Enemies at the Altar (7 page)

‘I can hardly wait,’ he said dryly.

Sienna sat down and flung one leg over the other, idly swinging her ankle up and down. ‘So, this proposed honeymoon,’ she said. ‘When do we leave?’

‘Tomorrow morning,’ he said. ‘I can only be away a couple of days, three at the most. I have a lot of work on at the moment.’

‘Is it absolutely necessary I come with you?’ she asked.

‘We’ve already had this discussion, Sienna,’ he said a little impatiently. ‘I’m sure your dog will survive the separation from you. I have already spoken to Franco about making sure it is taken care of.’

She gave him a narrow-eyed look. ‘You’re not going to get rid of him while my back is turned, are you?’

‘While I don’t share your enthusiasm for the mutt, I can see you’ve taken him on as some type of project,’ he said. ‘I just hope you won’t be disappointed when he fails to live up to your expectations. He’s half wild and quite possibly dangerous. You shouldn’t let your guard down around him in case he reverts to form.’

‘You sound as if you care about my welfare, Andreas,’ Sienna said giving him a teasing smile. ‘How touching.’

Andreas put his barely touched drink down. ‘We should go and eat,’ he said. ‘I don’t want the food to be spoiled.’

While the wedding ceremony had not been in line with Sienna’s dreams, the wedding breakfast Andreas’s housekeeper had prepared certainly was. Dish after delectable dish of local produce had been laid out in the dining room. There were hot dishes and cold ones, main ones and gorgeous desserts. Elena had even made a wedding cake. It was only a small one but it had been decorated with marzipan and white royal icing with fresh flowers as decoration. It even had a bride and groom on the top, and a silver knife with a satin ribbon tied around the handle lay ready.

It was a jarring reminder that none of this was for real.

‘Gosh, will you check this out,’ Sienna said. ‘Elena’s made us a wedding cake. Isn’t that sweet?’ She leaned down to peer at the plastic figures standing together. ‘And the groom even looks like you, see? He looks all stiff and formal.’

Andreas gave her an irritated look. ‘She shouldn’t have gone to so much trouble.’

‘No point complaining,’ Sienna said as she picked up a plate. ‘You’re the one who insisted on telling everyone this is the real deal.’

‘And what would you have done in my place?’ he asked in an embittered tone. ‘Told everyone you know—including the world’s media—that you’ve been manipulated by your father into marrying a sleep-around gold-digging slut? I would be laughed out of town, if not the country.’

The words echoed in the silence.

Sienna put the plate she was holding down on the sideboard with calculated precision in case she was tempted to throw it at his face. Then, turning to face him, she gave him the coldest look she could muster. ‘Enjoy your dinner,’ she said. ‘I hope it damn well chokes you.’

She moved past him to leave but he blocked her with his body. ‘Sienna,’ he said.

Sienna refused to even look at him. ‘Get out of my way,’ she said through tight lips. ‘I don’t want to talk to you.’

He put a hand on the top of her nearest shoulder but she jerked back out of his grasp. ‘Don’t you dare touch me,’ she said, glaring at him furiously. ‘I can’t bear it when you touch me.’

His green and brown-flecked eyes challenged hers. ‘We both know that’s not true.’

‘It
is
true,’ she said. ‘I hate you. I hate the way you think you can just crook your little finger and get what you want just because you’re rich and powerful. You can’t have me.’

‘I
can
have you,’ Andreas said with steely conviction. ‘I can have you any time I want. That’s what you’re frightened of, isn’t it, Sienna? You don’t like it that you want me. You like it when you’re in the driver’s seat, but you can’t be with me. You can’t call the shots with me,
ma chérie
, because I’m not playing by your rules.’

Sienna tried to get past him again but he made a roadblock with his arm. Her belly tingled when she came into contact with those strongly corded muscles and she immediately sprang back as if he had burned her. ‘Move out of my way or I’ll hit you,’ she warned.

His mouth curled upwards mockingly. ‘Go on, I dare you,’ he said. ‘Show me what a little guttersnipe you really are.’

