"I do not need you to love me." He rebuts coldly. "I need you to marry me." "I do not want to, Mr Bolt." I reiterate in case the stubborn asshole hadn't understood my view on the subject. "I believe you think you have a choice in the matter." He smiles wolfishly. "Marry me or I'll let those wolves have a field day with tearing your company from your hands." "I would rather take my chances with them than you." He smirks, stepping close enough that his sandalwood scent wraps me in a cloud I wasn't eager to escape. "Marriage to me wouldn't be so bad as you well know it." He smirked running an eye up and down my body. "I'll keep your days busy with clients and your nights very warm." *** Maria Belluci had lived a rather peaceful life as the daughter of one of London's elite businessmen but she had her carefully organized life torn away from her when she found her half-sister in bed with her fiancé a few weeks before their wedding. Distraught, she had a one-night stand with the famed billionaire CEO Sebastian Bolt and left before he could wake up. She decided to leave her family, who had sided with her half-sister and everything associated with them, behind to start over, but her story was far from over as this gripping tale of passion, desire, and betrayal spun her into the arms of Sebastian again. Would they overcome all odds stacked against them or would their romance shatter under the weight of adversity?
Maria's POV
"Will you marry me, Miss Belucci?" The question has me eyeing the man before me as if he had grown two heads over the past half hour he had been in my office. If anyone had told me my perfectly boring morning would take the route it had now I would have called them insane.
I had woken up in a good mood, earlier than usual because I wanted to drop my son off at his kindergarten before heading to work for a meeting that would essentially change my company for good not expecting to be interrupted by the last person I had expected to see.
Sebastian Bolt.
Even his name sounded attractive.
He was the CEO of Bolt Industries who had hounded me with proposals to buy my company despite my continuous refusals. He had come to apparently convince me in person but soon changed his proposal.
"What happened to buying my company?" I asked stepping away from him.
I couldn't help but wonder if he remembered me from that night five years ago when I had asked him to help me forget the betrayal of finding my step sister and fiance in bed. I had never forgotten his face especially not after I'd found out I was pregnant shortly after.
It had been the one thing that sponsored my decision to leave London so I never bump into him again even though I didn't know whether or not he lived in London.
"Plans change."
"I would have rather you stuck to your original course so I know how to reject your offer." I answered, pouring myself some coffee to give my hands something to do.
"Does that mean marrying me is a better offer?" He asked grinning wolfishly.
"No. It just shows me that perhaps you're even more unhinged than I had imagined."
"I am not unhinged, Miss Belluci." He said softly, crowding me against the table. "I'm just a man who knows what I want and goes for it.
His cologne was a delicious fragrance that made my nose twitch, itching to breathe deeply but I stopped myself, remembering he wasn't just any man.
He was even more attractive than when I had seem him those years ago and my body remembered just how well he had handled it. Even now I could feel the stirrings of desire in my blood as I looked at him.
"I am not an object to be acquired." I told him stubbornly.
"I can see that." He smiled,his eyes seductively moving around my body like a lion about to feast on its meal.
"You do not even know me." I went on. "Surely you can't marry a stranger."
He grinned wider then, running a hand down the side of my face.
"That's where I'll stop you, Miss Belluci. I happen to recall we spent a very beautiful night together five years ago."
My eyes widened in shock.
"We aren't exactly strangers you see." He smiled proudly. "I believe we know each other quite intimately."
"It still doesn't count." I answered stubbornly. "We barely know anything about each other. A marriage should be more than a business proposal. There has to be something more to it. Love, attraction, anything but this... farce you're suggesting."
"I do not need you to love me." He rebuts coldly. "I want you to marry me. Besides going by that delectable flush on your skin I can say there certainly is attraction."
"I do not want to, Mr Bolt." I reiterated, flushing even deeper much to my dismay, in case the stubborn asshole hadn't understood my view on the subject. "There's nothing you can say to convince me otherwise."
"I believe you think you have a choice in the matter." He smiles wolfishly. "Marry me or I'll let those wolves have a field day with tearing your company from your hands. You do not have a lot of options. I'm offering you a deal you cannot afford to lose. Your company will be yours. I'll be a silent investor. Isn't that what you wanted?"
"I would rather take my chances with them than you."
Yes my company needed investments to survive but that didn't mean I was just going to accept help at any cost. I still had my principles to live by. What would I teach my son then?
He smirked, stepping even closer so that I could feel every hard ridge of his body against me.
