The Irresistible Royal Read online

  Was the ugly sneer on her mother’s mouth borne of jealousy?

  Suddenly, it didn’t even matter there were still faceless security guards who watched this exchange. ‘Part of me was happy when I received your invitation asking me to come to England to get to know you, even though I hardly dared believe you were genuinely reaching out to me.’ She clutched the edges of the throw rug firmly together to cover her nudity as she took a few agitated steps around the room. ‘Dad told me you were manipulative and selfish.’ He’d warned her there was probably some ulterior motive and said she shouldn’t get her hopes up. ‘He said unless you’d changed—which he doubted—I wouldn’t like the person I met, but he still wanted me to give you a chance to prove him wrong in case you regretted all the years you’d missed.’ She came to an abrupt standstill.

  ‘Well, bravo for good old Luis,’ Lidia sneered, ‘although he’s not as clever as he thinks.’

  ‘Why did you invite me?’

  ‘I thought you might be able to land me a wealthy son-in-law to help bail Barry out of debt.’

  ‘Unbelievable,’ Chloe enunciated quietly.

  ‘Of course, that would’ve taken time.’ Her mother stalked to the armchair and sat down. ‘When you and Marco were caught on camera, I thought he might cough up to keep the whole thing quiet.’

  ‘More fool you then, because I could’ve told you the second I met him that Marco isn’t a man who’d ever yield to blackmail.’ She shook her head and looked at her mother in disgust. ‘How deeply is Barry in debt?’

  Chloe reeled as Lidia named a massive amount of money as if it were loose change. ‘Barry’s facing bankruptcy.’

  Chloe would never have guessed it because this huge mansion and all the staff they employed gave the impression of an obscene level of wealth.

  ‘You’re young and beautiful. Marco turned me down about a month ago, so I thought he might go for you.’

  ‘You? You tried to seduce him?’ She was shocked rigid. It had been jealousy on her mother’s face.

  ‘A woman doesn’t have as many husbands as I’ve had, darling, and not know how to turn a man on in bed.’ She smoothed one bejewelled hand over her coiffed hair. ‘Marco should’ve considered my experience instead of opting for a younger, obviously less worldly model. Watching your performance tonight, you’ve got a lot to learn about pleasing a man. You can’t simply spread your legs and take it, you—’

  ‘That’s enough.’ Chloe went to cover her ears with her hands, then realised she couldn’t because the rug would fall down. ‘I’m leaving. Don’t try to contact me again. I don’t ever want to see you. I never want to hear from you.’ She started gathering her clothes.

  ‘Where do you think you’re going?’

  ‘I’m going to find Marco. I’m going to make him listen to the truth before I get arrested for blackmail.’ Among other charges.

  ‘Really? Is that what you hope to achieve, or are you giving yourself an excuse to see him so you can offer yourself to him again for another quick shagging before he forgets all about you and moves to his next conquest? Don’t you have any pride?’

  Being careful not to dislodge the rug, she crossed her arms over her chest in a self-protective action. ‘I’m going to make sure he doesn’t press charges against me. He’s more than welcome to press charges against you!’

  ‘You poor, pathetic, deluded little innocent. I believe you think you’ve embarked on an affair with the love of your life,’ Lidia laughed scornfully. ‘Marco Esposito has had more women than you’ve had glasses of your father’s famous pinot noir. Lover boy didn’t learn to please a woman to such a magnificent extent by working out with his hand, darling.’

  ‘You’re utterly filthy.’

  ‘I’m realistic. If you think you can weave any romantic fantasies about this prince of Ralvinia, think again.’

  No, she didn’t have any romantic fantasies. In deciding to make love with Marco, Chloe had accepted that their time together had a faster expiry date than a bottle of milk. A fist clenched around her heart as she recalled the way he’d looked at her with such passion during their lovemaking, then with utter contempt after Lidia had arrived on the scene.

  Was there any point in chasing after him to convince him of her innocence?

  Provided her mother handed over the security footage, Marco would surely want this whole incident to go away and not wish to press charges.

