Wife By Contract, Mistress By Demand

‘Miss Benito and Mr Gresham have a week in which to come to their decision,’ David Brewster put in firmly before either Rufus or Gabriella could make a reply.

‘Oh, I think I can wait a week.’ Toby nodded, totally unperturbed by the animosity surrounding him as he grinned happily.

‘There is one other stipulation in Mr Gresham’s will that I think you should both be made aware of before coming to that decision.’ The lawyer had obviously decided to ignore Toby’s comments.

‘Let’s hear it,’ Rufus muttered wearily.

‘The two Gresham’s stores will, as already stated, at the end of the stipulated six months of marriage become the sole property of my son Rufus James Gresham, but the restaurant within the Gresham’s store in London is to be refurbished, renamed Gabriella’s, and opened to the public as such and leased in perpetuity to Gabriella Maria Lucia Benito, then to be named Gabriella Gresham.’

Rufus drew in a sharp breath. ‘In other words, my father isn’t just expecting me to marry and live with Gabriella for six months, he’s expecting me to work with her, too? Indefinitely!’ He spoke with icy control, determined not to give way a second time to the impotent fury he felt, although he could feel a nerve pulsing in his tightly clenched jaw.

‘That is so, yes,’ David Brewster confirmed ruefully.

‘Could I just point out that he’s expecting me to live and work with you, too?’ an obviously agitated Gabriella put in forcefully.

She hadn’t expected that clause in his father’s will, either, Rufus acknowledged cynically. She had probably expected to just be able to walk away with her share.

He certainly hadn’t missed her involuntary reaction to the mention of ‘monies owing’ in his father’s will. Surely his father hadn’t been stupid enough to lend Gabriella money? Money that he must have known would never be repaid?

Rufus looked across at her with cold green eyes, totally unmoved by the pallor in her cheeks. ‘I already run Gresham’s, already own my own home, already have my own fortune—which one of us stands to gain more here, do you think?’

‘You see?’ Toby put in again mildly. ‘Not a hope in hell of the two of you living together for six months without killing each other! Although,’ he added consideringly, ‘as that would probably mean that I still inherit—’

‘I really don’t think those sorts of comments are of any help to this situation whatsoever, Mr Reed,’ the lawyer rebuked, obviously having reached the end of his patience. ‘I suggest that we meet back here one week from today, at the same time, Miss Benito and Mr Gresham,’ the lawyer continued crisply. ‘Then the two of you can give me your answer. Your presence will not be needed at that time, Mr Reed,’ he added disapprovingly.

They could form a club, Rufus mused hardly.

‘There’s nothing else in my father’s will, no more hidden conditions or clauses,’ he prompted hardly, ‘that we should be made aware of, is there, before reaching that decision?’

David Brewster met his gaze steadily, seeming to hesitate briefly before answering him. ‘No, I can assure you there is nothing further in Mr Gresham’s will that concerns any of you,’ he said evenly.

‘How about the three of us go out to lunch together to talk about this?’ Toby suggested brightly as he stood up to leave.

Gabriella knew that any food she tried to eat right now would probably choke her. And just the thought of having lunch with Toby, a man she totally loathed after he had tried to force her into making love with him, made her feel nauseous.

‘I think not,’ Rufus was the one to answer sharply, surprising Gabriella by taking a steely hold of her arm. ‘Gabriella and I obviously have a few things we need to talk about, but, as David has already pointed out, your part in these proceedings is over, Toby,’ he added pointedly.

Gabriella looked up at him frowningly. She didn’t want to go anywhere with Rufus, either. As for his fingers tightly clasped about her arm…!

Her chin was once again raised determinedly as she tried to break that steely grip. And failed.

Something that made Toby give another unconcerned grin. ‘Just let me know when the two of you decide not to get married.’

Married.

The word echoed inside Gabriella’s head.

To Rufus.

Just putting the words together—’married’ and ‘to Rufus’—was enough to send a shiver of alarm down her spine.

But she hadn’t always thought so; she would once have been overjoyed at the thought of being Rufus’s wife.

Before she’d learnt to hate him.

