LITMIR.BIZ

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and give her the payment in advance? All that garbage about needing the money straight away to send back home to her family, for her father who was struggling to keep his job. It smarted like a smack in the face. Not the thirty thousand dollars—he didn’t give a damn about that. If she had had the guts to ask him outright for the money he might well have given it to her. But the fact was that he, Vieri Romano, billionaire businessman, international tycoon, a man both revered and feared in the corporate world, had been taken for a fool. By a woman. Something he had sworn would never happen again.

      But Leah McDonald had caught him at a low point, when his defences had been down. And what had seemed like a good idea at the time, the ideal solution in fact, had now spectacularly backfired.

      He had been drinking in the club one evening, uncharacteristically feeling the need to drown his sorrows after the news he had received earlier that day. Leah had been his waitress. She had been attentive but discreet, just the way he liked his staff to be. On another night he might have made a mental note to congratulate the management on their staff training. But tonight, to his surprise, he found he just wanted to talk. And so he had, sharing a quiet booth and a bottle of Scotch, appropriately enough, with this bright-eyed Scottish woman. With her soothing encouragement he had told her about his godfather, the man who meant more to Vieri than anyone else in the world. The only person who meant anything to him. How he had received an email from the man that morning, confirming Vieri’s worst fears. His godfather was dying. It was just a matter of time.

      Had he left it there no harm would have been done. He would have gone home to continue his drinking and Leah would have pocketed a handsome tip, just another night and another guy offloading his troubles. Even if this time the guy was the boss. But something about her gentle voice had drawn him in, made him go further, and he had found himself telling her about the last time he had seen his godfather, the heart-to-heart they had had. How Alfonso had revealed to him what he had suspected at the time and now knew for sure, his dying wish. To see Vieri settled. With a wife. A family. The one thing Vieri had never had. Nor ever would have.

      And Leah’s response had been remarkably practical. If that was his godfather’s last wish then it had to be accomplished. It was Vieri’s duty. She had been quite adamant about it. If there were no genuine contenders for the role of fiancée, then he would have to find somebody, pay someone if necessary. Anything to make his godfather happy.

      And to Vieri’s surprise he found himself wondering if maybe this young woman was right. Maybe that was the solution. He had always made his godfather proud, he didn’t doubt that, but this was different. This was about happiness. Something that for all his wealth and success Vieri had never fully understood. But he did know that if there was any way of fulfilling his godfather’s dying wish, he would give it a go. Even if it meant a bit of subterfuge.

      And so, by the time he had savoured the last of the peaty whisky at the bottom of his glass, the deal had been struck. Leah needed money and he needed a fake fiancée. In return for a down payment of thirty thousand dollars, Leah would pretend to be engaged to him for a couple of months, or for as long as it took. At the time, his alcohol-soaked brain had thought it the ideal solution. A way of making his godfather happy that didn’t involve messy emotions. The potentially insoluble problem had suddenly shaped into something that he could control, something he understood better than anything else—a business deal.

      But that was then. No sooner had Vieri paid the money into Leah’s account than she had absconded. But, crucially, not before he had announced to his delighted godfather that he had taken his advice. That his wish had been granted and Vieri would be introducing him to his fiancée in the very near future.

      Now he was left with a problem. When security had alerted him that Leah was back he had made the short journey from his offices in Midtown Manhattan, determined to have it out with her, to make her honour the deal. But the defiant young woman perched on the seat before him wasn’t Leah McDonald and he was no closer to solving the infuriating situation.

      Or was he? Harper McDonald said she had no idea where Leah was and he believed her. But maybe she could help him in another way.

      Vieri coldly assessed the twin sister in front of him, his eyes narrowing as he waited for common sense to veto the crazy idea that had popped into his mind. Because it was crazy, wasn’t it?

      ‘So what do you intend to do?’ Harper’s anxious voice cut through his thoughts. ‘About Leah, I mean. Have you involved the police?’

      ‘Not yet. I prefer to deal with these things in my own way. For the time being at least.’ He drummed his fingers meaningfully on the desk.

      It had the desired effect. He saw her swallow hard, her imagination no doubt running away with her. Well, he wasn’t going to try and stop it. For the time being it would suit his purposes to let her fear him. The fact that he abhorred physical violence and had striven to eradicate any organised crime from his establishments was of no consequence.

      ‘Look, I can help you find her.’ Like a fish on a hook, Harper squirmed about, trying to come up with something that would appease him. ‘And I’ll pay the money back myself if I have to. All of it.’

      ‘And how exactly will you do that?’ Vieri regarded her coolly. ‘From what Leah tells me, your family are destitute.’

      He saw the flush creep up her neck. ‘She had no right to say such a thing!’

      ‘So it’s not true? Paying back thirty thousand dollars won’t be a problem?’

      ‘Well, of course it will a problem, the same as it would be for any normal family. But that doesn’t mean I won’t do it.’

      ‘Really?’

      ‘Yes, really.’ She pushed her hair away from her heated face. ‘I could work here, for example, for free, I mean.’

      ‘I think one McDonald sister working in this establishment was more than enough, thank you.’ Sarcasm scored his words.

      ‘Well, some other job, then. I’m practical and capable and a fast learner. I’ll do anything. I just need a bit of time and the chance to try and find Leah myself.’

      ‘Anything, you say?’

      ‘Yes.’ Sheer determination was written all over her pretty face.

      ‘In that case maybe there is something you could help me with.’ He deliberately held her gaze. ‘You could honour the commitment made by your sister.’

      ‘Yes, of course.’ She blinked, thick lashes sweeping low over those wide hazel eyes. ‘What is it?’

      A beat of silence hung in the air.

      ‘To become my fiancée.’

       CHAPTER TWO

      ‘YOUR FIANCÉE?’

      The word sounded just as ridiculous when choked from Harper’s closing throat as it had done uttered from Vieri’s now purposefully drawn lips.

      ‘Si, that is correct.’

      ‘You want me to marry you?’

      ‘No.’ He gave a harsh laugh. ‘I can assure you it won’t come to that.’

      ‘What, then? I don’t understand.’

      ‘Your sister and I made a deal. In return for a generous payment she agreed to play the part of my fiancée for a limited period of time. It’s really not that complicated.’

      Not to him maybe, or her loony sister. But Harper was certainly struggling with the concept. ‘But why? And what does limited mean?’

      ‘In answer to your first question, in order to please my godfather. And as for the second, it will just be for a matter of weeks, months at the most.’ He paused and took a breath. ‘My godfather is dying.’

      ‘Oh.’ Harper could see the pain in Vieri’s eyes. ‘I’m so sorry.’

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