The Billionaire's Marriage Bargain

by Mortimer, Carole

  But for weeks she had hoped. She had simply refused to believe that Dominick couldn’t return at least some of the love she felt for him, and that once they were apart he would come to realize how much he really did love her. She also hoped he would acknowledge that his accusations concerning her sexual involvement with Jerome Carlton were completely untrue.

  It was because she had longed for a reconciliation, that she had decided there was no reason to tell her family of the estrangement yet.

  It hadn’t been all that difficult to keep it from them either. She had been away in America for almost a month after she and Dominick had parted, and redirecting her mail, using her mobile whenever she called them, had been an easy way of concealing her change of address. None of her family had questioned why Dominick wasn’t with her when she’d visited, her family knowing how busy he was and how much he travelled on business. Her explanation that he was in Australia when her father had become ill had been easily accepted by all of them.

  But she had waited in vain for Dominick to realize he cared for her after all, even the serving of the divorce papers eliciting no response from him, at which point she had had no choice but to accept that he really had never loved her, and that their marriage really was over.

  Which was when she had known she had no choice but to tell her family the truth.

  But before she had been able to do so her father had had his heart attack, and for the last month she had forgotten everything but willing him to get better.

  Which he had. And the doctors were hopeful that, with time, and no undue stress, he would make a full recovery.

  In the meantime, her sister’s wedding was on Saturday, and her family still had no idea that she and Dominick were no longer together.

  No undue stress, the doctors had said her father needed.

  It was definitely not the time for him to learn that the marriage of his eldest daughter was going to end in divorce!

  Which was why she had no choice but to ask Dominick if, for one day only, he would agree to pose as her husband.

  The real question was, would he agree to do it…?

  Chapter 3

  ‘Why didn’t you tell them, Kenzie?’ Dominick demanded. He hadn’t exactly gone around shouting about the failure of their marriage either, but he would have thought Kenzie would have at least told her own family…

  She glared at him, tears still in her eyes, precariously balanced on those long, dark lashes. ‘And admit what an idiot I had been ever to have thought—Tell them that our marriage had lasted only nine months?’ she amended with a self-derisive shake of her head. ‘I was going to tell them—I had every intention of telling them—but everyone was so wrapped up in the plans for Kathy’s wedding! And then Carly announced that she’s expecting a baby, closely followed by Suzie announcing she was too. And I couldn’t—I just couldn’t—’

  ‘Kenzie—’

  ‘Don’t!’ She glared across the table at him, her face very pale. ‘You made your feelings about “bringing children into this world” perfectly clear five months ago!’

  The question of children had never arisen when they had been just seeing each other, and when they had been newly married—a constant source of amazement to the jaded Dominick!—he had given little thought to the subject, either. So it had come as a complete surprise to him after they had been married for eight months that Kenzie had brought up the idea of them having a baby together.

  Kenzie had seemed to draw away from him after his refusal to even contemplate the thought, and soon she had been no longer the fiery lover and the laughing companion of their first months of marriage. Then she had come to him a month later and told him she had decided to take up Jerome Carlton’s offer to work exclusively for Carlton Cosmetics, and that she was leaving for America the following week.

  At which point Dominick had probably made the biggest mistake of his life, by issuing the ultimatum that if Kenzie left she needn’t bother coming back…!

  Not only had she left, but Jerome Carlton had been standing smugly at her side when she had!

  Carlton Cosmetics, Dominick now knew, was a family run company, Jack Carlton having retired several years ago to leave the running of the business to his eldest son Jerome. There was also a younger brother and sister, Adrian and Caroline, who were significant shareholders.

  Dominick knew this because over the course of the last four months he had made it his business to know!

  ‘I—you do see my problem, Dominick?’ Kenzie looked at him anxiously.

  ‘Oh, I see your problem, all right, Kenzie,’ he admitted coldly. ‘In the circumstances, it wouldn’t do at all to turn up at Kathy’s wedding with your lover in tow, now would it?’

  Kenzie could feel herself trembling now. ‘That was never an option,’ she told him flatly. ‘I do intend telling my family the truth, Dominick, I—just not now.

  So…’ she breathed deeply, her gaze challenging ‘…will you come to the wedding with me on Saturday or not? For my father’s sake, if nothing else,’ she added persuasively.

  ‘That’s emotional blackmail, Kenzie, and you damn well know it!’ he replied harshly.

  Was it? Probably. But it wasn’t for her own personal gain; it was only to help her father.

  Although it was obvious Dominick didn’t see it that way!

  ‘I know it’s a lot to ask, and I really wouldn’t have bothered if I didn’t think it was important. I would be very grateful if you would do this for me, Dominick,’ she added quietly.

  If anything his expression became even colder, his eyes so dark now the black of the iris wasn’t distinguishable from the brown. ‘Tell me if I’m mistaken, Kenzie,’ he murmured, scowling darkly, ‘but it sounds very much to me as if you’re offering yourself up to me as some sort of human sacrifice in order to coerce me into agreeing to be your husband again for a day?’

