The Billionaire’s Bride Of Vengeance Read online

  Russell could see her spiralling down into a place he knew well, a place full of black despair, followed by the most crippling cynicism. Before he could think better of it he wrenched the car over to the side of the road, jerking on the handbrake then turning to take her startled face in his hands.

  ‘I love you,’ he said fiercely.

  Her still glistening eyes grew wider.

  ‘Do you really? You’re not just saying that to make me feel better?’

  ‘I would die to make you feel better,’ he said. ‘But I would not lie to you about something as important as this. I love you, Nicole, and I want you to marry me.’

  ‘Marry you! But we’ve only known each other a few days.’

  His hands dropped away but he kept his eyes fastened on hers. ‘In a month we’ll know each other a lot better.’

  ‘A month,’ she repeated, sounding and looking dazed. ‘Why a month?’

  ‘That’s how long it takes to get a marriage licence. We’ll sign all the forms today, then we’ll go to Thailand, where I’ll help you do whatever it is you want to do there. Will a month be enough to make the changes you want for those kids?’

  ‘I…I guess so.’

  ‘OK. When that month is up, I’ll ask you to marry me again.’

  She just stared at him. But her eyes had dried. ‘I…I don’t know what to say.’

  ‘You don’t have to say anything.’

  He was doing it again, Nicole realised. Sweeping her off her feet, not into his bed this time, but into his life.

  Nicole knew she could not afford to make another mistake in her personal life. Today had shown her just how hurt she’d been by what had happened with David and her stepfather. The last few months she’d been running away from that hurt, pretending to herself that she didn’t care, that she’d grown up enough to stand on her own two feet.

  But when she found out her jewels were fake today, her underlying vulnerability had hit her. She’d wanted to crawl away somewhere and just cry for a month. Instead, she’d had to come out here and tell Russell the awful truth.

  As much as she appreciated his understanding—and his declaration of love—she really wasn’t in the right state of mind to make serious decisions about her future. Not now. Not today.

  ‘I’m sorry, Russell,’ she said, ‘but I do have to say something.’

  ‘Yes?’

  ‘I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to come to Bangkok with me at all. Not to begin with. No, please don’t start arguing with me. Just try to understand. I desperately need some time to myself. To think.’

  ‘About what?’

  ‘About everything. But mostly about my feelings for you.’

  ‘Which are?’

  ‘I don’t know any more. I’m not sure I even know me any more. This last weekend… Looking back on it, it doesn’t feel real. Everything happened much too quickly.’

  ‘I see…’

  ‘I’m truly sorry. We could keep in touch by phone. Get to know each other better without all the sex getting in the way.’

  Russell could not believe the depth of his dismay.

  ‘When do you think I could visit you over there?’

  ‘I’m not sure…’

  ‘And the marriage licence?’

  She just shook her head in the negative.

  Russell swallowed. He supposed he deserved this after what he’d done. Hugh would not be sympathetic at all.

  But he simply could not let this be the end. He loved this woman. And he believed she loved him back. He had to believe that, or there was nothing left for him to live for.

  ‘I’m not happy about this,’ he ground out through clenched teeth. ‘But I’ll do what you want.’

  ‘Thank you.’

  Don’t thank me yet, Russell thought with the same fierce resolve with which he’d sought revenge. I’m not going to let you get away, my darling. Not in a million years!

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  NICOLE sat in the shade of a tree, shaking her head in amazement as she watched a group of boys playing football. The day was very hot and very humid, as December days in Bangkok inevitably were.

  ‘Kids have amazing energy, don’t they?’

  Nicole looked up to see Julie standing a few metres away, a big smile creasing her freckly face.

  Julie was English, and of indeterminate age. Possibly fifty. She’d been a nurse back in London. Unmarried and childless, she’d come to Thailand on a working holiday fifteen years ago and never returned to her country of birth.

  The locals called her an angel.

