The Wedding Charade Read online

  She tried to kick out at him but his fingers locked around her ankle. She kicked out with her other leg but he caught that slim ankle too and held it firm.

  ‘Let me go, you arrogant bastard!’ she said, struggling like a wildcat.

  ‘Manners, Jade,’ Nic said silkily. ‘You will learn to speak to me with respect.’

  Her face was a picture of rage, all flashing green cat’s eyes and white teeth bared in a snarl. ‘I’ll never forgive you for this,’ she said. ‘If you lay even one finger on me I will scratch your damn eyes out.’

  ‘I bet you say that to all your lovers,’ he said with a mocking smile.

  She fought him with a strength he didn’t realise someone of her delicate frame could possess. She bucked and arched and jerked until he had to let go in case she hurt herself. She crawled away from him like a scuttling crab, scooping up the sheet he had tossed from the bed and wrapping it around herself like a shroud before she faced him with a blistering glare. ‘If you think you can just do what you like when you like, you are sadly mistaken,’ she said.

  ‘Ditto, cara,’ he said. ‘It’s time you learned how to behave, and if I have to teach you myself I will do it.’

  Jade poked her tongue out at him.

  He laughed. ‘You are going to be absolute dynamite in bed. No wonder you have men following you with their tongues hanging out. I can’t wait to see what fireworks we set off together.’

  She gave him a cutting look. ‘If you want to sleep with me you can damn well pay for it.’

  ‘I have paid for it, Jade,’ he said as he opened the door to leave. He gave her one last up and down stripping look and added, ‘I paid for you with my freedom and I expect to collect on it as soon as we are officially married.’

  Jade winced as the door closed on his exit. Surely he didn’t mean it? He wouldn’t insist on sleeping with her if she didn’t want to. She bit her lip. The trouble was, she did want to.

  She wanted to very much.

  When Jade came downstairs the next morning Nic was swimming in the lap pool. She watched him from the windows of the breakfast room, his bronzed body carving the water like an Olympic athlete. He made her floundering efforts to stay afloat seem rather pathetic in comparison. It was another one of her failings. She had never learned to swim with any proficiency.

  She turned away with a sigh and went to the kitchen. Her supper things were still on the bench where she had left them, so too was a glass Nic had obviously used to have some orange juice before his morning swim. She gave a little shrug of indifference and turned away.

  Nic came in through from the doors that led to the terrace. He was naked from the waist up, a towel hanging from his lean hips. ‘Is breakfast ready yet?’ he asked, pushing back his wet hair with one of his hands.

  Jade frowned. ‘Pardon me? ‘

  He nodded towards the breakfast room. ‘Coffee and fruit to start with and then some fresh rolls,’ he said. ‘I’ll expect you to have it ready by the time I come back from my shower.’

  She opened her eyes wide. ‘Are you expecting me to wait on you?’

  ‘Well, it was you who caused the housekeeper to leave in a huff,’ he reminded her. ‘It’s only fair you take over her role until I can find someone to replace her.’

  Jade bristled in outrage. ‘I will do no such thing. Get your own stupid breakfast.’

  He eyeballed her until she felt the base of her spine start to tingle. ‘Breakfast, Jade, and step on it. I have an important meeting at my office this morning.’

  She pressed her lips together, glaring at him, daring him to make her do his bidding. The air crackled with electricity as their strong wills collided. She felt the power of it, the tension escalating along with her heart rate. She was not going to be a slave to him. He was not going to order her about like some servant in his employ.

  She smiled to herself as she planned her next move. She would show him just how little he could control her.

  Nic came over to where she was standing. He stopped right in front of her, holding her defiant gaze with the steely determination of his. ‘Do I have to repeat myself?’ he asked.

  Jade put on a meekly obedient face. ‘It’ll be ready in five minutes,’ she said.

  ‘Good girl,’ he said and flicked her cheek with a gentle finger before he left the room.

  Jade brewed some coffee and then sliced up some fruit and set it on a plate. She found the fresh rolls in a paper bag on the bench. She assumed someone from the bakery had delivered them earlier that morning. She carried a tray with everything on it into the breakfast room and set it out on the table that overlooked the sunny terrace.

