Читать книгу The Secret To Marrying Marchesi - Amanda Cinelli, Amanda Cinelli - Страница 9
ОглавлениеRIGO LOOKED AT the woman standing before him. She was so different from what he remembered. Gone was the carefree, uninhibited temptress and in her place was this formidable tigress of a brunette, wearing torn jeans. He always went into negotiations prepared, with adequate knowledge of his opponent. But it seemed that his previous knowledge no longer applied.
He took the photograph from her, holding it between his hands as she watched him. The picture was of a baby with soft brown curls and fair skin. He looked back down at Nicole.
‘This is not proof of anything.’
Hurt flashed across Nicole’s pale features for a brief instant before she shook her head and snatched the photograph from his hands. ‘I don’t know what else to say. I have been completely honest with you from the start. I told you that I was pregnant, and I didn’t cause a scene when you chose not to be involved.’
Rigo bit his lip with frustration. She was determined to stay her course. That much was becoming brutally clear. He had known she was an actress as a child, but he had never expected her to be this stoic in her performance.
‘You make me out to be such a villain in this production of yours,’ he said, keeping his tone deliberately calm.
‘Rigo, right now all I’m asking of you is that you use your power and influence so that I can go back home with my daughter and never bother you again.’
‘And am I to presume you don’t want a single penny from my heartless hands?’
She sighed audibly. ‘Ask yourself this. Why would I wait almost six months of my child’s life before leaking a story if I was so desperate? It doesn’t make sense.’
She looked so maternal right now, so innocent. It was likely she meant to look that way—to play the victim. He shook off the feeling of unease after seeing the photograph of the child. He was here to finish this.
‘You’re right. It doesn’t make sense.’ He shrugged. ‘But I am not in the least bit inclined to make sense of what goes on in your brain. Whether or not you leaked the story is of no consequence to me right now.’
‘You just want me to clear your name.’ She bit her lip. ‘I can’t do that, Rigo. I won’t lie.’
Rigo fought the urge to growl. ‘Nicole, I might be able to gag the media and prevent further stories, but I can’t undo the damage that has already been done. The public cannot be gagged. And the only way to stop them talking is for the scandal to be disproved.’ He paused for effect, watching as her eyes narrowed. ‘I am willing to increase the offer that was made to you today by twenty per cent. I’m asking you to do the right thing for everyone involved.’
All trace of softness seemed to disappear as she took a deep breath, shoving both hands into the pockets of her jeans. ‘As much as I want my privacy back, I can’t compromise my integrity and tell a lie that will affect my daughter forever. I vowed that I would never come to you, Rigo, and I haven’t until now. But right now her privacy means a lot more to me than my pride.’ She looked at him, her caramel-coloured eyes wide and deathly serious. ‘Do a paternity test. If it proves negative I will make whatever statement you like.’
‘I fail to see the point in performing a test when I already know what the outcome will be.’ He fought the urge to raise his voice. Performing a test would mean more time, and every day this scandal was out there was another day of plummeting shares.
‘If you are completely sure that she is not your daughter, then you have nothing to lose.’ Her voice was quiet.
‘Fine—I will arrange for the damned test. But, Nicole, once the negative result is confirmed, you will make a statement to the press.’
‘If it’s negative, you have a deal.’ She nodded.
‘Good, then we’re done here.’ He made to move towards the door.
‘Wait!’ she called, stopping him midstride. ‘We haven’t discussed the details of what will be done if the test is positive.’
Rigo shook his head. ‘If the test is positive...’ he said, looking down again at the picture of the child briefly. Her eyes were a deep cobalt blue. If he wasn’t so sure that he was sterile he might almost call them Marchesi blue.
Nicole was looking at him intently. He tore his gaze away and walked over to open the door, very intent on leaving all of a sudden.
‘It would be nothing short of miraculous,’ he stated plainly. ‘I’m pretty sure a paternity test isn’t going to change what I already know.’
With that, he closed the door behind him.
* * *
The executive boardroom of the Marchesi Group headquarters was on the forty-fifth floor. Nicole sat alone at the end of the black marble conference table while various men and women in designer suits sat around her in complete silence. No one addressed her or looked her way. She suddenly wished she could trade places with Anna, who lay happily chewing on her toes in the stroller by her side.
