Wife By Contract, Mistress By Demand

by Mortimer, Carole

  So why had James put such an ironclad clause in his will…?

  Because he had known neither Rufus or Gabriella would want Toby to inherit the Gresham’s stores, the money or property!

  But he also knew that Rufus and Gabriella didn’t like each other.

  He knew it, but hadn’t been happy about it, as he would rather they had all been one big happy family. It was what he had always wanted.

  Enough to force Rufus and Gabriella into marrying each other?

  A move guaranteed to increase their dislike of each other rather than nullify it!

  ‘What’s the matter, Gabriella?’ Rufus taunted softly. ‘Is marriage to me no longer part of your plans?’

  It had never been the plan he was implying it was. She had fallen in love with him six years ago, had loved him five years ago, had thought their being together that day in Majorca had meant that he was in love with her, too. A futile hope, as he had so cruelly pointed out!

  Her chin rose to meet his challenge. ‘No more than marriage to me has ever been in yours!’

  ‘Not at all, then,’ he drawled dismissively.

  ‘Exactly,’ she was stung into snapping.

  ‘Isn’t this fun?’ Toby said to no one in particular. ‘Of course, the two of you could just save yourself the trouble of even trying to live together—an exercise obviously doomed to failure before you begin!—and just hand all that lovely loot over to me right now!’

  ‘Miss Benito and Mr Gresham have a week in which to come to their decision,’ David Brewster put in firmly before either Rufus or Gabriella could make a reply.

  ‘Oh, I think I can wait a week.’ Toby nodded, totally unperturbed by the animosity surrounding him as he grinned happily.

  ‘There is one other stipulation in Mr Gresham’s will that I think you should both be made aware of before coming to that decision.’ The lawyer had obviously decided to ignore Toby’s comments.

  ‘Let’s hear it,’ Rufus muttered wearily.

  ‘The two Gresham’s stores will, as already stated, at the end of the stipulated six months of marriage become the sole property of my son Rufus James Gresham, but the restaurant within the Gresham’s store in London is to be refurbished, renamed Gabriella’s, and opened to the public as such and leased in perpetuity to Gabriella Maria Lucia Benito, then to be named Gabriella Gresham.’

  Rufus drew in a sharp breath. ‘In other words, my father isn’t just expecting me to marry and live with Gabriella for six months, he’s expecting me to work with her, too? Indefinitely!’ He spoke with icy control, determined not to give way a second time to the impotent fury he felt, although he could feel a nerve pulsing in his tightly clenched jaw.

  ‘That is so, yes,’ David Brewster confirmed ruefully.

  ‘Could I just point out that he’s expecting me to live and work with you, too?’ an obviously agitated Gabriella put in forcefully.

  She hadn’t expected that clause in his father’s will, either, Rufus acknowledged cynically. She had probably expected to just be able to walk away with her share.

  He certainly hadn’t missed her involuntary reaction to the mention of ‘monies owing’ in his father’s will. Surely his father hadn’t been stupid enough to lend Gabriella money? Money that he must have known would never be repaid?

  Rufus looked across at her with cold green eyes, totally unmoved by the pallor in her cheeks. ‘I already run Gresham’s, already own my own home, already have my own fortune—which one of us stands to gain more here, do you think?’

  ‘You see?’ Toby put in again mildly. ‘Not a hope in hell of the two of you living together for six months without killing each other! Although,’ he added consideringly, ‘as that would probably mean that I still inherit—’

  ‘I really don’t think those sorts of comments are of any help to this situation whatsoever, Mr Reed,’ the lawyer rebuked, obviously having reached the end of his patience. ‘I suggest that we meet back here one week from today, at the same time, Miss Benito and Mr Gresham,’ the lawyer continued crisply. ‘Then the two of you can give me your answer. Your presence will not be needed at that time, Mr Reed,’ he added disapprovingly.

  They could form a club, Rufus mused hardly.

  ‘There’s nothing else in my father’s will, no more hidden conditions or clauses,’ he prompted hardly, ‘that we should be made aware of, is there, before reaching that decision?’

