Latin Lovers: Italian Playboys: Bought for the Marriage Bed / The Italian GP's Bride / The Italian's Defiant Mistress. Kate Hardy

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      ‘Cara, this is Robert Highgate. Robert, this is my fiancée, Nina Selbourne.’

      Nina began to rise but Robert hurriedly gestured for her to stay where she was on account of the baby nestled against her.

      He shook her hand instead and looked down at the sleeping infant, his warm light brown eyes visibly softening.

      ‘What a little treasure. I have two daughters of my own. They are both my life and my daily torture.’ He grinned at her meaningfully.

      Nina gave him a tentative smile. ‘It’s not easy being a parent.’

      ‘No, but worth the struggle, I can assure you. My eldest is getting married in a few months; it seems only yesterday she was in ankle socks arguing with her mother over the length of her school uniform.’

      Nina gave a somewhat forced little laugh. She had very clear memories of similar scenarios between Nadia and their mother but none of them were particularly amusing. She saw Marc stiffen at the sound of her chuckle, his dark eyes so piercing she had to look away in case he saw more than she wanted him to see.

      ‘Now,’ Robert said as he opened the folder on the desk and glanced across at Marc. ‘I’ve drawn up the document the way you suggested but perhaps I should explain it to Nina first?’

      ‘Explain away.’ Marc’s tone bordered on uninterested.

      Nina felt herself shrinking in her seat in embarrassment. She had no real understanding of legal terms and wasn’t sure if she’d be signing her life away. Surely the least Marc could do was go through it with her as well?

      ‘As you wish.’ Robert opened the file and laid it in front of her. ‘Don’t be put off by all the legalese, Nina, this is pretty straightforward. This simply states in the event of a divorce you agree to a reasonable settlement but not a division of Marc’s total assets.’

      Nina did her best to read through the wordy text but it made little if no sense to her. She kept searching the document for Georgia’s name, hunting for some sort of clause Marc might have inserted to take the child away from her if the marriage was to fold, but as far as she could make out there was none.

      ‘This bit here states that you will receive an allowance during your marriage.’ Robert Highgate pointed to the relevant section.

      Nina stared at the figure nominated there and swallowed. ‘That seems a little … excessive.’ She looked up and caught Marc looking at her strangely. She lowered her gaze to the documents once more, her heart pounding in her chest. She would have to be much more careful in future. Marc wasn’t a fool. If he began to suspect he was being duped.

      ‘If you could just sign here.’ Robert Highgate indicated the dotted line for her. ‘And over here.’ He turned the page and she dutifully signed. ‘There, that’s all right and tight.’ He closed the document and bundled it back in its folder as he turned to Marc, who was leaning against the filing cabinet behind his desk, his dark eyes still trained on her.

      ‘May I offer you both my heartiest congratulations on a happy and fulfilling marriage?’ Robert said. ‘I know these are sad times but much joy can come about in spite of it.’ He cleared his throat discreetly and added, ‘How is your father, Marc?’

      Marc pushed himself away from the filing cabinet. ‘He’s coping … just.’

      Robert Highgate tut-tutted sympathetically, ‘A terrible blow, and so soon after your mother.’

      ‘Yes.’

      Nina privately thought Marc’s one word response spoke volumes. While he showed little emotion on his face, something in his voice suggested to her he was a man who felt deeply for all that. It made her see him in a new light. Not so much a hard-driven businessman who wanted to conquer the world, riding over people obstructing his way, but a man with a need to protect those he loved and felt responsible for.

      He would make a wonderful father for Georgia.

      The thought slipped into her mind and once in there took hold until she could think of nothing else. Visions of him with Georgia during her first Christmas, her first tooth, her first steps, her first day at school … her first boyfriend.

      ‘What do you think, Nina?’ Marc directed his gaze towards her.

      Nina stared at him in blank confusion. ‘Sorry?’

      ‘Robert suggested we draw up a separate trust file on Georgia. Andre’s estate now belongs to her, but until she comes of age—’

      She got to her feet in sudden agitation, holding Georgia close to her chest to avoid disturbing her. ‘I told you I’m not interested in Andre’s estate.’

      Marc sent her a quick warning glance but it was too late. Robert Highgate had seen the exchange and was at liberty to make his own conclusions.

      ‘I’ll have the necessary papers drawn up,’ he informed Marc diplomatically as he reached for the door. ‘Again, I wish you both well.’

      ‘Thank you,’ Marc said and, turning to Nina with an arch of one brow, prompted, ‘Nina?’

      She gave the lawyer a wan smile. ‘Thank you, Mr Highgate, for explaining everything to me.’

      ‘No problem.’ Robert held out his hand and grasped hers firmly. ‘You know you’re nothing like I thought you’d be, if you don’t mind me saying.’

      ‘I—I’m not?’ Nina’s stomach rolled over. God, had Nadia met him too at some stage?

      ‘No,’ Robert said. ‘But then you know what those gossip columns are like; they make that stuff up to sell the next magazine.’

      Nina’s heart instantly sank. She shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot as she tortured herself with images of her scantily clad sister cavorting at God knew which of Sydney’s nightclubs in order to have her photo plastered over some seedy gossip page.

      She lowered her gaze to the child in her arms and affected a demure pose. ‘That’s all behind me now. I’m a changed person.’

      ‘I congratulate you for it,’ Robert Highgate said. ‘Bringing up a child is a very maturing experience. Do you have any family—parents and so on?’

      She shook her head, carefully avoiding his eyes. ‘No, no family. My father died when I was a baby and my mother died three years ago.’

      Marc frowned as he listened to the exchange between his lawyer and his soon-to-be wife. He suddenly realised how little he knew of Nina and her background. He knew she was known to be an unprincipled whore who had made it her life’s goal to hunt down a rich husband to set her up for life, but he hadn’t known she had grown up without a father and had so recently lost her mother. His own grief reminded him of how devastating losing a parent could be and something inside him shifted a little ground. Yes, she was undoubtedly an opportunist and she sure as hell had driven his brother to his untimely end … but she clearly loved Georgia, which still somehow surprised him.

      The door closed behind the lawyer and Georgia began to grizzle. Nina extracted her from the baby-carrier and, reaching for the nappy bag, looked across at Marc who was standing in a brooding silence behind his desk.

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