  ‘Of course I’m not!’ She gasped, staring at him incredulously. ‘I didn’t mean—That wasn’t what I meant at all—Oh, this is hopeless!’ She threw up her hands in frustrated anger. ‘Forget I asked! Forget I even told you any of this! I’ll find some other way of solving the problem!’ she added determinedly.

  Dominick looked at her long, slender hands, the hands that used to touch and caress him…

  Hands that he knew had been touching and caressing another man for the last five months!

  It was obvious now why Kenzie hadn’t seen Jerome Carlton for several weeks—she could hardly drag her lover along to visit her father in hospital when her family weren’t even aware she had a lover!

  ‘What are you going to do, Kenzie, tell them that I’m too tied up on business to attend Kathy’s wedding?’ he scorned.

  She had already tried that. Last weekend when she had gone home to visit, in fact. To which her father had assured her that of course Dominick would be back from his business trip to Australia in time for Kathy’s wedding, that he was probably going to surprise her by arriving back unexpectedly.

  Something she knew there was no chance of Dominick doing. Ever.

  She shook her head impatiently. ‘I’ve already told them you’re away in Sydney on business, but my father is absolutely certain that you will make the effort to be back in time to attend your own sister-in-law’s wedding.’

  ‘It’s nice to know that one member of the family has a little faith in me!’ Dominick’s expression was bleak and unapproachable.

  Kenzie opened her mouth to protest. And then shut it again. What could she possibly say that wouldn’t make this situation worse?

  ‘This isn’t the place for this conversation,’ Dominick told her grimly, picking up his wineglass and throwing the contents to the back of his throat before standing up. ‘Let’s get out of here,’ he muttered, taking her arm as she stood up to join him.

  Kenzie forced herself not to tremble as he touched her, determined not to let him see how he still affected her.

  Dominick kept his hand lightly under her elbow as they made their way through the
crowded tables, nodding his thanks to the maître d’ as he passed. He had an account with the restaurant, and he would make sure he tipped the man very generously when he settled the bill at the end of the month.

  ‘Where are we going?’ Kenzie prompted stiffly once Dominick had flagged down a cab, very aware of the light brush of his hand against her spine now.

  ‘My apartment,’ he bit out dryly.

  Kenzie held back from getting inside the cab. ‘Your—the apartment where you—where we—’

  ‘Lived after we were married?’ he finished coldly. ‘But of course that apartment, Kenzie. It’s been my English home for over five years; why would I have bothered to move?’

  Why indeed? Kenzie accepted heavily as she got into the back of the taxi, shooting over to the far side of the seat so that not even their thighs could come into accidental contact.

  Dominick, she had discovered during their nine months of marriage, didn’t

  particularly like change, and, for all that he had business dealings all over the world, he had homes in all those countries too, apartments that were always kept ready for his use, disliking intensely the need to stay in hotels. Even his own.

  Kenzie had put this need down to the fact that his childhood had been so erratic, no one place ever really becoming home as he’d ping-ponged between his parents’ houses after their divorce. His mother had retained the family home, but had moved in a constant stream of husbands and lovers, while his father, after an unsuccessful second marriage, had entertained various women in his city apartment.

  She didn’t relish the idea of going to Dominick’s apartment, the home she had shared with him as his wife, as she remembered all too clearly the intimacies they had shared there, as well as that last terrible scene before she had left him.

  She might not like it, but, until Dominick had said a definite no about accompanying her to the wedding on Saturday, she was willing to continue this conversation wherever Dominick decided.

  At least he was still listening to her.

  ‘Drink?’ he offered once they were in the apartment, holding up the brandy decanter before pouring a measure of the dark gold liquid into a glass.

  Would brandy make any difference to the trepidation she felt? she wondered ruefully. Probably not, but it might help to calm her nerves a little. ‘Yes.

  Thank you,’ she accepted as he handed her the glass before pouring another one for himself.

  Dominick watched the slender arch of her throat as she took a swallow of the brandy, the creamy softness of her skin, while at the same time inwardly acknowledging that he had missed her in his life this last few months, and not just in his bed. Sometimes he had ached with wanting her to talk to, to laugh with.

  ‘So—’ his voice was harsher than ever as he determinedly squashed down his thoughts ‘—I believe we were discussing what sacrifice you’re willing to make in order to persuade me to accompany you to Kathy’s wedding on Saturday…?’

  Kenzie had been about to swallow another sip of brandy, but instead gasped at the outrageousness of Dominick’s remark, gulping too quickly in the process, and starting to cough as the fiery liquid took her breath away.

  ‘Careful!’ Dominick moved to pat her on the back.

  A little too enthusiastically, as far as Kenzie was concerned; she was sure there was no need for him to be quite so heavy-handed!

  ‘You did that on purpose!’ she told him fiercely once she could speak, her cheeks red, and her eyes glowing deeply green with anger.

  ‘More brandy?’ he offered wryly as he took the empty glass from her unresisting fingers.

  ‘No, thank you,’ she snapped. ‘This was a mistake—’

  ‘How do you know that when I haven’t even given you my answer yet?’ he challenged huskily.

  She shook her head. ‘You’re just playing with me, Dominick. You’re taking some sort of perverted pleasure in making me squirm, when all the time you know you’re going to say no—’

  ‘I don’t know that,’ he cut in softly. ‘And neither do you,’ he added.

