Accidentally Married to the Billionaire (Whirlwind Romance Series) (2 page)

Kira’s mouth fell open again. He
must really think she wanted nothing more than to catch flies.

“I can’t believe we discussed all
that,” she finally replied, her voice faint.

“Well, that’s why we hit it off.
It was a spur of the moment decision. You desperately wanted to live and do
something exciting with your life. By the way, I had my men do a quick
background check on you, yesterday. You work for a reputable business magazine,
Miss Watson. One has to be careful in my position.”

“Your position?”

“Yes. Being the top dog in a
corporation brings many enemies. Which brings me back to what I was saying
before…we both have a lot in common.”

“I don’t have enemies…I mean…”

He grinned as he finished
dressing by putting on an expensive-looking pair of dark dress pants. He then
reached for a crisp white shirt, a matching dark blazer and a grey tie from the
closet. After he was fully dressed in his executive suit, he looked sharp like
a GQ magazine model or something. Alessandro looked as delicious in a suit as
he did naked.

Kira had to stop herself from
drooling over his physique.

“We’re both misunderstood, Miss
Watson.”

“We are?” She snapped out of her
gaze. “What makes you say that? And please…call me Kira.”

He grinned and said nothing for a
moment. “Your friends don’t understand you and neither does your aunt. Your mother
is suffering from chronic depression that got worse after…your twin sister
passed away. Since then you’ve been trying to establish yourself and take care
of your youngest sister. Your aunt who is also your mother’s power of attorney
should she not be able to make decisions for herself, thinks you’re behaving
like an old woman instead of a young girl. She also has been telling her
friends that you don’t like men because she hasn’t seen you with a date in
years. Not knowing that you’ve been heartbroken and you don’t run around. You are
twenty-seven years old and you’re afraid of dying before doing anything
exciting with your life knowing you could be here today and gone tomorrow.”

Kira was silent for a while. The
torment of losing her twin had been a great blow to her psyche.

Her late twin sister had always done
exciting things in high school until she’d fallen ill just before her high
school graduation.

Up until then Kira had been the
boring twin not doing much exciting while Kandy was the fun one that everyone
liked to be around—she was the cheerleader in Kira’s life encouraging her to
live it up a little. After Kandy’s death she was left with a void. She didn’t
want her life to pass her by with regrets that she hadn’t lived with
excitement.

Her mouth fell open when it
struck her that she had disclosed so much to a man who was practically a stranger.
What was she thinking? How did she come to trust him so much with her private
inner-thoughts? Did they just hit it off when they met this weekend? She had
been researching him so she knew a lot about him beforehand but she’d had only
recently met him in person.

“My dear, you must learn to keep
your mouth closed. Figuratively speaking and literally.”

Again, Kira flushed. She drew in
a deep breath.  She tried to push the thoughts of losing Kandy out of her mind.
She did not want to cry in front of this…gorgeous stranger. “Okay, you said
that you, too, are misunderstood?”

“Yes. With women.”

“Women?”

“Yes, people assume that I have
lots of women.”

“But you do, don’t you? I mean…”

“That’s what the media would have
you believe.”

“But isn’t it true?”

“I’m a man, Miss…Kira. Of course,
I have needs. I’ve had girlfriends.”

Kira took note of the word
had
. 
Well, of course, if they were married he couldn’t possibly have anyone else in
the picture.

“But I guess you weren’t too
careful…I mean that paternity suit.”

Alessandro’s lips tightened into
a thin line. A muscle twitched in his jaw. “I’m always careful, Miss Watson. A
standard DNA test takes three days to come back. Once the results are made
public, that would be the end of that rumor. I am not the father of that
woman’s child and if I was, I’d take full responsibility,” he said in a cool
tone that sent shivers down her spine.

There he went, calling her Miss
Watson again as if they were formal and had a business arrangement or
something.

“Like I said before, I think she
was a set-up. Someone is going through a lot of trouble to tarnish my image.”

“But why?”

“That, my dear, is where you come
in.”

“What? Me?”

“Yes, you. I need to prove to the
potential client that I am fit to open up a children’s hospital despite those
rumors. I want to appear as a family man. Not a womanizer.”

Kira shook her head. “So that’s
why I agreed to marry you?”

Alessandro’s lips softened into a
curve. “My dear, you should never drink alcohol again.”

Kira folded her arms across her
chest. Unimpressed. “Are you trying to say that I’m irresponsible?”

“I don’t believe that for one
minute. I think you’re way too trusting and you’ve always played it safe your
entire life—up until now. You don’t usually drink that’s why it didn’t take you
long to get tipsy. You have to learn to watch your step and your back at the same
time when you’re in this game of life.”

“Is that what life is to you,
Alessandro? A game?”

“The most incredible game of
survival. Wouldn’t you agree?”

“I don’t know about that.” Kira
could not believe it. Here she was with the most elusive bachelor billionaire
in town and getting a front row seat into his life and she was not going to
record any of it. Except to her mind.

Kira vaguely remembered feeling
tipsy last night then driving on the Vegas strip with all the stunning lights
and music and traffic and driving up through some candle-lit tunnel. It was
like some dream. God, was it all real? She really did get hitched, didn’t she?

“Well, you needed the money to
cover your baby sister’s tuition, while paying off your own debt, and you also
wanted to have a wing dedicated to your late twin sister, which I agreed to if
I win the facility. And I need a wife for the weekend to prove I’m a family man
to increase my chances of winning when I make my proposal.”

