Escaping...with his heir!

After falling for the notorious Italian tycoon, waitress Marnie Clarke is horrified to discover that—in Leandro Vialli’s world—she’s “his dirty little secret.” It breaks her fragile heart and she flees with her dignity...and their unborn baby!

Leandro refused to believe the child was his until a paternity test proved him wrong. So when a shocking accident steals Marnie’s memories, he seizes his chance. Convincing Marnie that she’s his fiancée is Leandro’s only chance to secure his legacy.

But before Leandro can say, “I do,” the past comes crashing back and Marnie remembers everything...

‘We planned on a very small, intimate service, with just the two of us and a couple of friends as witnesses.’

Silently Leandro acknowledged his frustration that he was making this up as he was going along.

Marnie frowned. ‘I’m sure I would have decided on a small wedding, but I would never have agreed to be married without inviting my family.’ Marnie noticed a flicker of surprise on Leandro’s features. ‘You will have to help my memory. Have I already chosen a wedding dress? It would be odd if I haven’t, seeing as the wedding is in one month.’

‘You decided to wait and choose a dress in Florence, nearer to the date of the wedding, because you don’t know what size you will be.’

Leandro quickly fabricated a reason for the delay while he made a mental note to invite Marnie’s relatives to the hotel in London where he had booked a simple wedding service. It was important that Marnie believed he genuinely wanted to marry her—which he did. But only so that he could claim his child. It was imperative that he got Marnie to the altar as soon as possible.

Wedlocked!

Conveniently wedded, passionately bedded!

Whether there’s a debt to be paid, a will to be obeyed or a business to be saved…

She’s got no choice but to say, ‘I do!’

But these billionaire bridegrooms have got another think coming if they think marriage will be that easy…

Soon their convenient brides become the object of an inconvenient desire!

Find out what happens after the vows in

The Billionaire’s Defiant Acquisition by Sharon Kendrick

One Night to Wedding Vows by Kim Lawrence

Wedded, Bedded, Betrayed by Michelle Smart

Expecting a Royal Scandal by Caitlin Crews

Look out for more Wedlocked! stories coming soon!

Trapped by Vialli’s Vows

Chantelle Shaw

www.millsandboon.co.uk

CHANTELLE SHAW lives on the Kent coast and thinks up her stories while walking on the beach. She has been married for over thirty years and has six children. Her love affair with reading and writing Mills & Boon stories began as a teenager, and her first book was published in 2006. She likes strong-willed, slightly unusual characters. Chantelle also loves gardening, walking and wine!

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Introduction

Wedlocked!

Title Page

About the Author

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

EPILOGUE

Extract

CHAPTER ONE

‘SO YOU’RE LEANDRO’S dirty little secret.’

Marnie jerked her gaze from the door of the restaurant—she’d been watching it for Leandro’s arrival—to the man who had sat down on the bar stool next to her. She wondered if she had misheard him.

‘I’m sorry?’

He grinned and held out his hand. ‘Forgive my little joke. I’m Fergus Leary, senior accountant at Vialli Entertainment. Everyone in the company is curious about why Leandro keeps his girlfriend hidden. We only heard of your existence when he asked his PA to phone you about the party.’

Marnie tried to ignore the sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. She had taken an immediate dislike to Fergus, but smiled politely. At least the accountant had spoken to her, which was more than any of Leandro’s other staff had done. She had felt nervous enough when she’d arrived alone at the restaurant which had been booked for the private party, and the curious glances she’d received from the other guests had made her feel worse.

Like her, everyone seemed to be waiting for Leandro. He was fifteen minutes late and, although she’d tried calling him, his phone was constantly busy. There was nothing new in that, Marnie thought ruefully. She had only spoken to him a few times in the past two weeks while he had been away on a business trip to New York.

‘Leandro gets frustrated with the paparazzi’s constant attention so we avoid popular restaurants and bars,’ she explained to Fergus.

In fact lately she had wondered why Leandro never asked her to accompany him to social events, such as the star-studded film premiere he’d attended the previous week.

‘I’m going to the premiere because it’s a good business opportunity and a chance to network,’ he’d told her when, for the first time in their relationship, Marnie had queried why he hadn’t invited her to go with him.

‘You won’t know anyone, and I’m sure you would be bored.’ Her disappointment must have shown on her face, because then he had said in a conciliatory tone, ‘We’ll go out for dinner when I get back from New York. In fact we’ll have a weekend away somewhere. Choose where you want to go and I’ll make the arrangements. How about Prague? You’ve often said you would like to visit the city.’

He had avoided further discussion by taking her to bed, but later, after he had fallen asleep, Marnie had realised that yet again he had distracted her with the promise of a trip away together and sex—which always reassured her that although their relationship might be unconventional she was extremely happy living with Leandro and he seemed equally content.

The fact that she was here at this party he was giving for his staff from Vialli Entertainment, to celebrate the completed refurbishments of his latest theatre project, was proof that he had listened to her small complaint about their relationship and invited her. Admittedly he must have made a last-minute decision to include her, and he had left it to his PA to relay to Marnie the details of the venue and the time of the party.

Determined to dress to impress for her first public appearance with Leandro, she had shopped for a new outfit on Bond Street. But it had been an unenjoyable experience—not only because the price labels on the clothes had seriously stretched her overdraft, but memories of the humiliating incident when she was eighteen and had been accused of shoplifting from a big department store had made her feel tense while she’d been trying on outfits.

If she had spent a bit longer looking in the mirror at the boutique, rather than being in a rush to change back into her own clothes, she might have noticed that the dress was a fraction too tight, she thought as she caught sight of her reflection in the mirror behind the bar. The black velvet dress clung to her hourglass figure, which was more curvaceous since she had gained a few pounds recently. She hoped that the string of pearls around her throat would detract attention from the dress’s plunging neckline.

Glancing around the restaurant, she noted that all the female members of Leandro’s staff were slimmer and more sophisticated than her. Self-doubt gripped her. When she had first met Leandro, at the cocktail bar and restaurant where she worked, one of the other waitresses had told her that he had a reputation as a playboy who liked to date beautiful models and socialites. Marnie knew, realistically, that she was only averagely attractive, and she had never understood why Leandro had chosen her for his lover when he could have had any woman he wanted.

A flurry of activity on the other side of the restaurant caught her attention, and her heart leapt when the door opened and Leandro Vialli strode in.

Nothing about his lean, lithe, jaw-droppingly handsome appearance indicated that he had stepped off a long-haul flight less than an hour ago. He would have flown from New York on his private jet, before travelling to the restaurant in his chauffeur-driven Bentley, and he looked like a model from a glossy magazine.

The cut of his jacket revealed the width of his broad shoulders and his tapered trousers moulded his muscular thighs and emphasised his long legs. His golden tanned complexion and the thick mahogany hair swept back from his brow indicated his Mediterranean heritage, although he spoke with a faint American drawl.

The tabloids called him an Italian playboy, while the broadsheets reported on his meteoric career success. Leandro owned several West End theatres and was responsible for restoring some of the most historically important venues in London. And Vialli Entertainment was only an offshoot of his property development giant Vialli Holdings in New York—one of the top businesses in the US with a portfolio worth billions.

