Bought For The Marriage Bed

‘He was formally engaged to Daniela Verdacci,’ he said bitterly. ‘They had been together since they were teenagers. You set your sights on him, no doubt lured by the prospect of his money, but he only ever had eyes for Daniela. Did you really think he would stoop so low as to tie himself permanently to an unprincipled opportunistic little tramp who has slept her way around most of Sydney?’

Nina tensed in anger. She knew her sister had been a little promiscuous at times, but the way Marc Marcello phrased it made it sound as if she had been a call girl instead of the insecure and emotionally unstable person she really was.

‘How absolutely typical!’ she spat back. ‘Why is it men such as yourself and your brother can sow several continents with wild oats but women must not? Get in the real world, Mr Marcello. Women own their sexuality these days and have the same right to express it as you.’

His dark unreadable eyes raked her from head to foot again. ‘While we are speaking of rights, the little matter of Andre’s child needs to be addressed. As much as I lament and abhor the fact that the child is a Marcello, the fact remains that she is entitled to see her paternal relatives.’

‘Surely that decision is up to me?’

‘No, I am afraid not, Miss Selbourne.’ His voice lowered threateningly. ‘Perhaps you do not realise quite who you are dealing with here. The Marcello family will not stand back and watch a street whore raise a blood relative. Unless you do as I say I will do everything in my power to remove her from you so you cannot taint her with your lack of morality.’

Nina’s eyes widened in alarm. She was in no doubt of his ability to do as he threatened. There could be few people in Australia who weren’t aware of the monumental wealth of the Marcello family. Their influence and control stretched far and wide across the world. With the best legal defence and with a total lack of scruples, she knew it wouldn’t be long before Marc Marcello did exactly as he had promised.

Oh, what had Nadia done?

Nina did her best not to appear intimidated, but never had she been more terrified. If he were to find out that she wasn’t actually the child’s mother, he could remove Georgia right here and now and there would be nothing she could do to stop him.

But he was not going to find out. Not if she could help it.

Garnering what courage she could, she stood rigidly before him, her grey eyes issuing a challenge.

‘I might appear to be a woman of few morals, but let me assure you I love that child and will not stand back while some overrated playboy sweeps her away. She’s a baby and babies need their mothers.’

Marc’s gaze swept over her rigid form, noting the tightened line of her full mouth and the stubborn set of her chin. Her startling eyes flashed with venom and, for the first time, he realised just how severely tempted his brother must have been. That pint-sized frame was incredibly alluring, so too the lustrous blonde hair that perfectly offset the creamy quality of her skin. Her figure had snapped back into place rather quickly, he thought, considering she’d not long been delivered of a child. Her air of innocence, however, he knew was the façade of a money-hungry whore who had already demonstrated her intentions by trying to trap his brother with the oldest trick in the book—pregnancy.

‘Under normal circumstances I would agree with you,’ he said in an even tone. ‘Having had the benefit of a wonderful mother, I would be the last person to suggest a child should be raised by anyone else. However, your track record does not inspire the greatest confidence in me that you will be able to support and nurture Andre’s child. After all, who was it that sent a missive to my family in Italy stating your intentions to have the child adopted?’

‘I…It was a knee-jerk reaction. I was upset and not thinking straight,’ she said quickly. ‘I have no intention of giving her up. Georgia is mine and no one—and I mean no one—is going to remove her from my custody.’

Without warning he stepped towards her, his formidable height casting a dark shadow over her slim form. Nina fought with herself not to shrink away, but it took everything in her to hold herself steady under his threatening presence.

‘How remiss of me,’ he drawled as he reached inside his suit jacket pocket for his wallet. ‘I should have known you would want to twist the screws a bit. How much?’

She looked at him blankly.

One dark aristocratic brow lifted. ‘I assume this is what this holding pattern is all about?’

‘I have no idea what you’re talking about,’ she said, her throat suddenly bone-dry.

