The man she loves to hate
Elena Ricci never expected her two-day getaway to end in blackmail, forced marriage and the need for a successor. But that’s what happens when Gabriele Mantegna kidnaps her!
With Gabriele holding documents that threaten her family’s reputation, there’s nothing fiery Elena won’t do to stop their release. Including marrying the man who would betray her.
But as Elena’s body ignites with Gabriele’s every touch, what will happen when the chemistry that blazes as brightly as their hatred leads to a legacy that will last a lifetime?
“They’re forgeries.”
“You know perfectly well they’re not. You’re up to your pretty neck in all this.”
“I’m not up to my neck in anything.” Elena wanted to scream.
“You are. But there is a way for you to save yourself. And your father. And that is what I mean about you posing a dilemma for me.”
“Go on.”
“The lack of evidence to support mine and my father’s innocence is a setback for me.”
“That’s because it doesn’t exist.”
“If I’m such a master forger don’t you think I would fake it?” Gabriele demanded. “Your father is a meticulous record keeper. It’s out there somewhere and I will find it...or I could be persuaded to forget the whole thing. With the right incentive I could also be persuaded to destroy the evidence I copied last night rather than pass it on.”
“What incentive are you talking about?” she asked, the anger leaching out to be replaced with wariness.
A smile curved his handsome face. “That, you will find, is the crucial question. To secure a healthy future for your father and the rest of your family, you will have to do one very simple thing—you’ll have to marry me.”
Wedlocked!
Conveniently wedded, passionately bedded!
Whether there’s a debt to be paid, a will to be obeyed or a business to be saved...she’s got no choice but to say, “I do!”
But these billionaire bridegrooms have got another think coming if they think the marriage will be that easy...
Soon their convenient brides become the object of an inconvenient desire!
Find out what happens after the vows in:
The Billionaire’s Defiant Acquisition
by Sharon Kendrick
One Night to Wedding Vows
by Kim Lawrence
Expecting a Royal Scandal
by Caitlin Crews
Look out for more Wedlocked! stories coming soon!
MICHELLE SMART
Wedded, Bedded, Betrayed
Michelle Smart’s love affair with books started when she was a baby, when she would cuddle them in her cot. A voracious reader of all genres, she found her love of romance established when she stumbled across her first Harlequin book at the age of twelve. She’s been reading (and writing) them ever since. Michelle lives in Northamptonshire, with her husband and two young Smarties.
Books by Michelle Smart
Harlequin Presents
The Russian’s Ultimatum
The Rings That Bind
The Perfect Cazorla Wife
The Kalliakis Crown
Talos Claims His Virgin
Theseus Discovers His Heir
Helios Crowns His Mistress
Society Weddings
The Greek’s Pregnant Bride
The Irresistible Sicilians
What a Sicilian Husband Wants
The Sicilian’s Unexpected Duty
Taming the Notorious Sicilian
Visit the Author Profile page at Harlequin.com for more titles.
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This book is for Renata—thanks for feeding my coffee addiction! xxx
Contents
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
EPILOGUE
EXCERPT FROM EXPECTING A ROYAL SCANDAL BY CAITLIN CREWS
CHAPTER ONE
THE SCREAM PIERCED through the silence of the Nutmeg Island chapel.
Gabriele Mantegna, having just climbed up the stairs from the basement, came to an abrupt halt.
Where the hell had that come from?
He switched off his torch, plunging the chapel into complete darkness, and listened hard.
Had that been a woman’s scream? Surely not? Tonight, only the armed security crew inhabited the island.
Closing the basement door carefully, he walked to the one small window of the chapel not made of stained glass. It was too dark to see anything but after a moment a faint light appeared in the distance. It came from the Ricci house where at that moment an armed gang were helping themselves to all the priceless works of art and antiquities.
The island’s security crew were blind to the gang, their monitors remotely tampered with and feeding them falsehoods.
Gabriele checked his watch and grimaced. He’d been on the island ten minutes longer than planned. Every extra minute increased his chances of getting caught. To reach the beach on the south side of the island, from where he would swim to safety, was a further ten-minute walk.
But he hadn’t imagined the scream. He couldn’t in good conscience make his escape without checking it out.
Swearing under his breath, Gabriele pushed open the heavy chapel door and stepped out into the warm Caribbean air. The next time Ignazio Ricci decided on a spot of peace and contemplation, he would find the code for the chapel alarm scrambled.
For a building designed for peaceable contemplation and worship, the Ricci chapel had been desecrated by Ignazio’s real purpose.