His hard-boned features revealed nothing of his thoughts, but the cynical curve of his lips spoke of a man who was confident in his abilities and dismissive of fools. He exuded an air of power and charisma that sent a thrill of excitement through Marnie.

She had missed him desperately while he had been away, and she wanted to run towards him and throw herself into his arms. But she restrained the impulse, aware that Leandro disliked public displays of emotion. The thought came into her mind that even when they were alone he kept his emotions under tight control, and only when they made love did his reserved air sometimes crack.

She slid off the bar stool and ran a hand through her long blonde hair. Her mouth curved into a smile—which faltered as Leandro’s steel-grey gaze raked the room and an expression of surprise followed by one of irritation flickered on his face when he saw her. In that moment the uncertainty that had plagued Marnie lately settled like wet concrete in the pit of her stomach.

Five days ago it had been the first anniversary of when they had become lovers, but Leandro hadn’t phoned from New York to wish her happy anniversary. When he had called a day later she had felt reluctant to remind him of the significant date, although she’d harboured a secret hope that he was planning to celebrate their anniversary when he came home. But Leandro did not look in a celebratory mood as he strode towards her.

He was probably tired after his journey. She ignored the thought that he had amazing energy and an insatiable libido and could make love to her several times a night. She would not let her insecurities—which she suspected stemmed from having been abandoned by her father when she was a child—spoil what she had with Leandro, Marnie told herself firmly.

Her heart skipped a beat when he halted in front of her. The familiar spicy scent of his aftershave teased her senses and her insides melted. Despite the fact that she was wearing four-inch heels she had to tilt her head to meet his distinctly cool gaze.

‘Cara, I wasn’t expecting to see you here.’

‘But you invited me...didn’t you?’ Her voice faltered as her heart plummeted. ‘Your PA phoned me yesterday and said you had asked her to let me know about the party.’

Leandro frowned. ‘My actual instruction to Julie was to inform you that the date of the staff party had been brought forward from next week to this evening because the restaurant had made a mistake with the booking. I was involved in important negotiations in New York and couldn’t phone you myself, but I wanted to warn you that I wouldn’t be home until late tonight.’

‘I see.’

Humiliation swept in a tide of heated colour across Marnie’s face. With a few devastating words Leandro had forced her to acknowledge the holes in their relationship. She had made excuses—he was a busy executive and so couldn’t spend as much time with her as she would have liked. She had told herself it didn’t matter that he had forgotten their anniversary. But with a flash of clarity she saw that she had been fooling herself.

She wished the ground would open up and swallow her. But as she searched his hard-boned face for some small sign of softness anger surged through her, as heated as it was unexpected. Usually she avoided confrontation, but she was overwhelmed by a storm of wild emotions. Surely it wasn’t unreasonable to want to be included in Leandro’s social life, considering they had been in a relationship for a year?

‘Obviously if I’d realised that you hadn’t invited me to the party I wouldn’t have come,’ she said in a low voice, aware that they were the focus of attention of many of Leandro’s staff.

But for once her temper refused to be suppressed as she remembered Fergus’s comment. Leandro’s dirty little secret. Was that how everyone at the party thought of her? Was it how Leandro thought of her?

‘Are you ashamed of me?’ she burst out.

‘Don’t be ridiculous.’ His clipped tone revealed his displeasure.

‘What else am I supposed to think when you never want to be seen in public with me?’ Her voice rose and Leandro’s warning frown intensified her anger. At the same time she was secretly shocked that she was arguing with him, or at least trying to goad him, but he refused to respond, although his lips thinned into a stern line.

Memories of her mother screaming wild accusations at her father sent a shudder through her. Oh, God, was she turning into a hysterical, irrational woman like her mother had been? She wasn’t imagining that people were looking at her. Leandro’s hard-boned features gave no clue to his thoughts, but Marnie sensed from the taut way he held his body that he was surprised by her behaviour, and the steely gleam in his grey eyes told her he was furious.

Her excitement about attending the party with him congealed into a hard knot of misery in her chest. With a choked cry she stepped past him—and stiffened when he placed his hand on her arm.

‘Where are you going?’

‘I’m not staying at the party now I know that you don’t want me to be here.’ She couldn’t disguise the wobble in her voice. ‘What does it matter where I’m going? It’s not as if you care.’

The truth of that last statement felt like a punch in her gut. She shook her arm free from his grasp and walked as quickly as her high heels would allow across the restaurant. She half expected him to follow her, and her heart sank when he didn’t.

* * *

Leandro watched Marnie’s curvaceous figure march away from him and felt a tightening sensation in his groin as he admired the sexy sway of her derriere. He could not actually believe she would walk out on him, and he was puzzled as much as irritated when she exited the restaurant.

She was not prone to temper tantrums—unlike his ex-wife. Marnie was easy-going, and could always be relied upon to agree with him. He appreciated a life without the drama that had been a feature of his marriage, but he had to admit that he was intrigued to discover an unexpected fiery side to her character. Recalling her hurt expression, he cursed his tactlessness. But he did not like surprises, and he’d been shocked when he’d walked into the restaurant and spotted her.

He would have to have words with Julie, who was covering for his usual PA, Fiona, while she was on maternity leave. But he knew he couldn’t blame the temp for the misunderstanding over inviting Marnie to the staff party. He should have made sure that Julie understood that he never mixed his public and private life—and his mistress belonged firmly in the latter category.

He had made it clear to Marnie when they had met that all he wanted was a no-strings affair. His suspicion that she was a virgin had been allayed by her white-hot passion when they’d slept together for the first time. It had blown his mind. But sex was all he wanted from her and the only thing he could offer.

He had tried commitment once, and had his soul ripped out for his efforts, Leandro thought grimly. His marriage had quickly become a farce that had ultimately turned ugly, and he had no intention of repeating the biggest mistake of his life, despite his father’s nagging.

He’d had dinner with Silvestro Vialli while he’d been in New York and the old man had gone on about him marrying again and, more importantly as far as his father was concerned, producing an heir to secure the future of Vialli Holdings. Leandro had learned early in life that business was the only thing his father cared about.

‘Next time make sure you have a paternity test to prove the child is yours as soon as it’s born, so you avoid the disaster that happened last time,’ Silvestro had advised with typical bluntness.

But there wasn’t going to be a next time. Nicole’s deception had left deep scars, and nothing would persuade Leandro to be metaphorically manacled to a woman for the rest of his life. Memories of his parents’ volatile marriage and bitter divorce when he was seven reinforced his belief that commitment was a mug’s game. He wasn’t interested in a long-term relationship—which made the fact that Marnie had been his mistress for a year all the more shocking.

He couldn’t comprehend how their affair had lasted for so long without him noticing that she had stealthily infiltrated his life. It was certainly not what he’d intended when he had made a spur-of-the-moment decision to ask her to move in with him nearly a year ago. She had needed somewhere to live, and he had assumed he would grow bored with her in a matter of weeks and would find her another flat to move into.

He was unsettled by the realisation that he had not been tempted by another woman since he’d made Marnie his mistress.

