Read Online Seducing the Enemy by Noelle Adams - Free Book Online

getting rather dull around here. So you had a little fling with my brother in Monte Carlo, did you? Met him in a nightclub?”
    Marietta gaped at the brazen question posed with such a neutral, conversational tone. “Excuse me?”
    Andrew laughed. “Just a guess. But from that blush I think I must be right. Shall we go in to dinner? The others are probably waiting in the drawing room. We observe all the rituals here, if you hadn’t yet noticed.”
    Baffled and mortified by having given away her relationship with Harrison, she took his arm mutely and walked to the drawing room with him.
    “Harrison didn’t blab, if that’s what you’re afraid of. He doesn’t kiss and tell.”
    Whatever bad qualities Harrison possessed—and there were plenty— Marietta didn’t believe indiscretion would be one of them.
    Andrew continued, “He refuses to say anything about it. Actually, he’s been in a very bad mood since he returned. He won’t even insult me—just gives me the most terrifying icy glares. I’m hoping some company will cheer him up. What do you think?”
    “I’ll certainly do my best to lighten his mood.” She gave Andrew a pointed smile. She might still be nervous, but she didn’t have to act like it.
    He chuckled. Just as they entered the drawing room, he muttered under his breath, “This should be fun.”
    …
    Harrison couldn’t understand what his uncle was thinking.
    It was one thing to be polite to your adversaries when you had no choice. But to welcome one to a week-long visit in your home was just asking to be deceived and manipulated.
    As he sat down to dinner with his uncle, his brother, Marietta, and Cassell—who’d been with his uncle all day—Harrison struggled with anger, bewilderment, and defensiveness. And it was only going to get worse, he realized as Marietta sat down across from him, smiling at Andrew to thank him for helping her with her chair.
    The formal dining room seemed overly warm, and he loosened his tie to breathe more easily.
    His uncle started a pleasant, innocuous conversation about something he’d read in the newspaper that morning. Andrew picked up the slack.
    Marietta was pale and composed, but tense. Her dark blond hair slipped out of the twist at the back of her head and wispy strands framed her face. They seemed to bother her—she kept tucking the loose hairs behind her ears in a futile attempt to get them to stay in place. She smiled and spoke when appropriate, but her expression and voice were obviously strained.
    Harrison had no idea what she hoped to accomplish here. But the knowledge that she was as devious as Grace—and could still manage to look innocent and sweetly anxious—made him want to crush something.
    He didn’t speak at all as they were served the salad, then the soup, then the main course. Anything he said would be uncontrolled and reveal too much.
    He’d already divulged too much.
    The conversation had shifted to politics, and Cyrus Damon said in a soft aside to Cassell, on his left, “That reminds me—we need to see the incorporation papers on Stanford East. Can you be sure to request them?”
    “I’ve already requested them,” Cassell replied. “They should be here tomorrow.”
    Harrison frowned. “That could have been premature. We have to tread carefully with this merger. On whose authority did you request the papers?”
    Cassell’s eyebrows lifted. “I knew Mr. Damon would need them. Is there any reason I shouldn’t have taken the initiative?”
    Harrison’s brow furrowed when his uncle shot him an annoyed look. He’d offended Cassell, who had been the Damon family’s personal lawyer for thirty years. But Harrison had taken the lead on the new merger, and everything was supposed to be cleared through him.
    “The request was inevitable,” his uncle said mildly, although his eyes were still cool. “No harm has been done, and I appreciate not having to wait.”
    Cassell relaxed. He seldom showed any emotion, but he was committed