Bought For The Marriage Bed

‘No, my father is unable to travel and my mother is…’He hesitated slightly before continuing. ‘She died a couple of years ago.’

Nina couldn’t help feeling a wave of sympathy for his father, who had been dealt a double blow of grief in losing his son so close to the death of his wife. She imagined Marc was dealing with overwhelming grief too and it made her anger towards his treatment of her soften around the edges.

‘It must be a very difficult time for you all,’ she said gently.

Marc threw her a look of disgust. ‘How dare you offer sympathy when if it had not been for you, my brother would still be alive?’

Nina stared at him in shock. This was getting even worse than a nightmare. What did he mean?

‘That’s a heavy accusation,’ she managed to get out. ‘Exactly what evidence do you have to substantiate it?’

‘You were the last person to see Andre before he went to pick up Daniela from the airport.’

Nina hadn’t known that little detail and wondered why her sister hadn’t mentioned it.

‘So?’ She made her voice sound as unconcerned as possible even though her stomach was rolling in consternation.

‘Daniela was understandably upset at what had gone on whilst she had been in Milan visiting her family the first time,’ he said. ‘She was threatening to call off the wedding altogether but Andre was adamant that his involvement with you had ceased. She knew about the baby and it caused a great deal of trouble between them, as she was concerned about him having further contact with you. She lived long enough after the accident to tell me that Andre had been on edge when he arrived to pick her up, as you had visited him the night before making your usual outrageous demands. He had not slept well after you left and his concentration was all over the place. A truck ran a red light and he did not have the necessary reaction time to avoid the collision.’

‘And you think that’s my fault?’ Nina asked tightly. ‘I wasn’t driving the truck!’

‘You might as well have been, as far as I am concerned. Andre was deeply ashamed of himself for getting involved with you. It almost destroyed his relationship with Daniela.’

‘He should have thought about the consequences before he gave me the come-on,’ she threw back.

‘Have you not got that the wrong way around?’ he asked with a flash of black eyes. ‘It was not Andre who was lying naked in the hotel bed that first night—it was you.’

Nina did her best to hide her shock at his statement. There was so much she didn’t know and the further she became embroiled in this farce the harder it was to maintain her cover. Nadia had told her virtually nothing, which meant she now had to lie her way through this emotional minefield.

Lie after lie after lie.

She’d read somewhere that if a person were to tell one lie they then had to go on and tell thousands to keep that single one in place. Now she could well believe it.

‘So?’ She tried the casual tone again. ‘He could have said no.’

‘There are very few men who could say no when such temptation is dangled in front of them,’ he said, raking his gaze over her once more.

Nina tilted her head at him provocatively. ‘So you admit to being a little tempted yourself?’

His hand left the doorknob as he strode back across the room to stand in front of her, his expression so full of hatred she had to force herself not to step backwards to escape the heat of it coming off him in scorching waves.

His eyes burned down into hers forcefully, the inky depths glittering as if he was only just managing to keep his temper under control.

‘You might have the body of a goddess and the face of an angel but I would not touch you even if you held the key to life itself,’ he ground out heavily.

Injured feminine pride made Nina hitch up her chin another fraction, her eyes issuing him a challenge she knew deep inside she should not be issuing but she just couldn’t help it. How dare he dismiss her so confidently?

‘Want to lay a bet on that, big boy? Put your money where your mouth is—so to speak.’

The line of his mouth grew even tighter until his lips appeared almost white. Nina could tell she had taken things a little too far but it was too late to back out now.

‘All right.’ He finally released his breath. ‘I will lay a bet on it. If I touch you other than in the most casual way during our marriage, you win the bet. I will double your allowance on the spot.’

She suddenly realised that Nadia would have asked how much he intended giving her by now but it simply hadn’t occurred to Nina to do so.

‘Um…how much are you intending to pay me?’

‘Much more than you are worth, I can assure you.’

Her eyes burned with seething hatred at his denigration, everything inside her quaking with anger until she could barely stand still. She felt it rumbling in her stomach, flash-flooding her veins as it was carried to every single cell of her body.

‘That remains to be seen,’ she said in Nadia’s confident flirty tone even though her teeth were being ground to powder behind her seductive smile.

His midnight eyes gleamed with confidence as he looked down at her, the small smile that was playing on his lips a combination of both mockery and challenge.

‘Go ahead, Miss Selbourne, go ahead and make me pay.’

She opened her mouth to respond but before she could get the words out the door opened under his hand and he stepped through and closed it behind him with an ominous click of the lock as it fell back into place.

She stared at the door for a moment or two, her stomach in tight knots of panic, her head throbbing with tension and her legs trembling at the thought of what she’d just done.

She turned and leaned heavily on the arm of the old sofa, her frazzled brain trying to find a satisfactory way out of her predicament.

If she told him who she really was he would have even more reason to claim Georgia, for she could hardly provide for her the way he obviously could and, with Nadia already abandoning her daughter, what hope would there be of fighting back?

But marrying him?

Her heart gave another heavy thump of panic at the thought of being formally tied to him in marriage, all the time having to keep her true identity a secret. But unless Nadia reappeared and claimed her daughter, Nina knew she was going to have to continue with the charade for as long as necessary. What other choice was there? Georgia needed her. She couldn’t let her down.

Two weeks…that was all she had and it wasn’t anywhere near long enough.

She gave a tiny shiver as she thought of him towering over her the way he had, his eyes aflame with dislike. He was ruthlessness and power personified; he was used to simply paying for any obstacles in his path to be removed and she would be the first to be crushed beneath his well-heeled foot.

She gave a little jump when the telephone rang on the small table beside her and, reaching out a still shaking hand, picked up the receiver and held it to her ear.

‘Nina?’ Nadia’s voice rang out airily. ‘I thought I’d call you en route. I’m in Singapore for a couple of hours while the plane refuels.’

‘Do you have any idea of what you’ve done?’ Nina choked, clutching at the receiver with both hands.

‘I know you don’t approve of me leaving Georgia,’ Nadia said. ‘But quite frankly I don’t care. I want—’

‘Will you shut up and listen to me?’ Nina bit out. ‘How could you do that to your own daughter? Not only did you abandon her but you hurt her!’

‘Look.’ Nadia’s tone hardened. ‘She was crying for ages while you were out. It drove me nuts.’

Nina’s stomach churned at the thought of the abuse happening under her very own roof.

‘She’s a defenceless child. You were one once; don’t you remember what it feels like to be so vulnerable?’