Read Online The Wedding Charade by Melanie Milburne - Free Book Online

illuminated the huge bed but it was empty. He swung his gaze to the made-up sofa but it was empty too. He drew in a sharp hiss of a breath and strode through to the bathroom but there was nothing there except a faint trace of her perfume. He came back out to the suite and raked his fingers through his hair when he saw her suitcase had gone. He checked all over the suite but she hadn’t even had the decency to leave him a note. He swore in three languages and paced the floor, frustrated beyond description.
    The scheming little minx had tricked him into agreeing to marry her. There was no way he could pull out of it now and she damn well knew it. The press were running with it. It had already been broadcast online and on the radio. He had already had a call from his brothers saying how pleased they were that he was doing what their grandfather had wanted. Her little staged you-hurt-my-feelings act had been convincing, so convincinghe had fallen for it hook, line and sinker and outboard motor to boot. Damn the little witch!
    Jade had been back at her flat twenty-four hours when Nic arrived. She winced when he put his finger on the buzzer, holding it down relentlessly, knowing she would have to answer before one of the neighbours complained about the noise. She opened the outer door for him and waited with a pounding heart for him to make his way to her flat.
    His short hard knock on her door sounded like a firearm being discharged.
    She opened the door with a breezy smile of greeting. ‘Hi, Nic.’
    He strode past her, his mouth set in a rigid line. ‘Have you seen the papers?’ he asked, thrusting a bundle at her.
    ‘I don’t read the papers,’ Jade said, wondering if he would pick up on the irony in her tone.
    ‘We are officially engaged,’ he bit out.
    She gave him a bright smile. ‘Yes, I know. Isn’t it exciting?’
    He glowered at her darkly. ‘And, since we are officially engaged,’ he went on as if she hadn’t spoken, ‘you will at all times act like a fiancée should act. That means you will not leave my hotel or apartment or villa or wherever we might be staying without telling me where you are going. Do you hear me? ‘
    Jade raised her chin. ‘I left because I didn’t want you to have a bad night’s sleep. You wouldn’t have slept a wink on that sofa.’
    He narrowed his eyes at her. ‘Don’t go pretending you did anything charitable back there in Venice. You
    got what you wanted and left. You didn’t even leave a note. What sort of disgraceful show of manners is that? I was worried sick about you.’
    Jade tossed her head. ‘I bet you weren’t. I bet you were furious I slipped out without you knowing.’
    ‘You’re damn right I was,’ he said. ‘I had the press on my tail all the way back to London. I had to think of some sort of reasonable excuse for why you weren’t still with me.’
    ‘How terribly taxing for you,’ she said with a roll of her eyes.
    This time she actually heard him grinding his teeth. ‘You really are the most uncontrollable brat I have ever met.’
    ‘And you are the most undesirable fiancé a girl could ever want,’ she threw back.
    His hazel eyes flashed with green and brown flecks of hatred. ‘I have organised a lawyer to come around this evening to go through the legal documents with you,’ he said. ‘I expect and demand your full cooperation in reading and signing them.’
    Jade controlled her instinctive panic with an effort. ‘I will do what is necessary to secure my inheritance but I will do nothing extra.’
    ‘You will do as you are damn well told,’ he said heatedly. ‘I have decided to bring the wedding forward. I don’t trust you to be out of my sight for the rest of this month. You will move to my villa in Rome as soon as it can be arranged. We will be married early next week. I have already informed my family of the change of plan.’
    This time it was impossible for Jade to hide her panic.
    ‘I …I don’t want to do that …I have