Bargain Bride, Billionaire Groom Read online

  Gado frowned, and handed her teacup over, filled with the sweet, thick blend of condensed milk and coffee. “How?”

  “Enzo was charming. Nice. Carefree…” She closed her eyes, missing his smile terribly. “Fun.”

  “And Jio?”

  She took an appreciative sniff of the scented coffee with its whimsical hints of toffee. Sipping at it, she gazed out the kitchen window. “Ehh. He’s a bit distant for my taste, and a whole lotta mysterious—”

  “Oh, I wouldn’t say that,” noted a dark, dry voice. Jio strolled into the kitchen. His tired eyes and sleep-rumpled hair took nothing away from his good looks. If anything, he looked—she bit her lip—earthy. Real.

  Her little teacup and its matching saucer slid out of her hands and shattered on the hardwood floor. Gado tsked as he wiped up the little pool of her wasted drink. He shook his head and held the towel open for Golden to deposit the shards.

  “Circa 1890,” he said as she plinked the broken pieces into the towel. “Not easily replaced. How do you like your coffee, sir?”

  “Strong. Black. Don’t get up.” Jio set a single-serve coffee press over a mug, spooned the fine-ground Arabica into the cavity, then poured boiling water into it.

  “You can have mine,” Gado grinned at Golden and stood. “I better head out. Got some deliveries to make. Jio, think about staying the night, man. You look like you could use the rest.” He walked over to the trash bin that sat next to the kitchen door.

  “Oh, and our closest neighbor, Marcus Grayson, will be joining us for dinner, too.” Gado shook the shards out of the towel and into the bin. Then he tossed the towel into the sink. “Should be loads of fun, eh? Bye!”

  Golden’s scowl followed her brother’s exit out the kitchen door. She took a seat and waved Jio to the vacant one across from her.

  He shook his head. “Between the flight out to the islands and the drive here, I’ve been sitting for a good twenty-four hours, at least.” He gave her a tired smile and remained standing, a lean hip pressed against the edge of the granite.

  She swallowed. All the trouble he went through to get to Lani Kai hadn’t really dawned on her till now. When he’d flown her from Maui to Florence for Enzo’s memorial service, she spent the lengthy flight time in his jet—and pretty much the entire week in and around his beautiful Tuscan farmhouse—numb with grief to all that was taking place around her.

  Yet, through it all, through his own grief, Jio took the time to visit Maui faithfully. He had business interests in the Hawaiian islands, true, but she knew he really came here for Lily.

  “Have I told you, you are looking very well?”

  “Thanks. You look…” ama-a-zing, wonderful, “…very well yourself, Jio.” Shivers lurched down her back at the sleepy blue eyes gazing at her from above the rim of his coffee mug.

  “So, you are now ready for a divorce, hm?”

  She nodded. “Here’s the thing—as I said in my e-mail, I was hoping for an annulment.”

  “Okay. We can go that route, but as long as you’re aware…” Jio hesitated, picking his words with care. “An annulment could make Lily illegitimate.”

  “Oh! That I didn’t know.”

  “Our marriage was never consummated,” he said. “Aside from the fact, neither of us intended the marriage to be a real one to begin with. But, for all intents and purposes, Lily is a Falcone in every way that matters. We can dissolve our arrangement however way you wish, Golden. I just need you to understand the difference, that’s all. Either way, it won’t affect her inheritance.”

  “I see what you mean,” she said, seeing so much more.

  He’d married her to protect Lily’s financial interests, sanctity of marriage be damned. But deep character existed behind the shrewd businessman. He was willing to do whatever it took to ensure no one else could claim what rightfully belonged to Lily. All this after their worlds were shattered by Enzo’s death.

  Jio had been there to hold her hand when the doctors came out of the operating room to break the news; they couldn’t revive her fiancé. Enzo’s heart attack had been fatal. Only thirty-three years old, he’d been in great physical shape. But, looks were deceiving. An autopsy had revealed a heart defect that had gone undetected.

