Crown Prince's Bought Bride

‘I don’t,’ she retorted, wondering at the relationship between Remi and Jules.

She met his gaze and something within the intense depths told her it would be wise not to ask. She shivered as he continued to look at her with an intense, almost possessive gaze.

Maddie lowered her eyes, certain she was imagining things. Jules hadn’t owned her. Remi most definitely didn’t want to. He couldn’t have made that clearer with his attitude. Nevertheless, there was something unsettling in his eyes. Something that made her breasts tingle and her belly flip-flop.

A phone rang in the background, dragging them out of the thickening sensual bubble.

Remi took a single step back. ‘Good. I expect you back here at seven. Don’t be late,’ he said, then walked away.

Maddie didn’t take a full breath until she’d shut the door of her flat behind her half an hour later. Free of Remi’s disturbing vortex, the enormity of what she was contemplating overwhelmed her.

On shaky legs she entered the living room, found it empty, and approached her father’s room. The door was ajar. She nudged it wider and was half relieved, half disappointed to find him asleep.

Had he been awake, what would she have said? That she’d negotiated a deal with one brother to act as his girlfriend and was now on the brink of negotiating with another for a higher sum because he believed she was a shameless, blackmailing gold-digger?

Silently, she retreated to her room, knowing that come seven tonight she would have no choice but to accept Remi’s proposition or risk losing her father.

* * *

Maddie curled her fingers around the leather bound document and tried to ignore the two other people in the room. An impossible feat, of course. Everything about what she was doing evoked industrial strength butterflies in her stomach that were impossible to dismiss.

To his credit the butler, tutored in diplomacy to within an inch of his life, remained unobtrusive. Not so much his employer, the Crown Prince of Montegova, who prowled lazily in front of her as she attempted to read the fine print of the agreement.

She wanted to snap at him to be still. To be less distracting. To be less drop-dead gorgeous. Less...everything. But she bit her tongue. She’d agreed to this and there was no going back. Nor was there any point in denying that Remi’s effect on her was shockingly visceral enough to stop her breath every time he crossed her vision.

It would wear off. It had to. No one could carry off that level of saturated charisma and power indefinitely!

She’d ignore him, just as she had all the unwanted attention that had come her way in the café. She snorted under her breath, wondering what Remi would think of being compared to the greasy construction workers and overly familiar salesman who patronised her workplace.

Her ex-workplace.

The inescapable reminder that she was now jobless and temporarily relocated to Remi’s hotel rammed home. Her fingers shook as she recalled her conversation with her father. He’d barely responded to her carefully constructed explanation of why she would be away for two days, his absent nods when she told him that Mrs Jennings would be staying over to keep him company the only indication that he’d heard her.

For an unguarded moment Maddie wis

hed she had a close friend to confide in. Then she wouldn’t feel so dammed alone. But all her so-called friends had deserted her the moment the Myers family had fallen on hard times.

Greg had taken it a step further and kicked her in the most brutal way when she was down. His betrayal had eroded her trust to nothing and ensured she had nothing in reserve to offer anyone else when he’d coaxed her into emptying her bank account and shrugged off the risky investment that had lost her everything under the banner of ‘it happens’.

Her bitter thoughts scattered when Remi approached, impatience stamped on his face. He’d given her fifteen minutes to read the confidentiality agreement, with the offer of an independent lawyer should she need it. That time had passed five minutes ago.

If she played her cards right her father could be on his way to surgery in a matter of days.

‘Are you ready to sign?’ Remi asked.

Her eyes jerked to his face, as seemed to happen automatically whenever he spoke. It was as if his whole body was a powerful magnet, drawing her to him. And once she was drawn, it was impossible to look away.

God, was it normal for one man to be graced with such good looks? Sculpted cheekbones, ruggedly cut jaw and glossy hair notwithstanding, it was that aura of raw masculinity that triggered the wild fluttering in her belly. She watched, enthralled against her will, as one eyebrow slowly lifted, his expression growing mocking at her unashamed perusal.

Face flaming, she dropped her gaze and grimaced inwardly when she saw he was holding out a pen to her.

The moment of truth. ‘Um...’

‘Percy has other duties to attend to. If you’d be so kind as to express yourself better I can ask him to stay or leave.’

She snatched the pen from him, flipped the document to the last page and signed it. Within a minute it had been signed by Remi and witnessed by Percy the butler.

When the door shut behind Percy her gaze swung to the man who effectively, according to their agreement, owned her for the next six weeks.