The Wedding Charade Read Online Free Page A

high-heeled foot up and down in a bored schoolgirl manner. ‘Go on then, tell me what they are and I’ll tell you whether I’ll agree to them or not.’
    Nic whipped out a tie from the wardrobe. ‘You will agree to it or I won’t marry you. You’re the one who needs the money more than me, don’t forget.’
    She set her mouth in a mulish line, her eyes hardening as she held his. ‘So what are your stupid little rules, then?’
    ‘I insist that at all times and in all places you will behave with the decorum your position as a Sabbatini wife requires of you,’ he said. ‘You have met both of my sisters-in-law,
s
ì
?’
    ‘Yes, they are very nice,’ she said. ‘I met Bronte briefly at your grandfather’s funeral. I met Maya, Giorgio’s wife, in London. She had taken the time to call on me to show me the baby since I was unable to attend the christening. Matteo is adorable.’
    ‘Yes, he is,’ Nic said. ‘So why didn’t you come to the christening? ‘
    Her eyes stayed determinedly away from his, her tone dismissive. ‘I had another engagement.’
    ‘And what about Luca and Bronte’s son Marco’s christening?’ he asked. ‘It was only a month later. Did you have another engagement that day too?’
    This time she looked at him directly. ‘I always keepmyself busy. My social calendar is booked for months ahead.’
    Nic felt his top lip curl. He could imagine her shoe-horning in party after party, nightclub after nightclub, and shallow date after shallow date. ‘It was good of you to come to my grandfather’s funeral,’ he said with no intention of it being a compliment. She had obviously known she was going to be included in the will, for why else would she have made the effort? He knew her well enough to know she didn’t do anything for anyone unless she got something out of it for herself. ‘You also came to see him before he died, didn’t you?’
    She nodded. ‘It was the least I could do. He had always been so good to me. I was just his godchild. No one takes that role all that seriously these days, but he always looked out for me.’
    ‘Apart from the will, of course,’ Nic pointed out.
    ‘Yes, well, he must have had his reasons.’
    ‘Why do you think he did it?’ Nic asked. ‘To us, I mean. It’s not as if we’ve been the best of friends over the years.’
    She gave a little shrug of her slim shoulders. ‘Who knows? Maybe he thought it would be a way of bringing the two dynasties together: the Sommervilles and the Sabbatinis. It has quite a ring to it. My father no longer has a male heir so this is the next best thing. I expect they cooked it up together.’
    Nic studied her for a moment. ‘You were supposed to be with your brother on that skiing holiday, weren’t you?’
    Her eyes shifted away from his. ‘I missed the flight.’ She gave a little shrug, as if it was just one of those things. ‘I overslept after a night out.’
    ‘Have you ever thought of how you could have both died if you had gone on that trip?’ Nic asked. ‘You would have been on the slopes with him when the avalanche hit.’
    She gave him a glittering glare. ‘Do you mind if we get back to your stupid little rules?’
    ‘You don’t like talking about Jonathan, do you?’
    ‘You lost your baby sister,’ she said. ‘Do
you
like discussing it?’
    ‘I don’t even remember it,’ he said. ‘I was only eighteen months old. But Jonathan was twenty, almost twenty-one, and you were just weeks off turning eighteen. It must be very clear in your memory.’
    ‘It is and it’s off-limits,’ she said, looking him in the eye. ‘You might think you have certain privileges as my husband-to-be but that is not one of them.’
    Nic pulled his tie up to his neck and straightened it, his eyes still following every nuance on her beautiful, now ice-maiden face. She could change so quickly it was amazing. ‘The second rule is I will not tolerate you playing around,’ he said. ‘I am prepared to give and take a