  While Golden sank into the shock of losing her adored fiancé, it was Jio who dealt with the fallout. And there were more aftershocks to come.

  Perhaps this is not the best time to bring this up, but your baby should carry the Falcone name. It would benefit your child, from a legal standpoint, to carry dual citizenship. Especially since he or she stands to inherit property in Italy.

  Jio had pressed a chilled glass of water in her hand. She’d lain on the chaise on the covered lanai, staring up at the ceiling with vacant eyes. He’d just received a call on her landline from an Italian solicitor, and while she didn’t understand what was said, she sensed the call had upset and disturbed him.

  They’d just come back from visiting Enzo’s grave, and Jio was due to return to Italy. He’d been respectful of her grief by not discussing Enzo’s estate or his assets. Not that she wanted or expected anything, but that day there was a paleness riding his tanned cheeks that made her take notice.

  “I can give the baby the Falcone name on the baby’s birth certificate, can’t I?” she’d asked.

  “You can, but it’s not just about giving your baby the Falcone name.” Jio had taken the chair opposite the chaise where she lay, broken with misery.

  She groaned, not sure she could cope with more than she was dealing with already. But if it had anything to do with her baby, she wanted to know about it.

  “I don’t know if you are aware—Enzo has two other children. Two girls. One is eight years old, and the other one is six.”

  “What?” Her ears rang with the news. As her brain soaked up this surprise, she wanted to cry and hit Jio at the same time. She’d just buried the man she loved. The father of her unborn baby! Why would he choose this moment to share something like this?

  “I-I didn’t know. Oh, I suppose you are going to tell me he was married, too?” she’d demanded angrily.

  “Why would I do that?” he’d asked, stunned.

  “To hurt me. I know you’ve never liked me, but I did love your brother. I always will.”

  His cheeks reddened. “I know that you loved him, and no. He wasn’t married. As for his other children, I believe he was waiting for the right time to tell you.”

  “We were engaged. Expecting our own baby! How much more time did he need?”

  “Make no mistake, my brother would have told you.” Jio had looked away then, and when she saw a teardrop sliding down his cheek, she realized he was in a world of agony himself. “The reason he didn’t tell you was he feared he could lose you if you thought of him as less than…perfect.”

  Tears rippled her vision. “No, I would have loved his other children, Jio. I might have been upset he waited so long to tell me, but I loved him very much. It wouldn’t have mattered.”

  “I know that, Golden. It’s just that right now, I have to tell you—and this might be difficult for you to understand—but the mothers of these children are,” his facial muscles tensed, “greedy bitches. Enzo’s engagement to you created issues in his personal life. Now with him gone, the buzzards are circling.” He’d scraped agitated fingers through his hair.

  “The mothers of these children?”

  “Plural, yes,” he said grimly.

  “Oh, I see.” Golden sighed, and wished she didn’t. “Did Enzo take care of his children?”

  “Absolutely. He loved his children.”

  “What are their names?”

  “Lia, and Dani—short for Daniella. Lia is the younger one.”

  “Such pretty names,” she’d murmured. And just when were you planning to tell me about your other kids, Enzo? From different women no less! Then again, they’d only known each other less than five months before she got pregnant. She’d simply fallen head over heels in love with the handsome
Italian who’d come to Maui on a joint venture to open up a restaurant with his brother, and an American partner.

  “I’m not sure what it is you’re needing from me, Jio.”

  “I’ve already gotten calls from my attorney. Their attorneys are asking about a will.”

  No doubt her carefree and optimistic Enzo didn’t have a will. “I don’t want to be in a battle royale over Enzo’s money. We never married, so will or no will, I want nothing. I’m entitled to nothing.”

  “But his baby is, Golden. He had a will. The day he found out you were pregnant, he had one drawn up, thank God. The ugliness that’s brewing right now necessitates what I’m about to suggest. I need to protect what belongs to Enzo’s baby. I propose a marriage take place between us. In name only—and soon.”

  Her throat convulsed then as she tried to work out the lump of confusion that lodged there.