  Nic came in a few minutes later, straightening his tie. ‘Nice job,’ he said. ‘I knew you could do it if you put your mind to it.’

  ‘How do you have your coffee?’ Jade asked, working hard at keeping her expression suitably subservient.

  ‘White with two sugars,’ he said as he sat down. Jade put a cup down next to him and poured the coffee into it. Then she carefully spooned two teaspoons of sugar into it. She picked up the milk jug and said, ‘Say when,’ and then she poured the entire contents into his lap.

  He leapt up from the table, his expression thunderous as he wiped at the dripping milk with a hastily grabbed napkin. ‘You little bitch,’ he growled at her.

  Jade gave him a guileless look. ‘You didn’t say when.’

  He tossed the sodden napkin aside and reached for her. Jade hadn’t expected him to move quite so fast. Suddenly she was being held by the upper arms, his eyes blazing as they held hers.

  Time stood still for the space of three rapid heartbeats.

  And then with a muttered curse he swooped down and slammed his mouth down against hers.

  Jade had lost count of the number of times she had been kissed. She had enjoyed some and hated others. But this was nothing like anything she had experienced before. Nic’s mouth was like a flame against the soft flesh of her lips. It stoked a wildfire inside her, a raging fire that leapt and danced all over her skin. His kiss was bruising but she didn’t care. She loved the taste of him, so fresh and male and commanding.

  He cupped her head with his hands and deepened the kiss with an erotic thrust of his tongue. Her belly flipped as it curled around hers, flicking, stroking, teasing, conquering.

  The kiss went on and on.

  She tasted blood but wasn’t sure if it was hers or his. She had nipped at him just as frantically as he had nipped at her. Their teeth had even clashed at one point in the desire to gain supremacy. It was the most breathlessly exciting sensual assault on her senses. She felt as if she had been waiting her entire life for this moment. It was bliss to have his mouth hard and insistent on hers, the heated trajectory of his arousal burning like a brand against her.

  But just as suddenly as it had started it was over.

  Nic stepped away from her, wiping the back of his hand across his mouth, his breathing as ragged as hers. ‘You had better make yourself scarce, young lady,’ he said. ‘I am so angry with you right now I don’t trust myself to be around you.’

  Jade ran her tongue over her swollen mouth, wincing as she felt the little split in her lip. She saw him narrow his eyes as he looked at her mouth, a flicker of remorse passing over his expression.

  ‘Damn it, Jade,’ he said, raking his hair with one of his hands. He stepped close again and tipped up her face, a gentle fingertip tracing the tiny wound on her lip. ‘Does it hurt?’ he asked in a gruff tone.

  ‘NO,’ she said in a whisper.

  He slid his hand to the nape of her neck, holding her gaze for an endless moment. ‘I’m sorry.’ ‘I’m sorry too.’

  Nic dropped his hand from her neck and stepped back. ‘I’m afraid I haven’t got time to help you clear up here,’ he said. ‘I’m already running late and I have to change.’

  ‘What time will you be home?’

  ‘I’ll call you and let you know. I might have to fly back to Rio. If so, I will meet you at Bellagio
as previously planned.’

  ‘Nic?’

  He turned at the door. ‘Yes? ‘

  Jade twisted her hands together. ‘I’m sorry about your housekeeper leaving.’

  He gave her a brief crooked smile. ‘Forget about it. I was thinking of firing her anyway. I think she’s been filching the spirits.’

  ‘Oh.’

  ‘Why don’t you check out the job seekers ads in the paper?’ he said. ‘That way you can interview all the candidates and decide who you’ll get along with.’

  Jade felt her chest tighten with panic. ‘Oh, no, I can’t do that.’

  He gave her a frowning look. ‘Of course you can, Jade. You just have to call them up and arrange a time to meet them.’

  ‘But I can’t read Italian.’

  ‘You can do it online in English,’ he said. ‘There’s a computer in my study. There are listings of all the employment agencies.’

  ‘Can it wait until we get back from Bellagio?’ she asked.