It had all been there, directly beneath the chapel altar, in a basement stuffed with files dating back decades. A secret trail of blood money, the underbelly of the Ricci empire, hidden from the outside world. In the short time Gabriele had been in the basement he’d uncovered enough evidence of illegal dealings to have Ignazio spend the rest of his life in prison. He, Gabriele Mantegna, would personally hand the copied incriminating documents to the FBI. He would be there every day of the trial, seating himself so that Ignazio, the man who’d killed his father, would not be able to avoid seeing him.
When the judge’s sentence was pronounced Ignazio would know that it was he who had sent him down.
But everything wasn’t sunshine yet. The most important evidence for Gabriele, the documents that would have cleared his own name and exonerated his father once and for all, had not been found.
The evidence existed. He would find it if it took him the rest of his life.
Putting the missing evidence from his mind, Gabriele set out into the thick canopy of trees and, crouching low, made his way to the Ricci house, a huge villa set over three levels.
Lights shone from a downstairs window. Any subterfuge by the gang had been abandoned.
Something had gone wrong.
The men in the house were led by a criminal mastermind who went by the moniker of Carter. Carter’s specialisation w
as in purloining high-end goods for order. Ming vases. Picassos. Caravaggios. Blue Diamonds. There wasn’t a security system in the world, so the legend went, that Carter couldn’t crack. He also had a knack of knowing where the shadier elements of high society kept their even shadier valuables, the type of valuables the owner most certainly would not report to the authorities. Carter took those items for himself.
The front door had been left ajar.
As he approached it, voices could be heard, muffled but undeniably angry.
Knowing he was taking a huge risk but unable to rid himself of the sound of the scream ringing in his ears, Gabriele pressed himself against the outside wall of the window nearest the front door, took a breath, and turned to look inside.
The main reception room was empty.
He pushed the door open a few more inches.
The muffled argument continued.
He crossed the threshold. The instant his neoprene dive slipper trod onto the hard lacquered wood flooring, a squeak rang out.
Swearing under his breath, Gabriele tried another step, placing his whole foot down in one tread. This time there was no squeak.
He took stock of his surroundings. The reception room had three doors. Only one, directly opposite him, was open.
He crossed cautiously, wishing there were at least a life-size statue to hide behind if needed. Reaching the door, he peered through it, taking in the wide cantilevered stairs to his right and craning his ears to the left in an attempt to determine what the men were arguing about. If it was a simple heist-gone-wrong scenario he would return to his plan and get the hell off this island.
But that scream...
It had definitely sounded feminine.
The arguing voices were all male. He still couldn’t decipher what they were arguing about. He needed to get closer.
Before he could take another step, heavy footsteps treaded down the stairs. A huge figure dressed entirely in black strode past the door Gabriele was hiding behind and joined the others. He must have opened the door widely because now everything they said echoed off the great walls.
‘The little cow bit me,’ he said in an English accent, sounding incredulous.
‘You didn’t hurt her?’ said another voice, this one American.
‘Not as much as I’m going to when we get her out of here.’
‘She’s not going anywhere. We’re leaving her here,’ said the other voice sharply.
‘She’s seen my face.’
Much swearing ensued before the first man cut through the noise. ‘I would still take her even if she couldn’t identify me—whoever she is, she’s got to be worth something and I want a slice of it.’
All the men started speaking at once, making it impossible to distinguish their words but the gist of it was clear enough. Upstairs was a woman, probably bound, and these men were arguing over what to do with her.
Suddenly the original man came storming back out, yelling over his shoulder, ‘You pansies can debate it all you want. That bitch is mine and she’s coming with us.’
The door was slammed shut behind him and the man hurried back up the stairs, taking a right turn at the top.
This was Gabriele’s chance.
Not pausing to consider his options, he strode to the stairs then climbed them three at a time.
Half a dozen doors lined the hallway he found himself in but only one of them was open.
He peered cautiously inside.
The man stood in the middle of a pale blue bedroom, his back to him. Before him, her hands tied at the wrists to a headboard, her mouth gagged, her knees raised tightly to her chest, was a woman with terror-filled eyes.
Not giving the man time to respond, Gabriele stepped behind him and struck him in the neck, aiming for the spot that would bring instant unconsciousness. He aimed correctly. The man collapsed immediately, Gabriele only just catching him at the waist before he could fall in a thump to the floor and alert the men waiting below.
Laying him down carefully, he checked his pulse.
Satisfied he hadn’t killed him, he unzipped the waterproof pouch and pulled out his penknife.
The woman’s eyes widened further and she pulled her legs even closer to her chest, whimpers coming from behind the gag.
He crouched beside her.
‘I’m not going to hurt you,’ he said quietly, speaking in English. ‘Do you understand what I’m saying?’
She whimpered some more but managed to nod.
There was something familiar about her...
