Melanie Milburne Bestseller Collection 201209/The Marcolini Blackmail Marriage/Bound by the Marcolini Diamonds

by MELANIE MILBURNE

  She gave herself a stern mental shake and concentrated on the job at hand. She had a tiny baby to settle into yet another routine, and in a few days a long-haul flight to another country, a country where she knew only the basics of communication, in spite of Laura’s giggling tutorage over the last few months.

  It struck Sabrina again, then, how surreal the last few days had been. Laura, the one friend who had understood her passion for connection and belonging, was gone, never to return. She kept thinking someone was going to shake her awake and tell her it was all a mistake, that the bodies taken from the wreckage of Ric’s car were not those of him and Laura but someone else, strangers, no one she knew—no one she loved so dearly and would miss for the rest of her life.

  Just like the day her mother had died, Sabrina was alone again … Well, not quite alone. She had Molly, dear, precious little Molly, who was thankfully oblivious to what had passed in the last few days. There would be a day when she would need to be told the truth about her real parents. Sabrina could only hope she would be around to tell Molly what a wonderful and loving mother Laura had been, how much she had loved her baby and had wanted the best for her, leaving her in the care of the two people she had trusted most in the world: her husband’s best friend and hers.

  How ironic that those two people hated each other, even though they both loved the child, Sabrina thought as she folded another pink baby-suit and laid it on the shelf.

  The baby gave a grizzling sound, and Sabrina went over to her, scooping her out of the carrier and cuddling her close, breathing in that sweet infant smell, her hand cupping the black down of that tiny, silky head. ‘Shh, my precious,’ she said softly. ‘I know this is all new to you. It’s all new to me too. We’ll have to take one day at a time until I can think of a way out of this.’

  Mario heard Sabrina’s voice just as he came to the door of the bedroom. So she was thinking of an escape route, was she? Not while he had anything to do about it, he determined. She would likely face a kidnap charge if she left without consulting him as co-guardian.

  Ric’s wife had had nothing but good to say about her friend, but that didn’t mean Sabrina hadn’t personally woven the wool she had pulled over Laura’s eyes. Mario had to admit Sabrina had an innocent look about her that was beguiling to say the least. Ric had obviously fallen for it too; he had told Mario at the wedding how delightful Sabrina was, how charming, how unworldly, shy and self-effacing, even dropping broad hints about what a suitable partner she would make for him. Mario had laughed off the suggestion; he had met plenty of supposedly shy women in the past and in his experience they were the ones who turned out to be the most devious and coolly calculating. It was the quiet ones you had to watch.

  And he had been right about Sabrina. His interesting little conversation with Howard Roebourne the evening before Molly’s christening had confirmed what a go-getter Sabrina was behind that sweet girl-next-door exterior. The woman who had thrown herself into his arms for those few stolen moments had been hot and hungry, her mouth like an open fire, her tongue a flame that had scorched his, branding him with an imprint he had not been able to erase. He could still taste the sweet temptation of her cushioned lips, the way they had moulded so perfectly to his. Their passionate clinch had been interrupted before he’d been able to take things any further, but he was in no doubt he could have had her then and there. In fact, he was in little doubt he could have her any time he wanted to if he put his mind to it. He saw the way she looked at him with those smoky-grey eyes of hers, the sensual need in them unmistakable.

  Mario entered the bedroom and Sabrina turned to face him, the baby cuddled close to her chest. ‘Have you everything you need?’ he asked.

  ‘Yes,’ she said, lowering her eyes to concentrate on tucking in the label of Molly’s baby-suit at her tiny neck. ‘Everything’s … lovely.’

  ‘I have to pick up some legal documents but I should be back within an hour,’ he said. ‘Make yourself at home. If you want anything for yourself or Molly, call room-service and charge it to me.’

  Sabrina hadn’t realised she had been holding her breath until he left, the door of the penthouse closing firmly on his exit. The air in the room seemed to lose its tightness once he had gone; her chest felt less restricted, and her heart rate not so hectic.

