India Grey – Latin Lovers: Italian Playboys: Bought for the Marriage Bed / The Italian GP's Bride / The Italian's Defiant Mistress (страница 8)
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.’
‘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?’
‘I don’t remember a thing, so drop it, OK?’
Nina sighed with frustration. Her twin was an expert at burying her head when things got tough. There was nothing she could say or do to change the habits of a lifetime. Her sister was damaged and all she could do now was accept it and do what she could to protect Georgia from repeating the pattern in her own life.
‘Any news from Andre’s people?’ Nadia asked as casually as if asking what the afternoon’s weather had been like in her absence.
‘Who?’
‘You damn well know who!’ She felt close to screaming. ‘Marc in-your-face Marcello.’ ‘I thought he might.’
‘How can you be so casual about this?’ Nina cried. ‘He thinks I’m
Nadia hooted with laughter. ‘Does he really? How amusing.’
‘Well, guess what—I’m not laughing,’ Nina ground out. ‘And you’d better get back here as soon as you can and sort it out.’
‘I’m not coming back,’ Nadia said determinedly. ‘Bryce is expecting me in LA tomorrow. Why don’t you just tell him who you are and be done with it?’
Nina whooshed out a breath. ‘Because he wants Georgia, that’s why.’
‘Does he now?’ Nadia’s sugar-sweet voice grated along Nina’s shredded nerves. ‘So the photograph did the trick then.’ ‘What do you mean?’
Nina heard the sound of her sister’s long artificial nails tapping a nearby surface as if she was mentally planning something.
‘He’ll have to pay, of course, but it’s where she belongs anyway. Think of how rich she’ll be when she comes of age, an entire family of billionaire merchant bankers to call on for a loan or two.’
‘I can’t believe you can be so unfeeling about this,’ Nina said reproachfully. ‘Do you know what he means to do?’
‘What?’ Nadia’s tone sounded bored.
‘He’s forcing me—I mean you—to marry him, which is really me because you’ve flown the coop and he doesn’t realise it, and I’m up to my neck in lies and I don’t know if I can face it because I have no idea how to handle men like Marc Marcello and I have work commitments and no childcare and—’
‘Whoa!’ Nadia interjected. ‘Slow down; you lost me at the marriage bit. What do you mean he wants to marry you?’
‘Not me—
‘A paper marriage?’
‘He wants to adopt Georgia and is prepared to marry me—I mean
‘And you agreed?’ Nadia sounded surprised.
‘He didn’t really leave me with much choice,’ Nina answered resentfully. ‘He threatened to expose you as an incompetent mother and you gave him all the evidence he needed by hurting Georgia the way you did. It was just pure luck that he didn’t notice—’
‘What’s he paying you?’ Nadia asked.
Nina gritted her teeth at her sister’s total lack of remorse. How could Nadia be more concerned about money than her own baby?
‘Even if I have to starve I am not taking his money,’ she bit out. ‘He thinks he can buy me but no way is some overindulged playboy going to—’
‘Tell him you’ve changed your mind,’ Nadia said, interrupting her again. ‘Tell him you want ten million.’
‘Then you’re a fool,’ Nadia said. ‘He’s a billionaire, Nina. You can name your price. He’ll pay it.’
‘No, absolutely not. This marriage thing is bad enough.’ She let out a ragged breath and added, ‘Besides, I feel sick at the thought of what he’s going to do when he finds out he’s got the wrong person.’
‘Don’t tell him.’
‘What?’ Nina squeaked. ‘You expect me to go through with it?’
‘You want Georgia, don’t you?’ Nadia said. ‘Here’s your chance to keep her with a whole trailer load of money thrown in. In fact, if you play your cards right we could both really scoop up big time on this.’
Nina didn’t care too much for her twin’s mercenary tone. ‘What do you mean?’
Nadia gave a soft little chuckle that sent a river of unease up her spine. ‘You are about to marry a billionaire. You will have access to cash, lots and lots of cash. I’ve been doing some checking up on Bryce and he’s not quite in the same league as your Marc. But we can make up for that with some clever accounting on your part once you are married.’
Nina cleared the blockage in her tight throat. ‘Nadia, I can’t marry Marc Marcello! It wouldn’t be legal!’
‘Who’s going to know?’ Nadia asked airily. ‘As far as I recall, I didn’t tell Andre I had a twin, so his brother is unlikely to ever find out unless you tell him or he sees us together, which is hardly likely as I’m going to be on the other side of the globe. No, the more I think about this the better it sounds. We both stand to benefit. You get to keep Georgia and I get compensated by a regular income provided by your very rich husband.’
Nina felt her stomach drop in panic. ‘Nadia, please don’t do this to me. I can’t marry a man who hates the very air I breathe!’
‘He doesn’t hate you, he hates me,’ Nadia pointed out. ‘Anyway, once he gets to know you he might even fancy you, or at least he might if you’d whack on a bit of make-up and something other than a shapeless tracksuit from time to time.’
‘I can’t afford the sort of scraps of fabric you usually pipe yourself into,’ Nina said sourly.
‘Come on, Nina. Think about it. This is a chance in a lifetime. You’ve always wanted to get married and have kids. What are you complaining about?’
‘I would have liked to choose the groom for myself, that’s what I’m complaining about!’ Nina shot back. ‘And I wanted a church wedding, not some hole and corner affair at the local registry office.’
‘You’re such a hopeless romantic. Do you think a marriage has any more hope of survival if it’s performed in a church? Come on—get in the real world, Nina. Marrying a billionaire should more than make up for the absence of a dress and veil and the blessing of a priest.’
‘Yeah, well, somehow it just doesn’t,’ she answered. ‘I wanted more out of life than a rich husband.’
‘You could spend your whole life looking for love like our mother did and, just like her, never find it,’ Nadia said. ‘If I were you I’d grasp at this with both hands and make the most of it.’
‘But I’m not you, am I?’ Nina reminded her coolly. ‘No.’ A hint of amusement entered Nadia’s voice again. ‘But Marc Marcello doesn’t know that, does he?’
CHAPTER FOUR
NINA called in sick at the library the next day in order to sort out childcare arrangements but her efforts were not encouraging. As she didn’t have a car, she was limited to using a private centre whose fees were extortionate. She had no choice but to make the booking, hoping that her niece would cope with the change without too much fuss.
The next two days passed without any further contact from Marc. At times Nina wondered if she’d imagined the whole thing, so unreal it seemed, but on the third day a letter arrived, the first page of the thick document informing her that the marriage ceremony would be on July the fifteenth.