box. With a few more flips of his fingers, it came open, and a brilliant, sparkling diamond
caught the light from the window and flashed in her eyes.
She watched in complete astonishment as he picked up her hand and slid the ring
onto her third finger.
“We’ll be married as soon as possible,” he said matter-of-factly.
She shook her head, sure that she must still be in bed back in her suite—
dreaming. “I don’t understand,” she stammered.
“We must marry,” he said again, only this time the emphasis was on the must.
“You were a virgin…and you could be pregnant,” he finished softly. “I didn’t think…that
is I didn’t use protection. For this I am sorry.”
No, she wasn’t dreaming. In her dreams, her marriage proposal had always been
somewhat more romantic. But then she was getting precisely what she wanted. It was
hard to argue with that, no matter the motivation behind the proposal.
“Okay,” she said quietly.
Relief flashed in his eyes. Had he expected her to argue? Maybe play the martyr
and give him a weeping, tragic refusal because he didn’t love her?
He pulled her into his arms, but instead of kissing her, he hugged her tightly. “We
should go back to your suite. We have arrangements to make. Unless you’d prefer my
penthouse? I’m afraid I’m no more settled in this city than you are, but we’ll remedy that.
We can buy a house. Wherever you like.”
She wedged an arm between them and levered herself away. “What about
Alannis?”
There was quiet between them finally, and his expression sobered. “She and
Sophia are flying back to Greece tomorrow.”
Isabella tried to disguise the flinch. She didn’t want to think of Alannis’s
heartbreak or her mother’s disappointment. Neither woman had been anything but kind to
her. And now she was the femme fatale. It wasn’t a very good feeling.
She nodded, not wanting to delve too deeply into Alannis. She was a subject
better left alone.
The sparkle of the diamond in the sun drew her gaze back to the gorgeous ring
adorning her finger. And then she allowed some of the joy to shine on her like the sun
beaming through the window.
With a tentative smile, she looked back up at Theron. “You really want to marry
me? Okay, scratch that. Bad question. I’m sure you don’t really want to marry me. But
you don’t have to. Just so you know. I mean the whole idea of putting a ring on my finger
just because I was a virgin and we didn’t use protection—well, it’s archaic. Nobody does
that anymore. I mean even if I turned out pregnant, there’s nothing to say we’d have to be
married—”
He silenced her with his mouth, pressing his lips to hers in a deep, lustful kiss. For
several long seconds, all that she heard was the soft smooching sounds of their lips. She
went positively boneless.
Finally he pulled away, his eyes glittering. He may not want to marry her, but she
knew his eyes didn’t lie. He wanted her, and he definitely desired her. It was a start.
“Now if we’re through talking nonsense, let’s return to the hotel,” he said huskily.
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THE TYCOON’S REBEL BRIDE
74
MAYA BANKS
SILHOUETTE DESIRE 1944
THE ANETAKIS TYCOONS
He didn’t look any different. Isabella watched Theron from across the sitting
room of her suite as he went through a myriad of phone calls. First he’d talked to the
person she’d rented the apartment from. Then a few business calls had interceded. Now
he was back to talking to God-knew-who about flights and planes, and she wasn’t sure
what else. Her head was spinning.
Maybe she’d expected him to look…well, she didn’t know. Engaged? But then
he’d been engaged for several days. Just not to her.
A knock at the door interrupted her moody dissertation on Theron’s phone calls.
Reynolds, who had been going over plans with Theron, strode to the door and opened it.
Isabella couldn’t see who it was with the way Reynolds held the door, but a
moment after opening it, he stepped back and glanced over at her.
“Sadie Tilton to see you.”
Isabella made a quick motion with her hand for him to let her in. Sadie popped
her head around the door, her eyes filled with caution. They lightened as soon as she saw
Isabella and she hurried over to where Isabella sat on the couch.
“What’s going on?” Sadie hissed. “You sounded so weird when you called.”
Isabella didn’t say anything but she raised her hand so that Sadie could see. A