  David Brewster met his gaze steadily, seeming to hesitate briefly before answering him. ‘No, I can assure you there is nothing further in Mr Gresham’s will that concerns any of you,’ he said evenly.

  ‘How about the three of us go out to lunch together to talk about this?’ Toby suggested brightly as he stood up to leave.

  Gabriella knew that any food she tried to eat right now would probably choke her. And just the thought of having lunch with Toby, a man she totally loathed after he had tried to force her into making love with him, made her feel nauseous.

  ‘I think not,’ Rufus was the one to answer sharply, surprising Gabriella by taking a steely hold of her arm. ‘Gabriella and I obviously have a few things we need to talk about, but, as David has already pointed out, your part in these proceedings is over, Toby,’ he added pointedly.

  Gabriella looked up at him frowningly. She didn’t want to go anywhere with Rufus, either. As for his fingers tightly clasped about her arm…!

  Her chin was once again raised determinedly as she tried to break that steely grip. And failed.

  Something that made Toby give another unconcerned grin. ‘Just let me know when the two of you decide not to get married.’

  Married.

  The word echoed inside Gabriella’s head.

  To Rufus.

  Just putting the words together—’married’ and ‘to Rufus’—was enough to send a shiver of alarm down her spine.

  But she hadn’t always thought so; she would once have been overjoyed at the thought of being Rufus’s wife.

  Before she’d learnt to hate him.

  Before she’d known how much he hated her.

  Toby was right; she and Rufus didn’t stand a chance of succeeding in living together as husband and wife for six months!

  Chapter 2

  Rufus was aware of Gabriella’s efforts to shake off his hold on her arm as they left David Brewster’s office. A move he had no intention of letting her succeed in making. The two of them needed to talk. Today. Now.

  ‘Goodbye, Toby,’ he told the younger man pointedly once they were all outside on the street.

  ‘Don’t call us we’ll call you?’ his cousin came back tauntingly.

  Rufus’s mouth tightened. He and Toby had never been particularly close, and he knew that James had only tolerated him because he was the son of his only sister. A tolerance that for some reason had come to an abrupt end three months ago.

  ‘Don’t hold your breath,’ he advised dryly.

  Toby gave a derisive laugh. ‘Oh, I’ll hear from you,’ he said with certainty. ‘Or Brewster. It really doesn’t matter which.’ He shrugged. ‘The result will be the same.’ He grinned confidently.

  ‘Has it ever occurred to you, Toby, that Rufus and I may just both dislike you more than we dislike each other?’ Gabriella felt stung into replying.

  Toby gave her a considering look from insolent blue eyes. ‘No,’ he finally answered with a mocking smile.

  A smile Gabriella would dearly love to slap off his good-looking face!

  Her loathing for this man welled uncontrollably. ‘Then if I were you, I would start thinking about it,’ she advised hardly.

  He gave an unconcerned shrug. ‘Even if the two of you decide to try this bogus marriage idea, it will never last.’

  ‘We only have to live together for six months,’ Gabriella reminded him challengingly.

  Toby gave a confident shake of his head. ‘I don’t think the two of you could spend six hours living in the same house together, let alone six months!’

  The fact that he was right on
ly made her angrier. ‘You might be surprised!’ she snapped, eyes glittering.

  ‘Somehow I doubt it,’ Toby dismissed in a bored voice. ‘Goodbye, then, Rufus. Ciao, Gabriella,’ he added tauntingly before turning to saunter off down the street.

  ‘I was always under the impression that you and Toby liked each other,’ Rufus prompted, his gaze narrowed speculatively.

  Gabriella looked up at him. ‘Impressions can sometimes be deceptive,’ she told him huskily, dark lashes sweeping low over creamy cheeks as she hid her thoughts from him.

  Not where this woman was concerned, Rufus told himself firmly. She was her mother’s daughter, and he had better not ever forget that fact.

  His mouth twisted mockingly. ‘So is it true that you dislike Toby even more than you dislike me?’

  ‘Oh, yes,’ she assured him vehemently.