  He reached out and took one of her hands in his. Massaging it gently, he said, “My brother left you his townhouse here. He also gave you his interest in our restaurant in Lahaina. But your baby stands to inherit overseas assets. Rental properties, most of them, and they all produce income. Enzo’s baby should have the benefit of dual citizenship and be legally recognized as a Falcone. As it stands, the distribution of his assets could become a bureaucratic cluster ball of crap. While Enzo had split his assets equally between his children—to include his unborn baby—the mothers of his children are questioning your baby’s paternity.”

  “What?”

  “You heard me. But there’s one sure way to shut them up. Marry me.”

  “But p-people will know this baby’s not yours!”

  “Who’s going to bust me? Enzo’s child will officially bear the Falcone name. You’d be my wife—also a Falcone. Either way, they’d be screwed. End of story.”

  She’d sniffled, then looked at him closely. He was younger than Enzo by two years, and like Enzo, he’d never been married. “Do you have any children, Jio?”

  “No. No, I don’t.” Something in the awkward angle his shoulders hung—weighted with sadness and loss—mirrored all that her heart had been feeling.

  Three weeks later, Jio married a five-months pregnant Golden, and the official who presided over their vows had been the same one scheduled to perform the civil ceremony on her and Enzo…

  ~~*~~

  Golden now clutched at her brother’s still full mug of coffee, the memories of Enzo as vivid as yesterday.

  “So, explain your e-mail a bit more in depth,” Jio prompted. “What has gotten Lily so confused that you’re ready to up and divorce me?”

  She took a sip of the brew. “To start, she’s been going to day care three times a week for the past six months, and she loves it.”

  Jio nodded. “That’s good to hear. She’s adorable and sociable.”

  Golden beamed at his words, appreciative of his approval since he was Lily’s closest link to her father. “She is, and maybe that’s part of the problem. She’s become aware of other children there who have fathers that come and drop their children off, or pick them up. She thinks that she can call those guys poppa as well. Right along with the mailman, my brother, my neighbor, the field hands—you.”

  “Ah. I see,” he said with a smile. “And here I thought I was her only poppa.”

  She shook her head. “Oh no, no. Sad to say…there are others. Many, many others.”

  Jio’s smile broadened.

  “So this got me thinking…maybe she could use a more traditional environment, with a male sharing the parenting role.”

  His smile faltered. “Hmm.”

  “Oh, and did I tell you? Gado and Naomi plan to marry later this summer?”

  “I heard. That’s wonderful news. Lily’s nanny has finally surrendered to your brother.”

  “It means he’ll be moving out.”

  Jio stroked his chin. “Lily will miss having her uncle Gado around.”

  Golden nodded. “She adores him. But he put off marrying Naomi two years ago because he wanted to be there for us. He feels duty and responsibility toward me.”

  “Enzo told me you were just turning sixteen when your parents died,” Jio said. “And Gado was—what? Twenty? You’ve not had an easy time of it.”

  “No, but all things considered…” She kept her emotions in check by not dwelling on the head-on collision on a blind turn along the coast that took their parents from them. “Lily has been the ray of light in all of this.”

  Thank goodness she’d had some clue about managing accounts eight years ago, too. Otherwise she and her brother would have panicked and sold the plantation. “Anyway, things have settled down somewhat. Now it’s time for Gado to have a life, and a family of his own. Which has brought me—us—to this moment. I should consider moving on, too.”

  Her hand shook a little when she took his diamond ring out from a pocket in her shorts and held it out to him. In-name only their marriage might be, but he’d given her a ring worthy of a princess.

  It sparkled in her hand—the three carat stone as vivid as a golden-yellow Tuscan sunflower. For sure it was a piece of art, but it had always felt cold on her finger. It didn’t belong there. It never did, but it had served its show purpose. “Here you go.”

  He took the ring and pocketed it like loose change. “So that I understand…your grieving period for my brother is over, then?”

  “I’ll forever miss him, Jio. I just think…it’s time to move on.”

  “And are you now available?”

