Chapter Seven #2
But he led her behind the main grandstands, to the waterfront.
She knew some VIPs arrived at the circuit via boat.
She’d seen the beautiful launches crossing the harbour, taking them from their luxury hotels to the elite spectator suites.
So she wasn’t all that surprised when Massimo took her to a gleaming wooden boat waiting at the jetty.
Lily didn’t bother trying to argue; she just stepped on board with a sense of fatalism.
The immaculately poised stewards didn’t blink at the sight of her flushed, overheated self and the bodyguards fell back.
Lily sat at the rear; she hadn’t the strength to resist Massimo’s wishes.
They needed to talk; this needed to be sorted.
Yet, she felt a pang as they pulled away from the vibrant noise.
‘You shouldn’t miss the race,’ she finally spoke.
She’d not missed one since starting with Hearnshawe.
‘I prefer to watch in private anyway.’
He’d not said it suggestively yet temptation smoked through her. She gritted her teeth. So much for thinking she’d be better off not working. She needed more focus than ever just to stay sane around Massimo.
It took only minutes to cross the water and dock at the hotel. With an elegant sweep of his arm, he helped her to disembark. His courtesy made her discomfort prickle.
They went straight into a gleaming elevator and were whisked quickly to the sky.
The doors slid open to reveal an enormous suite.
Lily moved to the large windows to take in the fascinating skyline—so many skyscrapers, brilliant, unique feats of architecture.
She heard Massimo murmuring and glanced back to see him welcoming room service in.
She watched them unload a trolley onto the gleaming dining table with amazement.
He must’ve ordered it while they were on the boat.
Dumplings, skewered meats, vibrant salad and a colourful array of sliced fruit. All tempting, nibblish things.
‘Come and eat.’ Massimo pulled a chair out for her as soon as they were alone again.
She shook her head as she sat. ‘You don’t have to—’
‘Be polite?’ he mocked gently.
‘You weren’t like this on the plane. Don’t change just because the circumstances have.’
‘Actually, I was like this. I fed you chocolate almonds and let you lean on my shoulder.’
She squeezed her hands into fists, quelling the desire to throttle him. ‘I shouldn’t have done that.’
‘It’s okay to lean on someone—’
‘Do you do that often?’ She glanced up and challenged directly.
Why should she be more dependent than he?
‘Sure, I have very good staff who help me.’
Staff wasn’t quite what she’d meant. But of course, like her, he had minimal family.
He didn’t have any particularly personal support and it seemed he didn’t want it.
He kept his distance from everyone, even Emiliano.
The kid had an entourage of experts around him but Massimo wasn’t generally in it.
So why on earth would he want to push them both into marriage?
She couldn’t reconcile the man who’d easily slipped into warm humour and intimacy on the cargo plane, with this one who was so damned bossy and rigidly determined.
‘Everything is going to be okay, Lily.’
She picked up a dumpling, saving herself from having to answer; plus, it gave her something to do with her hands and mouth—because she really wanted to feast on him.
Yeah, there was still that problem to be dealt with.
He, too, tucked in as if he’d not eaten in days.
In time, they demolished almost everything.
And then she needed a different distraction so she didn’t have to look into his spellbinding eyes.
‘Shouldn’t we watch the race?’ She nodded towards the large screen.
It would be underway now.
‘There’ll be plenty of other races to watch when we’re married.’
Heat frothed in her blood. ‘We’re not—’ She broke off and inhaled deeply. ‘You can’t be serious about that.’
‘I don’t joke about life-changing decisions.’ He cocked his head. ‘Am I really so unpalatable? Am I the worst man in the world? Or is it that I’m not ordinary enough?’
The bitter edge beneath his light mockery sharpened her senses.
‘That’s right,’ she said. ‘You’re nowhere near normal enough for a simple girl like me.’
‘You’re not simple, Lily. Nor are you ordinary.’
‘Flattery won’t work.’
‘It might not be so awful. I can give you an amazing lifestyle.’
‘I thought I wasn’t getting millions to live the high life,’ she muttered dryly. ‘For the record I’ve never wanted to be a kept woman, nor do I want my child to become so spoilt he expects to get his own way all the time.’
Massimo’s smile was slow and appreciative. ‘Are you suggesting I’m spoilt?’
