Powerful Persuasion. Margaret Mayo

be watching, they’ll be judging, they’ll be—’

      ‘They’ll adore you,’ he told her firmly.

      She shook her head. ‘You’re the eldest; you’ve kept them waiting; I shall have a lot to live up to. They will expect someone special after all these years.’

      ‘You are special,’ he told her.

      ‘But not special in the way they’ll be thinking,’ she insisted. Only special because he had selected her for the part! she thought

      ‘You’re being ridiculous,’ he grated, impatient now. ‘I will be at your side; you need never feel that you are on your own.’

      Of course he would be at her side—he would be watching her like a hawk, making sure that she did not let him down. She pushed him away from her and her eyes shot sparks of fire. ‘If it gets too much and I fail, then don’t blame me.’

      ‘You will not let me down, Celena.’ He was as imperious as his great-grandmother at that moment, and it was easy to see from where he had got his strength and the supreme confidence that whatever he wanted he could have.

      The meal was every bit as bad as Celena had expected. Giacoma did not put in an appearance, but Filippo and Paolo, Luc’s brothers, and Gabriella, his sister, all swamped her with questions. Their respective spouses were present too and all eyes were on her. Celena felt as though she was being put through a third degree.

      ‘How did you meet Luciano?’ asked Gabriella.

      ‘How long have you known each other?’ questioned Filippo.

      ‘How soon do you plan to get married?’ enquired Paolo.

      ‘Do you work?’

      ‘Do you have brothers and sisters?’

      ‘What do your parents think of Luciano?’

      And so it went on and on until Celena’s head was in a whirl and she could neither eat nor drink nor answer any more questions.

      Luciano put up his hand. ‘I think that’s enough,’ he said in his most authoritative voice. There’ll be plenty of time to talk to Celena.’

      ‘Of course,’ said Gabriella sympathetically. ‘We must be confusing you. It’s just that we’ve waiting so long for Luciano to announce his intention of getting married. We can see now why he took his time. You’re very beautiful, Celena. Your engagement party is going to be the biggest social occasion of the year. Simply everyone is coming.’

      Celena’s heart slammed against her ribcage and she looked swiftly and accusingly at Luciano. What engagement party? her eyes flashed. ‘I think we ought to talk,’ she grated under her breath.

      ‘Later,’ he muttered.

      ‘Now!’ she insisted.

      He turned to his family and smiled. ‘I’m afraid Celena has developed a headache. Will you excuse us?’

      He took her outside into a walled courtyard that was lit by coach lamps set into the walls. She turned on him viciously. ‘Something else you conveniently forgot to tell me?’

      He shrugged, spreading his hands in a typical Latin gesture. ‘It’s nothing.’

      ‘We’re getting engaged and you say it’s nothing,’ she accused him furiously. ‘You strung me along, knowing I wouldn’t agree. God, I hate you. How could you do this to me? When would you have told me about our engagement? An hour beforehand?’ She shook her head in anger and bewilderment. ‘I can’t take it in; it’s unbelievable.’ And as another, even darker thought struck her she said, ‘Don’t tell me you’ve fixed a date for the wedding as well?’

      He shook his head emphatically. ‘I wouldn’t do that, Celena.’

      ‘Wouldn’t you?’ Her eyebrows rose in furious disdain. ‘I wouldn’t put anything past you. My goodness, is it really so important?’

      ‘To me it is,’ he answered.

      ‘Because you love your great-grandmamma.’

      ‘That is right.’

      She admired him for it but even so…Her blood boiled. ‘So much that you’d lie, that you’d pluck a strange girl off the street and pretend she is the love of your life?’ Again she shook her head. ‘I can’t believe any of this. It’s like a nightmare; I hope it is one. I hope I’m going to wake up and find myself back home, back in my old job, never having heard the name Luciano Segurini.’ She turned away, walking over the old flagstones which had been worn smooth by countless footsteps before hers. She kicked at a loose pebble. ‘I hate you, Luciano.’

      ‘I didn’t pluck you off the streets, Celena,’ he said, and there was an edge of anger to his voice too. ‘I chose you deliberately.’

      ‘Because I resemble Simone?’ she grated, not even looking at him.

      He gave an exasperated sigh. ‘It was one of the reasons.’

      She glanced at him then, scornfully. ‘When did you first see me and realise that I looked like your exlover?’

      ‘At an advertising convention in Birmingham.’

      Her fine brows shot up. ‘That was over six months ago. You were going out with Simone then.’

      ‘I know.’

      But it hadn’t stopped him looking at other girls! ‘And so, when your relationship with Simone ended, you immediately thought of me—is that what you’re saying?’ she asked crisply. It sounded like a whole pack of lies.

      Luciano nodded.

      ‘I must have made quite an impression,’ she returned drily.

      ‘It wasn’t the only time I saw you—or heard of you,’ he confessed. ‘Clayton Smythe is a personal friend of mine.’

      Her boss at Hillier and Jones! She looked at Luciano now in surprise. ‘He never said, not even when I put in my notice. Was he aware of your plans?’

      ‘Only that I wanted you to work for me,’ he told her.

      Thank goodness for that, she thought It was bad enough being duped into all of this without someone else knowing about it before her.

      ‘I think you’re a swine,’ she said furiously.

      ‘But you won’t let me down.’ It was a statement of fact, a warning, and his eyes glittered dangerously. He was being very calm but all hell would break loose if she dared to refuse.

      Celena’s chin lifted. ‘I’m in a dilemma, aren’t I? You’ve cornered me. I either tell everyone what a bastard you are and hurt your precious great-grandmamma or I go along with it. There is no other choice.’ And the trouble was that she already liked Giacoma; she did not want to hurt this grand old lady. ‘The point is, Luc, how long are you expecting me to keep up this pretence?’

      ‘Only until after the engagement party,’ he assured her.

      Could she believe him? He had not once told her the whole story; first it had been just a job, then would she please pretend to be his girlfriend, now she was expected to agree to becoming his fiancee. And what next? He had denied the marriage bit but could it be what he had in mind? Would she do herself a great disservice if she carried on with this play-acting? Would she end up in his bed, bearing his children? The thought was too horrifying to contemplate.

      ‘How can I trust you?’ she asked, grey eyes still fierce. ‘You’ve already forced me into coming here—maybe not physically, but with clever words and subtle persuasion.’

      ‘Forced you, Celena?’ he asked, black brows rising, tone brusque. ‘It was your decision—yours alone. Are you suggesting that you are easily led?’

      She let her breath out in an angry hiss. ‘I can’t win with you, can