  ‘If I’d had more money I could have bought some proper goalposts and nets,’ Nicole said, ‘but I thought my limited finances were better spent on more essential items.’ Although Kara had insisted on giving her a generous five thousand for her jewellery, it hadn’t gone all that far. Not when there was so much to be done. The buildings were very run-down.

  ‘You’ve done wonders,’ Julie said. ‘Whoops, I think that’s your phone ringing. I’ll leave you to talk to your boyfriend. It’s time I got on with cooking lunch.’

  Nicole dived into her hold-all and pulled out her phone, hoping that it was Russell. He did ring her every day, but he wasn’t the only caller Nicole had. Kara rang fairly often, and so did her mother.

  ‘Hello?’ she said.

  ‘Hi there, beautiful.’

  ‘Oh, Russell, I’m so glad it’s you and not my mother.’ Who’d taken to haranguing Nicole about her decision to return to Bangkok and waste her life there.

  ‘So am I,’ Russell said drily.

  ‘Don’t tease me.’

  ‘Would I do that?’

  ‘Yes,’ she said laughingly. They’d developed a wonderfully relaxed relationship during the three weeks she’d been over here. She’d been so right to come alone, enabling her to get to know Russell better via talking over the phone, without the distraction of all the sexual chemistry between them. She was still inclined to feeling down occasionally when she thought about her stepfather’s appalling behaviour, and had had difficulty keeping quiet about the fake jewels when talking to her mother. It had been Russell who’d convinced her not to tell her.

  What good would come of breaking her heart? he’d said, showing a soft and sensitive side to his character which she found very endearing. He might be a rich man, but he was nothing like David, or her rotten stepfather.

  ‘So what are you doing today?’ Russell asked. ‘Painting some more walls?’

  ‘Nope. Not today. It’s too hot for that kind of work. I’m just sitting here under a tree, watching the boys play soccer. What are you doing?’

  ‘Not much more than you. It’s terribly hot where I am, too.’

  ‘Not as hot as here, I’ll bet. How’s the house-selling business going?’

  ‘McClain Real Estate is booming, despite the general downturn in the property market. I don’t know what’s got into my sales people. Perhaps it’s my new company rule that they can’t work more than a thirty-five-hour week. I’ve also restructured the sales teams so that married guys with families never work both Saturdays and Sundays. Anyway, the figures for this last month have been fabulous, so much so that my accountant suggested I donate quite a few grand to some worthwhile charity. I know you don’t want my money, but I thought your Julie might appreciate a handout. From what you’ve told me, the orphanage could do with some serious renovating by professional tradesmen. So I was wondering how much that would take. Would a quarter of a million do it, do you think?’

  Nicole gasped. ‘Did you say a quarter of a million?’

  ‘Not enough? OK, you’re a tough negotiator. Make it half a million. Hugh can throw in the other quarter. He’s a sucker for donating money to worthy causes.’

  ‘Do you really mean it?’

  ‘Of course I mean it. I never say things I don’t mean. Not about money.’

  Nicole shot to her feet. ‘I’ll have to go and tell Julie.’

  ‘Actually no, you don’t have to. She
already knows.’

  ‘What? How come?’

  ‘Because I just told her myself, a few minutes ago.’

  Nicole’s head shot round when she realised Russell’s voice was coming not just through the phone but from here, somewhere nearby.

  He was walking towards her across the yard, looking cool and sexy in fawn cargo shorts and a white T-shirt.

  ‘The month isn’t up yet,’ she said.

  ‘I know.’

  He came right up to her, his phone still stuck to his ear, as hers was to her ear.

  ‘I just had to see you,’ he said, their eyes locking together. ‘Do you want me to leave?’

  She shook her head from side to side, unable to speak right at that moment. She’d forgotten the physical effect he had on her. Forgotten the rush of instant hunger which he could evoke simply by looking into her eyes.

  ‘Will you go out to dinner with me tonight?’

  She nodded, knowing full well that she’d end up in bed with him afterwards.

  He put the phone away and held his hand out towards her. ‘I’d like to meet the children now. See what all the fuss is about.’