His mouth twisted into a cynical smile as he fanned open his wallet, ‘Come now, Nadia. I am a rich man; I think I can just about afford to pay you off. Name your price.’

Marc was surprised by how much he was enjoying playing with her, seeing her struggle to hold on to her temper, knowing that any minute now she’d cave in to the temptation he was dangling before her beautiful come-to-bed-eyes.

‘My real name is Nina and I don’t want your stupid money.’

This time both his eyebrows lifted. He paused strategically, wondering what game she was playing now.

‘I thought your name was Nadia? I am sure Andre told me it was—or was that a lie too?’

Nina schooled her features into exactly the sort of expression her twin sister was famous for. ‘Nina is my real name but I thought Nadia sounded a little more sophisticated. I’ve since changed my mind.’ She inspected her hands in another imitation of her sister before raising her eyes back to his. ‘How did you know where to find me?’

‘There is only one Miss N Selbourne listed in the phone book in this suburb.’

Since Nadia had moved in with her after the birth of Georgia, her sister’s erratic approach to paying bills meant that Nina had left the telephone in her name alone, which had obviously made it even easier for Marc to assume she was her twin.

She allowed one tiny inaudible breath of relief to escape the tight frame of her lips.

So far so good.

‘Well, then…Nina.’ He drew her name out suggestively. ‘If you are not after money, what do you want?’

‘Nothing.’

The cynical smile was back. ‘It has been my experience that women like you are always after money even when they insist to the contrary.’

‘Your experience must be terribly limited, for I can assure you I have no need of your money.’

‘Not mine, perhaps, but you must be aware that my dead brother has left a considerable estate. You have given birth to his child, which means she has a legal right to claim some, if not all, of that estate when she comes of age.’

Nina swallowed. This was getting more and more complicated by the minute.

‘I’m not interested in Andre’s estate.’

‘You expect me to believe that?’ he growled. ‘Behind those eyes of yours I can see the dollar signs already rolling in anticipation.’ His dark gaze left hers to sweep the room before coming back to glare down at her. ‘Look at this place! It reeks of poverty and neglect. Do you think I will allow my niece to live in such a hovel?’

Nina felt pride straighten her spine. ‘It’s all I can afford at present.’

He gave a harsh laugh. ‘At present is right. No doubt you have already got some other poor unsuspecting man in your sights for your next free ride.’ He gave her a look of undiluted disgust and continued. ‘You must be offering something pretty special underneath that “butter would not melt in your mouth” pose for anyone to take you on with another man’s baby in tow.’

Nina had never considered herself a volatile person; Nadia had been the firebrand, her unpredictable mood swings causing many an unpleasant scene. But somehow, hearing Marc’s disdain, even though it was directed at her twin, bit her deeply and on her sister’s behalf she fought back.

‘Are you offering to take up where Andre left off?’ she asked in a tone dripping with sultry provocation.

His dark eyes glittered with hatred so intense it secretly unnerved her.

‘I can see how you want to play this,’ he said after another nerve-tightening pause.

‘On the contrary, I want nothing other than for you to leave my home immediately. You’re not the least bit interested in my n…er…daughter.’ She took a quick breath to disguise her vocal stumble. ‘If you don’t leave then I will have no other choice than to call the police and have you thrown out.’

Black eyes clashed with grey for endless seconds but finally Nina was the first to lower her gaze.

‘Please leave, Mr Marcello. I have nothing else I wish to say to you.’

‘I want to see my niece.’ His adamant tone brought her eyes back to his. ‘I want to see the child my brother fathered.’

Nina pressed her lips together as she saw the struggle he made to keep his emotions under control. She heard it in his voice and saw it in his rigid stance as he faced her, his dark eyes shining with sudden moisture.

She hadn’t expected him to have such depth of human feeling and it shamed her to realise how seriously she’d misjudged him. After all, she reminded herself, he had not long buried his only sibling under tragic circumstances. Even with all Nadia’s distressing foibles, she knew that in the same situation she would be little less than devastated.