The Marriage He Must Keep
Claiming his heir…When Alessandro Ferrante dutifully married shy heiress Octavia it was a pleasant surprise to discover that his convenient bride was as sweetly sensual as she was beautiful. But when their newborn baby was swapped at the hospital their fragile marriage reached crisis point…and his wife!Now, with her baby safely back in her arms, the revelation that Alessandro’s family was involved leaves Octavia wanting nothing more to do with him. But Alessandro won’t take no for an answer – after all, in the bedroom she always said yes! He will seduce his wife again and ensure that Octavia – and his child – are his for ever!
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âYou were happy in our marriage, Octavia. You can be happy again.â
Because he decreed it?
âIt wasnât a marriage, Alessandro. It was an affairâ Her voice thinned and her cheeks burned. It was hard to face the truth. Hard to speak it. âYou took three weeks off work and I had a lover for the first time in my life. We did nothing but eat, swim and make love. Of course I was happy. But the minute we returned to reality you set me aside.â
The injury of that slow realization, as their sense of closeness had been eroded daily by neglect, made her voice unsteady. âI wasnât sharing your life. I was the sex toy you took to bed at night.â
His head went back. âThatâs insulting to both of us.â
âYou didnât have any use for me once we were told I couldnât have sex.â She looked down at her hands, knotting in her lap, then peeled three fingers into a salute that she held up. âThree duty visits,â she reminded him.
He looked away. His grip on the stem of his glass looked as if it would snap the delicate strand.
âIs it any wonder I believed Primo when he said you were cheating?â she added.
âI didnât even think of other women while we were apart. I only want you,â he said, in a tone that fell somewhere between frustration and fury.
Securing the billionairesâ legacies!
Meet Alessandro Ferrante, Italian tycoon, and Cesar Montero y Rosales, Spanish aristocrat.
For their whole lives they have done their duty and commanded everything in their sight.
But after a mix-up at the hospital theyâre left holding the wrong baby, and their lives are turned upside down in a heartbeat!
With their heirs back in their rightful place and their legacies ensured, the only things left to secure are their brides!
Donât miss
The Marriage He Must Keep
and
The Consequence He Must Claim
The powerful new duet from Modern Romance author Dani Collins!
Canadian DANI COLLINS knew in high school that she wanted to write romance for a living. Twenty-five years later, after marrying her high school sweetheart, having two kids with him, working several generic office jobs and submitting countless manuscripts, she got âThe Callâ. Her first Modern Romance novel won the Reviewersâ Choice Award for Best First in Series from RT Book Reviews. She now works in her own office, writing romance.
This book is dedicated to Diane, one of the first Mills & Boon Presents fans to reach out to me. I know you look for certain things in our books and I had you in mind when I was forming Octavia. I hope you like her.
I also dedicate this book to an angel and a warrior and their mothers, my dearest friends, my kidsâ Other Mothers. All of your children will be in my heart forever.
Contents
ANOTHER KNIFING PAIN speared into her lower back, radiating like a spiked belt around her middle and clenching her torso in a merciless fist that stole her breath.
âPlease call Alessandro,â Octavia Ferrante begged in a pant, knotting her fists in the blanket beneath her as she braced herself for the next contraction. She was starting to fear that something would happen and she would never hear his voice again.
Her husbandâs cousin Primo Ferrante only sighed. His hold on the curtain dropped with disinterest as he turned away from the window. âI told you. He said he would come if the baby is born alive. Otherwise heâs not going to put himself out.â
She didnât want to believe it. Primo seemed to draw more enjoyment daily from tormenting her. She no longer trusted him and was sure this was more of his games.
But after this many months of being exiled to London by her husband, she was beginning to believe at least some of what Primo said. He was certainly correct in labeling her soft in the head. Sheâd let her life spiral beyond her grip. Pregnancy was an odd state, making you feel vulnerable in tiny degrees so you didnât realize how defenseless you were until the need to fight arose and there was nothing to draw on. She had insulated herself here, licking her wounds over Alessandroâs rejection, and suddenly she had no resources. No one to help her.
Rebellion had backfired on her in the past so she rarely dissented, but sheâd never been weak. At one time sheâd been confident in herself, at least, if not truly assertive. Sheâd even felt a certain pride in those first few weeks of her marriageâ
Another pain tore through her, making her grit her teeth to hold back a scream.
Alessandro, she silently begged, as a fresh wave of perspiration rose to ice her skin. But she knew all about men who wanted live births of their sons. Maybe Primo was telling the truth about her husbandâs lack of concern.
Call my mother then, she almost said as another pain gripped her, but her mother was also in Italy and would have even less sympathy. Eight times sheâd gone through this. Seven of them fruitless labors. Eight, really, since Octavia was hardly counted as a valid heir.
