Livid eyes lit on her face. ‘Be very careful what you say next, Lotte.’
Her heart dipped lower. ‘Why? You’ve built a monument of self-pity to yourself and fortified it with a self-righteous fortress.’ She shook her head. ‘I’m thinking I’m wasting my time attempting to get through to you.’
‘Melodramatics aren’t quite necessary, Lotte.’
‘Oh, screw you, Valenti,’ she hissed. ‘I will have my say. You won’t get to throw me out this time before I have.’
His head jerked back, a haughty motion primed to remind her of his status and power. ‘I’m your guardian. I know what’s best for you. Don’t blow what we did out of proportion.’ His eyes flicked to the phone, disdain flickering over his breathtaking features. ‘It’s borderline infatuation based on heightened emotion and enforced proximity and I daresay a level of childish defiance on your part. I’m saving you embarrassment and undue distress in the long run.’
‘God, what is it about this place that makes you repeatedly reject me?’ she muttered, despair clawing her soul.
He frowned. ‘What?’
She shook her head. ‘You should finish the job you started last time I was here, step over here and pat me on the head, maybe ruffle my hair while you’re at it. Because I’m a simple child who needs placating, aren’t I? Who played at being grown up but isn’t quite up to your standard of sophistication? Or is it somethingelse? You’re too busy being a martyr? Is that what I’m dealing with here?’
Silver eyes narrowed. ‘Watch it,litla.’
Misery and fury mixed into a lethal cocktail. ‘You’ve lost the right to call me that. And why should I watch it? Aren’t we speaking plainly?’
‘Plain speaking, sure. But impertinence will get you—’
‘What? Another spanking?’
Electrified silence thrummed between them after that terribly unwise question. She wouldn’t have believed he could get any more rigid, but it happened right before her eyes.
Had she not known better, she would’ve toyed with the idea that Valenti didn’t want to move for fear of what would happen. Hell,shedidn’t want to move. Because the way her heart was hammering, the reminder of everything that had happened after he spanked her, blazed like the showiest Times Square billboard through her mind.
After an eternity, he finally moved, stalking closer.
She tilted her head to meet his gaze and almost wished she hadn’t. His eyes were mercury lakes, intent on swallowing her whole.
‘You’re drawing ever closer to one of those fires I warned you about.’
‘Am I? Then I think I’ll go for broke, shall I? Since you’ve been painstakingly avoiding me, you won’t know that I’ve been busy this past week. Amongst other things, I had my lawyer look at the terms of the guardianship.’
Displeasure marched like angry little soldiers across his face. ‘You have a lawyer?’ he said icily.
‘Oh yes, I’ve learned to take many pages from your book, approach things clinically. As you probably know, and it came as a pleasant surprise to me, it states on page eleven of the guardianship contract that I have options. I guess, I shouldthank you for not making the whole thing entirely draconian and in your favour.’ She pinned on a bright smile, one that didn’t sway him a bit if the darkening of his features was a clue.
‘Options?’ he bit out.
‘Hmm. Specifically, one way to free myself of this whole guardian-ward melodrama is if I simply…get married.’
She looked back into the grand ballroom, not bothering to keep the wistful expression off her face. She wanted him to see it, to know deep in his soul how his rejection hurt. ‘Good old-fashioned marriage,’ she mused with a fake smile. ‘Once again to the rescue.’
He exhaled harshly, came within a whisker of losing control. But being the great Prince Valenti Domene, he recalibrated with infuriating ease, his face smoothing out as if the infinitesimal faltering hadn’t happened.
But the bleak fury on his face, and the hand snapping out to grip her hip told a different story.
‘If this is a joke it isn’t funny at all—’
‘Who says it’s a joke? Do you know how many marriage proposals I receive on a daily basis? Especially since I went super viral?’
His Adam’s apple moved, his expression tight with dire warning. ‘It also says you need my approval for any such marriage to take place.’
‘Approval yes, but it doesn’t say it has to be written.’ She shrugged. ‘So really, who’s to say I don’t have my dear old guardian’s wholehearted blessing when I hop on a plane to Vegas and find an Elvis impersonator to do the deed, then present you with a fait accompli?’
‘I’d advise you not to waste your time trying. You won’t get anywhere near a wedding chapel. Not while I still draw breath.’
