The Society Bride

The Society Bride
Fiona Hood-Stewart

Ramon Villalba is handsome, gifted and wealthy. So why would he want a bride of convenience?Nena Carvajal is an exquisitely beautiful young heiress who needs protecting from fortune hunters. It would be no hardship for Ramon to enjoy the pleasures of an arranged marriage with her. Ramon is confident he can tame his headstrong virgin wife. But Nena had expected to marry for love…

“Nena,” he whispered. “Let me love you—let me be your husband.”

“I—I can’t…” she responded hoarsely, only too conscious of his scent, of the maleness of him, of everything about him that drew her, while she tried desperately to remind herself of all the reasons she couldn’t let it happen.

“I promise not to hurt you,” he said reasonably, leaning his hands on each side of her on the balustrade, his tanned face and sensual lips only inches from hers.

She realized with a tingling shudder that left her weak, that he was about to kiss her.

Scottish author FIONA HOOD-STEWART has led a cosmopolitan life from the day she was born. Schooled in Europe and fluent in seven languages, she draws on her own experiences in the world of old money, big business and the international jet set for inspiration in creating her books. She now lives in Switzerland with her two teenage sons.

You can visit Fiona’s Web site at www.fionahood-stewart.com.

Fiona is also one of the international collection of bestselling authors writing for MIRA

Books. Her latest novel, Southern Belle, is available next month. Look out for a tempting extract at the end of this book.

Her other titles include:

The Stolen Years

“A feast for anyone who yearns for a long, rich read.”

—Romantic Times

The Journey Home

“Well told…with plot twist and powerful emotions.”

—Romantic Times

The Society Bride

Fiona Hood-Stewart

www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)

CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ONE

HE’D been summoned, Ramon Villalba realised. He frowned as he sat astride his fine Passo Fino and stared across the wide, green open spaces where several thousand heads of cattle—all belonging to him—grazed, oblivious of the fact that their owner was once again about to board his company jet in Buenos Aires and head for London.

It was rare these days that his father summoned him. After all, Ramon was thirty-two, and had cut his eye-teeth a long while ago. So the matter must be extremely important and the summons immediately met.

He experienced a moment’s concern. Could it be the health of one of his parents’ that was the issue here? Surely not. His mother, with whom he had an exceptionally close relationship, would have confided in him. Still, he wasted no time in galloping back to the gracious hacienda, its ancient terracotta walls bathed in late-afternoon sunlight, and having Juanito, his manservant, pack his bags in readiness for the journey.

Twenty-four hours later he was sitting in the book-lined study of his family’s home in Eaton Square, trying to absorb the impact of what his father had just said.

‘But that’s utterly preposterous!’ Ramon exclaimed, dragging his fingers through his thick black hair and shaking his head. ‘As I recollect, Nena Carvajal is not twenty yet—a mere girl. How can you and old Don Rodrigo even contemplate marriage for her?’

‘Really, Ramon. Stop being prissy. You sound as if you’ve never heard of a marriage of convenience.’

‘Well, certainly not one like this,’ Ramon countered with feeling, letting his long legs stretch before him and crossing his ankles. His bronzed brow creased. ‘I don’t know what’s got into your heads. If Nena thinks of me as anything at all it’s probably in the light of an—’

‘Rubbish.’ His father, a well-dressed man in his late seventies, cut him short briskly. ‘I doubt if she remembers you at all—which may be for the best.’

‘Wonderful.’

‘There is a very strong reason for this arrangement.’

‘Oh? And what might that be?’ Ramon raised a haughty brow.

‘Simply put, Don Rodrigo, her grandfather, is dying.’

Ramon frowned and sat up straighter. ‘What’s wrong with him?’

‘The big C, I’m afraid. He has six months at the most. Now, can you imagine what might happen to that girl if she’s let loose on the world with the kind of money she will inherit? Not to mention the running of Rodrigo’s empire,’ he added, with a quick, sharp look at his son.

‘So that’s what this is all about,’ Ramon said slowly. ‘Rodrigo thinks I might be a suitable candidate to take over, does he?’

‘I would say that is a great compliment, considering the vastness and complexity of his empire.’

‘I suppose that’s one way of looking at it,’ Ramon conceded irritably. ‘There’s only one problem.’

‘Oh?’ Don Pedro raised an eyebrow and waited.