  Molly seemed restless and, although Sabrina had fed her, she decided a warm bath might help the little baby to relax. She carried her through to the en suite where twin bowl-like basins were set on top of a highly polished marble bench. She half-filled one basin with warm water and squirted in some baby-bath liquid. Once she had Molly undressed and splashing delightedly in the basin, the little girl’s giggles replaced her grizzles. It was times like these that made Sabrina wonder if she would ever have a baby of her own some day. Being tied to Mario for the next three or four years was hardly going to improve her chances of finding a partner.

  He on the other hand would no doubt continue his numerous affairs, leaving her to hold the baby, so to speak. The way he had orchestrated things meant he was always going to be in control. But then that was the sort of man he was; he was nobody’s lackey, he was as alpha as they came. It still surprised her how much he wanted Molly, however. It just didn’t fit with her knowledge of him as the playboy the press made him out to be. Bouncing a blonde bombshell on his knee rather than a baby was more his thing, but then perhaps he was not interested in fathering his own offspring and was content to have the responsibility for a small child’s upbringing instead. There was no doubt he cared for Molly, but then how many people could resist a cute, gummy smile and big china-blue eyes?

  Once Molly was dried and dressed and, after a cuddle, back in her pram and sleeping peacefully, Sabrina sat on one of the plush leather sofas and flicked through the hotel entertainment and facilities guide, trying not to think too much about the night ahead.

  The door opened and Mario came in with a briefcase in one hand. He placed it on the coffee table in front of her, clicking it open and retrieving a sheaf of papers.

  ‘You had better read through these before the lawyer joins us,’ he said. ‘He’s meeting us here in a few minutes. He is still downstairs. He had to take a call from another client.’

  Sabrina took the thick pile of paperwork and began reading. It was wordy, as legal documents generally were, but she plodded her way through it, realising that in signing it she was relinquishing the right to any of Mario’s assets acquired prior to their marriage. Prenuptial agreements didn’t sit well with her on principle. She’d always reasoned that if a couple was truly committed to making their marriage work there would be no need for a back-up plan. But then, this marriage was hardly what anyone could call a romantic union. It was little more than a business transaction, and for that reason she decided there was no point in making a fuss about signing on the dotted line. She didn’t want Mario’s money; all she wanted was for Molly to have a secure and loving home.

  The lawyer arrived and after brief introductions he went through the document with Sabrina and indicated where she was to sign.

  ‘That’s it,’ the lawyer said once the last space had received Sabrina’s signature. ‘I will speak to the accountant about having an allowance deposited into your bank account, as per Mario’s instructions.’

  Sabrina felt a tide of colour slowly ebb into her cheeks. She wondered just how much the lawyer had been told about the circumstances between Mario and herself. She was being paid to be a wife to him on paper only, and substitute mother to Molly, and yet as far as she could tell there was nothing in the lawyer’s expression that suggested he thought their relationship was anything other than normal. But then perhaps Mario had lied to him as he had done to the press earlier—for the sake of his own reputation, certainly not hers.

  Once the lawyer had left, Mario began to tug at his tie. ‘I thought I might do a few laps of the pool,’ he said. ‘You can join me, if you like.’

  Sabrina gave him a testy look. ‘We have the custody of a baby,
remember? You can continue to have your freedom, but I for one am taking my responsibilities seriously where Molly is concerned.’

  His eyes collided with hers. ‘Are you suggesting I am not taking my responsibilities seriously?’

  She folded her arms across her body. ‘Let’s be right up-front about this, Mario. You hardly have to do a thing where Molly is concerned. That’s why you’ve got me, isn’t it? Your life can continue without interruption while I am left to look after the baby.’

  His tie hung loosely around his neck as he came up close. ‘Forgive me if I am wrong, but I thought your chosen career was to care for babies and small children?’ he said. ‘Or are you being particularly bitchy because you do not like the fact that I have prevented you from getting your hands on my fortune when our marriage is eventually terminated?’