An elderly white-haired gentleman sat at the top of the table, watching her. Nicole cleared her throat, sitting up a little straighter in her seat. A slim leather folder was laid out in front of her. She hesitated for a moment before opening it, aware that all eyes in the room were suddenly trained upon her. The cheque inside had so many zeroes she felt her breath catch.
The white-haired man sat forward, clearing his throat. ‘As the most senior member of the board present, I am presenting you with our final offer, Miss Duvalle.’
‘This can’t be right...’ she breathed, the figures swimming in her vision.
‘The Marchesi Group is offering you a generous deal in return for your public statement that Rigo Marchesi is not the father of your child.’
‘This wasn’t the deal.’ She began to pick at her nails under the table, a familiar sense of entrapment setting in. This wasn’t a meeting at all. It was an ambush.
‘Understand this, Miss Duvalle. We will not be negotiating the figure on that cheque, so if you want the pay-out I would advise you to take it now.’ The man sat back in his seat, openly surveying the neckline of her blouse.
Nicole crossed her arms over her chest, feeling very small and very alone in the room full of suits. It would be so easy just to do what they asked. To deny the truth and run away would be the easier option in some respects. The truth was inconvenient—just as she and her daughter were. A press release would take less than ten minutes and then she could escape. She could forget all about Rigo Marchesi and start over again somewhere new.
And what would happen when her daughter became old enough to understand? What about when she asked why her father had never played a part in her life? Her daughter would eventually find out that her mother had lied to the world and denied her the right to her true parentage.
She thought of her own mother, of her countless lies and manipulations. All for money. What kind of role model would she be if she lied to her own daughter about something so important?
She took a deep breath. These people wouldn’t cow her. ‘I won’t be signing a thing without speaking to Mr Marchesi first.’
A woman in a beige suit spoke, her hawklike eyes spitting fire across the room. ‘I’m aware that you probably grew up observing a certain level of...legal negotiations through your mother. But are you really prepared to go toe to toe with a multi-billion-euro corporation in a courtroom?’
Nicole felt her skin prickle. These people made her feel cheap and utterly worthless.
Suddenly every other person at the table avoided her eyes, seeming very focused on the door behind her.
Nicole turned to see Rigo’s hulking frame silhouetted in the doorway.
She stood, anger steeling her resolve. ‘This is unacceptable. I won’t be bullied.’
‘I did not agree to this meeting, Nicole.’ His voice was deeper than usual, and his gaze dropped momentarily to where Anna was growing rapidly more tired in her stroller. ‘Go and wait in my office, I’ll be there in a moment.’
* * *
Rigo stood dangerously still at the top of the table and waited for Nicole to leave before he spoke. ‘Somebody had better tell me right now why this meeting was arranged without my knowledge.’
The man at the top of the table sat forward. His uncle Mario was a white-haired oaf in his late fifties, with a penchant for contesting his nephew’s authority at every turn. ‘We have already got agreement from the rest of the board. You have been outvoted in your plan. Swift, heavy-handed action is in the best interests of the company.’
Rigo cleared his throat, eyeing the leather-bound folder on the table and closing it with a loud snap that resounded across the table. ‘This will not be buried with legal settlements.’
A brave PR executive spoke up. ‘You know that this company’s past makes it far more vulnerable to the media. Your father always made it clear that private indiscretions cannot be allowed to fester.’
Rigo felt his patience snap. ‘My father is no longer CEO of this corporation. I am. Everyone who is not a member of the board leave the room. Now.’
He turned to the window, taking three deep breaths as the men and women quickly scurried from the room. This afternoon had pumped his adrenaline into overdrive—and only half of it had to do with suddenly finding out about this clandestine meeting.
He turned to face his uncle, the only board member present. ‘You don’t have the power to make my decisions for me, Mario. If you wanted my job you could have fought for it.’
‘I value my free time far too much.’ Mario rolled his eyes. ‘This is a straightforward pay-off, Rigo.’ He stood up, stalking towards him. ‘This woman is slandering the Marchesi name out there and jeopardising the entire Fournier deal, for God’s sake.’
‘It’s not slander,’ Rigo stated gruffly, hearing the words echo in his mind as he said them. ‘I had the DNA analysis confirmed twenty minutes ago. The child is mine.’