She stiffened, trying to stop her heated reaction to that smile. ‘Are you suggesting you aren’t?’
‘You like to be spoilt, too. You like the occasional cherry on top.’
She’d taken the one once, and look where it had gotten her.
‘Marry me and I’ll spoil you in ways you’ve never even imagined,’ he coaxed.
That dreadfully inappropriate heat washed over her. He wasn’t talking about sex. Or at least he shouldn’t be.
‘As tempting as that offer undoubtedly is, I’m afraid I’m going to have to pass.’
His smile remained steady. ‘Why are you so determined to reject me?’
‘It’s for your own good,’ she said, time to be serious. ‘I told you I’m not from a suitable background.’
‘You mean because you don’t come from money?’
‘I mean my kind never marries your kind.’ She nodded. ‘You’re so posh you’re practically royalty. You’re certainly racing royalty. You hang out with actual princesses. If you go public with me, it’ll impact your business. Your bottom line.’
‘Golly.’ He leaned back, blue eyes twinkling. ‘What’s wrong with your kind? You said you grew up in a garage—that’s my family business, too.’
‘That’s one part of my family business,’ she snapped coldly. ‘It’s also a chop shop. My father flips stolen car parts and my mother cooks the books.’
He blinked. ‘Okay but—’
‘I have two older brothers. One is dead. The other is in jail and it’s my fault he’s there.’
He fell silent, finally serious. Good.
‘It is a family business.’ She made herself tell him everything.
It would end his must marry madness. ‘My father’s the boss.
He issues the orders, we obey. Everyone has their job.
Mine was on reception. I always wanted to work on the cars but he said I was too small, but I watched and learned anyway.
I would work with my brothers when our parents were at the pub. I was fast.’
‘I’m sure. I’ve seen you in action.’
‘And I was a swot. Not just in the garage, but at school. I thought I’d get their approval, but all I got was too good at maths for Mum to let me see the accounts.’
‘You knew what she was doing?’
‘It wasn’t hard to work out. As I got older, I watched my brothers take more and more risks.
Stealing cars, modifying them for illegal street races.
Dad encouraged them. He wanted good parts.
But while Callum liked a fast car, he didn’t always want to put the work in.
He rushed repairs in order to race more.
If he’d just slowed down then it might’ve been okay.
But one night he’d rushed it too much. Finn was driving…
’ She paused, steadied herself. He needed to know.
‘They’d barely left the garage when I heard the impact.
They were both flung from the car. Callum was killed instantly.
Finn was charged with dangerous driving. ’
She paused again. Massimo was regarding her intently, his expression inscrutable. He’d never discussed the accident that had killed his parents and she wondered again about the scars up his forearm.
‘The thing is, Finn had already been convicted for car theft and with this he faced jail time. My parents told me to say I’d seen Callum driving, not Finn. That the lie would save Finn from jail.’
The accident and the aftermath in her final year of school had changed everything.
‘I couldn’t do it,’ she whispered. ‘I was in shock about Callum. I knew Finn would race again and I didn’t want him to. I wanted him to stay safe, stay alive. But they never forgave me for not doing as they said.’
‘They never should have asked you to lie,’ Massimo said quietly, his focus steady on her. ‘The authorities would have found out the truth—surely there would have been evidence showing what really happened. Saying that would’ve only gotten you into trouble and negatively impacted your future.’
Which was also partly why she’d refused. She’d had ambition bigger than the family business. ‘Right. As they said, I was too selfish to put the family first.’
‘Was it really family first?’ His eyes narrowed. ‘Or was it your brother before you? Again?’
She failed to answer. He was too astute. Her dreams had never been given any consideration. It had been about her father, her brother; she’d just been expected to fall in.
‘What happened then?’ Massimo softly pressed.
‘They threw me out.’ Banished and branded her a traitor. She’d lost her community, too. Her boyfriend—her brother’s friend—had never spoken to her again. She’d been utterly cut.
‘What about your mother? Didn’t she stick up for you?’
Her mother never stood up to her father, never stood up for Lily. Lily would never do that to her child. She would hold her baby close and protect it from every kind of pressure.
‘How old were you?’ Massimo breathed.
‘Seventeen.’
Anger flashed in his eyes. ‘Did you finish school? Where did you live?’