The Secret to Marrying Marchesi
By: Amanda Cinelli
Scandal: a secret baby!
Read all about Italian billionaire Rigo Marchesi’s secret love child with London actress Nicole Duvalle. The biggest bombshell to hit the Marchesi Group could destroy CEO Rigo’s latest business deal. Unless the rumors that the baby scandal will have a fairy-tale ending are true?
This reporter has the inside scoop on their top secret wedding. From Nicole’s couture dress to their sizzling clinch outside the honeymoon suite. The chemistry might be real, but the question on everybody’s lips is:
Is this a union of convenience, or one of love?
“This is not a game, Nicole.” Rigo’s voice took on a dangerous tone. “I made it clear the last time we met that I am not a man to mess with.”
“I would have been quite happy never to lay eyes on you again.” She narrowed her eyes, the anger she felt finally rising to the surface.
Rigo took a step forward, a half smile breaking across his harsh features. “Now, this is interesting. So far I’ve witnessed Nicole the innocent temptress, followed by Nicole the damsel in distress.” He raised one brow. “But I think this passionately angry version is my personal favorite.”
Nicole was speechless. The idea that they had ever been anything so romantic as lovers was poetic nonsense. Once upon a time she might have thought they shared a connection. That for one night in his bed she had somehow been special.
She had been a fool.
“Rigo, you are threatening to sue me because of gossip that I have no control over.”
“Then why have you not tried to deny it?” he countered.
“My silence is the most you’re going to get. I don’t deal with the press anymore.”
“You will make a public statement that the child is not mine, Nicole.”
She fought the emotion welling up in her chest. It was ridiculous to feel hurt at his words after so long. After all, he had made his position on fatherhood quite clear. But still, a part of her had always hoped he would come in those weeks afterward.
Indignation won out over the sadness, and she stood up a little taller, meeting his gaze head-on. “I will not publicly tell lies...”
CHAPTER ONE
SHE WAS DEFINITELY being followed.
Nicole tightened her grip on the stroller’s handlebar and picked up her pace. The same black Jeep had already made its way past her three times as she took her morning walk through the village. Two men sat inside, their dark sunglasses doing nothing to disguise the fact that their attention was focused entirely on her. As the vehicle slowed to a complete crawl a short distance behind her, she felt the familiar prick of ice-cold terror in her throat. It was officially time to panic.
The cobbled laneway that led up to her farmhouse was still slippery from the light April drizzle. Her ballet flats scraped against the stone as the breath whooshed from her lungs with effort. A gleeful squeal sounded from within the cocoon of pink blankets as the stroller bounced and swayed. Nicole forced herself to smile down at her daughter through tight lips, summoning an inner calm she wasn’t quite sure she possessed. They were nearly home. She would lock the door and everything would be fine.
As she rounded the last bend that led to La Petite, she slowed to a stop. The gateway was filled with vehicles, and a line of cars stretched further up the lane. A dozen figures stood in wait with cameras slung around their necks. Nicole felt a humming begin in her ears as her blood pressure instantly skyrocketed.
They had found her.
Thinking fast, she pulled off her light jacket and draped it over the stroller’s hood. They descended quickly, the crowd of men forming a circle around her as the cameras began to flash. She kept her head down, and the air seemed to stretch her lungs to breaking point as she tried to move forward. They seemed to gather more tightly around her. Apparently the addition of a child made absolutely no difference to the paparazzi’s definition of personal space.
A man stepped forward, blocking her way. ‘Come on—a quick photo of the young ’un, Miss Duvalle.’ He smile was shark-like, sharp-toothed and dangerous. ‘You’ve kept this hidden quite well, haven’t you?’
Nicole bit down hard on her bottom lip. Silence was the key here. Give them nothing and pray that they went away. The sudden jarring sound of a car horn was just what she needed as the black Jeep appeared in the lane behind her. The vehicle began pushing its way through the crowd, forcing the photographers to scatter. Taking advantage of the distraction, she moved as fast as she could, pushing hard through the throng.
