Page 29 of Signed, Sealed, Married

Reluctantly she nodded. He did that so easily. As ifnothingwould deter him from his purpose.

Seconds later he’d added the same text to her copy and had them both initial each version. It felt like he’d closed a prison door on her.

Gisèle opened her mouth to say she needed time for her lawyer to check the details. Except could she trust Laurent, the old family lawyer, not to hint to Julien that the wedding wasn’t all it seemed? She couldn’t risk that. ‘Five weeks is too soon. It’s...’ Outrageous. Impossible. Terrifying. ‘Not feasible.’

Silence greeted her announcement. Her heart sank as she read his expression. This, unlike job security for the employees, wasn’t negotiable.

‘That’s the offer. My original plan was to marry in a week.’

‘A week!’

‘Take it or leave it. It’s your choice. But remember the amendments to the sale, about your brother and the employees, hinge on you signing this, now. Then I’ll have a clean version typed up.’

Nowthe words came, a fluent rush of colourful curses totally at odds with her composed public persona. Not that she voiced them. Her pride and her poise seemed all that were left to her. She clung to them tenaciously, bottling up the scathing indictment of his character in her head.

As if determined to test her limits he reiterated, ‘Five weeks.’

Gisèle took out her fountain pen and spared him a glance down the nose she’d spent a lifetime growing into. ‘You really think you can convince the world we fell for each other in under two months?’

Adam’s gaze dropped to her poised pen.

That fleeting glance told her again that he was more invested in this deal than he let on. Heneededthis for reasons she didn’t know. If she understood maybe she could twist that to her advantage and escape.

But she didn’t know. So she uncapped her pen and signed on the dotted line, her hand as heavy as lead.

‘Don’t worry, Gisèle.’ His deep voice held that husky note that warmed her chilled body. ‘Together, I’m sure we can convince everybody.’

Was that a promise or a threat?

CHAPTER SIX

THEPHOTOSOFher and Adam on the yacht were just the beginning.

Gisèle had faced a barrage of public scrutiny in her younger years but press attention now reached a new pitch of excitement. Because her name was linked with the uber-successful, famously maverick Adam Wilde. A man who set his own rules, daring to do things his way, defying society’s expectations.

Sometimes it took her breath away, the level of hype surrounding them in the weeks since those first photos broke. But rarely, because she was busy juggling the expectations of her secret fiancé, the company’s employees and Julien.

‘I still don’t understand it,’ her brother said, and Gisèle shifted the phone to her other ear as she selected earrings to wear tonight. ‘What have you got in common with him? He’s not your type.’

‘Since when did I have a type?’

Julien’s words bit close to the bone. Despite the male companions who sometimes accompanied her to formal events, there’d been no man in her life for years.

For good reason.

‘Exactly,’ he replied, making Gisèle grit her teeth at how much her brother knew about her disappointments and disillusionment.

But it was because they were close that she’d go through with this farce of a marriage.

Her big brother had looked after her when their father died and their mother dumped them on theirgrandpère. She’d do anything for Julien, to save his connection to the company he loved. He’d protected her for years. Now it was her turn.

‘You go from dating no one,’ he persisted, ‘to spending all your time with the enemy.’

‘Hardly the enemy. You’ll be working together, remember? He’s saving the House of Fontaine, keeping us and all the staff on. You admitted yourself that was generous.’

Over the long-distance connection from his home near Paris, she heard her brother’s mumble of discontent. ‘I still don’t understand it. He didn’t need to do that so why did he agree? It doesn’t fit his usual form. In the past he’s been aggressive in any takeover, with no sentiment.’

‘Sentiment? Fontaine’s has terrific staff and excellent products. And you were a highly successful CEO.’

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