‘Signore Corti wants to see you in his office, Lili.’
Lili looked up from where she’d been sitting in the villa’s managerial office. She’d been ordering supplies online. Her insides went into freefall. She’d seen Corti at breakfast briefly but he’d been on his phone speaking in rapid French and had barely acknowledged her.
Maybe, Lili had thought to herself, her suggestion last night had been so outlandish that he wasn’t even going to countenance it? But now he wanted to see her. Maybe he’d had time to reflect on the audacity of her behaviour and was going to fire her?
She went up through the villa and once outside his office she heard voices. She recognised the solicitor’s voice from yesterday. She was going to be fired.
Before she lost her nerve, she knocked lightly on the door. The voices stopped, and Corti said, ‘Come in.’
Lili pushed the door open and the solicitor stood up again to greet her, except this time he held out his hand and said, ‘Buongiorno, Miss Spirenze, I’m Giorgio Macchi.’
Lili looked at his hand. She had no choice but to touch it or seem incredibly rude. She steeled herself and let their hands touch for as brief a moment as possible before pulling her hand back and putting it behind her back. Her heart was beating too fast.
She looked at Corti who was frowning slightly but then his expression cleared and he said, ‘Join us, Lili, take a seat.’
She sat down in the empty chair beside the solicitor, hands in her lap. Corti was standing by the window, tall and imposing. Dressed a little more formally today in dark trousers and a tucked in light blue shirt, top button open.
She was a little surprised to realise that the man in front of her didn’t really resemble the partying playboy she’d read about in the papers. There was an air of…something like boredom about him. Jadedness.
He said, ‘I’ve been talking to Signore Macchi about our conversation last night. I need to know if you were serious?’
Lili’s throat felt dry under the gazes of the two men. It had been a long time since she’d been the center of anyone’s attention. If she ever had been. Even the kidnappers hadn’t really noticed her, apart from manhandling her and making crude comments.
She nodded. ‘Yes, I was.’
‘Well, in that case, I accept your proposal.’
Lili blinked at Corti and then repeated a little breathlessly, ‘You accept…my proposal.’
There was a flicker of amusement at the corner of his mouth. ‘Weren’t you to the one who came to me and offered yourself in marriage?’
‘Yes, I guess I was.’ She felt lightheaded again.
The solicitor beside her cleared his throat. Lili tore her gaze from Corti to look at the man who was taking out a sheaf of papers from a briefcase, ‘In that case, if you are serious about becoming Signore Corti’s wife and potential mother of his child, you’ll need to sign a pre – nuptial agreement.’
Corti said, ‘The agreement is pretty straightforward, protecting Corti assets naturally, but you will receive a generous allowance and leave to live here if we are successful in having an heir. We will share custody of our child but he, or she, will reside here with you as the main carer. We will both have a say in major decisions to do with schooling etc. If there is no child, you will also receive a generous settlement and you will be free to seek a divorce and move on with your life.’
Lili looked at the solicitor and back to Corti a little bewildered with all of that information. ‘It’s that easy?’
Corti shrugged, ‘Pretty much. We’ll need some documents from you of course, and if the pre – nuptial agreement is to your satisfaction then we’ll proceed with the marriage. It’ll take place here in a month’s time.’
‘A month!’ Lili squeaked.
‘There’s no need to delay is there? I’m not due to race again until Monte Carlo in a couple of months, and that should give you enough time to interview a new housekeeper.’
Lili felt like a parrot, ‘A new housekeeper. Why would we need a new housekeeper? I thought the whole point was that I could stay here?’
‘You can, but you’ll be my wife, so you’ll be the chatelaine of the villa, not an employee.’
She said falteringly, ‘I…yes of course, it wouldn’t be appropriate.’ She hadn’t even thought that far ahead but now it seemed to be hurtling towards her with the speed of a train.
The solicitor stood up and said, ‘I’ll leave the agreement here for you Miss Spirenze, when you’ve looked it over you can let me know and I’ll come back to witness your signature. Here’s my card so you can contact me.’ He held out a card and Lili plucked it from his fingers, careful not to touch him again.
He left the room. Now it was just her and Cassian Corti. He came to the other side of the desk and sat down in a louche sprawl. Now he did more resemble the playboy figure.