  He looked at her for a long moment. ‘Of course it can wait.’ He walked over to the door, but then he paused with his hand on the doorknob as if a thought had suddenly occurred to him. He slowly turned and looked at her again. ‘You do know how to use a computer, don’t you?’

  ‘Of course I do,’ Jade said with a heavy dose of indignation. ‘What do you think I am—completely brainless?’

  ‘No, on the contrary, Jade, I think you are one of the cleverest people I have ever met. Not many people catch me off guard but you’ve done it not once, not twice, but three times. I wonder how many more surprises are in store for me during the next year.’

  ‘You’ll just have to wait and see, won’t you?’ she said with a pert look.

  ‘I am looking forward to it,’ he said and left the room.

  CHAPTER SIX

  AS IT turned out, Nic did have to fly back to Rio, or so he had said when he’d phoned on the landline later that day. Jade wondered if he was putting some space between them after The Kiss. She couldn’t help thinking of it in capital letters. Her lips had tingled for hours afterwards. Her tongue kept returning to the tiny nick in her flesh, exploring it in detail. It was a constant reminder of the spontaneous combustion that had occurred between them. Nic had awakened a longing in her that would not go away. It ached and throbbed deep and low in her body, a persistent ache of emptiness she had never felt before.

  She spent a couple of quiet days painting in the villa gardens before the preparations for the wedding began in full force. The flight and travelling arrangements turned out to be far easier than she had expected and the wedding planner had taken care of all the details, so all Jade had to do was turn up for her hair and make-up appointment, and finally slip into her dress and shoes.

  When she finally arrived at the church in the picturesque lakeside town of Bellagio she felt as if she was acting her way through a movie role directed by Nic. Her father walked her into the church, beaming at all the guests as if he was the proudest of men. Jade went along with the façade of family togetherness but, as she walked past the front pew where her brother most likely would have been if he had still been alive, she felt a pain that was indescribable.

  She looked up and saw Nic standing at the front with the priest. His hazel eyes ran over her, his lips stretched into a proud smile, she assumed for the congregation’s sake. Her heart gave a little skip as his eyes darkened the closer she got. She saw his gaze go to the now healed spot on her lip. His eyes came back to hers, a silent message there that touched her so much she had to look away. She faced the front and listened as the priest began to speak.

  Jade was conscious that this was the very church in which Nic’s baby sister had been christened and then just three months later farewelled from this world. The wedding planner had let slip that this was the first time Nic’s mother had come back to the villa since Chiara’s death all those years ago. Jade wasn’t sure why Nic had insisted on being married here, other than the villa was very private and the perfect place to have a honeymoon. Not that they were having a honeymoon, of course, Jade thought. It was all for the press, the pretence, the society wedding with all the trimmings. It was what everyone expected someone of Nic’s breeding, and hers when it came to that, to do.

  Finally the priest announced it was now time for Nic to kiss his bride and Jade felt a ripple of excitement race through her. She swallowed as he slipped a hand to the curve of her cheek, his touch and gaze as tender as any genuine groom’s could be. She watched in breathless anticipation as his head lowered inch by inch until finally she felt the whisper-soft press of his lips on hers.

  Again Jade was totally sideswiped at how her mouth responded to his. It was as if he had transferred some potent electrical current directly from his mouth to hers. Her lips moved beneath the gentle press of his, softly and shyly at first but then more hungrily as he deepened the kiss with a slow, smooth thrust of his tongue that took her completely by surprise. While it was nothing like the primal savagery of his previous kiss, for some reason the tenderness of this one was even more powerful and mind-blowing. She felt a shockwave of heat envelop her, and her tongue moved against his, tasting him, tasting the essential maleness of his mouth. He tasted minty, fresh and yet hot and erotic and brooding with barely leashed sensuality.

  He pulled away first, smiling down at her, saying in an undertone, ‘Save it for later, cara, for when we are naked and alone.’

  Jade felt her colour rise but could do nothing but smile back as she knew the congregation was watching every move she made. She had already heard the collective ‘ahh’ in response to their kiss. She silently fumed at Nic’s arrogance. Did he really think she would sleep with him just because they were now married? He had probably slept with his mistress only the day before. Her anger went up a notch. No wonder he had flown straight back to Rio. He had no doubt taken advantage of his last couple of days of freedom; the freedom he claimed was the price he had paid for her.