  Lidia continued her nasty tirade, ‘You were willing and he used you for his own sexual gratification. That’s what men do.’

  That anybody could take such malicious pleasure in having ruined something that’d been so good was completely unbelievable. That any mother could do such a thing to her daughter...

  ‘Smart women know that.’ The smug ranting continued. ‘Smart women turn the situation to their own advantage. I know how to work a man’s sexual urges. I know how important it is to hook them, reel them in and get whatever I can from a relationship before it goes belly up.’

  Chloe had heard more than enough. ‘I’m going to see Marco, pack my bags, then I’m going home. I can’t stand the thought of being in your presence for another single second.’

  ‘Really?’ The way Lidia uttered the two syllables was enough to make Chloe stop in her tracks. ‘Your father’s expecting you to be away for six weeks, darling. How are you going to explain your sudden reappearance at home? Will you admit you’ve run home after you spread your legs on the first night for the first guy you came across and had a sleazy one-night stand?’

  Chloe couldn’t stop a shudder of revulsion from coursing through her. That she could be in any way related to this disgustingly crass woman sickened her. Marco’s beautiful lovemaking now felt dirty and cheap. She would never forgive her mother for what she’d done.

  ‘You love your daddy.’ Lidia placed one index finger on her chin in a mock gesture of thoughtfulness. ‘Let’s see, do you really want him to be disappointed, even disgusted with your loose behaviour, or should you stay here so we can figure out how to net the prize fish you just hooked? I’m sure your father would be quite chuffed if you came home from this trip engaged to one of the wealthiest men in Europe—and a prince, no less.’

  ‘Unlike you, Dad loves me. He’d be outraged to know the things you’re saying and the way you’re behaving, and he wouldn’t give a hoot about my fiancé’s bank balance if I actually loved him.’

  ‘Well,’ she said on a huff of breath. ‘He might not want a mega-rich royal banker in the family, but I do. So let me put this to you another way. How do you think your father would feel if the little girl he thinks is so pure and moral is suddenly an online porn star with tens of thousands of hits on her sexual interlude?’

  It became hard to stand when her knees wanted to buckle beneath her. Each breath hurt as it dragged down into her lungs. ‘Even you wouldn’t sink so low.’

  ‘Desperate people do desperate things, darling, and I’m desperate to save Barry’s business empire. Look around you,’ she said with a sweeping gesture of her hand. ‘I rather enjoy playing lady of this palatial manor and I’m not ready to give it up until someone comes along who can offer me all this and more.’

  That her marriage to Barry was a means to an end was entirely believable. But surely her mother was bluffing about putting the visual images up online? ‘You’re going to give the tape to Marco.’

  ‘Maybe I’ll just give him the original and keep copies.’

  Copies that would find their way online and possibly into some private collections. No. The ramifications for her reputation and her career would be disastrous. The negative publicity that would ensue because of this very high-profile case she was about to bring to trial wouldn’t only impact on her, but could damn the chances of each client she represented in the class action. The plaintiffs were so deserving, the case so important to win, and she and her colleagues had invested too much time and effort in this case for Lidia’s underhanded actions to derail it.

  Looking at her mother
with the intimidating expression she generally reserved for her cross-examinations in the courtroom, Chloe warned, ‘Marco was serious, you know. I wouldn’t mess with him because he doesn’t strike me as the type to make idle threats.’

  ‘Hm. I could always leave his fabulous body visible and have his face blackened out. I could put your features up online, making you clearly recognisable. Nobody need know it was him and he’d hardly put his own name to the tape, would he?’

  ‘If you ever used footage against me, I promise I’d sue your arse and you’d spend the rest of your life paying me off.’

  ‘You’re bluffing. I know you wouldn’t want the attention. Besides, your legal career would be well and truly over once the footage went viral.’

  Chloe’s stomach cramped. Her mother was completely serious. ‘What could you possibly hope to achieve by exposing me in that way?’

  ‘I want you to stay here.’

  The woman was mad. ‘Why? Why when I hate you so much and it’s clear we can never be close?’