The hair trigger on her temper suddenly snapped. Sienna flung herself at him. She felt the tornado of her anger and frustration propel her forwards with such force she surprised even herself. Her fist landed a punch to his abdomen but it bounced off as if she had struck a slab of stone.

She slapped at his face but his hand came up and deflected it with a deftness that was as swift as it was effective.

She tried to kick him in the shins but somehow his thighs were so close to hers all she could do was make little shuffling movements with her feet that did nothing other than remind her how seriously outmatched she was.

There was only one avenue left and it wasn’t one she normally used. She couldn’t even understand why she was using it now. It bubbled up from nowhere, catching her off guard. Emotions she normally hid under layers of sass and cheek suddenly rose to the surface. She burst into tears but, thank God, it worked like a charm.

Andreas dropped his hold as if she were on fire. ‘What the hell?’ he said.

Sienna knew she wasn’t the prettiest crier on the planet. Not only did her nose go bright red but it streamed as well, and her eyes got pink and swollen, and if she really got going she couldn’t speak past the hiccups.

‘Sienna,’ he said, taking her by the upper arms. ‘Stop it. Stop crying. Stop it right now.’

‘I … I can’t,’ she blubbered.

He let out a whooshing breath. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said. ‘I pushed you too far. I can’t seem to help myself.’ He pulled her into the cradle of his arms, one of his hands pressing against the back of her head. ‘Come on,
ma petite
. Don’t cry, please. I didn’t meant to upset you like this.’

Sienna should have pushed back from him at that point but something about the warm, strong protective circle of his arms struck a chord inside her that insisted she stay right where she was. It felt good to have his heart beating right against her cheek. It felt amazing to have his hand pressed against her head in such a gentle and tender manner. It felt wonderful to have his other arm around her in a band of iron that made her feel safe in a way she had never felt before. His body felt so warm and solid. So dependable, so fortress-like she wanted to stay there for ever.

The breeze of his warm breath ruffled her hair when he spoke. ‘This is not like you,
ma belle
. Has today been too much for you? I should have realised. You’ve had a lot to do to prepare. Leaving your flat and your friends in London, moving in with me and handling the press’s interest in us. It’s a lot to cope with in a very short time.’

Sienna gave a big noisy sniff and he dug in his pocket for a handkerchief. ‘Here,’ he said. ‘Dry your eyes,
cara
.’

She buried her nose in the clean linen and pulled herself together with an effort. ‘Sorry,’ she said. ‘I don’t know what came over me. I don’t do this normally.’

He brushed her hair out of her eyes with a gentle hand. ‘I’ve been a brute to you,’ he said. ‘It’s not helping anything, is it? We’re stuck together and we have
to make the most of it. It won’t make the time go any faster by trading insults.’

Sienna rolled his handkerchief into a soggy ball in her hand. ‘I’m sorry about hitting you.’

He gave a wry smile. ‘I didn’t feel a thing.’

She pressed her lips together, feeling a little more exposed and vulnerable than she cared for. ‘Would you mind if I gave dinner a miss?’ she asked. ‘I think I’ll have an early night. I have a bit of a headache.’

‘Can I get you anything for it?’ he asked. ‘Some painkillers?’

She shook her head. ‘No, I’ll be fine. I always get a headache when I cry. It’ll pass.’

She moved across to the door, stopping to turn to face him before she left. ‘I’m really sorry, Andreas,’ she said.

‘You don’t have to apologise,’ he said. ‘I was the one who was out of line.’

She chewed at her bottom lip for a moment. ‘I’m not only talking about just now …’

His whole body stilled, as if every muscle and cell inside him had come to a sudden halt. His expression was like a mask, not even his eyes gave anything away.

It seemed a very long time before he spoke. ‘Go to bed, Sienna,’ he said. ‘I will see you in the morning.’

Sienna slipped out of the room, closing the door softly behind her and, with a heart that felt like a dumbbell inside her chest, quietly made her way upstairs.

D
URING
the journey to Provence Sienna could sense Andreas was making an effort to be polite and solicitous towards her. Whether it was for the benefit of any lurking press, or whether it was because he had taken on board her attempt to apologise for her behaviour all those years ago was still open to question.

