Page 3 of His Innocent Unwrapped In Iceland

She’d smiled, like the sun rising on a midwinter morning, and started talking about the brushstrokes, the layers of the paint, the flowing motion of the painted sky and how they came together to form a beautiful, luminous whole. Her hands had moved as she spoke, as eloquent and graceful as her words, and he’d been...transfixed.

He’d never much appreciated art and the creative impulse was a mystery to him. He was a man who took things apart. He didn’t create. He’d tried once, long ago, to build something, but that had left him broken, so now he didn’t bother. Satisfaction came from looking at a system that wasn’t performing, at identifying why it wasn’t and what was broken, and then deciding what to do about it. Rather like a mechanic taking apart an old car and selling some parts for scrap, while reconditioning other parts to make it go better.

He was good at it.

So it was all very mysterious why he’d found looking at this woman while she talked about a bit of paint on a board so fascinating. There was something about her. About the way she came alive that consumed his interest so completely he hadn’t been able to do anything but stare.

That was the night he’d decided that he simply had to know more about her.

It hadn’t taken him long to discover that she was David Kendrick’s adopted daughter, Isla, the apparent heir to Kendrick’s underperforming Christmas company. Her adoption thirteen years earlier, at the age of twelve, had been a media sensation—‘Childless Christmas company magnate adopts orphan girl at Christmas time!’—and Kendrick had made much of her potential. Having been an orphan himself, Orion was further intrigued to see what kind of businesswoman she’d grown into. Perhaps she came alive when talking about sales projections as well as paintings?

However, that turned out to be not the case which at first he’d found underwhelming. She was quiet, barely saying a word even when asked, and she seemed uncertain of herself. Not at all the hungry go-getter Kendrick had always portrayed her to be and not at all that luminous woman he’d seen in the gallery that night.

Her milkmaid appearance didn’t help the CEO image, all spun gold hair, dark blue eyes and peaches and cream complexion. She looked like a porcelain doll—if a porcelain doll had been petite and curvy, all rounded breasts, hips and thighs. The male animal in him had appreciated the feminine in her, and while he certainly found her lovely, she didn’t have the same luminosity in the boardroom that she had in the gallery.

It puzzled him and, since he liked a puzzle, he’d arranged more meetings with Kendrick on the pretext of buying his company, but in reality wanting to observe Isla Kendrick more closely and find out just what was so fascinating about her.

She was always very polished and put together, yet he’d noticed that sometimes a lock of blond hair would come loose from its elegant chignon. That her red lipstick was sometimes smudged a little at the side of her pouty mouth. Or that the top button of her white tailored blouses had a tendency to come undone.

And that wasn’t all. There were moments in the boardroom on the rare occasions she spoke, where although she seemed poised, he was certain that she wasn’t. Where he sensed she was out of her depth. It seemed so at odds with the woman who spoke so knowledgeably and confidently about the painting, that he found himself to be even more intrigued.

On a number of occasions during those meetings, he’d tried having a conversation with her, but it soon became clear that she didn’t like him and avoided him. He was used to being disliked. No one warmed to the pirate who boarded their ship and took all their gold, after all, but he found it...annoying when it came to her.

He’d been planning on how to overcome her dislike when news of her engagement had broken. And that’s when he’d decided she would be his next takeover.

There had only been a week between her engagement and the date for her wedding, which meant there had been no time for the ‘slow and careful’ approach. No time for finesse or subtlety. He’d already discovered by then that the marriage had been engineered by Kendrick himself to improve her already poor standing with the company board and hardly the love match portrayed in the press—not that he would have put his plans on hold even if she had been in love—so he had no qualms about making his move on her wedding day.

It was the perfect opportunity to use shock to his advantage in order to get what he wanted, and he wouldn’t have been the ruthless businessman he was if he hadn’t made the most of his opportunities. He was a man who got what he wanted, when he wanted it, and he wanted her.

He’d gone to Kendrick the night before and told him that he wanted Isla, and that if Kendrick knew what was good for his company, he’d let Orion have her. The old man though hadn’t just rolled over. Orion’s interest in Kendricks’ had unsettled him and he’d known his company was vulnerable to a takeover. So he’d told Orion that if he wanted Isla, not only would he have to buy Kendricks’ outright for an extortionate amount, but he’d have to retain Isla as CEO for the optics—a family Christmas company needed a Kendrick to remain in charge and preferably a married Kendrick. Oh, yes, and he’d also insisted that Orion keep the company intact and Isla as CEO and his wife for at least a year, before making a decision about what to do with either.

Orion had no feelings at all about the company—he’d keep it the year Kendrick specified but then he’d likely break it up and sell the more profitable parts—nor did he care whether Isla stayed on as CEO. But he wanted to secure his asset and if he had to marry her to secure her, he would. He didn’t mind marrying her. Marriage had always seemed a pointless institution to him and a year should be more than enough time to explore his fascination with her.

Not that a year of marriage was his biggest issue right now.

No, his biggest issue was going to be getting her to agree to go through with it.

Luckily, he had leverage on his side in the form of Kendricks’ itself, plus a few well-rehearsed speeches about how it would be a win-win situation for both of them. All he had to do was convince her.

The frothing fall of her veil didn’t hide how her dark blue eyes had deepened into indigo with shock or how white she’d gone. Almost as white as her wedding gown.

‘Marry you?’ Her light, cool voice had gone hoarse. ‘Are you mad?’

‘No,’ he said, smiling slightly. ‘Think of it as an opportunity.’

‘An opportunity?’ A couple more petals from the poor, abused peonies in her hand drifted to the stone floor. ‘An opportunity for what?’

He tightened his grip on her elbow a little, hoping the physical touch would jolt her out of her shock response. Nothing to do with how the warmth of her silken skin under his fingers made his breath catch. It had been a reflexive thing to steady her, but now he was touching her, he couldn’t bring himself to let her go.

‘An opportunity for you to save Kendricks’,’ he replied. He preferred not to use threats when it came to business negotiations, but he would if it got him what he wanted. So he let her see the pirate, the ruthless part of him that had driven him from a hand-to-mouth existence as an unwanted orphan, to being CEO of one of the world’s most dangerous acquisitions companies. ‘I went to your father last night and we had a very interesting discussion. He was quite happy for me to marry you instead of Gianni, as long as I not only bought Kendricks’, but kept you as CEO. I did make him a promise to keep the company intact for at least a year, but...’ He lifted a shoulder. ‘Perhaps I won’t. Perhaps I’ll break it up and sell it for a healthy profit. Unless of course my wife advises me otherwise.’

Anger sparked suddenly in her blue eyes and a hint of colour washed through her pale cheeks. That was good. She had a bit of backbone it seemed. ‘If you expect that I’m going to let you—’

‘Think,’ he murmured, giving her elbow another squeeze, watching how the reminder of his touch made the colour in her cheeks deepen still further. Interesting. He was well aware that she didn’t like him, but that blush indicated that she was affected by his hand on her arm at least, which was pleasing. ‘As CEO and my wife, you’ll be able to discuss with me any restructures. Perhaps you might advise against them. Perhaps I might listen to you.’

She took a breath and he watched as she visibly forced aside her shock, her pretty features hardening. It was impressive. Was this the potential her father had seen in her? Certainly it was more feeling than he’d ever observed in the boardroom.

‘Is that a threat?’

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