A waiter offered him champagne and canapés. Leandro lifted a glass from the tray and took a long sip, needing the hit of alcohol in his bloodstream. His schedule in New York had been hellish, even by his standards, but he always pushed himself to his limits. He was proud of Vialli Entertainment, the business he had built without the support or help of his father. Work was central to his existence and gave him a sense of control that in the past few years had been missing from other areas of his life.

After his marriage had failed he had focused on being a good father, determined that Henry would not suffer from the divorce the way he had done when he was a kid and his own parents had split up. But since he’d received the devastating proof that Henry wasn’t his son he had been left with a void inside him where his heart had once been, and he had vowed never to lay himself open to that level of pain ever again.

His father had spent his life avoiding making emotional attachments, Leandro thought cynically. It was the only trait of Silvestro’s that he was determined to emulate. His mother, on the other hand, had fallen in love dozens of times, with men who had broken her heart, but she hadn’t loved the one person who had adored her—her son.

Leandro forced his thoughts back to the present and Marnie’s unexpected behaviour. What the hell had got into her? He hadn’t tried to stop her from leaving the party because he’d been concerned that she would create a scene in front of his staff. But that was shocking in itself, because generally she was mild natured and until recently had seemed content to take a backstage role in his life.

He frowned as he recalled that when he had phoned her from New York a couple of days ago she had sounded odd, unlike her usual cheerful self. He had almost been tempted to ask if something had upset her. But he hadn’t gone down that route, reminding himself that she was his mistress and he neither sought nor offered to share personal confidences with her.

It might be a good thing that she had demonstrated this volatile side to her character, he brooded. He was frankly stunned that he had allowed their affair to continue for a year, and if Marnie was going to start making emotional demands on him it was time to think about replacing her in his bed.

He was aware that several of his senior staff were trying to catch his attention and told himself to forget about Marnie and enjoy the party. But he had glimpsed the sparkle of tears in her eyes before she’d hurried away from him and his conscience was pricked.

He guessed she would take a cab back to his house in Chelsea because she had nowhere else to go. She had told him that her mother had died a few months before they’d met and her only other relatives lived in Norfolk.

Leandro gulped down the rest of his champagne and swore beneath his breath. Experience had taught him that women were nothing but trouble, and he did not know why he was surprised that Marnie was no different from all the rest. She wasn’t his responsibility, but she was upset, and he acknowledged that he was partly to blame.

He walked over to his deputy CEO and spoke to him briefly before he phoned his chauffeur and requested to be collected from the party.

* * *

Marnie emerged from the air-conditioned restaurant into what felt like a furnace. The summer heatwave had lasted for weeks, and London was sweltering in unusually high temperatures. Even at eight o’clock in the evening the sun was a burning golden disc in the sky, and she was conscious of her dress sticking to her as she walked dispiritedly towards the bus stop.

She couldn’t believe she had stormed out of the party like that. Leandro had looked shocked by her loss of temper and it was hardly surprising that he had not followed her after she had yelled at him like a fishwife.

More tears filled her eyes. What was wrong with her? She never cried.

Even when her brother Luke had been killed in a motorbike accident she had bottled up her grief, and maybe that was why she still felt his loss acutely, five years later. Growing up with her chronically depressed mother had made her fearful of allowing herself to feel deep emotions. She was scared that if she cried for Luke she might never be able to stop. Besides, she’d had to stay strong for her other brother, Jake, who had been devastated by his twin’s death. And she had done her best to take care of her mother, as she had done since she was eleven, when her father had left home.

She leaned against the bus shelter and gave a deep sigh. This past year that she had lived with Leandro had been the happiest time she’d known since she was a child, when her family had still been together. But even back then there had been problems in her parents’ marriage. Memories of her parents’ frequent rows, when her dad had accused her mum of smothering him with her possessiveness, had taught Marnie that she must give Leandro space.

She had certainly tried to do that. It occurred to her that she knew barely any more about him now than when they had first met. He had never introduced her to his friends or family, and the only pieces of personal information he had revealed were that his father lived in New York and his mother had been a famous musical theatre star who had died ten years ago.

She did not know why it suddenly mattered that Leandro kept so much of his private life secret from her. She’d been prone to odd mood swings lately, and maybe that explained why she felt so hurt by his cavalier treatment of her. But her forgiving nature was quick to point out that he was a millionaire business tycoon who had a high-octane lifestyle and he couldn’t make her his top priority all the time.

She had been looking forward to his return from New York because she was excited about telling him her amazing news. It was still hard to believe that not only had she gained a first-class honours degree in astrophysics, but had earned the highest exam marks in the country. Leandro would certainly be surprised. She chewed on her lip. Maybe she should have told him before now that for the past year she had worked only one day a week as a waitress in the cocktail bar, and on the other days had studied astronomy, space science and astrophysics at a top London university.

Marnie heard her mother’s voice in her mind. ‘Why do you want to study astronomy? What’s the use in looking at stars and planets? You need to train for a proper job instead of setting your sights on an impossible dream.’

The teachers at the rough comprehensive school she’d attended had been similarly dismissive of her chances of becoming an astronomer, but she had worked hard at school and ignored the bullies who had called her a geek because she’d enjoyed science lessons. Even though she had been accepted at a top university back then she had lacked confidence in her abilities, and she’d decided to wait to see if she passed her final exams before she told Leandro about her dream of becoming an astronomer.

Now that dream was a step closer to being fulfilled. She had been offered a place on an internship programme to study towards a doctoral degree at NASA’s research academy in California. It would necessitate her moving to the States temporarily, and she hoped Leandro would understand that they would have to have a long-distance relationship for nine months while she was studying in America.

Marnie glanced along the road, hoping to see a bus approaching. Her heart lurched when a black saloon car with dark-tinted windows drew up against the pavement and the rear door opened. Leandro’s face was shadowed in the dim interior of the car, but his steel-grey eyes gleamed with hard brilliance.

‘Get in the car, Marnie.’

She almost sagged with relief that he had come after her. But the rebellious streak that seemed to be intent on causing trouble argued that she could not allow him to continue to walk all over her, that she should stand up for herself a bit more because she did not want to be his ‘dirty little secret’.

While she hesitated, Leandro drawled, ‘I will only ask you once, cara.’

CHAPTER TWO

MARNIE DID NOT look at Leandro as she slid onto the back seat of the car beside him and shut the door. He instructed the chauffeur to drive on before he closed the privacy glass. The tension between them was almost tangible, and she knotted her fingers together in her lap, determined that she was not going to be the first to speak.

‘What the hell was that about?’ He did not try to hide his irritation. ‘I didn’t invite you to the staff party because I had planned to show my face for an hour at most before I rushed home to you.’

It was partially true, and Leandro realised he had to smooth over an awkward situation. His eyes were drawn to the jerky rise and fall of Marnie’s breasts, which appeared to be in imminent danger of escaping from the plunging neckline of her dress. Her skin was peaches and cream and her honey-blonde hair rippled halfway down her back. A shaft of unadulterated lust swept through him as he imagined undressing her and cupping her ripe curves in his hands.

‘Really?’

She sounded uncertain, and Leandro stifled his impatience to push her back against the leather seat and cover her mouth with his.

