“Oh, but I can be so very, very annoying,” I say sweetly. “And you’re not the only one who is competitive.”
He puts a hand on the doorjamb. “Anyone can be competitive. Not everyone can win.”
“You could be the worst man in the world, and I wouldn’tdivorce you,” I say. I wouldn’t mind if he divorced me, though.
“What a ringing endorsement,” he says. “You’re not my choice of wife, either, but I’m not going to pull that trigger.”
I narrow my eyes. “You’re not getting full control of Mather & Wilde.”
“Neither are you,” he says, and nods toward the room. “This is yours.”
“What, we’re not sharing a bedroom?” I ask, and give him my most insincere smile.
Rafe’s expression doesn’t change. He looks at me like I’m a burden, an insect, something in his way. It’s many things, that expression, but it’s not indifference.
And I can work with that.
“I have things to do,” he says. “I’ll bring up your bag and leave it by the landing.”
“So that’s a no.” I make a show of looking the door over. “Is there a lock on here?”
“Yes. There is one on my door too. No need to unpack those poisons of yours,” he says.
I don’t know the last time I spoke to someone like this. This intense back and forth, giving as good as you get.
“I want to start working on changes for Mather & Wilde tomorrow,” I tell him. “I know you have your team on it, but I have ideas too. The contract stipulated that I’ll have input.”
I have so many suggestions, but my uncle always shut them down. He ruled the company with an iron fist and clashed with me so many times that he eventually stopped listening and I stopped trying.
“I’m busy tomorrow,” Rafe says.
I stare at him.
“This is important,” I say. “We have to get the ball rolling. Wefinallyhave the majority stake, and it’s time to draw up schedules for the next spring collection. For the?—”
“Paige,” he says, and there’s a heavy note of disapprovalin his voice. “Mather & Wilde is one of eighty-seven houses that Maison Valmont owns.”
That I own.
That’s what he’s saying.
My teeth grind together, and I hate it, hate that I had to do this in order to get my uncle out of the picture. “I’m well aware. You’re insatiable.”
He lifts an eyebrow. “The purchase isn’t public yet. There will be time.” He leaves me there and starts walking down the hall. “Don’t try burning this place down either!” he calls. “What’s mine isnotyours!”
CHAPTER 5
RAFE
My dining room table glitters.
The jeweler arrived thirty minutes ago and laid out rows and rows of rings nestled in velvet on the dining room table. I’ve already chosen mine. A simple gold band. He brought several sizes, so it’s already on my ring finger.
In the ten minutes Patrick and I have been waiting for Paige to join us, I’ve traced the new gold band over and over again. I’ll get used to it. I’ll have to. It’s a small price to pay for the investment I’ve made.
Patrick made the custom diamond necklace I gave my sister Nora when she graduated fashion school. I trust him to be discreet.
It’s been almost twenty hours since we arrived in Como, and I haven’t seen her much.Thank God.Things are busy enough. Two of my top people are on their way to Mather & Wilde’s headquarters. We’ll start the process of overseeing and inventorying everything the company has before making any new plans.
