‘Open up, Daisy. We’re not finished with our discussion.’
‘We most certainly are,’ she snapped back, ‘and, anyway, I’m getting dressed.’
I folded my arms, tapping my foot as I counted to one hundred for form’s sake. ‘You must be dressed by now.’
‘You’re right—I am.’
She flung the door open and I blinked at her. She was dressed in faded jeans and a loose top that somehow made her look even more appealing, the clothes merely hinting at her lovely figure rather than highlighting it. Why had I never noticed how delicious she was, her curves in perfect proportion to the rest of her? Or that she had pale golden freckles across her nose and shoulders, like a spattering of gold dust, that matched the topaz of her eyes? Eyes, I saw now, that were glittering with both hurt and fury.
‘Why are you so angry?’ I asked, keeping my voice deliberately mild. ‘I thought you would be pleased.’
‘Pleased!’ She choked the word out. ‘Only you, Matteo, could ever think such a thing. You are so seriously deluded it’s almost funny—except, of course, it’s not. It’s not funny at all.’
She shouldered her way past me as I held on to my temper with effort. ‘I assure you, I am not deluded. My plan makes complete and utter sense, and I expect you will see that once you put this unwarranted emotional reaction aside.’
‘And you’re doing a really good job of convincing me.’ She shook her head in disbelief as she moved past me.
‘Where are you going?’ I demanded, for she had a bag over one shoulder and was now shoving her feet into sandals.
‘Back to Amanos.’
Fury bit deeper. This was most vexing. I’d expected her to be surprised, perhaps a bit taken aback, but not so scathingly incredulous and, worse, dismissive. No one dismissed me. Not any more.
‘Not until we’ve finished our discussion,’ I barked, but she didn’t even look at me as she responded.
‘We’ve finished it. I’m not making this marriage any more real than it already is.’
She turned to me, her expression fierce, and everyt
hing about her was vibrant and glittering.
‘And if you want to annul the marriage instead, that will be fine by me. Go ahead. Make my day. Like I said, I’ll give you the money back—every last euro.’
I stared at her, unimpressed by her display of histrionics, although I suspected in that moment she meant it. Clearly she needed to see sense. ‘I have to say you’re reacting very emotionally to what is an eminently sensible idea.’
Daisy threw her head back and laughed once—a wild, ragged sound that slipped under my sensibilities and touched me somehow.
‘Exactly,’ she said. ‘You’ve hit the nail on the head right there.’
It took me a few crucial seconds to decipher her meaning. ‘You dislike how sensible I’m being about marriage?’
‘About a real marriage.’
She dropped her bag to level me with a look that felt bleak and powerful in its honesty, like a fist to the gut. I did my best to remain unmoved.
‘I can just about live with myself, Matteo, for marrying you for convenience and money, even though it felt wrong. I was at such a low point when you asked me, with no friends, no money, nowhere to go and, worse, no hope. You were like a knight, riding in on your white charger, rescuing me. But you’re not a knight, and I don’t need to be rescued any more. I certainly don’t need your version of a “real” marriage and family, whatever you think that looks like—because I assure you it is not the same as the way I see it.’
‘How can you possibly know that?’ I demanded. I disliked the way she was twisting events—as if I’d somehow exploited her, when we both knew she’d been given a very good deal.
‘You’ve said enough to make me perfectly aware.’
‘I’ve barely said anything,’ I retorted, my temper rising and breaking through. ‘You haven’t listened.’
‘I’ve heard enough.’
‘Enough to presume you know what a real marriage between us would look like?’ I countered. ‘Why don’t you enlighten me, then?’
She shook her head slowly. ‘I don’t think you even know what a real marriage is.’