  She glared up at him, desperately wanting to step backwards, but forcing herself to stand her ground. ‘Everything is always about money to you, isn’t it? You think I want anything from you? I hate you. I can’t believe Laura agreed to nominate you in her will as Molly’s guardian. In fact, I can’t even believe Ric suggested it, since he knew you longer than Laura ever did. He of all people should have known how unfit for the task you are. I have never met a more unsuitable father figure in my life.’

  His dark eyes hardened to smouldering black coals of contempt. ‘You are a fine one to talk, Sabrina Halliday. You have the morals of an alley cat in heat, opening your legs for the highest bidder.’

  Her eyes flashed with pure venom, her whole body quaking with rage. ‘At the risk of repeating myself—you are disgusting.’

  He stepped closer, so close she had to flatten her spine against the wall. ‘How about if I were to make a bid for you, hmm?’ he asked in a slow, sexy drawl. ‘One that your greedy little hands will not be able to resist?’

  Sabrina felt the valves of her heart tighten as his warm breath skated over her face. Her breathing became even more ragged; her legs felt like dampened paper, barely able to keep her upright. ‘No amount of money would tempt me to sleep with you,’ she said, flashing him a feisty glare.

  ‘Oh, I do not want you to be asleep when we come together,’ he said with a sinfully sexy smile. ‘Far from it. I want you writhing and convulsing and panting beneath me. That is what you want too, is it not, Sabrina? That is what you have wanted from the first moment we met.’

  Sabrina had never felt such an explosion of heat erupt in her face or in her body before. His words, his incendiary, carnal words, had set off fires all through her, each one singeing her like a burning ember pressed to her skin. Images of their bodies locked together in passion flooded her brain, shockingly erotic images that were disturbing, not because she didn’t want them to happen but—God help her—because she did.

  Denial was her only defence, and as hastily assembled defences went hers was about as unstable as any could be. ‘You are mistaken,’ she said in a voice that was not quite as steady and controlled as she had hoped. ‘I have no interest whatsoever in becoming another notch on your belt.’

  He picked up a few strands of her hair, coiling them like a silky rope around two of his fingers, his eyes still burning down into hers. ‘It is early days, la mio piccolo seductress,’ he said. ‘We are not yet married; perhaps when you have my ring on your finger and your body in my bed you will change your mind.’

  ‘Don’t hold your breath,’ she said, still glaring at him, her heart beating like a hyperactive jackhammer.

  He gave her hair a gentle tug, pulling her inexorably closer to the hard ridge of his body. Sabrina felt her breath skid to a halt in her chest, her body set alight by the arrantly male and primal probe of his.

  The atmosphere tightened; the air around them was brooding, dangerous, and suddenly full of irresistible temptation.

  Sabrina felt each ‘thud, thud, thud’ of her heart like a swinging anvil against her chest, her insides quivering at the brooding intensity of his dark gaze as it held hers. She moistened her lips—discreetly, she had thought—but his gaze flicked downwards, the thick screen of his dark lashes giving him a heavy-lidded, sexy look that sent every thought in her head scattering like startled sparrows.

  ‘I could have you right now, Sabrina, and you damn well know it,’ he said in a low, deep tone, his warm, hint-of-mint breath caressing her lips.

  Sabrina’s gaze was mesmerised by his mouth. Those firm lips were tilted in a smile that promised mind-zapping passion, and her lips tingled in response, aching for the pressure of his. All she had to do was stand up on tiptoe to close the gap between their bodies, like she had that first time. His fire would melt her ice with one brush of that commandeering mouth of his on hers.

  Just in time she felt the undertow of commonsense tugging at her, pulling her back from temptation. Oh, she wanted him all right, but that would be feeding right into his cynical opinion of her as a good-time girl after a fast buck and an even faster tumble in his bed.

  With the sort of strength she had no idea she possessed, she pulled out of his hold. ‘I don’t think so,’ she said, mentally berating herself for not sounding as determined as she had planned. The trouble was she didn’t know if it was possible to resist him. She was fighting herself more than him, and wondered if he knew it. Desires and needs she had never felt before shuddered through her almost constantly in his presence. Her body felt hijacked, hijacked by a need to be possessed by his hot, hard heat. The heat she could still feel on her skin even though she had put some distance between their bodies.

