That was some consolation.
Not a great one, but it would give her something else to concentrate on other than being married to Rufus.
As if she really would be able to think of anything else…!
Chapter 3
There were four people present at their wedding ten days later; Rufus and Gabriella obviously, plus David Brewster and his politely smiling secretary as their two witnesses.
The ceremony was over so quickly Gabriella was sure she couldn’t really be married to Rufus at all, feeling more than a little dazed as Rufus complied with the invitation to kiss the bride.
She hadn’t been this close to Rufus since that day five years ago, and to her despair she was lost from the moment his mouth claimed hers. It wasn’t a light brush of the lips as she’d expected; instead Rufus took her fully into his arms to explore her mouth with a thoroughness that took her breath away.
His eyes glittered defiantly as he at last raised his head, and the fact that he looked totally unmoved by the intimacy, while Gabriella felt as if every nerve in her body had come tinglingly alive, was enough for her to meet his challenge with an icy stare.
‘Yes. Well.’ A slightly flustered David Brewster spoke awkwardly beside them. ‘Perhaps it’s time we were going…?’
Perhaps it was, Rufus allowed, his heart thumping in his chest, another part of his body knowing the same surging beat.
Damn it, he had kissed Gabriella just to see what would happen. An experiment, to see if her ebony-haired beauty, and the sensual pout of her mouth, could still stir him.
The answer was a resounding yes.
His own mouth tightened and his eyes narrowed briefly on hers, before he turned to face the elderly lawyer. ‘I want to thank you and Celia for coming with us today.’ He bestowed a warm smile on the middle-aged secretary. ‘For obvious reasons, it wouldn’t have been fair to involve any of our friends.’
Speak for yourself, Gabriella brooded; she, for one, could have done with a friend at her side today.
‘Perhaps I could take the two of you out for a celebration lunch…?’ David Brewster suggested as they moved out into the reception area of the register office where Gabriella and Rufus had just been married.
‘I—’
‘That won’t be possible, I’m afraid,’ Rufus refused for both of them. ‘I have to get back to work, and I’m sure Gabriella is going to be busy moving the rest of her things into Gresham House.’
She knew the crack about moving the rest of her things into Gresham House was a direct attack on the fact that, seeing no reason to keep paying the rent on her apartment when she wouldn’t be returning there at the end of the six months, she had given notice and moved some of her things to Gresham House and put the rest into storage until she needed them again.
‘Another time, perhaps,’ David Brewster accepted lightly.
Rufus gave a mocking smile. ‘Oh, I don’t think that Gabriella and I will be getting married again any time soon!’ he taunted.
‘To each other or anyone else!’ she came back impatiently.
Although she had no idea why she should feel that way. This was a short-term marriage of convenience, so why should it bother her that Rufus was dealing with their wedding as just another piece of business completed?
‘Exactly,’ he drawled. ‘Now—’ He broke off as they stepped outside to find a barrage of cameras clicking and flashing in their faces and at the same time a babble of questions being fired at them. ‘What the—?’ He scowled darkly at the photographers and reporters as he said a hasty farewell to David Brewster and his secretary and took a firm grasp of Gabriella’s arm to pull her with him towards where his car was parked, totally ignoring the questions as he did so.
But it was impossible not to hear them…!
‘How long have you and Miss Benito been involved?’
‘Where are you going on honeymoon?’
‘Did your father know the two of you were getting married before he died?’
‘Miss Benito, did you—?’
‘Her name is now Mrs Gresham,’ Rufus snapped coldly, having already bundled Gabriella into the passenger seat. Getting in behind the wheel, he started the engine, absolutely furious, his expression grim as he tried to manoeuvre his car through the throng of press still surrounding the car.
‘Don’t look at me!’ Gabriella protested as Rufus turned to give her a frustrated glare. ‘As if I would tell anyone we were getting married!’
But she doubted that Rufus had, either. David Brewster’s discretion could also be relied on, she was sure, as could his secretary’s, so who—?
‘Toby!’ Rufus verbally came to the same conclusion as her mental puzzling had taken her.