Andreas had explained on the way in the car from Marseille that the chateau had been in his mother, Evaline’s, family for generations, but since his uncle Jules had died some years ago without leaving an heir, the place had been left to Andreas’s father in Evaline’s will.

Although he didn’t say anything specific, Sienna could tell Andreas was intensely frustrated that his mother hadn’t changed her will before she’d died. Sienna knew for a fact that Evaline had found out about Guido’s affair with Sienna’s mother Nell several weeks before her death, but she had been desperately ill with aggressive rounds of chemotherapy. Sienna suspected Evaline hadn’t had the energy or wherewithal to correct things before it was too late. She also suspected Evaline had been hopeful that her husband’s affair was just a one-off thing that would soon pass.

As Andreas drove up the long entrance to the chateau, Sienna drew in a breath of wonder. She had seen pictures of the Chateau de Chalvy in the past, but it was completely different witnessing the exquisite beauty of the centuries-old chateau face to face.

Lavender fields lay in front of the chateau, while rolling green hills and pastures and the mountains beyond were its backdrop. A distant field of bright red poppies danced in the warm summer breeze. The air was fresh and fragrant and the birdsong from the shrubbery in the chateau’s gardens was such a delight to hear after the bustle and busyness of the airport.

The tempting thought of actually owning this piece of paradise came back, but stronger this time. It dangled like an irresistible lure in front of her. If Andreas left her before the six months was up, all of this would be hers. Every hectare of fertile land, every ancient stone of the chateau and its surrounding buildings, every bloom of every fragrant flower and every blade of grass would be legally hers.

It made her heart thump excitedly. Was it mercenary of her to want a place like this? No one would be able to kick her out. No one would be hammering on the door for unpaid rent. She would feel secure for the first time in her life. She would have a roof over her head that no one could take away. It would be hers and hers alone.

But it could only be hers if Andreas called an early end to their marriage.

As Andreas was helping her from the car, the estate manager Jean-Claude Perrault and his wife Simone greeted them. The French couple were obviously keen to show Andreas that they were worthy caretakers of his mother’s beloved estate, although their formality
with Sienna was annoying. According to the Perraults, Sienna might be Andreas’s wife, but she was a foreigner, and a British one at that.

After refreshments were served, Jean-Claude suggested he take Andreas on a quick tour of the property while Simone helped Sienna to settle in.

Sienna followed the Frenchwoman upstairs to where a suite had been specially prepared for their stay. Heirloom linen had been taken out of storage and washed and ironed, and the big walnut bed dusted and polished. Sienna didn’t like to tell Simone that she and Andreas weren’t actually sharing a room, so she just smiled and complimented Simone on the lovely décor and the fresh flowers sitting on the antique dressing table and on a chest of drawers.

‘This has always been the bridal suite,’ Simone said. ‘For centuries, Chalvy brides have started their married life here. It has the best view of the lavender fields. It is a pity you can’t stay longer. It is a very short honeymoon, but then Monsieur Ferrante is a very busy man, no?’

‘Very busy,’ Sienna agreed.

‘I’ll leave you to rest,’ Simone said, some of her earlier formality softening slightly. ‘Dinner will be served at eight-thirty. I have organised a chef from the village to prepare a celebratory meal for you both.’

‘That was very kind of you,’ Sienna said.

‘Not at all,’ Simone said. ‘This is the first time in many years that Monsieur Ferrante has been to the Chateau de Chalvy estate. It is a time to celebrate both that and your marriage. Jean-Claude and I are happy he is finally settled. For a time we wondered if he would be like his uncle and never marry.’

‘You mean Andreas’s uncle Jules?’

Simone nodded as she smoothed the perfectly neat bedcover. ‘He was very much a playboy,’ she said. ‘Definitely not a one-woman man, if you know what I mean. His sister Evaline, on the other hand, only ever had eyes for Andreas’s father. She fell in love with him as a teenager. It was a happy marriage until …’ She gave a discomfited smile, two spots of colour pooling high on her cheekbones. ‘I should not be gossiping like one of the village girls. Forgive me. I forgot your connection to the family. I did not mean to offend you.’