‘We could have spent time together at the party,’ Marnie muttered. She had felt really hurt by Leandro’s attitude and for once was determined not to allow him to brush her feelings aside as if they didn’t matter.

‘I spend a significant chunk of my life in the company of the people I work with and I won’t apologise for wanting to spend my leisure time exclusively with you.’

‘Oh.’ When he put it like that his decision not to invite her to the party sounded reasonable. Perhaps she had overreacted a bit.

Leandro closed his hand over hers, and as Marnie looked down at his tanned fingers wrapped around her paler ones she pictured his naked limbs entwined with hers, dark against pale, hard against soft.

She was intensely aware of his hard thigh muscles pressed up against her. He reached out and wrapped a lock of her long hair around his finger, and her breath became trapped in her throat when he gently tugged to make her turn her head towards him. The hard gleam in his eyes had been replaced with a sultry smokiness that turned her bones to liquid.

Leandro felt Marnie relax and was confident he had won her over. His hunger became more urgent as he tipped her chin up and plundered her soft, moist lips without mercy, wanting to punish her just a little and remind her that he called the shots in their affair.

Her eager response fanned the flames of his desire. He had taught her well, and she was no longer shy and inexperienced as she had been in the early days of their affair. When she pushed her tongue into his mouth his heart slammed against his ribs, his desire a potent force that strained against the zip of his trousers.

Lifting his head, Leandro was satisfied to see rosy colour on her cheeks, and saw that her blush continued down her throat and spread a warm stain over the upper slopes of her breasts. This was how he had pictured his mistress while he was away: flushed with desire and her brown eyes soft with sensual promise.

Leandro’s words had allayed some of Marnie’s concerns that their relationship did not mean as much to him as it did to her. She rested her hand on the bulge beneath his trousers and smiled when he groaned. ‘Did you miss me while you were away?’

‘Of course I missed you.’ He gave a rough laugh. ‘After two weeks without sex I am seriously frustrated, cara.’

‘I wasn’t only talking about sex.’

But her tiny flicker of doubt wavered as he crushed her to him and sought her mouth again, kissing her with a possessive intent that thrilled her. Passion ignited into an inferno between them and she forgot everything but the need to feel his hands on her body.

He pushed her back against the leather seat and leaned over her. ‘Dio, I’ve wanted this so badly,’ he said thickly.

Marnie allowed herself to sink into the bliss of Leandro’s kiss. Too many nights without him had made her body extra-responsive, and she gave a low moan when he slipped his hand into the front of her dress and stroked her breasts through her sheer lace bra. When he rolled her nipples between his fingers she almost leapt off the seat as starbursts of pleasure arrowed down from her breasts to the hot, moist core of her femininity.

He gave a husky laugh. ‘This is what I missed. Your beautiful body, ready and eager for me. I’m impatient to get you home so that I can undress you.’ He traced the neckline of her dress with his forefinger. ‘Is this a new dress? Did you buy it for the party? When I walked into the restaurant I was blown away by how sexy you looked.’

She remembered how unsure of herself she had felt while she had waited for Leandro to arrive at the restaurant. If he felt proud of her, perhaps she would feel more his equal.

‘Leandro,’ she murmured, when he tore his mouth from hers to allow them to draw breath. ‘Do you wish I had a better job than waitressing?’

‘There’s nothing wrong with being a waitress,’ he said indistinctly, busy nibbling her earlobe before trailing his lips down her throat and moving purposefully towards her cleavage.

‘But wouldn’t you like me to have a high-flying career, like the women you employ at your company?’ she persisted.

‘I’ve dated career women, and to be frank it was a nightmare trying to align our schedules and arrange to meet when we happened to be on the same continent. I like knowing that you’re at home waiting for me when I get back from work.’

Marnie was disappointed by Leandro’s apparent lack of enthusiasm for her to have a career, but at the same time her foolish heart quivered because he’d said that he looked forward to coming home to her every evening. She drew an unsteady breath when he eased the stretchy neckline of her dress and her bra down and cupped her breasts in his palms, so that he could flick his tongue across one nipple and then the other. The sensation of him sucking each tender peak was electrifying.

Dazed with desire, she decided to wait and tell him about the opportunity she had been offered to study astronomy at NASA until later—after they had assuaged their hunger for each other that was now at fever pitch after their two-week separation.

Leandro pulled her onto his lap and thrust his hand beneath her skirt to stroke the strip of sensitive bare skin above the lace band of her stocking tops. Shivering with longing, she let her thighs fall open to allow him to move his hand higher, to the place where she longed for him to touch her.

‘You are hungry,’ he drawled, satisfaction thickening his voice as he eased his finger beneath her thong and discovered the slick wetness of her arousal.

A voice in the back of Marnie’s mind taunted her, telling her that her weakness for Leandro was shameful. She didn’t want to appear needy, but the truth was she did need him. Before she had met him she’d felt empty and alone.

He pushed another finger into her and moved his hand with rhythmical strokes, in and out, faster, deeper, taking her higher until she couldn’t think of anything but the beauty of what he was doing to her.

‘Leandro...’ She clung to his shoulders as she felt the first exquisite spasms of her orgasm.

‘That’s right, baby. Come for me,’ he said thickly.

Overwhelmed with pleasure, she pressed her face into his neck and breathed in the spicy scent of his aftershave. Her heart clenched with emotion. She had missed him so much, and from the size of the rock-hard erection she could feel beneath her bottom he had missed her as badly.

Minutes later the car drew up in Eaton Square and Marnie quickly tugged her dress into place before the chauffeur opened the door. Leandro kept his arm around her waist, as if he knew that her legs felt unsteady, and they hurried up the steps of the house.

As they entered the hallway he kicked the front door shut and pulled her against his hard body, his hands roaming over her with feverish urgency. He curled his fingers into the soft mounds of her buttocks before running a hand up her spine and unzipping her dress. With his help the black velvet slipped down to expose her semi-sheer bra, through which her dusky nipples were clearly visible.

Leandro gave a growl that sent a shiver of anticipation through Marnie. She wanted him now—this minute.

He must have sensed her desperation, because he lifted her and sat her on the marble table in the hall, pushed her skirt up to her thighs.

‘I can’t wait long enough for us to get upstairs to the bedroom,’ he said hoarsely.

Her heart lurched when she saw the feral hunger in his eyes. But a familiar sound that she had grown to hate shattered the sizzling sexual tension.

‘Your damned phone!’ she muttered.

‘I’ll switch it off,’ he promised.

But as he pulled his mobile phone out of his jacket pocket he glanced at the screen and stiffened.

‘Cara, I’m sorry, but I have to take this.’

‘You can’t be serious...’ She almost wept with frustration, but her sense of hurt and abandonment was even worse than the unfulfilled ache between her legs as she watched him stride into his study and close the door behind him, shutting her out of his life—as usual, Marnie thought bitterly.

But he was the head of a multi-million-pound company and sometimes he had to deal with business matters at unsociable hours, she reminded herself. She recognised that he was speaking French—which was another surprise, because she hadn’t known that he was fluent in the language. There were so many things she did not know about Leandro.

