Ruthless Magnate, Convenient Wife

‘I think that after you’ve considered your position you’ll make it a honeymoon to remember, angil moy,’ Sergei breathed in a tone of strong satisfaction.

Her fingers crept up to touch her tingling swollen mouth. ‘A honeymoon?’ she echoed blankly.

‘On my yacht, where we’ll have perfect privacy. Smile,’ Sergei urged with sudden raw impatience, exasperated by her lack of enthusiasm. ‘Giving you a choice between a prison sentence and my bed is very generous of me, more generous than you deserve.’

And Alissa saw that he did indeed believe that her apparent wrongdoing fully excused him for using the most unscrupulous tactics against her. She also knew better than to call Sergei’s bluff. He wasn’t joking. He wasn’t making empty threats. He would be within his rights if he made an official complaint to the police through his lawyers. She pictured her pregnant sister being arrested and charged, closely followed by herself. As the prime instigator, Alexa might well receive the heavier punishment, but what consolation would that be to either of them? The same cold fear infiltrated Alissa again. She had to persuade her sister to return the money she had received for signing that contract.

‘Why did you want a baby? Just to make Yelena happy?’ she asked Sergei on impulse as she turned to leave the room.

Sergei glanced at her in surprise. ‘That was my main motivation when I first came up with the idea,’ he admitted. ‘But I do genuinely like children and I would like a worthy cause to work for, other than myself.’

Alissa went upstairs and phoned her sister again. When she received no response she called her mother instead and found herself having to talk at length about her wedding and the guest lists for the London party her mother was eagerly planning before she could ask how to get in touch with her twin.

‘That could be a problem,’ Jenny Bartlett replied ruefully. ‘Harry and Alexa are staying in a Turkish villa and she told me not to expect her to ring.’

That night Alissa lay in bed thinking about Sergei, who wanted a family of his own even though he wouldn’t admit it in those terms. A worthy cause to work for, other than myself. In the darkness she blinked back tears and wondered what on earth she was going to do and whether it would be possible for her to go on sharing a bed with Sergei without getting emotionally involved. She was convinced that eventually he would wake up to the awareness she was really nothing that special and his desire for her would die.

For the first time she was remembering that Sergei and his lawyers had chosen Alexa to be his wife, not Alexa’s more ordinary twin sister. Alexa was the sophisticated, witty twin, the one the men always went for in Alissa’s experience. How long would it be before Sergei suspected that he had been short-changed in the most basic way of all with a woman who could not equal his original choice? It was a very long time before Alissa got any sleep…

Chapter Eight

‘SO WHAT’S all the fuss about?’ Alexa demanded sulkily down the phone.

After a wait of almost thirty-six hours for a return call in response to her many messages, Alissa was so relieved to hear her twin’s voice on the line that she felt momentarily dizzy and sank down heavily on the side of the bed while she spoke to her. ‘For goodness’ sake! Sergei has found out what we did.’

‘I should have known you couldn’t keep your mouth shut.’

‘That had nothing to do with it! How could you not tell me that having a baby was part of that contract?’ Alissa snapped back, angry disgust girding every syllable of her response. ‘You must have known I would never agree to anything so outrageous.’

‘You said you’d do anything to help Mum. And obviously you could have taken contraceptive pills to make sure it didn’t happen.’

Alissa felt a surge of disbelief at that suggestion. ‘How could you let me marry Sergei on false pretences? It was a rotten thing to do! It wasn’t fair to me and it wasn’t fair to him either!’

‘Since when did being fair to Sergei become an ambition of yours?’ Alexa demanded. ‘Are you trying to make brownie points at my expense?’

‘You’re just not taking this seriously, are you?’ Alissa censured tightly. ‘Sergei is very angry and he is threatening to have us both prosecuted for fraud. What you did was illegal, Alexa…’

Alexa giggled. ‘He’s never going to go public with a story like this! Can you imagine how embarrassing that would be for him?’

‘I think you should know that Sergei doesn’t embarrass easily,’ Alissa inserted sharply.

‘He’s just trying to scare you when he makes a threat about prosecuting us, Alissa. He doesn’t mea

n it.’

Alissa realised then that the belief that Sergei would never risk the story of that contract getting into the newspapers had always been her sister’s insurance policy against retribution. ‘You’re wrong. He’s deadly serious and he wants his money back.’

‘Well, he’s got no hope of that!’

‘Alexa, I now know that you got a huge amount of money for signing that contract. You landed me into this situation and you can get me out of it again. You have to sell that car and return as much of the rest of that money as you can put together to Sergei’s lawyers in London.’

‘Or what?’ Alexa sniped.

‘You cheated him, you cheated me. Don’t you feel any shame about that? Sergei kept his side of the bargain but you didn’t and I can’t. Keeping that money when you didn’t earn it is the same as stealing and I’m shocked that you can’t see that!’ Alissa condemned angrily. ‘Sergei thinks we deliberately set out to defraud him and he blames me for it. What’s got into you, Alexa?’

‘What’s got into you? You’re my sister. Where’s your loyalty?’

‘Loyalty doesn’t come into this. You have to repay the money!’