"Marriage to me wouldn't be so bad, Miss Belluci." He smirked running an eye up and down my body. "I'll keep your days busy with clients and your nights very warm."
"You will have to make a better proposal than that to get me to marry you, Mr Bolt." I spat. "I suggest you take your time."
"That sounds like you you want me to come back."
I pushed him off me, ignoring how warm and solid he felt beneath my hand.
"Good bye, Miss Belluci." He smiled. "I believe I will take your advice."
I sighed as soon as he stepped outside my office, falling into my seat.
"What was that about?" Helena, my best friend and business partner asked me. "You were here for a long time."
Helena and I had been best of friends since prom. She had a bit too much to drink on that and I couldn't help but suggest she pass the night at mine. As we spent more time together that night, I got to realize that we had so much in common. Little did we know that a night of drunkenness would lead to lifelong friendship.
"He said he wants to marry me. If I do, he'll invest and I'll retain ownership."
Her eyes went wide.
"What? Why?"
"Remember when I told you about that one night stand I had five years ago?" I asked.
She would definitely remember as I had called her crying when I finally returned home from his apartment.
"Yes why?" She asked. When I didn't answer, her eyes widened. "It can't be."
"It is." I sighed falled into my seat.
"And he remembers?"
I nodded, holding my head in my hands.
"What will you do?"
"I don't know." I answered truthfully.
She was silent for a long time but had a contemplative look on her face. As a lawyer, I knew she would be weighing the pros and cons of the deal.
"We do need help at this point." She started, undeterred by my glare. "And marriage to him would mean contracts."
"You seriously aren't suggesting I..."
"I'm not suggesting it, Maria." She answered folding her hands. "I'm all for it."
"Hel..."
"Would it be so bad?" She asked. "The man is hot as hell, dynamite in bed from what you said and stupidly rich and he obviously is interested in you. You're single so there's nothing stopping you."
"I don't want to sell myself for money."
"I can't appear so desperate Helena," I said sadly.
"We all have to at some point." Helena sighed. "If you're going to do it, you might as well make sure its worth it."
Will she accept his proposal?
What did she truly want for herself?
Chapter 1 The Billionaire Marriage Proposal
14/02/2025
Chapter 2 Family Reunion
14/02/2025
Chapter 3 Dinner Date
14/02/2025
Chapter 4 Meeting The Inlaws
14/02/2025
Chapter 5 Family Reunion
14/02/2025
Chapter 6 I Cannot Marry You!
14/02/2025
Chapter 7 The Frightening Visit
14/02/2025
Chapter 8 Anticipating The Storm
14/02/2025
Chapter 9 The Expected Arrival
14/02/2025
Chapter 10 Whispers In The Dark
14/02/2025
Chapter 11 Facing The Demons
14/02/2025
Chapter 12 A Sinister Offer
14/02/2025
Chapter 13 The Deadly Ultimatum
14/02/2025
Chapter 14 The Breaking Point
14/02/2025
Chapter 15 A Gesture Of Kindness
14/02/2025
Chapter 16 Headlines And Havoc
14/02/2025
Chapter 17 The Proposal Revisited
14/02/2025
Chapter 18 Sparks Fly
14/02/2025
Chapter 19 New Romance
08/03/2025
Chapter 20 Bro Talks
08/03/2025
Chapter 21 Running From The Truth
08/03/2025
Chapter 22 News Flash
16/03/2025
Chapter 23 Kindling Flames
16/03/2025
Chapter 24 Plans And Counterplans
16/03/2025
Chapter 25 Meeting Ailene
16/03/2025
Chapter 26 Aftermaths Of Dinner
16/03/2025
Chapter 27 The Conference
16/03/2025
Chapter 28 The Conference II
16/03/2025
Chapter 29 Sweet Then Sour
16/03/2025
Chapter 30 A Hint Of Manipulation
16/03/2025
Chapter 31 Hotel Pleasures
16/03/2025
Chapter 32 Selfish Lot
16/03/2025
Chapter 33 Thoughts And Musings
16/03/2025
Chapter 34 Ready To Be Mrs Bolt
16/03/2025
Chapter 35 Meeting Pierre Laurent
16/03/2025
Chapter 36 Winning Ailene Over
16/03/2025
Chapter 37 Realizations And Unexpected Visits
16/03/2025
Chapter 38 Dinner With The Devil............. Or Not
16/03/2025
Chapter 39 Wild Wild Thoughts
16/03/2025
Chapter 40 Thoughts And Musings
16/03/2025