Mario was silently stunned for a moment, his mouth agape. ‘You agreed to a paternity test without alerting the legal team?’ His eyes bulged. ‘Are you completely insane? Even your grandfather wasn’t that stupid.’
Mario didn’t seem in the least surprised at the news itself—which was more than could be said for Rigo. He was still absorbing the information. His brain was working overtime, examining the revelation that, against all the odds, Nicole had been telling the truth. He had never once wavered in his certainty that she was lying. He’d long ago taken very permanent measures to make sure he would never be put in this position again. And yet here he was.
His uncle cleared his throat, looking pointedly at the leather folder. ‘Marchesi men have all committed some indiscretions, Rigo. It seems it is a family weakness. My advice is to not let this get in the way of resolving the matter. Everyone has a price. Find hers.’
* * *
Nicole paced from one side of Rigo’s open-plan office to the other. Her fists clenched by her sides as she weighed up the options in her head.
Plan A was to walk out of there without another word to Rigo Marchesi or his goons. She could take her chances with the press and beg for privacy—or, more likely, just give up on her dreams of ever having a normal life again. But her daughter would grow up knowing that her mother had tried her best.
Plan B... Well, plan B was to take every moral she had and throw it out the window.
She sat down on the nearest armchair and tried to clear her thoughts.
Strangely, she wished her mother were here to guide her through this. No, she corrected herself, she wished that her mother cared enough to try to help. But Goldie Duvalle was a law unto herself, breezing in and out of her daughter’s life in between marriages and even then only when she wanted something.
The last time she had seen her mother had been the day she’d told her that she was pregnant. Cold anger made her fists clench tight by her sides, her insides tightening at the memory of having her last thread of hope pulled out from under her. Her mother was not an option—not unless she needed some contacts for a magazine spread.
With her own upbringing to go by, maybe she had been fooling herself to think she could offer her daughter a normal life. Her erratic childhood had been the furthest thing from normal you could get. It seemed that scandal was just destined to follow her around everywhere that she went.
She looked around, feeling small and alone in the iron-and-marble-dominated office space. Anna had fallen asleep in her stroller by the window.
Rigo entered the office with a dull thud of the heavy panelled door behind him. His usually perfectly groomed dark hair was ruffled, and that same formidable expression on his face made her confidence waver.
He stood still, looking around him. ‘The child?’
That one question caught her off guard. She frowned, gesturing to where the stroller sat by the window, her daughter now sleeping peacefully inside.
‘She won’t wake if we speak?’ he asked.
Nicole shook her head once, trying not to soften at his apparent concern. ‘She’s a deep sleeper, thankfully. She should be fine.’
Rigo nodded brusquely, his eyes lingering on the pale pink blankets for a moment before turning back to her. His eyes held the strangest combination of anger and some other unknown emotion.
They stood there for a moment, facing each other in complete silence, before Rigo finally spoke.
‘Let me make it clear that I had nothing to do with that meeting.’ His jaw was tight as he held her gaze in earnest. ‘The board members were growing impatient and decided to act against me. I’m sorry you were put through that.’
She hadn’t expected an apology. It kind of threw her. ‘I told you I wouldn’t sign anything without the test.’
‘You did.’ He breathed out heavily. He walked past her, moving across the large office to his desk. He gestured to a leather wingback chair, motioning to her to sit, and taking a seat behind the desk once she had.
With his hands clasped in front of him he looked instantly more powerful and infinitely less approachable. The formidable CEO, taking care of yet another item on his agenda. He was powerful and unyielding, and yet right now he looked off balance somehow.
‘I have received a phone call from the laboratory,’ he said calmly. He tapped his thumb absentmindedly on the desk. He looked at her. ‘The test results reveal a positive DNA match.’
Nicole stared back at him for a moment, unsure of what to say in response to this sterile, emotionless statement. ‘I see,’ she said quietly, watching as his thumb continued to move of its own volition, beating a steady rhythm.
‘That is all you have to say?’ he asked.
She shrugged, biting down on her lower lip. ‘I already knew what the result would be.’
He leaned back in his seat and watched her thoughtfully for a moment before speaking. ‘I chose not believe your claim based on what I believed to be the facts, Nicole. Now that I know I was mistaken... Well, our current situation is regrettable.’