Kira felt her heart squeeze. She
really wanted that facility near Disneyland to go to good use.

She then shook her head. Boy, did
she have an inside scoop. “So this is only for the weekend?”

“Yes. I will need your presence for
the weekend and the coming week.”

“And then what?”

“And then we annul the marriage after
a few months in quiet and go our separate ways.”

Kira swallowed hard. She still
had so many questions. As if he could read her mind he said, “Don’t worry. You
can read over the written agreement I drafted up last night before you signed
it.”

“And a prenuptial agreement, no
doubt. Boy, you really had this planned.”

“I do plan most things but I’m a
man who can think on the spot and change course at the spur of the moment when
I need to. That’s called survival, my dear. Survival.”

Kira shook her head as she looked
out on the beautiful Vegas Strip outside the window of the hotel suite. The
tall buildings with glittering lights, the early morning sun peeking through
and reflecting shades of orange on the buildings. She held her head again. That
pounding was starting again under her scalp.

Alessandro walked over to the bar
in the room and poured a glass of drink. “Here, drink this.”

“What is it?” Kira asked.

“You really must be out of it,
dear. It’s just a glass of water. You need to rehydrate yourself if you want to
stop having headaches. Alcohol is dehydrating.”

“It is?”

“I can tell you don’t drink
much—usually. That’s good.” He grinned. “By the way, don’t ever drink on an
empty stomach again.”

“You don’t have to tell me
twice.” Kira drank the water and felt quenched. She then placed the empty glass
on the table beside her and leaned back on the sofa, trying to make sense of
everything. Well, she’d wanted to live with excitement. This was certainly as
exciting as it could get. There was also something trustworthy about
Alessandro. Somehow she felt secure around him. There was definitely a magnetic
pull between them. The atmosphere was electrifying around him. She felt charged
around him. Alive.

“Well, aren’t you going to take
your shower now and get ready?

“For what?” she queried, puzzled.

“We have our first public
engagement this morning after breakfast. We’re going to be interviewed.”

Kira’s entire body stiffened.

3.

Was Alessandro mistaken to trust
the beautiful, rogue reporter in his suite? He had married her on a whim. But
he could not resist. She was the perfect diversion from the paternity suit
which had him in anguish. The only thing was, he was beginning to wish he’d
agreed to stay married to her longer.

He’d seen beautiful women but her
looks could take a man’s breath away and she acted as if she didn’t know it.
She was so different from any other woman he’d dated. 

So innocent. Kind. A breath of
fresh air.

Damn! It was going to be hard
keeping his distance from her. He grew hard inside his pants whenever she was
near. He wondered if her lips would taste like a glass of red wine. Sweet and
silky.  Right now, he wanted to slide his tongue between her parted lips. He
tried to dismiss sexual thoughts of her since sex was not part of the agreement
but at moments the naughty thoughts kept sneaking back into his mind.

“I signed a contract stating that
I’d go along with this charade for the weekend
including
interviews?”
Kira looked dubious.

“Not a charade, my dear.”
Alessandro went into his case on the countertop and pulled out a sheet of paper
and handed it to her. “A business arrangement.”

Kira took the sheet of paper and
read it. She said nothing for what seemed like forever.

“I can’t believe I signed this,”
she finally uttered.

“If you wish to terminate the
contract, you are free to do so.” His voice was cool as ice and sounded
dangerously low.

Kira thought for a moment. “No.
I…I’ll go ahead with it. But just for the week. I really believe in your idea
for the world’s largest children’s hospital right beside Disneyland. I think
it’s great. I want to be a part of it. It’s all coming back to me now.”

Alessandro looked aloof for a
moment. “Yes. Unfortunately, I’m not the only bidder in the game. There are
other businessmen who want that building but they plan to open up some
entertainment facility. Do you have any questions?”

“Yes. I do have a question,
Alessandro.”

“I’m waiting…” He cocked a brow, as
if expecting her objections.

“So you say, according to this
agreement, that we’re going to video tape this interview for your website so
that potential investors can see that you…and your new wife are committed to
this new children’s hospital project?”

“Yes. Also, a few reporters will
be present to interview us afterwards. Just online magazines. I need as much
press as I can get this week to help persuade my potential associates that I’m
the best man to take over that building when we meet in a couple of days.”

“And what happens when they find
out that it was all a fake?”

“They won’t.”

“They won’t? How could you be so
sure?”

“Because, first of all, my dear I
prepared a script last night for you to memorize just to give you a brief
background of all that would take place.”

“Boy, you really work fast,
Alessandro.”

“I live dangerously. I’m always
on high alert. Ready to change course at the spur of the moment.”

“Do you ever sleep?”

He grinned. “Sometimes. But there’ll
be plenty of time for that when I’m dead.”

Kira said nothing for a moment.
She looked thoughtful.

Alessandro continued. “The
marriage is as real as this marriage certificate and the ring you sport on your
ring finger.  No one will suspect a thing. They won’t know how long we’ve been
seeing each other.” Alessandro noticed that Kira glanced in awe at the jewel on
her ring finger. She’d done it a few times since she’d woken up.

“And furthermore, we are to part
on amicable terms in less than three months.”

“So you just need me around for the
week for show and tell.”

“Yes. There will be no need to be
at my side everywhere I go after that.”

“I see you have it all planned.”

“One must plan if one wants to go
anywhere in life, my dear. Remember that!”

“Oh, I will. I think I’ll never
forget this weekend so long as I live.” Kira held her head again.