‘It’s all right,’ Sienna said. ‘I understand my mother’s involvement with Andreas’s father caused a lot of pain for a lot of people.’

‘I suppose no one really knows what goes on in a marriage other than the two people involved,’ Simone said with a little sigh. ‘Evaline loved Guido to the day she died, but I suspect he might not have loved her at all. Some men are like that, especially rich men. They can have anyone they want and they know it.’

Sienna couldn’t have agreed more. Didn’t her marriage to Andreas prove it?

‘I have a problem,’ Sienna said as soon as she found Andreas in the garden of the chateau. She had spied him from the window of their suite and had immediately come down to speak to him. He was standing on some flagstones next to a fishpond where some frogs were croaking volubly. Water lilies floated on the surface of the pond and every now and again a flash of bright orange came to the top as a goldfish came in search of food.

‘Let me guess,’ Andreas said with a flicker of his signature
mocking smile. ‘You forgot your hair straighteners?’

She gave him a speaking glance. ‘I am
not
sharing a room with you,’ she said, ‘especially the bridal suite. Do you have any idea of the trouble Simone has gone to? It’s like she was expecting royalty to arrive. There are flowers on just about every surface and the linen your great-great-great-grandparents slept in has been brought out of storage and is on the bed, for God’s sake!’

He took her arm and looped it through one of his and led her away from the fishpond to a long avenue of yew trees that led to a magnificent fountain. ‘There are workers about,
ma chérie
,’ he said. ‘Keep your voice down.’

Sienna felt her breast brush against his arm and suppressed a shiver of forbidden delight. ‘You have to do something, Andreas,’ she insisted.

‘There’s no need to get all het up about it,’ he said. ‘It’s only for a couple of nights. Besides, we can’t break with the Chalvy tradition. Every new bride spends her first night there with her husband. It’s been that way for hundreds of years.’

She stopped in her tracks and glared up at him. ‘You knew about this all along, didn’t you?’ she said. ‘You knew it and didn’t warn me.’

‘To be quite honest, I’d forgotten about the tradition until you mentioned the linen,’ he said. ‘My grandmother was the last Chalvy bride, as my mother married my father in Italy and only came back for occasional visits well into their marriage. And my uncle never married, so you are the first new bride to stay here since.’

‘Aren’t you forgetting a minor detail here?’ Sienna asked. ‘I’m not a Chalvy bride. I’m a Ferrante bride.’

Something moved at the back of his eyes as they held hers, something dark and pulsing. ‘According to the tradition, a bride is a bride no matter who she belongs to,’ he said.

Sienna narrowed her eyes at him. ‘I don’t belong to you, Andreas,’ she said. ‘And you’d better not forget it.’

His lips curved upwards as he captured both of her hands in his and brought her closer. ‘Stop scowling and start smiling like a blushing bride,
cara
,’ he said. ‘There’s a gardener clipping a hedge about twenty metres away.’

Sienna felt the brush of Andreas’s hard male body against her stomach and a flare of heat rushed through her. Her gaze went to his mouth, that beautiful, sinfully sculpted mouth that had already done so much damage to her equilibrium. It was impossible to ignore the way her body reacted to his. His proximity, his touch, even his hazel gaze sent an electric jolt of awareness through her. Her breasts rose to sensitive peaks against his chest as he brought her a little bit closer, and then her stomach plunged when he lowered his mouth to hers.

His lips were firm but gentle as they played with hers: a soft press, a lift-off, another soft press and then a slightly firmer, more insistent one. Then his tongue stroked over her bottom lip, making it tingle and fizz with sensation. She opened to him on a soft gasp and her stomach plummeted even further when his tongue masterfully took control of hers. He cajoled it into an erotic duel, leaving her in no doubt who was going to win the sensual war in the end. He’d had her at his mercy from the first moment his lips touched hers. She was boneless within seconds, leaning into him, desperate to feel more of his magical touch … to feel the urgency of his
need against hers … to feel the potency of his raw male desire. It made her feel dizzy with longing. The need crept through her like a stealthy opponent on a covert mission. She didn’t want to feel so out of control but her body was hungry for every erotic feeling he was tempting her with.