  Kenzie sighed in frustration. ‘I don’t know why I ever thought appealing to your better nature would work—’

  ‘Considering we both know I don’t have a better nature?’

  Dominick put in scornfully.

  That wasn’t true. Dominick had his faults, but she could never have fallen in love with him if he didn’t have a softer, more charming side to him.

  But being with him again now she realized what a fool she had been to ever hope that Dominick would want her back, and to believe that she was the one woman that Dominick could love, when it was obvious he had never been in love before.

  Yes, she had been a fool. A silly, romantic fool.

  And she hadn’t seen that softer, more charming side to him since that day, four months ago, when she had told him she had decided to accept the offer from Carlton Cosmetics, an offer that would take her to America for a month.

  They had been going through a difficult patch in their marriage, and she had thought that month apart would give them a breathing space away from each other, for them both to sit and reflect, and perhaps to come to some sort of compromise concerning their differences over the subject of having children.

  Instead Dominick had accused her of being involved with Jerome Carlton personally rather than just his company, of having an affair with the other man, refusing to believe her denials.

  ‘You weren’t sarcastic and hurtful like this when we met, Dominick.’ She gave a pained frown.

  ‘Maybe I was just being charming then because I wanted to get you into bed?’ he derided. ‘Or maybe it’s just that having your wife leave you for the bed of another man has this effect on you! Tell me, Kenzie, is he a good lover?’ He studied her between narrowed lids. ‘A better lover than me?’

  Just the thought of Kenzie in the arms of the charismatically handsome Jerome Carlton had driven Dominick to say things, do things, he might otherwise not have done. But having said them, there had been no going back.

  The arrival of the divorce papers three months after their separation only confirmed her intention to marry the other man as far as Dominick was concerned.

  ‘I hope he found me a satisfactory teacher!’ Dominick bit out harshly at her

  continued silence at his taunt, determinedly ignoring the way her cheeks had paled at his words.

  He still couldn’t bear the thought of any other man touching her and caressing her in the way he liked to.

  Was he going insane? He groaned inwardly as he turned away abruptly. Had seeing Kenzie again driven him over the edge of some precipice he had been fighting against for the last four months as he had considered his plans of retribution?

  That had to be it.

  There could be no other explanation for the jealousy he felt.

  ‘Look, Dominick.’ She spoke woodenly. ‘Other than continuing to assure you that Jerome and I have never been lovers, not when the two of us were married, or since, I don’t have any other way of convincing you that you are completely wrong about my involvement with him!’

  Assurances that were a complete waste of time when her lover had no such qualms about acknowledging their involvement!

  Besides, it was too late for that. It had been too late the very first moment Kenzie had responded to Jerome Carlton’s seduction.

  Dominick had believed that Kenzie’s lack of physical involvement with men before their marriage meant that the least he could expect from her was fidelity.

  Knowing of her affair with Jerome Carlton just made her as untrustworthy as every other woman, including his own mother, he had ever been close to.

  ‘I think perhaps I should leave now, Dominick,’ Kenzie said softly. ‘Before this conversation becomes any more insulting!’

  They were deliberately hurting each other, he knew, and he forced the tension to leave his shoulders as he turned back to face her, coming to his decision. ‘What time is Kathy’s wedding on Saturday?’ he prompted a
bruptly.

  Kenzie’s eyes widened. ‘Why do you want to know…?’ she asked warily.

  Dominick’s mouth twisted derisively. ‘It’s hardly going to serve its purpose if I arrive too late for the wedding, now, is it?’

  He was going to help her out, after all? He was going to help her protect her father from the truth, in this charade that she should have ended long ago and now couldn’t find the right words, or time, in which to do so?

  She swallowed hard. ‘If you’re serious—if you’re really willing to do this—my parents are expecting us both down for a family dinner on Friday evening,’ she told him, frowning.

  ‘Kenzie, you said you wanted me to accompany you to the wedding, and presumably you would expect me to stay on for the reception afterwards. Isn’t wanting me to go to your parents’ home on the Friday evening, as well, a little above and beyond…?’ he mocked scathingly.

  She grimaced. ‘It’s worse than that, I’m afraid; we’re expected to stay overnight at my parents’ house on the Friday evening, too.’

  Which, if Dominick agreed, she had already known was going to be something of a problem. Although not an insurmountable one. All three of her parents’ guest bedrooms had twin beds, so they wouldn’t actually be sharing a bed, just the room.

  Although Dominick’s cool control, and her own quivering response just to the touch of his hand on her arm and back, said she was the one in more danger of finding their proximity overwhelming…

  Dominick continued to look at her for several long seconds, his expression guarded as he took in her silken hair, before his gaze shifted slightly to her face, and then he wished it hadn’t as he felt almost as if he were drowning in the depths of her eyes, those incredible, emerald-coloured eyes.

  Deceptively honest eyes, he reminded himself with cold determination, thinking of how she continued to lie about her involvement with Jerome.

  But now Kenzie was here, however briefly, and was willingly, if unwittingly, putting herself back in his power…