She slid down from the table and readjusted her dress. Her breasts ached and she felt a little bit sick. She recalled that she’d felt nauseous at about the same time on the previous few evenings and wondered if it had something to do with the heatwave. Maybe she needed to drink more water.

Leandro’s voice was still audible through the study door. Marnie wandered into the sitting room. Like all the rooms in the house, its modern décor was a contrast to the building’s imposing Georgian façade. The walls and furnishings were in neutral tones and a few pieces of contemporary and no doubt very expensive artwork added splashes of bold colour.

It was a curiously impersonal room, but Leandro had told her that he had employed interior designers to decorate the house, which perhaps explained why there was no stamp of his personality anywhere. When she had moved in with him Marnie had placed a couple of potted ferns on the windowsill to try and breathe some life into the room, but they looked as out of place as she felt.

She stood by the window and watched the shadows lengthen in the private gardens at the centre of the square. The district of Belgravia was very different from the council estate where she’d grown up. She had moved there, to one of the most deprived parts of south London, with her mother and brothers after her dad had left and their family home had been sold. The Silden Estate had been notorious for gang crime and drug dealing, and one reason why she had wanted a good career was so that she could escape the sense of hopelessness that had pervaded the estate.

Marnie remembered that when she’d first met Leandro she had told herself he was out of her league. He had been a regular customer at the cocktail bar and restaurant where she worked and she hadn’t taken his flirting seriously—until one night when he had asked her out to dinner.

It had been the first time she’d been on a proper dinner date, and to start with she had felt on edge, but he had soon put her at her ease with his charismatic charm. By the end of the evening she had fallen completely under his spell and had needed little persuading to spend the night with him.

She did not know if he had guessed that he was her first lover. Up until then she hadn’t had time for boyfriends. She’d been too busy studying, working and looking after her mother, whose depression had worsened after Luke had died and Jake had disappeared. But following her mother’s death she had felt a sense of freedom from responsibility, and when Leandro had asked her to move in with him she’d fallen headlong into their passionate affair.

Marnie sighed. In those early days it hadn’t worried her that Leandro worked long hours, or that the only time they spent together was in bed. She’d enjoyed having sex with him—she still did. But although the situation was the same she realised that she had changed. She had fallen in love with him, and she was seeking clues that would indicate how he felt about her.

Up until he had gone to New York she had believed that he felt something more for her than sexual attraction. But his attitude towards her at the party and the ease with which he had dismissed her and answered the phone had reawakened her doubts about their relationship.

The study door was open when Marnie walked past again, and she saw that the room was empty. She hurried up the stairs and her heart gave a little skip as she headed into the master bedroom that she shared with Leandro. Now that he had finished his phone call there would hopefully be no more interruptions to prevent him making love to her.

They communicated best in bed. Their passion for each other made words unnecessary when their bodies were in perfect accord. But for her it wasn’t just about sex. She craved the feeling of closeness when he held her in his arms and stroked her hair. When he was tender she could convince herself that he cared about her.

As she entered the bedroom Leandro walked out of the en suite bathroom, naked apart from the towel hitched around his hips. Droplets of water clung to the whorls of dark hair that covered his chest. It was his habit to shower before they had sex, and Marnie’s mouth went dry as her eyes followed the path of his body hair as it arrowed over his flat stomach and she visualised his powerful manhood beneath the towel.

But while she stared, and tried to control her thundering pulse, he opened a drawer, took out a pair of silk boxer shorts and returned to the bathroom, emerging moments later wearing the boxers.

Marnie’s disappointment turned to confusion as she watched him pull on a pair of jeans. She froze when she noticed a suitcase on the bed. ‘Are you...going somewhere?’

He finished buttoning his shirt and spared her a brief glance. ‘Paris.’

‘Now? Tonight?’ She couldn’t accept what her eyes were telling her as she watched him throw a few other items of clothing into the case. ‘Why?’ Her insecurity about their relationship made her voice sharp. ‘You went to Paris the weekend before you flew to New York.’

In fact he visited Paris regularly, once a month, and spent the weekend there. She assumed he went for business reasons, but he had never given any explanation for his trips and she had not dared ask him, telling herself that she mustn’t crowd him or seem possessive.

Another thought struck her. ‘Have you remembered that we’re going to Norfolk for my cousin’s wedding?’

‘I’m afraid I won’t be able to go with you.’

She couldn’t disguise her disappointment. ‘But you said you would come—and I’ve told Gemma that I’m bringing an additional guest.’

‘I said I would try to keep the date of the wedding free but I didn’t promise,’ Leandro said tersely. He raked a hand through his hair. ‘I’m going to Paris because a...a close friend has been injured in an accident and I need to be with them.’

Marnie looked at him and noticed the lines of strain around his mouth. It was so unlike him to show any emotion, and she immediately felt guilty that she had doubted him. ‘I’m sorry. Is your friend seriously hurt?’

She refused to listen to the voice in her head that questioned whether Leandro considered her to be a close friend. Would he drop everything if she was hurt and rush to be with her?

‘I don’t have many details.’ He sounded distracted. ‘I just had the phone call...’ He gave her a wry glance as he referred to their interrupted lovemaking downstairs. ‘I’m sorry I have to rush off, and I’m sorry about your cousin’s wedding. I can’t say yet when I’ll be home.’

This from a man who organised his life with military precision. It made Marnie realise how worried Leandro must be. ‘It doesn’t matter. Of course you must go to your friend. Is there anything I can do to help?’ she asked softly.

He closed the zip on his suitcase and reached for his jacket. ‘Can you grab my phone? I must have left it in the bathroom.’

His mobile bleeped as she picked it up from the vanity unit and she could not help but notice the words on the screen.

You have a message from Stephanie.

Who was Stephanie? A member of his staff? Another friend?

For a split second Marnie was tempted to read his messages. Then a memory from her childhood, when she had seen her mother searching the pockets of her father’s jacket for proof that he was seeing another woman, made her feel sickened with herself. Leandro had never given her a reason not to trust him. She could not bear the idea that she might have inherited her mother’s suspicious nature, and she hurried back into the bedroom and thrust his phone at him as if it had burned her hand.

She followed him over to the door and her soft heart ached with sympathy when he pushed his hair back from his brow in a weary gesture.

‘You must be tired after travelling from a different time zone. I hope your friend is okay.’

‘Thanks.’ He bent his head and brushed his mouth across hers.

She responded instantly, her lips softening and clinging just a little when he tried to break the kiss. He hesitated, and looked at her with an odd expression on his face. Marnie sensed he was about to say something, but then the moment passed and the connection she had felt with him shattered as he turned and strode down the hall.

* * *

Leandro’s driver opened the car door for him before stowing his suitcase in the boot. ‘The pilot has the plane ready, sir. It’s a busy night for you—off abroad again only a few hours after you arrived back in England.’

‘You’re telling me,’ Leandro muttered.

As the car pulled away from the kerb he leaned his head against the back of the seat and took a deep breath. God, he hoped Henry was all right. A suspected broken collarbone, the headmaster of Henry’s school in Paris had said on the phone. Apparently the boy had been on an adventure hiking trip with some classmates and had slipped and fallen down a steep gully. Due to the remote location, it had taken a few hours to transport Henry to a hospital in Paris.

