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string for a few days until the
    wedding was over and his interference no longer mattered. At the
    very least, she could give Jan and Mario a head start.
    She flung her head back and lifted her chin. Her eyes sparked back
    at him. 'Orders, signore ? Who, gave you the right to give me
    orders?'
    He made an impatient gesture. 'We are not here to talk of rights,
    signorina ,' he said coldly. 'I have come to offer you for the last time
    the terms I stated in my letter. I understood from your reply that you
    were willing to consider them, but I am not prepared to put up with
    any more prevarication from you.'
    Juliet digested his words in silence, her brain whirling feverishly.
    She seemed to be getting into deep water already. What could he
    mean? Had Jan actually written to him, and if so had she merely
    been pretending to agree to his terms in order to win time? Surely
    that was the answer. She could never have seriously considered his
    offer to buy her off. Juliet wouldn't believe it. Jan could never have
    permitted such a consideration to enter her mind, she argued with
    herself vehemently. Her sister must simply have been playing for
    time.
    She gave a little shrug. 'You're clearly so used to having people
    accede to your slightest wish, signore, I was afraid what the shock
    might do to you if I said what I really thought.'
    The tawny eyes swept over her and she was aware of a daunting
    blaze in their depths.
    'Indeed, signorina ?' he drawled. 'I think my system can stand the
    strain. What was wrong with the offer? Didn't it contain sufficient
    money?'
    A cold fury possessed Juliet. Whatever faults Jan might have, she
    was her sister, and no arrogant Italian male, however wealthy, was
    going to insinuate that she was some kind of cheap gold-digger
    eager to be bought off for some unknown amount of cash.
    Her tone was dulcet, but her smile was dangerous as she said, 'You
    don't have sufficient money, signore. It's Mario that I want, and no
    amount of bribery by you can alter that, so please don't try.'
    His lip curled. 'I admire the note of conviction, signorina, but I
    don't believe it. I also have my convictions, and one of them is that
    most men have their price, and all women; I am merely waiting to
    hear yours.'
    She longed to do something thoroughly unladylike, like slapping
    him hard or raking her fingernails down his smooth tanned cheek,
    but she had to forget her own angry impulses and play the scene as
    if she were Jan.
    Jan wouldn't allow herself to be thrown by her deshabille and damp
    hair. She would have smiled, pouting a little at his discourtesy, and
    pushed back her hair, letting the robe open slightly at the front so
    that Santino Vallone was aware that under it she wore nothing but
    her perfume. She would have enticed him to a more approachable
    frame of mind, and played him like a fish on a hook with her
    audacious beauty.
    But knowing what Jan would probably have done and acting on it
    herself were two entirely different things. And the depressing part
    of it was that Juliet didn't have a clue where to start. Men like the
    arrogant Santino Vallone were totally out of her league. Yet she had
    to try if she was to continue to convince him that she was Jan.
    'Lost for words, signorina ?' came the jibing remark. 'Or are you too
    busy doing sums in your head?'
    She made herself smile at him. 'Actually, signore, I was just
    thinking I find your low opinion of women in general and myself in
    particular rather distressing.' She strove for lightness of tone. 'I'm
    wondering what I can do to redress the balance.'
    His brows rose sardonically. 'So the little bird has decided to sing a
    different tune. Bravo! And yet you are very charming when you're
    angry, cara, or at least when you're pretending to be. No wonder
    you've had such a devastating effect on my gullible brother. But that
    little game's over now—or was when you decided to break the
    rules, so let's not waste any more time.'
    'I'm sorry,' Juliet