It was like speaking with a corporate drone. Was it simply ‘regrettable’ that he’d missed the first six months of his child’s life? Nicole thought of the countless milestones that had come and gone, the days and nights full of laughter and tears. It seemed as if an entire lifetime had passed between them since the day he had made his regrettable choice.
Anger flared in her chest as she took in his solemn expression.
Rigo continued, oblivious to her inner turmoil. ‘The media’s attention is an immediate concern for us both, but I feel that we can come to an agreement to work it to our advantage.’
She crossed her arms, amazed that he was still talking business when he had just found out he had a daughter. ‘I’ve told you already. I won’t lie to the press to save your public image.’
‘I am not asking you to lie,’ he countered. ‘Now that I know she is mine, I do not plan to deny the fact. Publicly or otherwise.’
There it was. The words she had hoped to hear a lifetime ago. Only instead of feeling relief that her daughter would have some sort of relationship with her father, all she felt was cold, icy fear.
She stood up, taking a few paces away from him. ‘First of all, she is not yours,’ she said breathlessly, turning back to face him. ‘You are biologically her father, but the rest you have to earn. I am not asking for anything right now other than your help in getting the press off my doorstep.’
He didn’t speak. He just watched her with that same intensity she had come to recognise was naturally him.
Nicole crossed her arms, looking down at him. ‘There is no obligation for you to play a part in Anna’s life if you don’t want to.’
‘We both know that my walking away isn’t an option here.’
She didn’t know if that meant he didn’t want to walk away or that he knew it wouldn’t look good. She had a hard time believing that it was completely the former.
‘I would be happy for you to play a part in her life. But if you go public as her father you know that I will be hounded by paparazzi for the rest of my days. Pictures of her will be used to pad out every tabloid on the planet. Is that what you want?’
‘You don’t want to lie, but you don’t want me to tell them the truth?’ He sat back, his eagle eyes surveying her with keen interest. ‘It seems we have run out of options, then.’
‘All I’m asking from you is media protection,’ she said calmly. ‘I know such things exist with your kind of power.’
‘Protective orders are flimsy and easily overturned. The photographers would still come for pictures of you. The story is out there and she will always be a child of scandal. It will stick to her like glue.’
‘There has to be a way...’ Nicole felt herself weaken with the weight of his words. He was right, of course. The damage had already been done. Scandals like this never truly disappeared.
Had she really been so naive as to think that he could somehow magically make it all go away? She had brought her daughter into this world and made a vow never to let the same things happen to her that she had suffered herself as a child. Being hounded by cameras at the school gates and constantly playing a part for the media. She had grown up far too quickly as a result. How could she let her daughter suffer the same?
Rigo cleared his throat, standing and coming around to perch against the side of his desk. ‘There is a way, Nicole. One I’m prepared to offer so that we might work the media to our mutual advantage.’
‘How on earth could we do that?’ She looked at his serious expression, feeling utterly defeated. She had only made things worse by running away and hiding. Anything she did now would just be damage control. A normal life wasn’t something the secret child of a billionaire could ever hope for, was it?
Rigo’s voice was cool and businesslike. ‘The fastest and most effective way to turn a story on its head is to give the media an even bigger story to salivate over.’
‘What could be bigger than this?’ She frowned.
‘A wedding. To be more precise, our wedding.’
Nicole was silent, hardly believing what he was saying. If she had heard him correctly that was absolutely ridiculous and not a real solution at all.
‘You want to pretend that we’re married?’ she said incredulously. ‘That wouldn’t do a thing—everyone would know it was a sham.’
‘I am not suggesting a sham.’ He looked down at her, some unknown emotion blazing in his eyes. ‘Nicole, the only way to end this scandal once and for all is for me to prove that I have not abandoned my child and her mother. To make a grand production of how wrong the media has got it. And the best way for me to do that...is for you to actually become my wife.’
* * *
Rigo watched as the colour drained from Nicole’s face. She wasn’t wearing a scrap of make-up, the dark waves of her hair were tied at the base of her neck, and yet she still looked effortlessly elegant. She was frowning at him, her brown eyes wide with shock.
Not the reaction he had expected.
‘You can’t be serious,’ Nicole whispered.
Rigo crossed his arms, looking down at her pale face. ‘That’s not what a man expects to hear when he has just proposed marriage.’
