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Connelly Clare
Her Wedding Night Surrender
Аннотация к роману
«Her Wedding Night Surrender»
- Клэр Коннелли
Pietro has strict rules for his marriage…And he’s breaking every one of them!Pietro Morelli is breaking his own rule—by seducing his virgin bride! Heiress Emmeline is meant to be a wife of convenience, but the intense chemistry between them is more powerful than either can deny. And while Pietro hides a devastating secret, can they ever have more than a marriage in name only…?
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Pietro has strict rules for his marriage...
And he’s breaking every one of them!
Pietro Morelli is breaking his own rule—seducing his virgin bride! Heiress Emmeline is meant to be a wife of convenience, but the intense chemistry between them is more powerful than either can deny. But while Pietro hides a devastating secret, can they ever have more than a marriage in name only?
CLARE CONNELLY was raised in small-town Australia among a family of avid readers. She spent much of her childhood up a tree, Mills & Boon book in hand. Clare is married to her own real-life hero and they live in a bungalow near the sea with their two children. She is frequently found staring into space—a surefire sign that she is in the world of her characters. She has a penchant for French food and ice-cold champagne, and Mills & Boon novels continue to be her favourite ever books. Writing for Modern Romance is a long-held dream. Clare can be contacted via clareconnelly.com or at her Facebook page.
Also by Clare Connelly
Bought for the Billionaire’s Revenge
Innocent in the Billionaire’s Bed
Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk.
Her Wedding Night Surrender
Clare Connelly
ISBN: 978-1-474-07196-3
HER WEDDING NIGHT SURRENDER
© 2018 Clare Connelly
Published in Great Britain 2018
by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF
All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.
By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.
® and ™ are trademarks owned and used by the trademark owner and/or its licensee. Trademarks marked with ® are registered with the United Kingdom Patent Office and/or the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market and in other countries.
For Kylie Adams,
who has supported and encouraged me from the start.
Contents
‘SO, LET ME get this straight.’ Pietro stared across his desk at the man he’d idolised for the better part of two decades. ‘You’re actually asking that I marry your daughter—a woman thirteen years my junior, a woman I barely know. And why, exactly, do you suppose I’ll say yes?’
Across from him Col shifted in his chair, his own gaze direct. ‘Emmeline is a beautiful and intelligent woman. Why are you so offended by my suggestion?’
Pietro’s scepticism on that score wasn’t something he wished to communicate to his friend. Nor the belief he held that Emmeline was either painfully shy or vapid.
‘I have no intention of marrying anyone,’ Pietro said, neatly sidestepping the question. ‘Ever.’
‘Even better. Marrying Emmeline isn’t going to skittle any lingering love affair for you.’
Pietro’s lips were a gash, scored across his face. He spoke emphatically and with the kind of iron-like command that had his corporate opponents running scared. ‘There will be no marriage.’
Col smiled at the swift rebuke. Apparently the commanding tone that Pietro’s business adversaries feared was inconsequential to Col.
‘I love you, Pietro. Like a son. You and Emmeline are the most important people in my life. I need you to marry her.’
‘Why? Where has this come from?’ Pietro leaned forward, analysing every flicker of the older man’s face.
‘I’ve been thinking about it for a few weeks.’
‘Why?’ Pietro pushed, certain now that he wasn’t seeing the full picture.
Col exhaled slowly and his eyes dropped away from Pietro’s. ‘Emmeline wants to go to university. She’s found a place in Rome. I’ve told her she may come here to study, with my blessing. But only so long as she marries you.’
‘And she has agreed?’ Pietro snapped scathingly, his impression of Emmeline as a limpet who’d signed her life away on a dotted line increasing.
‘It took some discussion,’ Col admitted gruffly. ‘But, yes, she agreed.’ His eyes held a defiant glint in their depths.
‘Emmeline would do anything I ask of her. She’s always been a good girl.’A good girl? Pietro had to concentrate hard to stop himself rolling his eyes. Good girls were boring. Predictable. Dull. The description served only to reinforce his dim opinion of the Senator’s daughter.
‘So?’ Pietro laughed, the sound rich with disbelief. ‘I can keep an eye on your daughter without marrying her!’
‘Damn it!’ Col shouted, the words an angry curse on his lips. ‘That’s not enough.’
‘Why not?’ Pietro narrowed his eyes. ‘What am I missing?’
Col’s glare was defiant, his expression rich with displeasure. But after a burning moment of silence he nodded. Just once, but it was enough to signal a surrender of sorts.
‘What I’m about to tell you stays in this room.’
Perplexed, Pietro jerked his head in agreement.
‘Swear it, Pietro. Swear you will keep my confidence.’
‘Of course.’
Pietro had no concept of what he was agreeing to, at that point, so it was easy to go along with the Senator’s insistence.
‘There are only two people other than myself who know what I’m about to tell you. Not even Emmeline knows.’
A frisson of anticipation drummed along Pietro’s spine. He stayed silent, waiting for the Senator to continue.
‘There’s no easy way to say this. I’m dying.’
Pietro froze. He felt his body go into a kind of shocked stasis. ‘What?’ he heard himself query after a long moment, and the word was almost sucked out of him.
‘Dying. My oncologist thinks I’ve probably got a few months in me yet.’
He leaned forward, and the determination in his gaze sent shivers running down Pietro’s spine.
‘They won’t be good months, though. I want Emmeline as far away from me as possible. I want her happy. Safe. Protected. I want her blissfully unaware of what’s happening to me.’
Pietro felt as though a slab of bricks had landed on his chest and was determinedly squeezing all the air out of him. He’d lost his own beloved father to cancer twenty years earlier. The idea of going through that again turned his blood to ice.
‘That can’t be right.’ He ran a palm over his eyes and stared at the Senator with renewed interest. He looked so well. Just as always. ‘Have you had a second opinion?’
‘Don’t need one.’ Col shrugged. ‘I saw the X-rays. Cancer everywhere.’
Pietro swore in his own tongue. It had been a long time since he’d felt so powerless. ‘I’m sorry.’
‘I don’t want your apology. I want your help. Damn it, I’m begging you for it.’
Inwardly, Pietro groaned. He would do almost anything for the older man. But marrying his daughter...?
‘Surely Emmeline would prefer to find her own partner...’
‘Who?’ Col scoffed. ‘Some fortune-hunter? She’s going to be worth billions of dollars when I die. Billions. Not to mention inheriting the estate and the oil rig off Texas. And she’s got no experience with the world.’ He grunted angrily. ‘That’s my fault. After her mother died I wanted to protect her. I wanted to keep her away from all that was ugly. I did a damned good job. But now I find myself with a twenty-two-year-old daughter who’s about to be orphaned—and, hell, Pietro, I need to know that someone will look after her.’
‘I will,’ he assured Col, meaning it.
‘The occasional email won’t cut it. I need her living under your roof. Emmeline needs looking after.’
‘You say she doesn’t know about the cancer?’
‘Absolutely not. And she’s not going to.’
‘What are you talking about?’
‘I want to spare her this pain. I owe her that much.’
Pietro felt frustration gnawing through him. Of all the requests he’d expected, this was nowhere on the list he’d prepared.
‘It’s the only thing I’ve ever asked of you, Pietro. Promise me you’ll do this. For me.’
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