FORTY THOUSAND FEET above the South China Sea and wanting to break the hours of interminable silence.
Toyin turned towards the brooding figure who was seated beside her. " I'm surprised you don't have bodyguards."
Massimo looked up from the paper he had been reading "why should I? "
Toyin waved her hand at all the luxurious fitting of his private jet. " Why not? You travel like a royal. You're as rich as Croesus.
Aren't you worry some one might kidnap you and spirit away your vast fortune? "
His grey eyes glittered. " I have a black belt in both karate and judo, " he said silkily.
I had like to see somebody try"
He turned back to reading the paper
And she looked out at the white clouds outside the aircraft window
She will miss the Outback station where she had been just a normal person.
She had been dreading the moment of confessing her identity to Andy and the other men, knowing it will change everything.
But she was wrong as they acted as if it meant nothing
When they got to the airport, he'd had her phone her brother and explain to him she was going to England under his protection.
Even though he wasn't about it he was relief she was in save hands
She cleared her throat. " Maybe you should tell me something about your family."
" Like what?" He asked
' A few facts would help like who's going to be at this christening. Thet sort of thing. '
' like I said it's the christening of one of my half-brothers son'
" How many half brothers do you have?"
"Three. Or at least, three that I know about," and a half sister, Amber"
" Gosh, that's a lot" she said
He scoffed and continued, " Chase, Gianluca and Nick------he's the one christening his son."
" Are they all going to be there? "
'Everyone, except Chase. Molly's parents are both dead." There was a split second pause. " But her twin sister is going to be there. Like I said it's complicated. '
" You won't understand"
" What do you mean? "
" Presumably you've always been protected from the more sordid side of life. "
" Yes, I'm just a poor little rich girl, ' she said. " Scratch my skin and I'll bleed oil."
" If you're looking for to play on my sympathy, Toyin, don't bother."
"I doubt you've a sympathetic bone in your body, ' She bit back. ' people think it's so easy, being a princess"
" Poor you " he mocked.
" Try to imagine everyone listening to what you say so that they can tell their friends, or a reporter-----what they thought you meant."
"Imagine everyone watching every move you make. Analysing you. Assessing you. Obsessing about your weight. Working out your outfit and how much it cost deciding that colour makes you look washed out, plain, or fat------and then writing a whole article about it"
" Imagine everyone knowing that you'd been saving yourself for your fairy tale prince, only he decided at the last moment to have his fairytale with someone else and their new baby. "
" I imagine that must have been difficult, " he conceded.
She didn't realize what he was going to do until he pulled her across the seat onto his lap and her eyes widened as she felt the hard throb of his erection pushing against his trousers.
" Massimo"
" Do you like that? " He taunted.
She wanted to say no, but she couldn't.
All she wanted was to press her p*say against that throbbing ridge of hardness which had brought her so much pleasure last night.
" Massimo, ' she said again, her voice sounding thick as she struggled to get the word out.
" Shh. You don't have to say anything."
Deliberately, he tilted his pelvis, so that she could feel his erection pushing against where she was hot and wet and arching and Toyin's throat dried.
" I'm still very angry at you, Toyin," he said softly.
" But that doesn't stop me from wanting you. Can you feel how much I want you?"
She swallowed. 'I..... yes... '
'And you want me, don't you? Even though you're trying very hard not to? '
Hating him for his perception, Toyin found herself powerless to push him away.
' Yes', she said through gritted teeth.
' Then we'd better do something about it. And very quickly, I think. "