Page 26 of Bought For The Marriage Bed

She loved her job but she loved her niece more. If push came to shove she would have to quit work, swallow her pride and accept the allowance from Marc that his lawyer had arranged in the pre-nuptial agreement.

‘Hi, Nina,’ Elizabeth Loughton, one of the other librarians, greeted her as soon as she arrived at work. ‘Hey, where have you been the last few days? Sheila said you called in sick. Are you OK now?’

Nina placed her bag in the staffroom locker in order to avoid her friend’s probing look. ‘I’m fine, just a bit tired. It’s been one of those weeks.’

‘Don’t tell me your sister has been giving you trouble again,’ Elizabeth said. ‘I don’t know why you don’t tell her where to get off, really I don’t. She takes advantage of you so much, no wonder you’re not well.’ She pursed her lips for a moment, then, moving over to close the staffroom door, turned back and handed Nina a recent edition of a popular gossip magazine. ‘I suppose you’ve already seen this?’

Nina disguised a gulp as she looked down at the magazine article Elizabeth had shown her. There was a photograph of her twin outside one of Sydney’s best known hotels, dressed in a revealing dress that left little to the imagination, her arms flung around the necks of two well known football personalities who both had dubious reputations with regard to their treatment of women. The caption hinted that, according to hotel staff sources, last Friday night Nadia and her male escorts had engaged in a drunken noisy threesome upstairs.

‘Oh, God.’ She shut the magazine and handed it back as they sat down together. ‘This is just what I don’t need right now.’

‘Are you all right?’ Elizabeth peered at her in concern.

Nina met her friend’s hazel gaze. ‘I have to tell you something but you have to promise not to tell anyone else.’

Elizabeth used a finger to zip her lips. ‘Mum’s the word.’

Nina’s mouth twisted wryly. ‘That’s exactly right. Mum is the word you now have to use when referring to me.’

Elizabeth’s eyes went out on stalks. ‘Oh, my God! You’re pregnant?’

Nina rolled her eyes. ‘Of course not! No, but I am now acting as Georgia’s mother.’

As Nina filled her in on previous events, Elizabeth’s face fell in horror.

‘Are you completely nuts?’ Elizabeth had got to her feet in agitation. ‘What the hell are you thinking? This Marc Marcello will eat you alive when he finds out! You could go to prison or something!’

‘What else can I do?’ Nina asked. ‘Georgia needs me. Nadia was going to give her up for adoption but this way I can keep her and give her the love she deserves. It’s a small price to pay.’

‘A small price?’ Elizabeth gaped at her. ‘What do you know about this guy?’

Nina couldn’t help a tiny smile. ‘I know he adores Georgia and she adores him.’

‘And what about you?’ Elizabeth gave her another probing look. ‘What does he feel about you? Does he adore you too?’

‘No.’ Nina lowered her gaze.

There was a short silence and Nina looked up to see her friend’s contemplative gaze trained on her.

‘I think I’m starting to get the picture,’ Elizabeth said. ‘You’re in love with him, aren’t you?’

‘How could I possibly be in love with him?’ Nina’s eyes darted away once more. ‘I hardly know him.’

‘You must feel something for him because, knowing you as I do, you would never agree to marry someone if you didn’t respect and admire them at the very least.’

Nina thought about it for a moment. Yes, she did respect Marc. In fact, if circumstances were different, he was exactly the sort of man she could come to love. He had qualities she couldn’t help admiring. He was fiercely loyal and protective and his sense of family was strong.

‘Come on, Nina,’ Elizabeth continued. ‘I can see it in your eyes. You’re halfway there already.’

‘You’re imagining things.’

‘Maybe I am, but I’d watch it if I were you,’ Elizabeth cautioned. ‘You’re not the hard-nosed bitch your sister is. You are going to get yourself seriously hurt if you don’t take care.’

‘I know what I’m doing,’ Nina said. ‘Anyway, I don’t have a choice. I love Georgia and would do anything to protect her.’

‘Sounds like you and that future husband of yours have rather a lot in common, don’t you think?’ Elizabeth mused as she opened the staffroom door. ‘You both want the same thing and are prepared to go to extraordinary lengths to get it.’

Nina didn’t answer. She was starting to think it might have been a mistake to tell Elizabeth the truth about her situation. Her friend was seeing things Nina herself had pointedly refused to examine too closely.

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