Henry’s injury wasn’t life-threatening, but Leandro knew it must be incredibly painful. He remembered that he had dislocated his collarbone playing rugby when he was about twelve and it had been agony. His father had been away on a business trip and his mother had been performing somewhere else in the world, so he had been left on his own at the hospital to receive treatment for his injury before one of his father’s staff had collected him and taken him back to the penthouse apartment on Fifth Avenue that had never felt like a home to Leandro.

He hated the thought of Henry being in pain and maybe feeling scared and alone. Nicole was abroad, which was why the school had phoned Leandro—he was listed as an emergency contact for Henry. He suspected that his ex-wife only allowed him to maintain a relationship with Henry because it suited her, he thought cynically.

Leandro’s thoughts turned to Marnie. He could not explain why he had felt an urge to tell her that the friend he was rushing to visit in Paris was a ten-year-old boy whom his ex-wife had led him to believe was his son for six years. But the desire to confide in Marnie had only lasted for a few moments, before his brain had taken charge and reminded him that he had never shared personal information with any of his previous mistresses, so why would he with her?

He deliberately did not bring his emotions into his affairs. Just because his affair with Marnie had lasted longer than his affairs with previous mistresses it held no significance. She did not mean anything to him, he assured himself. But the concern in her eyes as he had been about to walk out of the door had got to him.

He wondered if she would understand that he had felt as though his heart had been ripped out when he’d learned that he wasn’t Henry’s father.

His jaw clenched. How could Marnie—how could anyone—comprehend what it felt like to bring a child up for six years, to love that child more than anything else in life, and then discover from a DNA test that the boy you had believed was yours was actually another man’s son?

Leandro guessed the grief he felt was similar to the pain of bereavement. He had lost his child—lost his role as a father. He’d promised Henry that they would always be friends, but nothing could alter the painful truth that the child he had cradled as a newborn baby in his arms had no biological connection to him.

Aboard his private jet, Leandro phoned Henry’s headmaster and was reassured by the news that an X-ray had shown that the boy did not have any broken bones. Arriving in Paris, he drove straight to the hospital and was escorted to the private room where Henry was lying in bed. He was deathly pale, but managed a grin when he saw Leandro.

‘Papa. My shoulder hurts.’

Leandro felt a knife blade twist in his heart. ‘We decided you would call me Leo instead of Papa,’ he reminded Henry gently. ‘I’ve spoken to the doctor and he said your collarbone isn’t broken, but you have sprained the ligaments in your shoulder. There is not a lot that can be done to treat the injury—you just have to rest it and give it time to heal. You can be discharged and I’ll take you back to the apartment for the rest of the weekend, if your mother agrees.’

‘Cool. Can we have pizza for dinner?’

‘I’m glad your appetite hasn’t been affected,’ Leandro said drily.

‘Maman is on holiday in Barbados, with my real father, so Monsieur Bergier phoned you. I knew you would come.’ Henry’s expression clouded. ‘I wish you were my papa, Leo.’

The knife in Leandro’s heart cut deeper. ‘We’ll always be best buddies. That will never change.’ He rearranged Henry’s pillows. ‘The painkillers the nurse gave you should start working soon, so try and sleep while I go and phone your mother. I expect she is worried about you.’

‘I don’t suppose she is,’ Henry said matter-of-factly. ‘She and Dominic will be having too much of a nice time on holiday to think about me.’

‘That’s not true.’ Leandro gritted his teeth and forced himself to go on. ‘Your mother and...and father care about you very much.’

He stepped out of the room and swore savagely beneath his breath. Nicole had told Henry six months ago that Dominic Chilton was his real father, but instead of choosing to spend time with the boy, as a family, she and her lover had gone on a month’s holiday to the Caribbean.

Leandro hated feeling helpless, but he could not protect Henry from his mother’s casual approach to parenting. He remembered how rejected he had felt when he was a boy and his mother had failed to turn up when she was supposed to visit him—either because she had forgotten or because she was too busy. Disappointment and hurt that neither of his parents had much time for him had been constant features of his childhood, and his concern that Henry felt the same sense of abandonment meant that Leandro had to bite back his anger when he spoke to his ex-wife.

‘There’s no reason for me to rush back to Paris if Henry’s injury is not serious,’ Nicole stated. ‘Dominic and I only arrived in St Lucia a few days ago, and it’s the first chance I’ve had to relax and enjoy a break.’

It was on the tip of Leandro’s tongue to ask Nicole what she needed a break from, when her life consisted of shopping and beauty salon appointments. But he was bitterly aware that he had no legal rights to Henry, and that if he antagonised Nicole she could prevent him from maintaining a relationship with the boy. She would not care that Henry had declared that he wanted to stay in regular contact with ‘Uncle Leandro’.

The hatred Leandro had felt for his ex-wife when he had discovered how she had deceived him had turned to contempt, and he only half listened to her whining that Dominic was facing demands for a huge divorce settlement from his wife. His thoughts strayed to Marnie, and he was struck by the contrasting characters of his ex-wife and his current mistress.

He had missed Marnie while he’d been in New York—and not only in bed, he admitted. Logically he knew he should not allow their affair to continue for much longer. A year was at least six months too long to keep a mistress. An alarm bell sounded in his mind as he acknowledged that he did not want to end the affair just yet, but he assured himself that it was because the sex was good.

Now that he was no longer so worried about Henry he was able to relax, and thinking of the passionate sex life he enjoyed with Marnie evoked an ache in his groin. He felt bad that he had hurt her feelings at the party. Would it compromise the rules he had set for their affair if he gave her a token to show that he valued her being his mistress? He frowned as he tried to think of a suitable gift. Jewellery was too emotive, and he did not want her to think that his emotions were at all involved, but flowers were too impersonal. And he usually sent flowers to his mistresses when he dumped them.

It would be useful if he knew of any hobby Marnie enjoyed, but he had no idea what she did in her spare time when she wasn’t working as a cocktail waitress. She was just there in the background of his life, always cheerful and smiling as she handed him a martini when he arrived home from work, and always as eager for sex as he was at any time of the day or night. She was the perfect mistress, Leandro acknowledged.

He recalled that earlier in the summer they had spent a week cruising the French Riviera on his yacht, and one starlit night after they had made love outside on the deck Marnie had said that she liked looking at the stars. Problem solved—he would buy her a book about stargazing. A book was the sort of gift that showed he had thought about her, but not too much.

Satisfied with his reasoning, Leandro zoned back to his ex-wife’s conversation. He was instantly bored but, although it irked him, he had to be diplomatic with Nicole, and it was a few more minutes before he was able to end the call and return to Henry’s bedside.

CHAPTER THREE

‘IT’S SUCH A shame Leandro couldn’t come to the wedding. Your uncle and I were looking forward to meeting him.’ Marnie’s aunt, Susan, who was her mother’s sister, smiled at her across the buffet table at the wedding reception. ‘You said he had to dash off to Paris unexpectedly?’

‘Yes, his friend was hurt in an accident but I don’t know any more details,’ Marnie murmured. She had hoped that Leandro would phone her, but she hadn’t heard from him since he left London two days ago.

