Page 41 of Bought For The Marriage Bed

‘Marc…I—’

‘I know what you are up to.’ He launched himself out of the pool and turned around to glare down at her. ‘You will not rest until you have me begging. That is what you want, isn’t it, Nina? Your final triumph in the face of Andre’s rejection would be to have his older brother on his knees, offering you anything you want in exchange for your body. That is why you did not ask for payment, isn’t it? To make me think you were not after money when in fact you are after so much more.’

‘But I’m not after—’

‘Get out of my sight,’ he barked at her. ‘Take your lies and your deceptive little games out of my damn sight!’

Nina got out of the pool with quiet dignity, her sense of pride refusing to allow him to intimidate her with his fury. She could tell he was angrier with himself than with her. Angry that he wanted her in spite of all he’d said to the contrary. But she felt sure this wasn’t just about the money, it was about pride—his pride.

‘You can’t order me about like that,’ she said, standing in front of him. ‘I won’t allow you to.’

Something moved behind his eyes as he stepped towards her again. ‘You will not allow me to?’ he asked with a curl of his lip.

‘No,’ she said, holding his gaze. ‘I won’t allow you to speak to me in such a way.’

He drew himself up to his full height, his mouth tightening as he looked down at her. ‘Tell me, Nina, how are you going to stop me?’

She moistened her lips, her stomach giving a tiny quiver at the fiery intensity of his gaze. ‘I’ll think of something.’

He threw his head back and laughed.

Nina pursed her lips and frowned at him. ‘You have appalling manners. I suppose it comes from having so much money. You think you can get people to do what you want by writing a cheque or issuing autocratic demands.’

‘Well, well, well,’ he drawled. ‘Look at the pretty little pot telling off the kettle for being black.’

‘You know what your trouble is, Marc?’ she said, incensed by his attitude. ‘You don’t like yourself. You keep blaming me for your brother’s death but I get this distinct impression that you actually blame yourself. I might be a convenient scapegoat but I will not have you browbeat me to appease your own sense of inadequacy.’

It became instantly obvious to Nina that she’d hit him on a particularly raw nerve. She saw it in the sudden flare of anger in his black eyes and in the tight clench of his hands as he held them by his sides as if he didn’t trust himself not to use them against her.

He didn’t speak for a long time but his silence was more menacing than any blistering statement could be, she thought as she stood before him defiantly.

‘Tell me something, Nina.’ He tipped up her chin with one long determined finger. ‘Tell me why you fell in love with my brother.’

She froze at his words, her eyes flaring in panic, her heart ramming against her ribcage as she did her best to hold his hard penetrating look.

‘You did love him, did you not?’ he asked when she didn’t answer.

Nina lowered her gaze to concentrate on the beads of moisture still clinging to the strong column of his neck. She couldn’t bring herself to tell him yet another lie.

‘No,’ she said softly. ‘I didn’t love him.’

Marc’s dark eyes narrowed dangerously as her gaze came back to his. ‘You callous bitch. You callous little money-hungry bitch.’

She closed her eyes to block out his fury.

‘Look at me!’ He grasped her arms roughly and gave her a little shake.

Her eyes sprang open in alarm, her stomach twisting with despair at the hatred shining in his.

‘You destroyed his life!’ His fingers bit into her arms. ‘You hunted him down and destroyed him for what? For what?’ he repeated bitterly.

‘Marc, I need to tell you—’ she began.

‘I do not want to hear anything you have to say,’ he snapped, cutting her off.

‘Marc, please.’ Her eyes misted over and her tone became pleading. ‘You don’t understand—’

‘I understand all right. I understand that you were not happy that Andre left you stranded without money. That is why you twisted the knife by threatening to have Georgia adopted, was it not?’ He gave her a disgusted look. ‘You never had any intention of giving her up. You were just playing a game to get as much money as you could.’

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