Modern Romance January Books 1-4. Кейт Хьюит
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Название: Modern Romance January Books 1-4
Автор: Кейт Хьюит
Издательство: HarperCollins
Жанр: Короткие любовные романы
Серия: Mills & Boon Series Collections
isbn: 9781474095303
isbn:
He chuckled. “Oh, I kidnapped her. But she was convinced quickly enough to marry me. I just had to have her throw out that lie to Matías so he wouldn’t come searching for her. He’s not very trusting. He believed so quickly that she would betray him. It’s a character flaw, for sure. If I were you, I would watch out for that later on. If he were to walk in now, I imagine he would have a lot of follow-up questions for you. Particularly if he were to walk in when you were in my embrace.”
Diego took another step toward her, and Camilla took a step away. “Don’t come anywhere near me,” she said. “You’re a villain.”
He laughed. “To you. But a villain is his own hero. I read that somewhere once. I quite like it. Although, I am not overly concerned with being either. I’m simply concerned with winning.”
“Well, Matías and I are getting married today. So you’re not going to win.”
“Am I not? Because I will get my share of the family fortune. If I choose to press the issue with my lawyer, I will probably end up with a stake in my brother’s company.” That dark gaze turned cruel. “And he has had to settle for second best when it comes to wives. Yes, I think my victory, while not total, was handily enough done.”
The door to the house opened again, and Maria waved her on. “It is time,” she said.
“I had better go take my place in the audience, then,” Diego said. “But rest assured and remember this. My brother might talk about being good. He might talk about doing the right thing, and in the end he might do the right thing by you, whatever that means. If it looks like a permanent marriage, or an attempt at commitment. But he will not love you. That is something the men in our family are incapable of.”
Then he left her standing there, feeling diminished. Her heart feeling torn in two. He had not said anything she hadn’t already thought to be true. Hadn’t dropped any grand revelations on her. And still, he had accomplished everything he had set out to do. He had sent her out into the blinding sunlight on shaking legs. Had planted doubts inside her when before she had been quite content walking toward that while knowing that in the end, this would end as nothing.
But now Diego’s words were swirling inside her, painful, horrendous. And she realized it was reality. He had made it impossible to pretend that this was going to end as a fairy tale. He had made it impossible for her to cling to that last shred of fantasy, which she had to admit to herself as she made her way toward the site of the wedding, she had been doing.
But then she came to the head of the aisle, and all the guests stood and turned, and she saw Matías standing there, dark, handsome and certain.
So very like his brother, and yet not.
And she realized that none of it mattered. Because there was only one choice to make. There was only one direction she was going to walk.
Toward Matías. No matter what.
IT HAD BEEN shocking to see his brother and Liliana in the crowd at the wedding.
Matías had a feeling that shock had been Diego’s intent.
Matías had made it his mission to keep his older brother away from Camilla through the entirety of the reception, and during the farewells that evening.
Though he had a feeling that if Diego had intended to approach her at any point, he would have done so. But he had not, which was actually no less unsettling.
Liliana, for her part, had looked beautiful, but pale. Drawn.
Her face adorned with no makeup, as she had often done, her long hair left loose, her curves highlighted by the flowing, lavender gown that she was wearing.
Diego never took his hands off her, his dark eyes sharp every time he looked at her.
It was a strange dynamic, and one that surprised Matías. Because he had imagined his brother would care nothing at all for his new wife. Had imagined that he had simply seduced her away from Matías in order to win at this ridiculous game they were playing to gain their grandfather’s possessions. But there was something there. Something dark and tense. He commented as much when he and Camilla were finally alone. Headed back to his penthouse in Barcelona for their wedding night.
“She loves him,” Camilla said softly.
“What the hell are you talking about?” Matías asked. “Don’t you think that by now she has seen what manner of man he is?”
“Unfortunately, I think she knew from the beginning. I...I had a conversation with Diego before the wedding,” she said, twisting her hands together.
“Were you going to tell me if I had not brought him up?”
“Possibly not. The whole thing made me nervous. He was clearly trying to intimidate me. Trying to scare me away. But he has never met me. So he did not know that was a losing proposition.”
“I almost feel sorry for him,” Matías said. “What did he say to you?”
“He confirmed that he did kidnap Liliana. Their marriage, however, is legal, so whatever happened after that, she consented to it. He talked her into it, he says. I imagine there was blackmail involved. But... I see the way she looks at him. I spent a good portion of the ceremony looking. I don’t think she wants to be rescued,” Camilla said softly. “Though I’m not entirely certain she’s happy.”
“How could she be happy with a sociopath? How could she love him?”
“Oftentimes these things don’t make sense,” Camilla said, her voice hard. “And why do you care? Just for her happiness? Or are you wishing that you had married her today?”
Frustration roared through him and he growled, pinning Camilla up against the wall in the penthouse. “I don’t give a damn about Liliana. At least, not beyond her safety. Of course I don’t want my brother holding her against her will, but as she traveled with him, and obviously married him, and has not fled him, I think it’s safe to say that’s not what’s happening. I don’t want her. I want you.”
“Well, you seem awfully concerned about her.”
“And you seem jealous,” he said, taking a step back.
“I am,” she confirmed.
He looked at his wife, standing there in the flowing white gown. His wife. She was his. Legally. A binding agreement. And suddenly, he wanted, more than anything, to hold her to that. To hold her to him. Wanted to do what Diego had done. To take her away, to hold her captive. To make her his, however that looked, whatever that might mean. Suddenly, being right, being good, didn’t seem half so important as it had before.
Only having her.
And he could see just how thin that line that separated himself from Diego, Diego from his father, and his father from their grandfather, really was.
It was in his DNA, whether he wanted it to be or not.
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