  He waited a beat before asking, ‘If it is not more money that you want, what exactly is it?’

  Sabrina turned away. ‘I realise you are used to having whatever you want, but I am not for sale.’

  ‘Every woman is for sale,’ he countered cynically.

  ‘Not this woman,’ she said, turning to face him again, her chin up.

  The smile playing about his mouth was sardonic. ‘We will see.’

  ‘I mean it, Mario,’ she insisted.

  He rocked back on his heels, his eyes still holding hers. ‘Do you ever think about that kiss?’ he asked.

  She schooled her features into indifference, although her mouth was tingling at the mere mention of that mind-blowing moment when she had tasted his mouth. ‘What kiss?’

  His smile deepened the grooves either side of his mouth, making him look even more devastatingly attractive. ‘You know what kiss.’

  ‘Oh, that.’ She waved her hand dismissively. ‘I forgot all about it. I was drunk. I can barely remember what I did that day.’

  His dark eyes glinted. ‘Liar. You remember every last detail, don’t you? And you were not drunk—a little tipsy, perhaps, but definitely not drunk.’

  She pulled back her shoulders. ‘I was not in control of my behaviour that day, and for that I am deeply ashamed,’ she said. ‘I promise you, it won’t happen again.’

  ‘You had better be able to control your behaviour in future, Sabrina, for during the time you are in my bed I expect it to be an exclusive arrangement.’

  Sabrina gave him a glowering look. ‘Are you usually so confident in the face of rejection?’

  His glinting gaze teased hers. ‘Always.’

  ‘Then this time you are heading for disappointment,’ she said, wondering if she was tempting fate by sounding so confident when she was anything but. He was so potently attractive; every pore of his strong, male body promised an explosive passion. One kiss had shown her how weak her defences were. Hating him clearly wasn’t a big enough barrier, for she knew if he took it upon himself to capture her mouth right now she would be lost within seconds.

  ‘If you would like to stretch your legs, I can mind Molly for an hour if you tell me what I need to do if she wakes up,’ he offered after a moment.

  Sabrina met his dark eyes. She wished she knew what was going on behind that enigmatic expression of his. Was he sizing her up, calculating how long it would be before she capitulated to his advances? Did he know how seriously te
mpted she was? How could he tell what sort of turmoil her body was going through? Was she giving off some secret signal or something?

  ‘It’s all right,’ she said, shifting her eyes just out of reach of his. ‘Her routine is a little out of sorts just now. She might not wake at all, or she might wake as soon as she hears the door opening and closing.’

  He pulled his loose tie away from his neck, coiling it as he stood before her. ‘When we get to Italy I can engage a part-time nanny for the times you feel you need a break,’ he said. ‘There will be the occasional function we will be expected to attend as husband and wife, so we will need the services of a nanny in any case.’

  Husband and wife.

  Oh, how casually he said those words, Sabrina thought with a savage twist of her insides. They meant nothing to him; they were just words. They did not signify for him the relationship as it was meant to be, the relationship she had longed for all her life—one of closeness, security and friendship. Her mother had been denied it and now Sabrina was suffering the same fate. Life was cruel.

  ‘I would also like Molly to learn my language,’ he added. ‘It is important she hears you speak it as well as me.’

  ‘But I am not qualified to teach her,’ Sabrina said, frowning at him in agitation. ‘I can only speak a few words of Italian. I can barely say please and thank you. I’m afraid I don’t have much of a talent for languages.’

  ‘I will organise some tuition for you,’ he said. ‘It is imperative that young children hear both languages from an early age in order to become bilingual.’

  Sabrina shrugged her acquiescence, even though she knew he would be wasting both his money and the tutor’s time. ‘As you wish, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.’

  ‘I would also like you to update your wardrobe,’ he continued. ‘I will make sure you are well funded to do so.’

  Pride stiffened Sabrina’s spine. ‘There is nothing wrong with my wardrobe as it is,’ she said. ‘I like my clothes.’