‘You haven’t proposed anything. You’ve just thrown another deal at me. One that I am not prepared to accept under any terms. I’d rather take the money and run.’
‘I assure you that I am completely serious. And this isn’t just about business—not now that I know I am a father.’ He almost stumbled over the simple word—a word he had never intended to label himself with. ‘Nicole, like it or not, you and I and Anna are now irrevocably linked together. I am simply suggesting that we make that link public and permanent so that we might solve all our problems at once.’
‘I can’t believe that you are actually prepared to marry me to save your precious business.’ She let out a single shocked burst of laughter.
‘This would be a legal union—a real wedding. What I’m proposing is a way to secure and protect both our interests. Now that I know I have a child, I will want to play a part in my daughter’s life.’
‘Would that still be the case if your precious shares weren’t decreasing?’
Rigo felt the barb hit him and instantly tensed. ‘I might not have planned this, Nicole, but I would never turn my back on my own flesh and blood.’
She lowered her eyes, wrapping her arms around herself in that defensive gesture she always seemed to use when she was around him.
Finally she cleared her throat and looked back up at him. ‘It is possible to co-parent without being married, you know.’
‘I was lucky enough to grow up with the love and support of both of my parents in one home. I had private schooling and medical care along with overall financial stability. Are you telling me that, given the choice, you wouldn’t want the same for Anna?’ He narrowed his eyes. ‘What is your alternative?’
Nicole looked down at the ground, biting on her lip. They both knew what her alternative was. Rigo knew after tracking her down that she didn’t own a home. She had already made a big move to a new country in the past year.
‘There is a lot more to parenting than money, Rigo. I may not know where my career is going right now, and I may have had to budget, but I am a good mother. I love my daughter more than anything on this earth.’
She swallowed hard and he caught a glimpse of moisture in her eyes before she blinked it away.
‘I wanted her from the moment I knew she was there. That’s more than I can say for you.’
Rigo had no argument for that. He was trying to convince her to do the best for their child when he had already done the worst thing a father could do by not being a part of her life. He had started this conversation as a means to an end—a way to solve a problem in the fastest and most efficient way possible. But suddenly he felt the weight of his proposal hit him.
He was proposing to acquire a whole family, not a company. The thought almost unnerved him, sending shivers down his spine.
Clearing his throat, he hastily continued, ‘If we marry she could have the best of both.’ He chose his words carefully. ‘Nicole, think of this logically. We have a child together and we both need this scandal gone as soon as possible. We need a long-term solution that puts Anna first.’
‘Stop with all the business jargon, for goodness’ sake.’
She walked away from him, and for a moment he feared she might walk out through the door. But he could tell by the way she glanced at him from the corner of her eye as she stared out the window that she was on the ropes. He was a skilled negotiator. He knew when to go in for the kill and when it was best to let his opponent have some breathing room.
He remained silent as she seemed to wage a battle within herself, her hands wringing together tightly. Eventually she turned back to him, her expression unconsciously giving away all her thoughts.
‘I’ve sacrificed everything to ensure my child has the best life I can give her. And now it will never be the same, no matter what choice I make.’
‘Then, you have everything to gain by marrying me.’ Rigo took two steps forward—just enough so that he could see her face clearly.
‘I can’t believe I am even considering this.’ She looked up at him, dropping her hands to her sides. ‘I don’t believe in these kinds of...nonmarriages. It’s absurd.’
‘Marriage is not a belief system, Nicole. It is a union between two people to protect mutual assets and interests. You told me to stop treating this like business, but that’s exactly what this would be.’
‘How can you be so cold and logical when you’re proposing to shackle yourself to a woman you have already made it clear you see as nothing but a gold-digger?’
‘Your past will be forgotten so long as you commit yourself to being a respectable partner for my public image.’ Rigo shrugged.
Nicole’s eyes widened. ‘How utterly romantic.’
‘If you imagined flowers and love letters, I’m afraid I won’t be that kind of husband.’
‘This is all very overwhelming, Rigo. Three days ago I was living a quiet, normal life. Now you are asking me to voluntarily put myself back into the media circus...’
‘You would have to deal with their judgement either way. Why not do it on your own terms for once? In this world our lives are just one big game to the public. Sometimes we are forced to choose whether to play or be played.’