  Russell didn’t feel totally confident about his mission till she arrived in the foyer of his hotel that evening at the arranged time, dressed in a very pretty lemon sundress. Her hair was down, falling in a pale curtain down her mostly bare back. Her honey-coloured skin was glowing, her luscious mouth widening into a smile when she saw him.

  ‘I’m sorry I’m not dressed better,’ she apologised. ‘I don’t own any fancy clothes.’

  ‘You look lovely.’

  ‘And you look very sexy,’ she returned, looking him up and down.

  Bloody hell, Russell thought as he tried to dampen down the wave of heat which flooded his body. It was going to be damned difficult keeping his hands off her all evening.

  Hugh had warned him not to rush her, but to wait for the right moment to make his move.

  ‘If things work out you’ll have the rest of your lives to be in bed together,’ he’d advised him at the airport. ‘Be cool.’

  Cool. Difficult to be cool when hot blood was roaring around your veins. And when you’d thought of nothing else for the past three weeks but being with the woman you loved.

  But Hugh was a savvy guy where the fairer sex was concerned, so Russell just kissed her lightly on the cheek then steered her straight out to the taxi rank in front of the hotel.

  The restaurant he’d chosen was not overly lavish or expensive. He knew Nicole didn’t go for that kind of thing any more. But it was intimate and romantic, set high on a hill overlooking the city, the alfresco tables dotted around a lush garden which had lots of water features. Their table for two was small, with a single candle in the centre. The menu was strictly Thai food, the wine list made up of mainly Australian wines.

  ‘This is ever so nice,’ Nicole said after he’d ordered a bottle of Hunter Valley Chardonnay. ‘I’m glad you didn’t book some over-the-top à la carte restaurant. I wouldn’t feel right about you paying that kind of money for a meal.’

  Russell knew that. They’d talked a lot over the past three weeks, which had led to some more preconceptions about her being dismissed. He’d discovered that she hadn’t been travelling first class during the months she’d been overseas. She’d backpacked around Europe, her only money her small amount of severance pay from Power Mortgages, where, contrary to his belief, she hadn’t held the kind of job where she was privy to company policy.

  That money hadn’t lasted long. She’d been able to work for a while in England because she had dual citizenship and that had helped her get to Asia. It had been her experiences in Cambodia, and then in Thailand, which had opened her eyes to what real poverty was, completing her transformation from pampered princess to what she called a more socially conscious and compassionate human being.

  Russell loved this new part of her nature but wished that, sometimes, she could look at the big picture, instead of focusing on what she saw as wicked extravagances.

  ‘Spending money at expensive restaurants, Nicole, is not a crime,’ he pointed out. ‘Not when people have the money. Neither is my staying at a five-star hotel. It’s good for the world’s economy. Good for Thailand’s economy because it keeps people in employment.’

  She glanced over the table at him, her eyes thoughtful. ‘Yes, you’re right. I’m in danger of turning into a wowser. There’s nothing worse than a reformed sinner, is there?’

  ‘You were never a sinner.’

  ‘I was a blind fool.’

  ‘You were a victim of circumstance. Like we all are,’ he mused as he recalled some more of Hugh’s parting words.

  You can’t tell her the truth now, Russ. It’s too late. She’ll never understand.

  He’d agreed, and so had James, who’d been brought up to scratch over the situation when he got back from his honeymoon. The only one left to warn was his mother.

  But he’d cross that bridge when he came to it.

  If he came to it.

  Russell hated that word, if. It haunted him every night.

  If only you’d known from the start that she wasn’t Power’s daughter. If only she’d been someone else entirely. If only you hadn’t allowed yourself to become so eaten-up with revenge.

  He’d been the blind fool, not Nicole.

  Nicole’s fingers reaching out to touch his snapped him back to the present.

  ‘Sorry,’ he said, and threw her a quick smile.

  ‘What on earth were you thinking about?’ she said. ‘You looked so sad.’

  He was tempted then to take the risk and tell her the truth. Seriously tempted.

  But he just couldn’t.

  ‘Those kids I met today,’ he said instead. ‘You were right. They have absolutely nothing.’

