He was tall and she wasn’t, the top of her head barely reaching his chin, so she had to tilt her head to look into his face. A couple of the entourage gathered around him shuffled their feet when they picked up on the sudden tension flowing through the air. A small silence developed while she held out the wallet and he ignored it. But he did not take his eyes off her face. It was sheer reaction that sent his hands up to pat his pockets. ‘Could y-you please check if it’s y-yours?’ ‘I th-think you dropped th-this when you bumped into me just n-now.’ Nervously she held out the wallet towards him. He took it all in seemingly without needing to remove his gaze from her blushing face. Her face was wet, not to mention her jean-clad legs and trainers. In a single thick plait, dripped water down her back.
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