  Jade knew he would be an unforgettable lover for all the right reasons. But allowing such intimacy between them would be a disaster for her in the long run. She was increasingly worried about her feelings for him; feelings that used to be hate were morphing into something else entirely—something that was far more dangerous. She had to keep reminding herself this was a temporary marriage and any relationship between them was going to be over as soon as Nic got what he wanted: his inheritance.

  The reception was held back at the villa, where a huge marquee had been set up in the gardens. Champagne flowed freely and Jade continued to play the role of blissfully happy bride—a role she found she could pull off with surprising ease, which was another worry to her—chatting with Nic’s brothers and their wives and the other guests until her face ached from smiling so much.

  At one point she looked across at Nic, who was cradling his baby nephew Matteo, Giorgio and Maya’s son, in his arms. He was smiling at the gorgeous dark-haired baby, speaking in Italian while the baby cooed back in the universal language of young babies. Little Ella, Luca and Bronte’s oldest child, was leaning against Nic’s thigh, eagerly awaiting her turn for his attention. He turned and smiled at her adoringly, the words he spoke in his mother tongue obviously pleasing the little toddler, who grinned widely before saying something back in the same language with her own twist on the accent. Jade watched as he scooped Ella up in his arms, holding her high above his head, the toddler’s squeals of delight filling the air.

  ‘He’ll make a fabulous father when the time comes,’ Bronte said as she came over to where Jade was standing. ‘He’s such a natural with kids.’

  Jade felt a blush flow like a tide into her cheeks. She swept her gaze around to check for hovering members of the press before she spoke in an undertone. ‘You know this is not a marriage that is going to last. We’re both in it for what we can get.’

  Bronte’s slate-blue eyes held hers. ‘I know you care for him, even if you don’t like admitting it,’ she said softly.

  Jade bit h
er lip and averted her gaze, staring at the untouched champagne in her glass. ‘You’re mistaken, Bronte. I hate him as much as he hates me.’

  ‘I don’t believe that,’ Bronte said. ‘I used to think I hated Luca but it was love all along. You and Nic are made for each other. Anyone can see it. You’re both so stubborn, neither of you wants to be the first one to break.’

  ‘I can’t see Nic admitting to feeling anything for anyone,’ Jade said with a despondent sigh. ‘He’s never been one to talk of his feelings. He jumps from one woman’s bed to another. I think the longest relationship he’s ever had was less than a month.’

  ‘Luca told me you used to have a crush on Nic,’ Bronte said. ‘Was he your first love? ‘

  Jade turned and looked at Luca’s lovely wife. No wonder he had tracked her down after he had finally sorted out his life. How he had torn himself away from her in the first place was something Jade still didn’t quite understand. But they were so happy now and that was all that mattered. She envied them. She envied Giorgio and Maya too who, only moments before, had been looking at each other over by the fountain as if no one else was around. How she longed for that sort of love in her life. ‘It’s sort of complicated,’ Jade said. ‘You know what Nic’s like. He’s not the settling down type. This is a form of torture for him. He will want to shake off the shackles as soon as the time is up.’

  ‘Is that what he told you?’ Bronte asked, frowning slightly.

  Jade looked across at Nic, who was now holding Bronte and Luca’s baby boy, Marco, with Luca looking on indulgently. ‘More or less,’ she said, swinging her gaze back to Bronte’s again. ‘I’m not the right wife for him, Bronte. I don’t know what Salvatore was thinking, writing his will the way he did. I could never make Nic happy. I don’t have it in me to be a wife to anyone, let alone a man so restless and hard to please as him. I can’t compete with supermodels and the like.’

  Bronte gave her a gentle squeeze on the arm. ‘I think you do yourself a very big disservice. You are one of the most beautiful women I have ever met, but not just in looks. I’ve seen the way you’ve cuddled Marco and Matteo, and I saw the way you tucked some of the flowers from your bouquet in Ella’s hair. She already worships you. She thinks you’re a princess. You look like a princess. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more stunning bride.’