  That had never been Rufus’s impression before today, he thought. Gabriella and Toby always seemed to have gravitated to each other in the past whenever there had been any sort of family function. So what had happened to change that?

  And did it have anything to do with the fact that his father had also banned Toby from the house three months ago? he wondered shrewdly.

  ‘We need to talk,’ he told Gabriella grimly. ‘My car is parked—’

  ‘I’m not going anywhere with you,’ she instantly protested, taking a step back, forcing Rufus into releasing her this time.

  He frowned darkly. ‘You know, Gabriella, if we carry on like this then Toby is right—we might just as well hand everything over to him right now!’

  Gabriella’s eyes widened. He couldn’t seriously be thinking about going through with this, could he? With marrying her?

  Only with a gun held at his head, she conceded ruefully.

  Which was pretty much what James was doing!

  ‘Did I say something amusing, Gabriella?’ Rufus snapped as he obviously saw her rueful smile.

  No, she acknowledged heavily, her moment of humour over; if anything the joke was on her!

  ‘Not particularly, no,’ she sighed. ‘But I can’t see how the two of us going somewhere to talk is going to make any difference to the fact that we don’t want to marry each other.’

  ‘Surely that depends on how we decide to talk?’ Rufus came back challengingly.

  Gabriella gave him a narrow-eyed glance. The last five years had made Rufus harder and more cynical, the lines of that cynisism etched beside his eyes and mouth, the dark blond hair shorter and the muscled length of his body leaner, but Rufus was still the most breathtakingly handsome man she had ever met.

  Nerve-tinglingly so if the way she could still feel his hand on her arm was anything to go by.

  An attraction that appeared not to have diminished over the years as she had thought…!

  Rufus met her startled gaze, knowing as he did so that he hadn’t forgotten a single thing about touching her so intimately five years ago. Or the feel of her slender hands as she had caressed him…

  He had been lost the moment he had touched her slender curves, unable to stop touching her until he had taken her over the edge of pleasure, watching her as he had done so, the heat in his own body longing for that same release.

  But it was a release he had denied himself, knowing that he couldn’t—daren’t!—lose himself in her silken warmth, that to do so would be to enter a madness he wouldn’t be able to withdraw from.

  As he also knew now, every particle of him alive to Gabriella’s sensual beauty, that a part of him had continued to want her ever since…

  ‘If you’re suggesting what I think you are, then forget it!’ Gabriella glared up at him accusingly, her cheeks suffused with colour.

  From anger? he wondered. Or something else…?

  ‘Pity,’ he drawled mockingly. ‘It might have been—interesting, talking over old times.’

  ‘We don’t have any “old times” to talk about,’ she assured him determinedly.

  ‘No.’ He gave a derisive smile. ‘What we have to talk about is the future,’ he added hardly. ‘And we do need to do that, Gabriella,’ he said firmly as she would have protested. ‘Perhaps come to some sort of—compromise,’ he added grimly.

  Compromise had never been a word he had associated with thoughts of Gabriella—it was either all or nothing. And until today he had chosen nothing.

  Why had his father put that clause in his will?

  What possible good could come from forcing the two of them into living as husband and wife, even for six months?

  But his father wasn’t here to answer those questions, which only left the two of them to find those answers for themselves.

  ‘Compromise…?’ Gabriella echoed warily.

  She obviously hadn’t associated that word with him before, either, Rufus acknowledged ruefully. But it was something they were going to have to find if they weren’t both to lose everything. And he didn’t seriously believe Gabriella was willing to lose twenty-five million pounds just because she wasn’t willing to marry him and live with him for six months to get it!

  His mouth twisted derisively as a couple holding hands, obviously deeply in love if the way they gazed into each other’s eyes was anything to go by, stepped around them as they stood in the middle of the pavement. ‘I really think you’re going to have to come back to Gresham’s with me, Gabriella, because I have no intention of continuing this conversation in the middle of a public street.’

  Gresham’s? Gabriella frowned. Why on earth did Rufus want to take her to Gresham’s?