‘Perhaps you and Leandro will visit when he has a free weekend?’ Aunt Susan suggested. ‘I’m serious about wanting to meet him. You are my sister’s only daughter, and for Sheena’s sake I’d like to be sure that you’ve met a decent man who will look after you.’

‘I don’t need anyone to look after me. I had to take care of myself after Dad left, and Mum was...’ Marnie grimaced. ‘Well, you know how she was. Sometimes her depression was so bad that she didn’t get out of bed for days on end.’

Her aunt sighed. ‘I wish I’d known the extent of Sheena’s mental health problems. I think she must have been devastated when she found out your father was having an affair.’

‘Mum warned the twins and me that Social Services would take us into care if we told anyone about her depression.’

‘Things must have been worse for Sheena after the accident. Poor Luke...twenty was far too young to die,’ Aunt Susan murmured. ‘Have you heard from Jake?’

Marnie shook her head. ‘I last saw him about five years ago. He admitted he was taking drugs because he couldn’t cope with losing Luke. He asked me for money but I didn’t have any. It was a struggle to manage on Mum’s welfare allowance and the small amount I earned from my part-time job while I studied for my A levels.’

Thinking about her brothers was painful, and tears stung Marnie’s eyes. Growing up, she had adored the twins, who were two years older than her. They had been a happy family—especially when her father had been at home from his job as a long-distance lorry driver. But he had struggled to cope with her mother’s depressive illness, and when Marnie was eleven her dad had abandoned his wife and children and stopped paying the mortgage on the family’s comfortable house.

With their mother unable to work because of her depression, she, Marnie and her brothers had been moved to the estate and the twins had been drawn to the gang culture that existed there until Luke had been killed. It had been a tragic accident: he’d been thrown from the back of a motorbike that Jake had been riding.

Marnie pulled her mind back to the present as a waiter brought round a tray of sparkling wine to toast the newlyweds.

‘Don’t you want a glass of bubbly?’ asked her uncle, Brian, when she opted for fruit juice.

‘Juice is more refreshing in this heat. I seem to have gone off alcohol at the moment.’

‘You haven’t gone off cheese,’ her uncle noted, looking at the pile of cheese and crackers on her plate. ‘You’re not pregnant, are you?’ he teased. ‘I remember Susan ate pounds of cheddar when she was expecting Gemma.’

‘Brian!’ Aunt Susan glared at her husband.

Marnie nibbled on a cheese straw. Thankfully an unplanned pregnancy was something she did not have to worry about. After years of suffering from debilitating menstrual migraines her doctor had prescribed her a type of continuous contraceptive pill which prevented her from having periods and had ended her excruciating monthly headaches.

The wedding buffet was followed by a disco in the evening, before Gemma and her new husband, Andrew, left for their honeymoon, and the guests cheered as the newlyweds drove off, trailing tin cans that someone had attached to the car’s exhaust pipe.

It had been a happy family occasion, Marnie mused the following afternoon, when she boarded a train back to London. The kind of wedding she would like if she ever got married—although none of her immediate family would be at her wedding because her mother and one of her brothers were dead, and she had lost contact with her father and her other brother.

Besides which, Leandro never spoke of the future, and the subject of marriage had never been mentioned. Was it wrong of her to want to have some indication of where their relationship was heading?

She finished reading the magazine she’d bought for the train journey and picked up a newspaper that had been left on another seat. The tabloid was full of celebrity gossip, and Marnie’s heart gave a sickening lurch when she flicked through the pages and saw a photo of Leandro and a stunning brunette.

She recognised the woman as Stephanie Sedoyene, a famous French model who was the current ‘face’ of an exclusive perfume brand. The paparazzi on both sides of the Channel stalked Miss Sedoyene relentlessly—which probably explained why she and Leandro did not look happy in the picture of them emerging from a restaurant in Paris.

Was this the Stephanie who had left a message on Leandro’s phone before he had rushed off to Paris to visit an injured friend? Marnie chewed her lip. Had the story about his friend being in hospital been a cover for his dinner date with this beautiful model? In the photo, Leandro had an arm around Stephanie’s shoulders, and something about their body language suggested they were comfortable with each other, as if they were old friends—or lovers.

Marnie ordered herself not to jump to conclusions. She would not listen to the voice in her head which taunted her, saying that Leandro was bound to find the beautiful model more attractive than a nothing-special, veering-towards-chubby waitress. But suspicion slid with the deadly menace of a poisonous snake into her mind. Maybe Leandro’s regular monthly trips to Paris were so that he could visit Stephanie Sedoyene.

She closed her eyes as she was bombarded with memories from her childhood, and she heard her mother’s shrill voice accusing her father. ‘Who is your tart, Ray? Don’t take me for a fool. I followed you when you said you were going to the pub on Friday night and I saw you and your blonde bitch going into a hotel together.’

The idea of questioning Leandro about why a photo of him with another woman was in the newspapers was too humiliating to contemplate. She couldn’t bear to sound possessive and obsessive like her mother had been. She quickly folded up the paper and put it back on the empty seat where she had found it.

But for the rest of the journey to London she could not erase the photo of Leandro and his beautiful companion from her mind, and she was deep in thought as she walked back to Eaton Square from the station.

‘Marnie?’

The voice was familiar, but it was a voice from the past that she’d wondered if she would ever hear again. She spun round and saw a man walking along the pavement towards her. For a few seconds she thought she was seeing a ghost.

‘Luke?’ She swallowed. Of course it wasn’t Luke. ‘Jake! I haven’t seen you for so long.’

Although it was five years since the accident, grief was still etched on Jake’s thin face and he looked much older than when Marnie had last seen him.

‘Where have you been for the past five years?’ she said softly.

‘I wish it was Luke here instead of me. As for where I’ve been...’ Jake shrugged. ‘Here and there, but mostly in hell.’ He glanced up at the elegant townhouse. ‘You seem to have done all right for yourself.’

‘It’s not my house. I live here with a...a friend.’

Marnie flushed, but her brother shrugged.

‘Hey, your life is your business, and as long as you’re happy that’s all that matters.’

‘I am happy,’ Marnie said truthfully. ‘Leandro is a great guy. I wish you could meet him, but he’s away at the moment. How did you know where to find me?’

‘I went back to the Silden Estate and found it had been demolished, but I remembered you had a job at a cocktail bar on the King’s Road so I went there. One of the waitresses gave me your phone number and address. I don’t have a phone, since mine broke, so I came to find you.’

Jake grimaced.

‘I’m sorry I haven’t been around, but... Well, the truth is that I spent some time in prison after I was charged with theft. I broke into houses and sold the items I stole to buy drugs. I was in a bad place in my head after Luke died—but that’s not an excuse and I’m not proud of what I did.’

‘Oh, Jake.’ Marnie reached out and grasped her brother’s hand. ‘I wish I’d been able to help.’

‘In a funny way going to prison helped me, because it was hell and I never want to go back inside. I’m sorting my life out and I no longer take drugs. Tomorrow I’m catching a train up to Scotland. I’ve been offered a job as a groundsman on a country estate near Loch Lomond, and I appreciate it that the owner, Lord Tannock, is giving me a chance.’

