Page 174 of Modern Romance January 2025 1-4

‘Sure,’ she added acidly. ‘If you want a wife sodesperately, then you can marryme!’

CHAPTER TWO

JUANRAMONFERNANDEZclenched every muscle and made himself remain still. Not because he’d recoil but rather he was on the verge of pulling her against him and sealing the deal with an incendiary kiss!

But he didnotwant a wife. He would neverwanta wife. Yet the unpalatable truth hitting him hard was that he might very wellneedone. Soon.Thatwas surely the only reason why he was almost overcome by the most inexplicable urge to grate out an expletive-laden acceptance of this fiery woman’s scathing proposal. Why he’d haul her into his arms before she could change her mind. Why he had the impulse to carry her off to the nearest altar this instant—impossibly happy to! Because then he’d take her to bed.

Fortunately Elodie Wallace’s very direct, very condemning blue gaze nailed him to the spot as that roar of possession swept through him.

Possession?

He’dbeen possessed. Momentarily gone mad. Blinking, he spun and stalked to the gleaming glass counter in the corner behind his desk.

‘Would you like a drink?’ he asked unevenly.

He’d pour hers and swig directly from the bottle if it wouldn’t betray his loss of composure. And he was damn well clinging to that facade with a death grip.

‘I’m not leaving until you agree to release Ashleigh from this sham engagement.’

He splashed four fingers of whisky into a crystal tumbler before glancing back at the flame-haired fury standing in the centre of his study. She had guts, he’d give her that. Bold as anything and beautiful with it. A little thing with a big impact. The chandelier must have been dusted recently, or perhaps Piotr had changed the bulbs because the light illuminated her so intensely it was like she gleamed from the inside out. And when she shook her head at him, all fury and scorn, her mass of red hair glittered like a waterfall of fire across her shoulders. He couldn’t look away from her if he tried. Which was a further loss of control he didn’t appreciate.

Oh, who was he kidding? Hefullyappreciated looking at her. A human form tempest crossed with a Siren and right now he relished the distraction she was—mitigating the rage rising within. The fact was he had no power to release her sister from an engagement he was no part of. It was another arm of his family at fault. Hisaunt. Apparently not content with the company money she received, she was willing to use her ownsonto steal the most priceless jewel in the family treasure chest.

‘I mean it,’ Elodie-the-Beautiful declared defiantly, her hair catching the light as she tossed her head again.

Amusement rippled through him. Amusement that he didn’t ordinarily indulge in. Amusement dangerously intertwined with lust and as inappropriate as hell given the situation. He sipped his drink—another thing he didn’t ordinarily indulge in—hoping it would settle theotherurges still rippling through him, but the burn wasn’t enough to clear his head. He took another, deeper draw. Then he gave in and accepted that this was no ordinary day and he was going to have to do something drastic to resolve this.

‘Piotr!’ Ramon called loudly. ‘Change of plan for this evening,’ he said brusquely the second his assistant appeared, but he kept his gaze on Elodie. ‘I’m staying in. Please send my apologies, prepare dinner for two and ensure the guest suite is ready.’

That amusement tightened as he watched her jaw slacken and then in a flash her entire body stiffened with fury again.

‘The guest suite?’ Her query dripped with iced loathing.

‘Well, I thought it might be a little soon for my room but I don’t mind having you there tonight if that’s what you’d prefer,’ he purred.

He shouldn’t have said it. Couldn’t resist. Blamed the drink and set it down.

She stared open-mouthed at him. ‘You’re...’

Yeah. He had no words either right now. He could only inwardly curse.

Ramon would be the first to acknowledge that his regimented life could sometimes be boring, but his narrow focus was utterly deliberate. Greed—hunger for excess inallforms—was the family curse. His father had allowed his appetites to spiral out of control regardless of the cost to his family. Ramon had an equally rampant appetite, but he’d chosen to channel it into work. He’d relished the challenge of turning the family conglomerate he inherited too soon from overly stretched to stratospherically successful. Relationships were out. Never was he getting married. His father’s rapacious genes ran through him, and he wasn’t destroying any woman the way his father had destroyed his mother.

So the time Ramon offered a partner was limited. Anything long-term a definite no-go. And women didn’t like coming second to work, didn’t like that he travelled so much and never invited them along—so it was easy enough to keep emotional complication at bay. Nowadays on the rare occasions it got the better of him he slaked sexual hunger with a one-night stand. Maybe it had been a while. Maybe that was why when the doorbell had rung and he’d glanced at the security feed from the front door, he’d been intrigued by the bold woman staring straight into the camera. When she’d outlandishly claimed to behis fiancée’ssister, he’d simply had to indulge the ridiculous urge to let her in. He’d been unable to resist hearing what she’d wanted to say. Turned out to be quite a lot. By admitting little and encouraging her ire, he’d grasped what was really going on.

Her sister. His cousin. His aunt making a monstrous mistake.

So yeah, he was far from bored now as he watched Elodie’s lusciously full lips press together, part, then press together again.

Still no words. Right.

A wash of colour betrayed her despite the immaculate make-up and to his horror he felt an answering wash of heat suffuse his own face. Again. He’d never heard of Elodie Wallace before now but he wished he had. Wished he’d been warned that when entering her orbit he’d have an intensely sexual reaction. Her eyes were a far more vibrant blue than his and right now they were very alert. Her slick make-up didn’t entirely mask the freckles over her face but it was expertly done—her long lashes were enhanced, her lips shiny—while her slender figure was showcased to perfection with that stunning outfit. In theory her black pants suit would be appropriate for any occasion but the beaded bustier she wore beneath the blazer gave him a glimpse of her breasts almost spilling from the top and was sexy as hell. Dominatrix-lite. All she was missing was a riding crop. She was here to demand what she wanted and she wasn’t leaving until she got it.

‘You can marry me!’

Her outrageous suggestion hung in the air above him like a Shakespearean dagger. A dramatic temptation that a devil within still urged him to accept because it would so neatly solve the situation that he hadn’t anticipated would come to a head so soon.

‘You just said you weren’t leaving until Ashleigh’s freedom is secured.’ He mastered the mess of emotions engulfing him and broke the scalding silence with as mild an expression as he could muster. ‘I need time to consider my options. You may stay while I do that or you can leave.’

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