He drove a splayed hand through her hair, tilting her head so he could kiss her deeper and longer, the rough stubble of his jaw scraping along her softer skin. She lost herself in the frenzied fever of his kiss. It was urgent, it was boldly insistent and, with that captivating edge of taboo about it, it made her forget about the past or the future. She was totally in the moment and the moment was all about him and how he made her feel.

His hand went from her head to slide down to the dip in her spine, pulling her against the jut of his erection. It was shockingly, shamelessly intimate. It made every sensible thought fly out of her head. She was suddenly and totally reduced to raw physical need.

His mouth lifted off hers as his gaze drilled smoulderingly into hers. ‘Still want separate bedrooms?’ he asked.

Sienna drew in a sharp little breath that was connected to something deep in the pit of her belly. ‘I’m starting to see there could be some benefits to airing that musty old linen,’ she conceded wryly.

He gave a spine-tingling chuckle as he cupped her face in his hands. ‘I like how you make me laugh,
ma petite
,’ he said. ‘You don’t kowtow to me like a lot of women do. I like that you are spirited and feisty. You always stand your ground with me.’

Sienna wished she could find some ground to stand on, but right now she was on the rockiest platform she
had ever occupied. She was teetering on the edge of throwing caution to the wind and diving head first into a passionate affair with Andreas, no matter what the cost to her ultimately. She looked into his gaze and felt another layer of her resolve peel away like a slough of old useless skin.

She wanted him.

She had
always
wanted him.

She could have him for six months
.

The thought was more than a temptation. It was a statement of intent. The rationalisations began in her head. It was a finite time. She would be able to walk away when it was over. She knew the rules from the outset and so did he. It was a convenient arrangement, a no-strings affair that had benefits for them both. She wouldn’t fall in love with him and he wouldn’t fall in love with her. It would be an exciting erotic interlude to pass the time while they were shackled together in marriage. God knew she could do with the experience of a red-hot affair. Her body was craving an outlet for the sensuality denied her for so long.

Andreas stroked the broad pad of his thumb over Sienna’s bottom lip, his hazel eyes meshing with hers in simmering heat. ‘You know how much I want you,’ he said. ‘You’ve known it from the start. I think my father must have known it too, otherwise why would he have orchestrated this?’

Sienna salved her tingling lips with a quick darting sweep of her tongue. ‘I meant what I said last night,’ she said. ‘I’m sorry I acted the way I did when I was seventeen. I panicked when your father came in. I didn’t want my mother to lose her job. It was the first time I’d seen her really happy. I didn’t want to be the one who
wrecked everything for her. I didn’t think things would get so out of hand. I didn’t think you would leave and never come back.’

‘There were lots of reasons I didn’t come back,’ he said, dropping his hands from her face to walk with her back towards the chateau. ‘My father and I always had a difficult relationship. We locked horns on many things. He didn’t want me to pursue my furniture design work. But I wanted to work for my wealth, not simply inherit it from him and his father and grandfather before him. I wanted to make my own way, not stand on anyone’s shoulders. My father took that as a slight. He liked to have control, but I refused to play by his rules.’

Sienna walked alongside him, wondering if he would ever forgive her for her shameless behaviour. She had made his already strained relationship with his father so much worse. No wonder he hated her so much. She had ruined any chance of him making peace before his father had died. How could she expect him to overlook that as just a bit of immaturity on her part? ‘I didn’t realise the reason my mother was so happy was because she was having an affair with your father,’ she said after a little silence. ‘I think I would’ve acted differently if I’d known about that at the time.’

He stopped walking and turned to look down at her, an embittered frown slicing between his dark brows. ‘Your mother wanted a quick leg up in life,’ he said. ‘She ruthlessly set her sights on my father. He was to be her next meal ticket. To this day I don’t understand why he was so foolish to get involved with a shameless slut like her.’

‘My mother loved him,’ Sienna said, glaring at him for painting such a tawdry picture of her mother. ‘He
was the only man she had ever loved. She told me a few days before she died. Her life before that had been a litany of meaningless affairs. But once she met your father she fell deeply in love. She was devastated when he refused to acknowledge her publicly. I think she thought after your mother passed away that he would marry her.’