  Available? Tension rippled throughout her legs. Was he pursuing interest in her in an I’m-a-man and you’re-a-woman sort of way? Golden wondered. Was he?

  She’d made that mistake once before on the night they kissed. She vowed that night as she’d fantasized about him, touched herself and then burned alone in her bed that she would never, ever be crushed by Jio Falcone again. “As I said in my e-mail, I think it’s time to move forward.”

  “To fill the void in Lily’s life,” Jio murmured. “And that is all?”

  Golden’s face reddened. Now why should she feel ashamed of her motives? Hadn’t she married Jio for reasons less than love? She’d also been without a man in her bed long enough, but that was her business. Not his.

  “Not just to fill a void for Lily, no,” she admitted. “As it is, I’ll be without a caregiver when Naomi and Gado are married, and while I do want a father figure for Lily, I do want a real husband for me. I admit—I would love to have another baby. I want to have another baby before she gets much older.”

  Jio’s features bricked up in that familiar way Golden recognized the first day of their acquaintance. He was mulling over something deep. “You’ve already found someone to fill this role?”

  “I’ve been seeing someone, and his interest in me has not gone unnoticed. He inherited the property next door two years ago, but these past few months we’ve gotten…close.”

  “Has he asked you to marry him?”

  She shook her head. “Not yet. I think it’s possible in the near future. But if not—well, maybe I could um, date.”

  “Who is he?”

  “What is this, Jiovanni? Twenty questions? And why does his identity have to be a concern of yours?”

  “There is the matter of Lily’s money. And yours.”

  “This man has his own money, Jio. Plenty of it. Even if he didn’t, I will marry the man I choose. And I’ll make sure he’s not a—um, what did you call me once? A gold-digger?”

  “I worried you might have heard Enzo and I talking that day,” Jio confessed drily. “I now have my answer.”

  Golden leaned back in her seat, satisfied she’d struck back at him good. “What is best for my baby will not go by the wayside. I will marry with my heart this time!”

  “And if you don’t find a suitable er, hubby before her third birthday? Then what?”

  “I always think positive, Jio. Marcus is sure to propose.” She lifted her chin. “I just need to divorce you, first.”

  �
��That might help move things along,” he said wryly.

  “Your brother was so different from you. Do you know that?”

  “Yes,” he said with a reluctant smile. “He was—how did you say? Nice. My brother was also a pushover for a beautiful woman.”

  Jio thinks I’m beautiful? Golden knew that he found her attractive, but this was the first time he’d said the words. Or at least come close enough to let her hear their potency. “So tell me, what do you want from me?”

  He thought for a moment. “If you are now free and no longer in mourning, I want…three weeks.”

  Her forehead creased. “For?”

  “I want three weeks with you, and Lily. Or however much time you can spare. I’ll be in Colorado for six weeks, at Falcone International’s newest development—a mountain resort called Starfire Ridge. There’s a buyer interested in one of the new construction homes I’ve got on the market. It’s close to completion, but while I’m there I’d love for you both to join me at my place. It’ll be a winter getaway, complete with skiing and sleigh rides. If you’re interested.”

  She nodded, slowly. “Maybe. But why?”

  “Why not? Since my brother died, I’ve been working full throttle, managing the sale of part of his assets for Lily’s trust, and installing new principals to oversee Enzo’s other restaurants until I decide what needs to be done with them. In addition,” he smiled wryly, “I’ve had my own business interests to look after. But like your brother, my priorities changed when Enzo died. And like you, the time has come for me to move forward. I’ll spend six weeks in Colorado, then I’ll be off to the east coast to follow up on other business—as well as Lily’s paperwork for Italian citizenship.”

  Jio’s determination to have Lily legitimized with the Falcone name swayed Golden into marriage with him. She doubted their marriage fooled anyone, but Jio’s name, money and protection backed her daughter’s position. It also made the mothers of Enzo’s other children squirm.

  The birth of Golden’s baby landed a death blow to their hopes of taking Lily’s wealth for their own daughters. Lily was the spitting image of her father.