Jake looked down at Marnie’s fingers, entwined with his.

‘I never forgot about my little sister and I wanted to find you and make sure that you’re all right.’

The lump in her throat prevented Marnie from speaking, and instead she flung her arms around her brother’s neck and hugged him. ‘I’m so glad to see you. Do you have a place to stay before you leave for Scotland?’

Jake shook his head. ‘I spent all the money I had on a train ticket, but it’s a warm night and it won’t be the first time I’ve slept on a park bench.’

‘You must stay here tonight.’ It occurred to Marnie that she had never mentioned to Leandro that she had a brother, but she was sure he would not want Jake to spend the night on the streets. She called his number, wanting to check that it was okay for Jake to stay, but his phone was switched off—as it had been when she had tried to call him earlier. ‘I’ll try Leandro again later,’ she told Jake as she led him into the house.

Jake whistled as he took in the Italian white marble floor tiles in the hallway and glanced up at the magnificent crystal chandelier. ‘Wow, your boyfriend must be loaded. No wonder you’re happy with him.’

‘I love Leandro, and I’d love him just as much if he wasn’t wealthy.’

Marnie’s heart contracted as she acknowledged the depth of her feelings for Leandro. Admitting that she was in love with him made her feel vulnerable, because she had no idea how he felt about her.

She glanced at Jake and thought how difficult his life must have been since Luke had died. Grief was so hard to deal with. She had focused on her studies as a way of trying to forget the ache in her heart. It must have been even worse for Jake because he had lost his twin.

She longed to be able to help him, and an idea suddenly occurred to her. ‘Grandma’s pearls.’

‘Sorry...’ Jake looked puzzled. ‘I don’t follow you.’

‘When Grandma Alice died she left her jewellery to her daughters. Mum had Grandma’s pearl necklace and Aunt Susan was left a ruby ring. Mum didn’t make a will before she took the overdose.’ Marnie sighed. ‘I’ve often wondered if she meant to take her life or if it was a cry for help. But now the necklace belongs to Mum’s surviving children. I wore it recently to a party, but I want you to have it. I think it’s worth quite a bit, and if you sell it you’ll have some money to last until you get your first pay cheque at your new job.’

‘Marnie, you don’t have to give me the necklace,’ Jake protested.

But Marnie had already entered Leandro’s study and slid back a panel in the wall to reveal the safe. When she’d moved in with Leandro he had told her to put any valuable items she owned into the safe. The pearl necklace was the only piece of jewellery she possessed, and she had often wondered why her mother had refused to sell it when they had needed money.

She remembered the safe’s combination and it took her only a few seconds to open the door.

‘Do all those boxes contain jewellery?’ Jake asked, staring at the numerous velvet boxes stored within the safe.

Marnie nodded, busy searching for the box containing her grandmother’s pearls. ‘Here it is.’ She handed the box to Jake and reset the combination to lock the safe. ‘Now, I’m going to cook you dinner. You’re so thin—I bet you haven’t eaten a proper meal for ages.’

Throughout the evening she tried to call Leandro, but his phone was still switched off. The photograph she had seen in the newspaper of Leandro and Stephanie played on her mind, but she reminded herself that her mother’s obsessive love for her father had driven him into the arms of another woman.

As she undressed for bed she caught sight of her naked body in the mirror and vowed to go on a strict diet. It wasn’t just her breasts that had grown bigger as a result of her gaining a few extra pounds. Her hips and bottom looked rounder and—horror of horrors—her stomach was no longer flat but had a distinct curve.

Marnie glanced guiltily at the plate of cheese and crackers she’d planned on eating for a bedtime snack. She remembered what Uncle Brian had said about her aunt developing a craving for cheese during her pregnancy. But there was no way she could be pregnant, she assured herself. She just needed to work on her willpower. Leandro had always said he found her hourglass figure sexy, and she wished he was with her now to reassure her that her concerns about their relationship were groundless.

* * *

‘Marnie?’

The gravelly voice infiltrated Marnie’s dream and she opened her eyes, blinking in the bright sunlight streaming through the open curtains. ‘Leandro?’

‘You sound surprised to see me, cara. Didn’t you get my message that I was on my way home?’

‘No, I’ve been asleep.’

She glanced at the bedside clock and wondered why she was in bed at three-thirty in the afternoon, before the mist clouding her mind cleared and she remembered. Last night her brother had stayed at the house, but this morning when she had got up for work she’d discovered that Jake had left without saying goodbye.

Leandro threw his jacket carelessly onto a chair before he sat down on the edge of the bed. Marnie’s pulse quickened as she inhaled the familiar musk of his aftershave mixed with his unique male scent. She could see the shadow of his black chest hair through his white shirt, and the dark stubble on his jaw added to his raw sex appeal.

‘Why were you sleeping in the daytime? Are you ill?’

‘I fainted at work.’

She recalled that she’d felt nauseous while she had been serving coffee to some customers, and when she’d returned to the kitchen she’d had the weird sensation that the floor was rushing up to meet her and suck her down into a black hole.

‘The head chef thought I might be suffering from heatstroke. Maybe it’s a good thing that the weather is supposed to break and a storm is forecast.’

Leandro frowned. ‘I think you should see a doctor. It seems unlikely that the heat would cause you to faint. Maybe you have a vitamin deficiency.’

‘Nonsense, I’ve got the constitution of an ox.’

She was also becoming the size of an ox, Marnie thought dismally, conscious of Leandro’s gaze roaming over her body. One of the waiters at the cocktail bar had driven her home and she’d felt so tired that she’d taken off her dress and lain down on the bed wearing only her bra and knickers.

‘You’ve got colour in your cheeks,’ Leandro noted, watching a rosy blush spread across her face and neck and stain the upper slopes of her breasts. ‘But why are you wearing a bra that is at least two sizes too small? It’s no wonder you felt faint when your breathing is restricted.’

He reached behind her and unsnapped her bra. His grey eyes gleamed like molten silver as he stared at Marnie’s lush breasts, as inviting as firm, ripe peaches that he longed to taste.

Leandro traced his finger over the red line on her skin where her bra had cut into her flesh. ‘Buy some new underwear with the credit card I gave you. I enjoy seeing you wearing sexy lingerie, cara.’

‘I don’t expect you to pay for my clothes,’ Marnie muttered.

She was finding it hard to concentrate on their conversation when all she could think about was the insistent ache between her legs. She felt embarrassed that Leandro only had to look at her and she was on fire for him. Her nipples hardened and she drew a sharp breath of longing when he stroked his thumbs over the swollen tips.

Desire swept through her with the force of a tidal wave, consuming her and obliterating her uncertainty about the state of their relationship. It was more than two weeks since they had last made love and it seemed like a lifetime. She held her breath as he lowered his face closer to hers.

‘Do you really feel okay?’

There was genuine concern in his voice, but also a husky sensuality that made every nerve ending on Marnie’s body quiver.

‘I could get you something to eat. Are you hungry?’

‘Hungry for you.’ She gave up trying to fight her weakness and gave in to her yearning to touch him, to trace the slashing lines of his hard cheekbones and run her fingers through the springy softness of his hair. ‘Kiss me,’ she begged.

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