Yes, Gabriella realized, it had to be Toby, knowing alerting the press to their wedding would be his idea of fun!
‘How did he know we were getting married today?’ Rufus grated as they at last escaped the reporters and he was able to get out into the flow of traffic.
‘Well, I can assure you that I didn’t tell him,’ Gabriella told him determinedly, still a little surprised—and disturbed—by the fact that Rufus had kissed her after the wedding service.
‘So much for keeping this quiet,’ Rufus muttered grimly. ‘I can just see the headlines in tomorrow’s newspapers; “GRESHAM HEIRS MARRY”! Followed by, “The bride wore cream”—’
‘Buttermilk,’ Gabriella corrected dryly.
‘I’m a man, okay,’ Rufus turned to snap impatiently. ‘It just looks cream to me!’
Buttermilk, the woman in the shop had described it as being when Gabriella had bought the dress earlier in the week, having decided that although this wasn’t a proper marriage, she should at least make an effort to wear something new for the service.
Rufus, wearing a dark grey suit, white shirt, and grey tie, just looked as if he had come straight from the office.
Which, indeed, it turned out he had!
Making Gabriella feel glad she hadn’t gone to the bother of getting flowers, too.
‘Just drop me off at a train station,’ she told him woodenly. ‘I can get a train back to Gresham House.’ The reality of what they had just done was beginning to sink in, and a quiet train ride away from Rufus would give her a bit of space to think.
She hadn’t realized she would feel like this about the wedding. She’d just imagined it as being a formality she had to get out of the way before gritting her teeth and getting through the next six months.
Of course, Rufus had been married before, so this wedding probably brought back a lot of unhappy memories for him, as well as new ones.
It had all seemed so logical when Rufus had made the arrangements. So cool. So calculated. Something to be got through.
A little like a trip to the dentist!
Now all Gabriella could think of was that this wasn’t the wedding her mother had always dreamt of for her. And those thoughts of her mother, who would never be here to witness Gabriella’s real wedding, when or if it happened, only made her want to cry.
Rufus gave Gabriella a sideways glance. Were they tears he could see glistening in the smoky violet depths of her eyes?
No, he decided harshly after a second look, it was more likely a glitter of triumph than tears. Not only was she going to inherit half the Gresham millions, but Rufus had been forced into the inconvenience of marrying her at the same time!
Suitable vengeance indeed for what he had done to her five years ago.
He turned his attention back to the road, his hands tightly gripping the steering wheel. ‘I thought we might go and have a celebration drink before you leave.’ The even tenor of his voice betrayed none of his inner anger with the unpalatable situation.
Not that he hadn’t tried to get out of it, having paid a visit to his own lawyer, who had gone into consultation with David Brewster as to whether or not the will could be broken, only to be told that it couldn’t, and that David Brewster had done his job very well indeed.
But just because he had been forced into taking Gabriella for his wife didn’t mean that she could have things all her own way.
And she was his wife…
‘A drink?’ she repeated now. ‘Are you sure you have the time?’ she added sarcastically.
What had she expected, that he would take the day off, that they would drive to the register office together, be showered with confetti and good wishes when they came out, followed by a wedding breakfast at some exclusive hotel for family and friends?
The fewer people who knew about this marriage, the better, as far as he was concerned.
Although the reporters waiting outside the register office just now would probably take care of that.
He would have words with Toby about that at his earliest convenience.
‘I can make the time,’ Rufus confirmed dryly.
Gabriella gave him a searching look. Was he being kind—something she couldn’t believe where she was concerned!—or did he have another motive for wanting to spend more time with her?
He probably just wanted to give her another lecture about staying away from his daughter!
Holly would be seven years old now, and it was over five years since Gabriella had actually spoken to her. She had seen the little girl at a couple of family functions since, so she knew that she now looked exactly like Rufus, with her toffee-coloured hair and pale green eyes, but other than that Gabriella had no real knowledge of the little girl whose mother had walked out of her life when she was only a couple of months old, never to return.