  She hadn’t been in the store since before she had moved to France as she’d been very aware of the fact that Rufus had his office on the sixth floor, and could walk onto one of the shop floors at any given moment. She hadn’t wanted to risk even the slightest chance of accidentally bumping into him.

  ‘I have something I would like to show you,’ he added throatily.

  ‘Really?’ she came back sceptically.

  He nodded. ‘I think you might be impressed.’

  Her gaze narrowed at his deliberate provocation. ‘I wasn’t last time,’ she came back tartly.

  ‘No?’ He raised mocking dark blond brows. ‘That’s not the way I remember it.’

  She very much doubted that Rufus remembered their time together in Majorca at all, knowing from James’s worried conversations over the years that Rufus had been involved with numerous women since his divorce six years ago. None of those relationships had been of any duration, but she was sure they certainly made his brief encounter with an overeager eighteen-year-old completely forgettable.

  She gave him a saccharin-sweet smile. ‘I believe it’s called selective memory!’

  ‘Maybe. But which one of us is being selective?’ he came back mockingly.

  She should know by now not to engage in verbal confrontation with Rufus. He was just too cynical, too much in control, for her to ever be able to win.

  Rufus gave an impatient sigh, this sparring with Gabriella achieving nothing but heightening his awareness of her. Something he could quite well do without at the moment.

  ‘I actually thought you might want to take a look at what is going to become Gabriella’s,’ he bit out harshly, the thought of Gabriella working in the restaurant, two floors down from his own office, not exactly conducive to a calm working environment.

  In fact, none of the simpler emotions came to mind when he thought of Gabriella!

  Her eyes widened. ‘You aren’t seriously thinking of complying with the conditions in your father’s will?’

  ‘Aren’t you?’he came back derisively, Gabriella not resisting this time as he took a light hold of her arm in order to cross the road to where his car was parked.

  Rufus was absolutely positive that there was no way this woman would give up the chance to get her hands on that twenty-five million pounds. She was just playing hard to get, or perhaps she thought she could make a separate deal with him, knowing the money wasn’t what he was interested in.

  His mouth tw
isted with distaste as he unlocked the Mercedes for them to get into, deliberately not touching Gabriella again as he moved round to get in behind the wheel.

  Was she thinking of marrying him? Gabriella wondered with a frown as she sat in the car next to Rufus, both of them silent as he drove to Gresham’s.

  Her immediate answer was no.

  A more considered answer was maybe.

  Being married to Rufus was the very last thing she wanted, but the alternative was that Toby inherited everything, including her thirty-thousand-pound debt. A debt she couldn’t repay, and Toby, being the warped individual that he was, would probably demand repayment for it in a way that was totally unacceptable to her.

  More unacceptable than marrying Rufus?

  Most definitely.

  ‘Having second thoughts?’ Rufus taunted at her lengthy silence.

  And third, and fourth, ones!

  She didn’t doubt for a moment that being married to Rufus, even short term, would be a living nightmare. She knew that he would take every opportunity he could to make her life a misery, and would naturally assume her compliance meant she only wanted to inherit her half of the fifty million pounds.

  But the alternative to that loveless marriage was being indebted to Toby.

  At least the nightmare of being married to Rufus would have an end.

  ‘I’m—thinking, about it,’ she admitted huskily.

  ‘I thought you might,’ Rufus came back bitterly.

  ‘Not for the reason you’re thinking,’ she snapped impatiently.

  ‘No?’ He quirked dark blond brows.

  Gabriella didn’t even bother to try and defend herself. What was the point? Rufus enjoyed thinking the worst of her, so why disillusion him? Even if she could!

  Gabriella had forgotten how good it felt to enter Gresham’s, as the doorman in his black uniform jumped to attention to open the door for them as soon as he recognized Rufus. Entering the huge store was to be assailed by exotic smells and sights; it was a feast for the senses, with hundreds of customers being efficiently and warmly served by the dozens of sales staff with items from the food hall to exclusive handbags, to furniture, glasswear, and even a grand piano. Gabriella’s eyes glowed with pleasure as she and Rufus walked through the store to the private lift on one side of the ground floor.