Free The Twelve-Month Marriage Deal by Margaret Mayo Page B

marriage.’
    Elena hadn’t realised that Vidal was watching the changing emotions on her face and when her eyes met his, when she heard the earthy growl in his voice, she felt a flood of something she would rather not think about.
    ‘Well—what do you think of it?’ Vidal’s voice penetrated her thoughts.
    ‘It’s bigger than I expected.’
    He nodded. ‘I like space. I like room to move around.’
    It certainly looked as though he had that. ‘Do you entertain a lot?’
    ‘Not frequently,’ he answered with a shrug, ‘but I do host the occasional party. We must have one while you’re here. You could organise it if you like.’
    Elena threw him a quick glance of protest. ‘Aren’t you running away with yourself? You’re making it sound like a proper marriage.’ And it would never be that, not ever. Not even if their bodies joined in some magnificent play of hunger and greed. Which they undoubtedly would. Living together, sleeping together, it would be impossible not to share each other’s bodies as well.
    ‘Why shouldn’t it be?’ His lips quirked and surprising humour lightened his eyes. ‘What’s the point of being married and not enjoying ourselves?’
    ‘I didn’t think enjoying ourselves was the point of the exercise.’ Elena heard the caustic note in her voice and winced inwardly. If she wasn’t careful she would make matters worse.
    ‘It’s not too late to back out,’ Vidal warned, his eyes swiftly losing their softness, turning into savage slits of silver. ‘Maybe that’s what you were trying to tell me last night?’
    Elena shuddered as she felt the waves of his hostility wash over her. Unfortunately she needed to hold the candle to the devil. For that was what he was—a devil!
    ‘I won’t do that. I have no wish to let my parents down. I’m here to help them, not make matters worse.’She looked straight at him as she spoke, saw a mixture of impatience and arrogance cross his face.
    The next second he turned away. ‘Come, let me introduce you to the staff.’
    Indoors, in the vast entrance hall they were already lined up waiting to meet her. The housekeeper, his head cook, various maids, his secretary, his personal valet and finally the gardener and his assistant. Even the stable boys.
    It was an impressive line-up of staff and Elena could not believe that he needed so many. On the other hand it was a large house to keep and the gardens were vast so she guessed that they all had their duties.
    As she shook hands with each one in turn she was conscious of being studied as she had never been before. What would they think if they knew that theirs was a temporary marriage? Would they look at her with such respect then? Or would they talk and sneer behind her back?
    They must certainly be wondering why he had married her instead of Reina. Her sister would be wellknown to them. How tongues must have wagged when she’d reneged on their marriage. Not that it would bother Vidal. He would rise above it—as she must if she were to create the right impression.
    His housekeeper spoke. ‘Shall I take your new wife upstairs, Señor Marquez?’
    ‘Thank you, Marita, but I will do it myself.’
    Everyone silently disappeared and Vidal smiled at Elena. ‘I think you’ve created quite an impression. I’ve never seen such awe on their faces.’
    ‘I expect they were wondering what had happenedto Reina,’ she declared with a flash of her magnificent eyes. ‘And I think it was curiosity rather than awe.’ Although she privately thought that it was Vidal himself they feared. He was very much the lord and master.
    She followed him up the grand curved staircase to a room that was massively oversized. It had parquet flooring and a monster-sized bed and was decorated richly in shades of gold and ivory. Leading off it was a sitting room, which he said she could have for her own personal use, and through another door were two bathrooms, all gold and marble with monogrammed towels.
    There were two