That brought her up short. “Oh.”
“He is old and ill. Once he is dead, we will divorce. And you will be wealthier than your wildest dreams.”
“Still.” She swallowed. “It’s a bit ghoulish, isn’t it—waiting for someone to die?”
“We all die sometime, cara.”
“That’s…true.” Biting her lip, she paced the bedroom, then turned with a sudden intake of breath. “You will do nothing to cause his death?”
His eyes flashed. “You think I’m a murderer?”
She didn’t know what to think. None of this made sense. “I’m just trying to understand.”
“Don’t try.” He pushed the prenup toward her. “Just sign.”
“Wait. Please.” She pressed her fingers against her eyelids. Think, she ordered her brain. But everything he’d said, all his seductive evasions and cryptic demands, just jumbled together in her mind. Why would a wealthy, handsome prince want to marry her?
“What about me is so special that it’s worth thirty million dollars?” she asked. “And what does Alex have to do with it?”
He looked away, clenching his jaw. When he turned back to her, his sky-blue gaze was cold.
“I’ve made you a good offer. If you don’t like it, tell me to go to hell. Go back to your old life.”
A sudden rush of fear went through her. Go back to her old life? Wake Chloe up from her soft bed upstairs, and drag her back to their freezing, mouse-infested apartment?
“Or—” he pushed the prenuptial agreement toward her on the table, holding out a pen “—sign this and marry me.”
“But—”
“No more discussion. Make your choice.”
She stared at his outstretched pen.
She’d be a fool to sign this agreement. Without a lawyer to explain the legal jargon, for all she knew she’d be signing her life away. Marry a man she didn’t know? Run away with this darkly handsome prince to Italy? Be transformed from a desperate single mother to a powerful princess? Be so wealthy that her daughter, her granddaughter and her great-granddaughter would all be able to devote their lives to their own pursuit of happiness?
Slowly Lucy took the pen.
She’d be a fool not to sign it.
Her choice was simple. Either take this risk—or take Chloe back to their old life. One paycheck away from living out of Lucy’s car. And she’d just lost her job!
Thirty million dollars. A number beyond comprehension. But still, she hesitated.
“What about your needs?”
“My needs?”
“Your—needs,” she said, flushing. “I won’t share your bed.”
“Ah.” His sensual lips slid into a grin. “We’ll see.”
“No.” She gripped the pen in her hand. “I’d be a fool to love a man like you.”
“We’re not talking of love. I’ve taken many women to my bed, and never once experienced a broken heart. Just pleasure.”
Which was exactly why she had to make sure he never touched her. A playboy prince like Maximo might be able to seduce someone with just his body, but Lucy didn’t think she could keep her heart out of it. She didn’t think she could make love without falling in love.
And one broken heart had been enough. She had to protect herself for Chloe’s sake. She wanted to be a joyful, loving mother, not a depressed, empty shell of a woman.