Modern Romance Books September Books 5-8. Annie WestЧитать онлайн книгу.
attention to the hurrying figure.
For the moment, it was simply the three of them, with his loyal, middle-aged PA there to sign as one of the witnesses, but after the brief ceremony they would be joined by a small selection of friends, and of course Freddy, where a late lunch would be had in the private room of one of the most expensive Michelin-starred restaurants in the City.
Expression veiled, Rafael watched the bounce of her breasts and wanted nothing more than to scrap the expensive lunch, take her to a hotel room and bed her.
It was a crazy, wayward desire that he clamped down with iron determination.
‘You’re here,’ was all he said when she was finally standing in front of him. ‘I was beginning to wonder whether you’d make it at all. Sofia...meet your father...’
* * *
Sofia’s heart was beating so fast she felt she might pass out at any moment.
She was nearly forty minutes late. There had been no need for her to be late at all because she had left herself plenty of time to make the trip to the Register Office, even though she hadn’t done herself any favours by turning down the offer of Rafael’s driver.
Pride.
But somehow everything had been just a little bit delayed, from having to hunt down the pearl necklace, which hadn’t been where she had thought it was, to stupid little glitches with transport.
But here she was.
She felt sick.
The old man looking up at her from a wheelchair was far more frail than she had expected. Was she supposed to launch into excited babble? Start a long-winded conversation? Put on a show of filial excitement?
Sofia felt like doing none of those things because this was the guy who had dumped her mother, sending her into a downward spiral from which she never really recovered.
‘Hello,’ she said neutrally, stepping back and pointedly not offering an outstretched hand.
‘My dear, dear girl. You’re even more beautiful than I could have expected. I cannot tell you what a joy it is to have you here.’
Sofia glanced down, intensely uncomfortable, and even more so when she noted the glimmer of tears in his eyes.
She immediately looked up at Rafael, then wished she hadn’t, because she just couldn’t seem to see him without her heart doing all sorts of stupid things.
This was not a traditional wedding and they had both interpreted that glaring fact in their own way. She by wearing a simple lilac dress that could multi-task, so it wouldn’t end up hanging in her wardrobe never to be worn again, and he by wearing a pair of linen trousers and a white shirt which was loosely cuffed to the elbows. He looked so spectacular that her mouth instantly went dry and she felt in desperate need of a glass of water.
‘Apologies if I’ve kept you all waiting.’ She turned to his PA, whom she’d briefly met on her one and only day spent shopping in London, and made some idle chat, but not for long because they were on a timetable that was threatening to be scuppered by her late arrival.
No time, thankfully, to address that emotional greeting from David, even though she could sense him looking at her as they entered the building. She wanted to look back at him, see if she could spot any resemblances to her, but at the same time she didn’t want to show interest. A lifetime of writing him out of her life was tailoring her responses.
No time to get lost in Rafael, which only ended up leading to the sort of edge-of-seat nervous tension that infuriated her because she knew just the sort of guy he was.
Just enough time to be dimly aware of the words that united them, then he was slipping the ring on her finger.
She stared down and her heart thumped and her head emptied of all thought. He tilted her chin so that she was gazing up at him and for a few seconds the whole world shrank to just the two of them. Then his lips grazed hers and she thought, this is just for show, for the PA who doesn’t know the situation... But those lips were awakening all kinds of responses in her. He darted his tongue into her parted mouth and her breathing quickened. She wanted to clutch the material of his shirt. Instead, she pulled back. He released her immediately and the moment was gone as she turned and the watching faces came back into focus as she walked towards them.
She felt the dry, light touch of David’s hand covering hers and she stole a tight-lipped look at him, hearing him murmur how pleased he was to finally meet her.
Sofia quietly removed her hand and offered a stiff smile, not quite knowing what to say.
‘And I’m sure,’ Rafael murmured smoothly, ushering her out of the room by the elbow, ‘that the feeling is returned. Isn’t it, Sofia?’
‘Of course,’ she said dutifully, not bothering to conceal her insincerity, and ignoring Rafael’s frown of disapproval. She was here but that didn’t mean that she was obliged to wipe the past out and pretend that everything was hunky dory.
Outside, two Range Rovers were waiting to ferry them to the restaurant. She stood politely while her father was helped into the first one, with Rafael’s PA, and then she and her newly acquired husband were in the back of the other, and Rafael immediately turned to her and said, sotto voce, ‘Not going to do.’ How was it that for a fleeting moment in time he’d actually forgotten what this sham was all about?
‘What isn’t?’ Her eyes drifted to his mouth and then, embarrassed, she looked down to the taut pull of trousers over his muscular thighs.
‘You know what I’m talking about, Sofia. David wants to forge a connection with you.’
‘What if I don’t want to forge a connection with him?’
‘Then you’re going to have to make a sterling effort to pretend.’
‘What’s the point of doing that, Rafael? I know I’m being well paid for the job, but pretending to feel something for someone I don’t know from Adam isn’t part of the brief.’
‘Oh, but it is, cara.’
Sofia shivered because this was delivered with just a hint of silky threat.
‘What do you mean?’ she quizzed tartly.
‘Here’s what I mean. You’re not going to avoid seeing David or treat him with disrespect. In any way, shape or form.’
‘I wasn’t doing that.’
‘He’s asking you questions. You’re going to answer them, and you’re going to do a damn good job of answering them with a smile on your face as opposed to the grimace of someone swallowing shards of glass.’
‘But I...’ She dragged her eyes away and stared straight ahead to the other Range Rover in front of them. ‘You don’t understand.’
‘What don’t I understand?’
‘My mum and I were a team. I can’t say that I enjoyed moving around, and I can’t say that I had a lot of time for her falling in and out of love with good-looking guys who used her and then walked away, but we managed—and we managed without David Dunmore on the scene because he’s never been on the scene. You can’t just fabricate interest in someone because you happen to find out that you’re related to them. That’s not how it works.’
‘Maybe not,’ Rafael unbent sufficiently to say quietly. ‘But look on this as a humane gesture. My godfather, your father, has been through the mill with his health. A further barrage of tests this week has reduced him to a person I scarcely recognise. He’s holding on to the prospect of getting to know you like a drowning man clinging to a lifebelt. It’s in your power to alleviate some of his depression by, at least, being civil. Can you honestly tell me that you’re so selfish that you won’t do that?’
Sofia flushed darkly and wondered what he would say if he knew that the depressed elderly man had once been an arrogant forty-something who had not hesitated