  ‘Oh God.’ Her tone was aghast. ‘I don’t want to be close to you, Chloe. I don’t even want to be reminded I have a daughter, but I do have my reasons for wanting you to stay. Tonight might still have provided me with a way to ensure Marco becomes Barry’s financial saviour. All you need to know is that if I succeed, I guarantee you’ll be thanking me. If not, then you return to Wild Horse Valley and I promise you’ll never hear from me again. Wild horses really wouldn’t drag me back there.’ She laughed at her own stupid joke.

  ‘I’m not staying. You’ve done enough damage. I won’t be here to be used as a pawn in your manipulative game.’

  Lidia ran the tips of her manicured nails along the back of an antique chair. A malicious smile curved her thin lips and the beautiful, charming society hostess was nowhere to be seen. ‘I know your father’s recovering from a heart attack.’ Her tone was casual, but the look in her eyes was all threat. ‘I’ve been told he’s under a lot of stress with the expansion he’s doing at the resort.’ She sighed then crossed one leg over the other as she leaned back. ‘Imagine the strain of knowing about what’s happened to you on your little trip away from him. Imagine how bad it would be for his business if it gets out his daughter’s become a porn star. Would you really want to be responsible for the stress it’d put on his heart? Why, a little extra stress might kill him.’

  Chloe sank into the chair opposite her mother because her legs simply refused to support her anymore.

  ‘You never cared for him at all, did you?’ Her father had told her as much. Luis had been physically attracted to a woman who’d hidden her true colours from him very effectively when he’d first met her but he’d never intended for it to be anything more than a casual affair. When Luis discovered Lidia had fallen pregnant, he’d married her and tried to make the marriage work.

  ‘That’s not true,’ Lidia denied. ‘There was a certain attraction there. His status as a brilliant winemaker brought me plenty of media interest and a more comfortable lifestyle than I was living before I met him. It could’ve been very glamorous too, if Luis hadn’t shunned that side of it. Foolish man still refuses to sell his wine for what it’s really worth.’

  What she said was true. Her father had always wanted to make great wine for the masses and refused to price it beyond the means of the average person’s budget. He could be far wealthier than he was, but wealth had never mattered to him. ‘You’re so shallow. Nobody could hate their mother as much as I hate you.’ Chloe meant every word.

  Devastated, she stood on shaking legs. There was no point in holding up the throw rug to protect her nudity while she got herself dressed. As she struggled to get back into the tight red dress, she told herself that anyone who was still watching through the security camera had already seen all there was to see and been voyeur to the most intimate moments in her life.

  What should’ve remained a precious memory had been reduced to a sleazy, shameful incident. All she wanted to do was go home to the safe familiarity of the life she knew and to her father’s love. Luis Salvatore wouldn’t judge her, he’d know exactly where the blame lay.

  ‘Such a cow,’ she muttered.

  ‘You can think of me any way you like, darling, but at least I’m your biological parent,’ Lidia announced with malice. ‘The only biological parent you’ve ever known.’

  For several seconds, Chloe forgot to breathe. Through the fog of shock clouding her brain, she relived a fairground ride where a mechanical arm had raised her and her girlfriends to a giddying height before letting them plummet almost to the ground. Her stomach was back at the fairground, left behind as the rest of her plummeted to earth—this time with a crash.

  The only biological parent you’ve ever known.

  The stark words echoed through her. As much as her first instinct was to cover her ears and run from the room, she had to know.

  ‘Are you telling me Dad isn’t really my father?’

  Lidia laughed. ‘That’s right, sweetie.’

  Closing her eyes, she focused on her breathing to try to steady her heartbeat. Her hands closed so tightly into fists at her sides that her nails dug into her palms. A seething cauldron of emotion swirled through her brain.

  All her life, she’d lived with a lie.

  The father who’d raised her, the man she loved as her father... ‘Does—Dad—know?’

  ‘Hardly. I doubt he would’ve married me had he known and he certainly wouldn’t have kept you when I walked out on you both.’ She shrugged. ‘As it turned out, the marriage was a dud anyway, considering we had very different aspirations.’

