Latin Lovers: Italian Playboys. Kate Hardy

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СКАЧАТЬ took one of the plush chairs facing the huge desk and, positioning Georgia into a more comfortable position against her, began to look around.

      It was a huge office by anyone’s standards. It was lined with bookshelves along two walls, the thick volumes rich with both a wealth of knowledge and variety of taste. Unless they were there simply for show, which somehow she seriously doubted, they indicated Marc was a man who read widely, for apart from the obvious financial and legal tomes she could see some recent bestsellers as well as some of the classics she’d read and loved herself.

      It gave her a funny feeling to have read the same books as him. It gave her a connection with him she wasn’t all that sure she wanted to have.

      The door opened behind her and she turned in her seat to see a man of about fifty-five or so enter the room carrying a document folder under one arm. Marc was close behind with one of his impossible-to-read looks on his handsome face.

      ‘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 СКАЧАТЬ