Page 14 of Bought For The Marriage Bed

‘What?’ Nadia’s tone sounded bored.

‘He’s forcing me—I mean you—to marry him, which is really me because you’ve flown the coop and he doesn’t realise it, and I’m up to my neck in lies and I don’t know if I can face it because I have no idea how to handle men like Marc Marcello and I have work commitments and no childcare and—’

‘Whoa!’ Nadia interjected. ‘Slow down; you lost me at the marriage bit. What do you mean he wants to marry you?’

‘Not me—you!’ Nina shrilled. ‘He thinks he’s forcing you into a paper marriage.’

‘A paper marriage?’

‘He wants to adopt Georgia and is prepared to marry me—I mean you—to do it.’

‘And you agreed?’ Nadia sounded surprised.

‘He didn’t really leave me with much choice,’ Nina answered resentfully. ‘He threatened to expose you as an incompetent mother and you gave him all the evidence he needed by hurting Georgia the way you did. It was just pure luck that he didn’t notice—’

‘What’s he paying you?’ Nadia asked.

Nina gritted her teeth at her sister’s total lack of remorse. How could Nadia be more concerned about money than her own baby?

‘Even if I have to starve I am not taking his money,’ she bit out. ‘He thinks he can buy me but no way is some overindulged playboy going to—’

‘Tell him you’ve changed your mind,’ Nadia said, interrupting her again. ‘Tell him you want ten million.’

‘Ten million?’ Nina shrieked. ‘I will do no such—’

‘Then you’re a fool,’ Nadia said. ‘He’s a billionaire, Nina. You can name your price. He’ll pay it.’

‘No, absolutely not. This marriage thing is bad enough.’ She let out a ragged breath and added, ‘Besides, I feel sick at the thought of what he’s going to do when he finds out he’s got the wrong person.’

‘Don’t tell him.’

‘What?’ Nina squeaked. ‘You expect me to go through with it?’

‘You want Georgia, don’t you?’ Nadia said. ‘Here’s your chance to keep her with a whole trailer load of money thrown in. In fact, if you play your cards right we could both really scoop up big time on this.’

Nina didn’t care too much for her twin’s mercenary tone. ‘What do you mean?’

Nadia gave a soft little chuckle that sent a river of unease up her spine. ‘You are about to marry a billionaire. You will have access to cash, lots and lots of cash. I’ve been doing some checking up on Bryce and he’s not quite in the same league as your Marc. But we can make up for that with some clever accounting on your part once you are married.’

Nina cleared the blockage in her tight throat. ‘Nadia, I can’t marry Marc Marcello! It wouldn’t be legal!’

‘Who’s going to know?’ Nadia asked airily. ‘As far as I recall, I didn’t tell Andre I had a twin, so his brother is unlikely to ever find out unless you tell him or he sees us together, which is hardly likely as I’m going to be on the other side of the globe. No, the more I think about this the better it sounds. We both stand to benefit. You get to keep Georgia and I get compensated by a regular income provided by your very rich husband.’

Nina felt her stomach drop in panic. ‘Nadia, please don’t do this to me. I can’t marry a man who hates the very air I breathe!’

‘He doesn’t hate you, he hates me,’ Nadia pointed out. ‘Anyway, once he gets to know you he might even fancy you, or at least he might if you’d whack on a bit of make-up and something other than a shapeless tracksuit from time to time.’

‘I can’t afford the sort of scraps of fabric you usually pipe yourself into,’ Nina said sourly.

‘Come on, Nina. Think about it. This is a chance in a lifetime. You’ve always wanted to get married and have kids. What are you complaining about?’

‘I would have liked to choose the groom for myself, that’s what I’m complaining about!’ Nina shot back. ‘And I wanted a church wedding, not some hole and corner affair at the local registry office.’

‘You’re such a hopeless romantic. Do you think a marriage has any more hope of survival if it’s performed in a church? Come on—get in the real world, Nina. Marrying a billionaire should more than make up for the absence of a dress and veil and the blessing of a priest.’

‘Yeah, well, somehow it just doesn’t,’ she answered. ‘I wanted more out of life than a rich husband.’

‘You could spend your whole life looking for love like our mother did and, just like her, never find it,’ Nadia said. ‘If I were you I’d grasp at this with both hands and make the most of it.’

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