Emma Darcy - Ruthless Milllionaire, Indecent Proposal

She felt a sharp stab of envy as George promised to love Cass for the rest of his life. There was no doubting the fervour in his voice, no doubting Cass, either, as she promised her love in return. A huge welling of emotion brought tears to Tina’s eyes as the two of them were declared husband and wife. She wished them all the happiness in the world. This was how it should be between a man and a woman, starting out on a life together.

She was still blinking away the wetness in her eyes when she had to link up with Ari for the walk out of the church. He wound her arm around his and hugged her close, instantly causing an eruption of agitation inside Tina.

‘Why do women always weep at weddings?’ he murmured, obviously wanting her to focus on him.

She didn’t. She swept her gaze around the gathered guests, swallowed hard to unblock her voice and answered, ‘Because change is scary and you hope with all your heart that everything will work out right.’

‘What is right in your mind, Christina?’ he persisted.

Christina … he invariably used her full name because it was what she had called herself for the modelling career that had been cut short after he had left her pregnant. During the months they’d spent together she’d loved how that name had rolled off his tongue in a caressing tone. She wished he wouldn’t keep using the same tone now, that he’d call her Tina like everyone else. Then she wouldn’t be constantly reminded of the girl she had been and how much she had once loved him.

She wasn’t that girl any more.

She’d moved on.

Except Ari could still twist her heart and shoot treacherous excitement through her veins.

It was wrong for him to have that power. Wrong! And the pain of her disillusionment with him lent a vehement conviction to her voice as she answered him. ‘It’s right if they keep loving each other for the rest of their lives, no matter what happens along the way.’ She looked at him then, meeting the quizzical amber eyes with as much hard directness as she could muster. ‘We don’t have that basis for marriage, do we?’

‘I don’t believe that love is the glue that keeps a marriage together,’ he shot back at her. ‘It’s a madness that’s blind to any sensible judgement and it quickly burns out when people’s expectations of it aren’t met. Absolute commitment is what I’m offering you, Christina. You can trust that more than love.’

His cynical view of love was deeply offensive to her, yet she felt the strength of his will encompassing her, battering at her resistance to what he wanted. ‘I’d rather have what Cass and George have than what you’re offering,’ she muttered, resenting the implication that her sister’s happiness with her marriage wouldn’t last.

‘I understand that change must be scary to you, Christina,’ he murmured in her ear. ‘I promise you I’ll do all I can to make the transition easy for both you and Theo.’

The transition! He expected her to give up her life in Australia—all she’d known, all she’d worked for—to be with him. It wouldn’t work the other way around. She knew that wouldn’t even be considered. She was supposed to see marriage to him as more desirable than anything else, and she would have seen it that way once, if he’d loved her.

That was the sticking point.

Tina couldn’t push herself past it.

The hurt that he didn’t wouldn’t go away.

Outside the church they had to pose for photographs. Tina pasted a smile on her face. Her facial muscles ached from keeping it there. Ari lifted Theo up to perch against his shoulder for some shots and everywhere she looked people seemed to be smiling and nodding benevolently at the grouping of the three of them—not as bridesmaid, best man and page boy, but as wife, husband and son. Ari’s parents stood next to her mother and Uncle Dimitri. They would all be allied against her if she decided to reject the marriage proposal.

She ached all over from the tension inside her. At least the drive to the reception spared her any active pressure from Ari. Theo rode in their car, sitting between them on the back seat, chatting happily to the man he would soon know as his father. Tina was grateful not have to say anything but she was acutely aware of Theo’s pleasure in Ari and Ari’s pleasure in his son. How could she explain to a five-year-old boy why they couldn’t all be together with the Papa he had wished for?

They arrived at the Santo winery. Its reception centre was perched on top of a cliff overlooking the sea. To the side of the dining section was a large open area shaded by pergolas and normally used for wine-tasting. Guests gathered here while the bridal party posed for more photographs. Waiters offered drinks and canapés. A festive mood was very quickly in full swing.

Tina thought she might escape from Ari’s side for a while after the photographer was satisfied but that proved impossible. He led her straight over to George’s family who were all in high spirits, delighted to meet their new daughter-in-law’s sister and press invitations to be their guest on Patmos at any time.

Then he insisted on introducing her to his sisters and their husbands—beautiful women, handsome men, bright beautiful people who welcomed Tina into their group, making friendly chat about the wedding. Their children, Ari’s nephews, all four of them around Theo’s age, quickly drew him off with them to play boy games. Which left Tina very much the centre of attention and as pleasant as the conversation was, she knew they were measuring her up as wife material for Ari.

After a reasonable interval she excused herself, saying she should check if Cass needed her for anything.

It didn’t provide much of an escape.

‘I’ll come with you,’ Ari instantly said. ‘George might require something from me.’

As soon as they were out of earshot, Tina muttered, ‘You told them, didn’t you?’

‘Not the children. Theo won’t hear it from them. Keeping it from your family until after the wedding will be respected, Christina. I simply wanted my sisters to understand where you are with me.’

‘I’m not anywhere with you,’ she snapped defensively, giving him a reproachful glare.

He held her gaze with a blaze of resolute purpose. ‘You’re my intended wife and I told them so.’

‘Why are you rushing into this?’ she cried in exasperation. ‘We can make reasonable arrangements about sharing Theo. Other people do it all the time. You don’t have to marry me!’

‘I want to marry you.’

‘Only because of Theo and that’s not right, Ari.’

‘You’re wrong. I want you, too, Christina.’

She shook her head in anguished denial, instantly shying away from letting herself believe him. Cass and George were chatting to a group of their modellingworld friends and Tina gestured to the gorgeous women amongst them. ‘Look at what you could have. I’m not in their class. And I bet they’d lap up your attention.’

‘You’re in a class of your own and I don’t want their attention. I want yours.’

‘Today you do, but what about the rest of your future, Ari?’

‘I’ll make my future with you if you’ll give it a chance.’

Again she shook her head. There was no point in arguing with him. He had his mind set on a course of action and nothing she said was going to shift him from it.

‘It’s worth a chance, isn’t it, Christina?’ he pressed. ‘We were both happy when we were intimately involved. It can be that way again. You can’t really want to be separated from Theo during the time he spends with me if you insist he has to bounce between us.’

She would hate it.

But she was also hating the way Cass’s girlfriends were gobbling Ari up with their eyes, watching him approach the bride and groom. Not that she could blame them for doing it. He was even more of a sex magnet today, dressed in a formal dinner suit which enhanced his perfect male physique, highlighting how stunningly handsome he was. A Greek God. Tina had no doubt they were thinking that. And envying her for having him at her side.