  ‘Not for long. Julie was over the moon with your donation.’

  ‘I told her to buy them some toys first and proper beds.’

  ‘She’s already put in the orders.’

  ‘Good.’

  The wine came at that precise moment. Russell waved aside any pretentious tasting and the waiter poured two full glasses, smiling broadly at them as he settled the bottle in a portable ice bucket next to their table.

  After he left, Nicole picked up her glass straight away and took a sip. ‘Mmm. This is lovely. I haven’t had any wine since…since our weekend together.’

  ‘That seems eons ago,’ he said.

  ‘It does, doesn’t it?’

  The time had come, he decided. He could not wait any longer.

  Russell’s heart thundered in his chest as he pulled the ring from his pocket.

  Nicole knew what he was going to do the second she saw the box.

  ‘This ring is not fake,’ he said as he flipped the box open and held it out towards her. ‘The emerald is from a famous mine in Columbia. The diamonds are from the Kimberleys. I have a certificate of guarantee for two hundred thousand dollars.’

  Nicole stared down at the very beautiful ring, then up at him.

  ‘I’m not trying to buy your love,’ he reassured her, ‘because I know that’s impossible. This is yours no matter what, as a token of my love. My very real love.’ He lifted the ring from the box, slipped off his chair and knelt on one knee beside her. ‘Will you do me the honour of marrying me, my darling?’

  The lump which filled her throat was very real, too. So were the tears which stung her eyes.

  Without saying a word, she took the ring from his fingers and slipped it onto her finger. Then she cupped his face and kissed him with a kiss which contained all the love that she was feeling.

  His face beamed up at her. ‘I take it that’s a yes?’

  ‘Yes,’ she managed to choke out.

  The smiling waiter returned to take their order right at that moment, saw what was happening and let everyone know. The owner of the restaurant—a sweet little old lady—insisted that everything was on the house for them, including the wine. By the time they left, N
icole’s head was swimming.

  But she was happy. So happy.

  ‘I forgot to tell you that I love you,’ she whispered as she snuggled up to Russell in the back of the taxi.

  ‘Could you possibly show me instead?’ he whispered back.

  ‘I think I could be persuaded.’

  ‘I love you,’ she repeated to him later as they lay wrapped in each other’s arms in his hotel room.

  ‘Enough to agree to a wedding before Christmas?’

  She levered herself up on one elbow and pushed the hair out of her eyes. ‘But Christmas is only three weeks away. You said a marriage licence takes a month.’

  ‘We could get a special licence. Hugh said his father’s lawyer could arrange one. He knows all the tricks in the marriage trade.’

  She frowned. ‘But don’t you need a good reason for a special licence?’

  Russell shrugged. ‘Money opens all doors.’

  ‘It would be nice to be married by Christmas,’ she said, thinking that, now she’d made her decision, she didn’t want to wait, either.

  ‘You agree?’

  ‘Yes,’ she said, and laid her head down on his chest.

  Russell started stroking her hair. ‘It doesn’t give you much time to prepare things,’ he said.

  ‘I don’t need much time.’

  ‘You’re a girl in a million.’

  ‘I certainly am, to have found a wonderful man like you.’

  Russell tried not to let guilt raise its ugly head again, but it did. I’m not so wonderful, he almost said.

  ‘I love you,’ he whispered.

  ‘I know,’ she said with a happy sigh.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  ‘YOU look lovely, sweetie.’

  ‘So do you,’ Nicole countered.

  ‘I don’t look too bad.’ Kara turned to inspect herself in the full-length mirror which hung on the back of her bedroom door. ‘It’s not to my usual taste. I’d never normally be seen dead in yellow. But Mummy said you asked for yellow and that it was your day so here I am, looking surprisingly good in yellow. But don’t worry, I certainly haven’t upstaged the bride,’ she added, smiling as she pulled Nicole over by her side. ‘Now, that,’ she said, nodding towards Nicole’s reflection in the mirror, ‘is seriously lovely.’