‘I prefer to think of it as a small deception.’
Harper frowned. It still sounded like a lie to her. ‘And Leah agreed to this?’ She didn’t know why she was bothering to ask. It was just the sort of madcap idea that her sister would leap at.
‘Actually, it was her idea.’
That figured.
‘So what exactly is the deal? What did Leah sign up for?’ She swallowed hard, bracing herself for the answer, a kick of dread in her stomach. Thirty thousand dollars was a huge sum of money. And had she heard him say that was the first instalment? But she knew Leah—she could have agreed to just about anything for such riches. An anything that Harper herself might now have to honour. It was a terrifying thought.
‘Flying to Sicily, meeting my godfather, acting like the doting fiancée.’
Harper nervously chewed her fingernail, waiting for more information.
‘It may entail several visits, maybe some lengthier stays. I would like to spend as much time with him as possible.’
‘I see.’ A tight silence fell between them as Harper tried to get to grips with this. ‘Go on.’
‘That’s it. The arrangement between Leah and myself was left deliberately fluid.’
Deliberately fluid? What the hell did that mean? Faced with this formidably handsome man, Harper found her thoughts flying in some very surprising directions. Reining herself in, she stared at him primly. ‘Obviously before I agree to anything I need to know what else would be expected of me.’
Vieri made a low noise in his throat. ‘If you mean will you have to share my bed, then the answer is no.’ His dark, mocking gaze slashed across her hot cheeks. ‘I am not in the habit of paying women to sleep with me.’
‘No, of course not.’ Harper hurriedly tried to erase the erotic image of being in Vieri’s bed. ‘Anyway, I know my sister would never have agreed to such a thing.’ That had to be true. Didn’t it? ‘And neither would I, to be clear.’
Argh. Why didn’t she stop digging and shut up?
‘I’m very pleased to hear it.’ His deep blue gaze slid over her. ‘So, do we have a deal? Are you prepared to take on your sister’s debt?’
‘I don’t know.’ Still Harper hesitated. ‘If I did, what would happen about Leah?’
‘I would have no further interest in her.’
If Harper had thought his bald statement would be a comfort, she was wrong. Suddenly the idea that Vieri Romano had lost all interest in her sister worried her almost as much as the thought of him hounding her. She didn’t know how to start tracking Leah down, whereas Vieri knew people; he would have contacts, resources at his disposal.
‘But what about this Rodriguez guy? You must want to speak to him?’ A sudden spark of hope mixed with fear lit inside her. ‘He might be the one responsible for stealing your money. He might have kidnapped Leah.’
‘Unlikely. From the little I saw of your sister she didn’t look like kidnap material.’
‘And what exactly does kidnap material look like?’ Harper indignantly challenged the idea that no one would want to kidnap Leah, and, by association, her too.
‘Heiresses, high-profile celebrities, children of the filthy rich.’
Clearly the McDonald sisters were none of those things.
‘Well, there’s the thirty thousand dollars. Rodriguez might have somehow lured Leah away to try and get his hands on that.’
‘Possible, though unlikely. Rodriguez has been working as a bar manager here for some time, having access to large sums of money every night of the week. There’s never been any suggestion that he’s stolen from us before. My guess is that, if anything, your sister has lured him away. Though I’ve no idea why.’
Neither did Harper. But right now she didn’t have the capacity to try and work it out.
‘But you are right.’ Ruthlessly, Vieri continued. ‘If a member of my staff walks out with no warning, regardless of the circumstances, I make it my business to investigate. I will find Rodriguez. And if your sister is still with him, then I will see that she is returned to her family.’
‘Without involving the police?’
‘I see no reason to contact the police.’
‘Or violence. I would hate to think anyone would get hurt.’
Rising to his feet, Vieri walked around the desk until he was standing in front of her, towering over her, all formidable dark presence.
‘I think perhaps I need to make a few things clear, Ms McDonald.’ He locked eyes with hers, the dark intensity of his words matched by the stark angles of his handsome face. ‘I will deal with this incident as I see fit. I make the decisions. I make the rules. You should consider yourself extremely fortunate that you have this opportunity to prevent Leah from a possible prison sentence.’
Fortunate? That was not a word Harper would use to describe herself right now. Her head was spinning with the shock and sheer enormity of what was being asked of her. But what choice did she have?
‘So what do you say?’ Vieri fixed her with a punishing stare. ‘Are you prepared to go along with my plan to save your sister’s skin?’
Harper looked away, balling her hands into fists. Right now she would like to flay Leah herself, string her up and set about her, make her see what a completely stupid, totally irresponsible person she was. But Leah was her sister, her twin, almost a part of her. Of course she would save her—she would do anything to keep her safe, to protect her. It was what she had been doing the whole of their lives. Because Harper was the older twin, the sensible one, the healthy one. The one that shouldered the responsibility, took charge, tried to make everything right. Which in this case meant temporarily shackling herself to this shockingly attractive but coldly calculating man.
‘Yes.’ Her voice came out as little more than a whisper but as she raised her eyes to meet Vieri’s she saw the look of satisfaction reflected in his midnight stare. Her fate had been sealed.
* * *
Harper peered through the window as the island of Sicily came into view, its iconic position off the toe of Italy’s boot clearly visible from the air. As Vieri’s private jet started to descend she craned her neck for a better look, taking in the rivers and the mountains, the clumps of towns and cities and, the most amazing of all, Mount Etna, shrouded in snow but puffing out a stream of smoke in welcome.
She had only ever been abroad once before, a bargain break holiday to the Costa del Sol in Spain when she was nineteen. Which might have been fun if she hadn’t ended up trailing around after Leah trying to keep her out of trouble.
And nothing had changed. Here she was again, still trying to sort one of her sister’s messes. But this time it was serious, really serious. Leah had stolen a large sum of money and Harper didn’t doubt that if Vieri decided to press charges she could well go to prison.
Which was why she’d had no choice but to put her own life on hold and climb into Vieri’s private jet to be flown back across the world to take part in this hateful little charade. She could kill Leah. She really could.
And it had all happened ridiculously fast—less than twenty-four hours had passed since she had first set foot in Spectrum nightclub. Once she had agreed to go along with the plan Vieri had leapt into action, insisting on sending a car to pick up Harper’s suitcase from the hostel she had checked into earlier, refusing to even let her go with it. No doubt he was worried that if he let her out of his sight she would abscond—just like her sister. So now here she was, thousands of miles away, about to embark on a crazy deception.
It