‘I need you to trust me. I am not with those men,’ he said. ‘If they hear you scream they will come up here and probably kill us both. I’m going to untie you and remove your gag and we’re going to escape but I need your word you won’t scream. Do I have your word?’
Another nod. The whimpering had stopped, the terror in her clear green eyes lessening a fraction. Now her eyes searched his, the familiarity he felt clearly reciprocated.
‘We’re going to escape,’ he repeated. He sat on the side of the bed and lifted her head, enabling him to untie the cloth that had been wrapped around her mouth. As soon as it was freed, he placed a finger to her lips. ‘We don’t have much time,’ he warned. ‘We’re going to have to escape through a window unless you know a way out that doesn’t involve going downstairs?’
She jerked her head to an interconnecting door behind her. ‘The dressing room is above a roof. We can slip out through the window in there.’ Her husky voice was croaky. He guessed the scream she’d given had damaged her vocal cords. He could only hope she hadn’t suffered damage of any other kind.
He admired the fact that through the abject terror she’d just experienced, she’d still had the foresight to plan an escape route in her head.
He thought of Paul, the captain of his yacht, who would soon be on the lookout for his return.
‘Give me one moment,’ he said, pulling his phone out of his pouch and pressing the emergency button that would connect him.
‘Paul, I need the jet ski to be brought to the north harbour immediately.’ It was one of the many contingency plans they had spent two days running through. Gabriele attempting one of these contingency plans with a woman in tow hadn’t been in any of the blueprints.
His call done with, he sliced his penknife through the ropes binding the woman and quickly pulled the lengths away from her. Dark red welts encircled her wrists where the man had cruelly tied the rope so it bit into her tender flesh.
A groan came from the floor.
Gabriele ignored the urge to throw himself on the prostrate man and kick him in the ribs. Avenging this woman might give fleeting satisfaction but they could not afford to waste a single moment.
‘Can you walk?’ he asked, wrapping an arm around her waist and helping her sit up.
The woman was tiny. With white-blonde hair tied in a messy ponytail and those large green eyes, she reminded him of a porcelain doll. Breakable.
She nodded, but allowed him to help her to her feet. He wrinkled his nose. She smelt like a...bonfire? Studying her in more depth, he revised his porcelain doll opinion and altered it to grubby urchin.
Suddenly it came to him why she looked so familiar.
He recalled a small, doll-like girl from his youth, who had dressed like a boy and been able to climb a tree faster than anyone and then shimmy back down it as if a twenty-foot drop was nothing to worry about.
This was Ignazio’s only daughter, Elena.
He was putting his life at risk for his enemy’s daughter?
This woman was his enemy every bit as much as her father was. When Gabriele brought Ignazio’s downfall he had every intention of bringing his entire family down with him.
The man on the floor’s groans were becoming louder. Elena was eying him with a look t
hat suggested she very much wanted to kick him in the ribs too.
‘We need to leave now.’ Gabriele grabbed her hand, having the presence of mind to avoid her wrists, and tugged her away and through to the dressing room she’d spoken of.
Whatever his personal feelings towards her and her family, and his plan to destroy them all, his destruction did not include allowing a vulnerable woman to be at the mercy of four armed men, one of whom he’d heard with his own ears wanted to hurt her.
He might hate Elena’s family but he still wouldn’t abandon her to such a fate.
He pulled the sash window up and looked out. As she’d said, a sloping roof ran under it.
Gabriele heaved himself out, dropping a couple of feet onto the roof.
‘Come,’ he said, righting himself when he was certain the roof was stable enough to hold his weight without crumbling beneath him.
Elena was already hoisting herself over the ledge. He put his hands to her tiny waist and helped her out, holding her tightly until he was sure she was secure on the roof. Apart from her bare feet, she was dressed in the perfect attire for escape, in long black shorts and a baggy khaki T-shirt.
Without exchanging a word, they both shimmied down to the edge of the roof.
‘Rescue is coming from the north beach,’ he said as he tried to get his bearings as to where they were, exactly, in conjunction with said beach. ‘We need to run to the right.’
She nodded, grim determination on her face, and then expertly swung over the edge so she was holding onto the rim of the roof with her fingers.
Being much larger, it took Gabriele a little longer to drop down. Before he could let go, she’d released her hold and fallen onto the wraparound veranda. Immediately she was back on her feet and jumping over the wooden rail and running to safety...except she was running to the left of the beach and not the right as they’d agreed.
He let go. He landed heavily but ignored the pain that shot up his leg and set off after her, calling as loudly as he dared, ‘You’re going the wrong way.’
She didn’t look back. The band holding her hair back had come out, her long, straight white-blonde hair billowing behind her.
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