He said, ‘If you’re having second thoughts Lili, I’d prefer if you could let me know now before we invest any more time in this.’
Lili shook her head faintly. She knew this was an outrageous thing that she was offering to do but after this last year in the villa she knew that this was where she wanted to be. And if she had a child too, she would have all she could possibly need. Security, love and peace.
She looked at her boss. ‘Are you sure?’
A hard expression flitted over his face. ‘You heard the conversation yesterday, this is what I have to do if I want to keep the villa in the Corti name and family. As much as I have ambivalent feelings towards it, I don’t want to be the one who is responsible for letting it go.’
Lili knew the value of the properties in Lake Como. Clearly he didn’t need the money from a sale.
She forced her mind to think, to ask some pertinent questions. ‘But what if you change your mind? What if you want to marry someone else?’
‘That won’t be an issue because I never had any intention of marrying, or having a family.’
‘But haven’t you always known about this rule?’
He looked a little sheepish. ‘Yes, but I have to admit that when the time came I thought I’d be able to let this villa go.’
‘But you can’t.’
His expression shuttered again. ‘If I have the option to keep it then I will try.’
Lili stood up now, feeling too agitated to stay sitting. She put herself behind the chair, hands on the back of it. ‘But if I can’t have a child then you’ll lose it all.’
Corti shrugged, ‘Then I’ll have done my best. I’ll let it go and become even wealthier. You’ll be well compensated for your time.’
‘But you’ll lose this connection to your family.’
His eyes flashed dark silver for a moment, as if she’d pressed on a nerve. He said, ‘I lost that connection the day they all died.’
Lili cursed herself, ‘Of course you did, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to suggest – ‘
He held up a hand, ‘I know you didn’t.’ He dropped his hand. ‘The truth is that it’s my own fault that there’s only a year left to secure the villa in my name.’
‘Maybe you hoped you’d find someone who would change your views on marriage?’ Lili suggested.
He barked an unamused sounding laugh. ‘A cute but naive idea. No. Not in a million years. I knew what would be involved in keeping the villa and I hadn’t relished the prospect of finding the elusive woman who would agree to a marriage in name only. And, agree to have a child.’
He continued, ‘But then I returned here yesterday and met you and now I have the very real prospect of keeping the villa in the Corti name. An unexpected, but welcome, development. You couldn’t be more perfect for what I need right now.’
And potentially, forever. Lili swallowed. ‘If this does work out, what would your day to day involvement be?’
‘Minimal. I have a busy life and work schedule. I’d check in with you, naturally, and the child, but I’d be happy for you to be his main carer.’
‘It could be a girl,’ Lili pointed out, feeling a need to press against that nerve again. He sounded so…sanguine. As if they were not discussing an actual potential human – being.
‘Whatever the sex of the child, it will want for nothing.’
Except a father, Lili felt like pointing out. ‘You really meant it when you said you didn’t want to have children, a family.’
‘Yes. I had a family and I lost them. A child is integral to keeping the villa but I will not be involved. I will be more like a benevolent guardian protecting his, or her, inheritance until they come of age.’
Lili really couldn’t argue with that. She was willing to agree to an arrangement where she was pretty much going to be a sole parent. And he had explained his reasons which were pretty compelling. To suffer a trauma like he did, it would put anyone off risking that kind of loss again.
They were both guilty of fulfilling their own needs. But Lili knew she could love a child enough for two parents. It would want for nothing. She’d make sure of it.
‘Ok,’ she said.
‘Ok?’ Corti lifted a brow.
Lili nodded. ‘I’ll read over the agreement but I’m sure it’ll be fine, Signore Corti.’
He raised a brow. ‘I think that you can call me Cassian. After all, you know all my secrets now.’
Lili gulped. That felt very intimate, which was ridiculous after what they’d just been discussing. She responded, ‘I…ok.’
Then she reiterated, ‘I really don’t want anything more than a place to live and a child of my own.’
‘What was it you said last night? Peace and security?’
Lili nodded, feeling slightly defensive. No doubt he must think her very unambitious or parochial. ‘You have your wishes and desires and I have mine.’