  Oh God. How was she going to face her dad again, knowing this when he didn’t? Lidia might’ve been able to keep it a secret from him, but Chloe couldn’t live with herself if she continued the lie. ‘Do you even know who my real father is?’ she forced out.

  ‘Well, there was a Swedish ski instructor and an Irish barman at around the same time. Both of them had blue eyes, but then, so do I. Given your black hair, I’d say the Irish barman’s the winner.’

  ‘You’re the most reprehensible person I’ve ever met.’ Was Lidia even sane?

  ‘Yes, well, you’ve obviously led a fairly sheltered life,’ she dismissed. ‘My point is that all these years Luis has raised you as his daughter. Do you really think after all he’s done for you, he deserves to have you bring shame on him like this?’

  Chloe raised her hands and pressed her fingertips against the dull ache pulsing through her temples. Tension gripped her in a vice-like hold, spread over her head and all the way down her neck. ‘Luis is my dad in every way that counts.’

  ‘So you won’t want to disappoint him.’

  Would you really want to be responsible for any extra stress on his heart?

  Lidia’s words haunted her. The stress of having to deal with a multitude of issues that’d arisen in the construction of new guesthouses he’d designed had triggered a coronary arrest. Although the doctor had assured her Luis was doing very well, Chloe wouldn’t be responsible for placing her father’s health in jeopardy. Any stress wouldn’t be good for him.

  It was all well and good for Marco to storm out and insist Lidia bring him all the copies of the video footage. He had the wealth and power to fight Lidia. Chloe had the legal knowledge, but Lidia was using emotional blackmail against her.

  As much as she didn’t want to cave in to blackmail, she also didn’t want to have the sex tape on the internet for public viewing. On top of the personal mortification, it would be stressful for her dad and terrible for her career—not to mention disastrous for the current plaintiffs she was representing.

  Trying to size up the situation without becoming emotional, Chloe said, ‘I’ll stay for the agreed time on one condition.’

  One blonde eyebrow arched at the temerity of Chloe making a demand. ‘And that is?’

  ‘I’ll draw up a legally binding document and you’ll sign it to guarantee all the footage is destroyed.’

  Lid
ia raised her hand and looked distractedly at her fingernails. ‘Provided there’s a clause in the document guaranteeing you’ll stay here for six weeks, I suppose I can do that.’

  The woman’s signature on a legal document probably didn’t amount to much, but if Chloe stayed, she could at least try to find a way to make sure any copies were destroyed. She didn’t trust this hideous woman not to hold the CCTV footage over her head for the rest of her life. ‘I have two more conditions.’

  ‘You said one. You’re hardly in the position to set the terms, Chloe.’

  ‘Tough.’ She folded her arms across her chest and glared at her mother. ‘No more trying to set me up with anyone.’

  A little curve tugged at Lidia’s lips before she controlled it. ‘No problem.’

  That was too easy. Why did Chloe feel as though the stipulation played into Lidia’s hands? She dismissed the notion as ridiculous and pressed on, ‘You keep out of my way. This is a huge place. I don’t want to see you at all.’

  ‘Agreed, darling. You can even move into the cottage that was set aside historically for the dowager duchess. I can have a maid pack your things and show you down there tonight,’ Lidia said with a self-satisfied smile. ‘To be perfectly honest, I’d rather not have an adult daughter around the mansion—you’re a terrible reminder of my age.’ She tossed her head in dismissal. ‘Now, we’re done here. I have a party to return to.’

  The woman was surely the most heartless cow on the planet. ‘Does Barry know about this plan to set Marco up?’

  Lidia stopped on her way toward the door and turned around to face Chloe with narrowed eyes. ‘He knows I was thinking to match you with someone wealthy who could help financially.’ She pointed a finger at Chloe. ‘He doesn’t know about what’s happened in here tonight, but if you’re thinking of trying to hold this over me, don’t bother. I’ll tell Barry what’s happened. He’s a businessman, darling, and he’ll thank me for what I’ve done so far. In his world the end justifies the means, and if luck’s on my side, there’ll still be a way to exploit Prince Marco.’