Before she’d known how much he hated her.

Toby was right; she and Rufus didn’t stand a chance of succeeding in living together as husband and wife for six months!

Chapter 2

Rufus was aware of Gabriella’s efforts to shake off his hold on her arm as they left David Brewster’s office. A move he had no intention of letting her succeed in making. The two of them needed to talk. Today. Now.

‘Goodbye, Toby,’ he told the younger man pointedly once they were all outside on the street.

‘Don’t call us we’ll call you?’ his cousin came back tauntingly.

Rufus’s mouth tightened. He and Toby had never been particularly close, and he knew that James had only tolerated him because he was the son of his only sister. A tolerance that for some reason had come to an abrupt end three months ago.

‘Don’t hold your breath,’ he advised dryly.

Toby gave a derisive laugh. ‘Oh, I’ll hear from you,’ he said with certainty. ‘Or Brewster. It really doesn’t matter which.’ He shrugged. ‘The result will be the same.’ He grinned confidently.

‘Has it ever occurred to you, Toby, that Rufus and I may just both dislike you more than we dislike each other?’ Gabriella felt stung into replying.

Toby gave her a considering look from insolent blue eyes. ‘No,’ he finally answered with a mocking smile.

A smile Gabriella would dearly love to slap off his good-looking face!

Her loathing for this man welled uncontrollably. ‘Then if I were you, I would start thinking about it,’ she advised hardly.

He gave an unconcerned shrug. ‘Even if the two of you decide to try this bogus marriage idea, it will never last.’

‘We only have to live together for six months,’ Gabriella reminded him challengingly.

Toby gave a confident shake of his head. ‘I don’t think the two of you could spend six hours living in the same house together, let alone six months!’

The fact that he was right only made her angrier. ‘You might be surprised!’ she snapped, eyes glittering.

‘Somehow I doubt it,’ Toby dismissed in a bored voice. ‘Goodbye, then, Rufus. Ciao, Gabriella,’ he added tauntingly before turning to saunter off down the street.

‘I was always under the impression that you and Toby liked each other,’ Rufus prompted, his gaze narrowed speculatively.

Gabriella looked up at him. ‘Impressions can sometimes be deceptive,’ she told him huskily, dark lashes sweeping low over creamy cheeks as she hid her thoughts from him.

Not where this woman was concerned, Rufus told himself firmly. She was her mother’s daughter, and he had better not ever forget that fact.

His mouth twisted mockingly. ‘So is it true that you dislike Toby even more than you dislike me?’

‘Oh, yes,’ she assured him vehemently.

That had never been Rufus’s impression before today, he thought. Gabriella and Toby always seemed to have gravitated to each other in the past whenever there had been any sort of family function. So what had happened to change that?

And did it have anything to do with the fact that his father had also banned Toby from the house three months ago? he wondered shrewdly.

‘We need to talk,’ he told Gabriella grimly. ‘My car is parked—’

‘I’m not going anywhere with you,’ she instantly protested, taking a step back, forcing Rufus into releasing her this time.

He frowned darkly. ‘You know, Gabriella, if we carry on like this then Toby is right—we might just as well hand everything over to him right now!’

Gabriella’s eyes widened. He couldn’t seriously be thinking about going through with this, could he? With marrying her?

Only with a gun held at his head, she conceded ruefully.

Which was pretty much what James was doing!

‘Did I say something amusing, Gabriella?’ Rufus snapped as he obviously saw her rueful smile.

No, she acknowledged heavily, her moment of humour over; if anything the joke was on her!

‘Not particularly, no,’ she sighed. ‘But I can’t see how the two of us going somewhere to talk is going to make any difference to the fact that we don’t want to marry each other.’

‘Surely that depends on how we decide to talk?’ Rufus came back challengingly.

Gabriella gave him a narrow-eyed glance. The last five years had made Rufus harder and more cynical, the lines of that cynisism etched beside his eyes and mouth, the dark blond hair shorter and the muscled length of his body leaner, but Rufus was still the most breathtakingly handsome man she had ever met.

Nerve-tinglingly so if the way she could still feel his hand on her arm was anything to go by.