Mia’s Scandal (17 page)

At last she made his strained mouth stretch into a real proper grin. Reaching up she traced that wide warm mouth with a finger. ‘You know what you need,’ she ventured softly, long black eyelashes hiding away the sparkle in her blue eyes. ‘You need a trial run sleeping with me in a bed for a whole night or two. I can live with no locks on the doors but I refuse
to marry a man who insists on separate bedrooms because he thinks I will scare him into nightmares…’

The way she put the last part froze Nikos for a second or two before he threw back his dark head and laughed. Then with a groan he crushed her up against him, and claimed the pouting invitation of her lush mouth.

‘Trial run coming up,’ he muttered a while later. ‘We will call Oscar tomorrow,’ he planned as he drew towards her bed. ‘If he doesn’t threaten to kill me for seducing his daughter, he can give you away at our wedding.’

‘And if he does threaten to kill you?’ Mia ran a possessive hand down the front of his body and watched him shudder.

‘I will warn him he will be making his daughter a widow because I’m still marrying you.’

It was gruff and strong and very possessive, and Mia curved her body in even closer. ‘I love you, Nikos Theakis,’ she told him.

‘Well, keep on loving me,
agape mou,
’ he responded unsteadily. ‘I am about to risk dropping every protective guard I have in favour of loving you back by return.’

He had said it—almost said it. Mia laughed in delight. Then, with more strength than she gave credence to, she twisted him around and tumbled them both down on the bed.

‘Show me, then,’ she invited.

Nikos did not need telling twice.

Two wonderful months later, Nikos strode into the bedroom he’d had refurbished to accommodate his wife’s
hobby,
as she liked to call it. Every one of their homes now had similar rooms, laid out like a fashion designer’s studio with all the time-saving gadgets known to the trade.

‘You’re supposed to be dressed by now—’ he frowned at Mia ‘—Santino and Nina D’Lassio will be here in half an hour and Tia Giulia is already downstairs with Oscar.’

‘Is it that late?’ Looking up from what she was doing, Mia felt the usual crash and burn take place inside her because he looked so deliciously gorgeous in a dinner suit—and, she tagged on possessively, every single bit of him belonged to her.

‘You are not wearing that,’ he said, his frown deepening as he spied the dress she had left hanging on an otherwise empty rail.

‘Oh, you don’t like it,’ Mia murmured in disappointment.

‘Are you joking?’ Striding over to the bright red slip of silk and plucking up the hanger so he could view it more thoroughly, he said, ‘It’s a Jessica Rabbit dress.’

‘Jessica who?’ Mia asked innocently.

‘Jessica Rabbit—the cartoon sex bomb and fantasy lover of every man with a healthy sex drive.’

Pleased by that remark, Mia stood to reveal the gold silk under the slip she was wearing. ‘That’s OK, then,’ she said with relief.

‘You’re still not wearing it, Mia,’ Nikos said firmly. ‘Not in front of anyone but me anyway…’

‘But you just said it was every man’s fantasy!’ Taking it from him she placed the hanger back on the rail again. Then, because she knew he was trying to work out how the heck he was going to stop her when she usually ended up doing as she pleased anyway, she turned to send him a grin.

‘It’s for Sophie,’ she confided.

‘
Sophie
—?’ Nikos almost choked on the shock.

‘She asked me to make her a really sexy dress,’ she explained. ‘And you have just made my day by telling me I have achieved the ultimate.’

‘But—
agape mou,
you can’t put Sophie in a dress like that! She’s—’

‘Don’t you
dare
finish what you were about to say!’ Mia flared up in heated defence of her half-sister. ‘She is beautiful and nice!’

‘I was not about to—’

‘And she owns the most exquisite pocket Venus figure underneath those dreadful concealing garments she prefers to wear,’ Mia cut in furiously. ‘So she does not parade her figure as she should do, but that doesn’t mean she cannot be encouraged.’

Absolutely not believing her but willing to accept he had just deeply offended his new wife on Sophie Balfour’s behalf, Nikos went for the diversion. ‘You’re so sexy when you’re sparked up and angry,’ he murmured, reaching out to draw her into his embrace.

‘Mmm, and you are one amazing kisser,
signor,’
she sighed out when he finally let her up for air.

‘You’ve got no one else to compare me with,’ Nikos pointed out.

‘And you like to feel smug about that?’

‘Sì, signora.’
He grinned. ‘I love it that you love me, and that I am the only man to kiss you, and that this hiding in here—’ he moulded his hand to her still-flat stomach ‘—bears the fruits of my kisses and—other things.’

‘That is just so—so old-fashioned and possessively Greek!’ Mia frowned at him.

‘But you love me to be old-fashioned and possessive.’

‘I also think you should know that over
there—’ she pointed to another rail packed with clothes ‘—is another Jessica Rabbit dress, as you call it, just waiting for me to put on if you don’t watch your step!’

Caught like a rat in a trap, Mia watched his smile disappear and his eyes narrow to scan the indicated rail. ‘I will burn it.’

‘Before or after you see me wearing it?’

He took a minute to think about that, then he responded with a lusty growl, ‘Afterwards. Private viewing.’ He captured her already kiss-blushed lips.

‘So what are you planning to wear?’ he demanded long minutes later.

‘You,’ Mia whispered. ‘Later,’ she added in a soft invitation. ‘In our bed, where it is my solemn duty to keep scaring your nightmares away.’

Nikos could have taken objection to her remarking on the nightmares, but he no longer hid anything from this beautiful creature he had won as his wife. It was healthier to keep everything—good or bad—right out there in the open.

‘You know, I believed my life was all mapped out,’ he confided softly. ‘No U-turns, no diversions, just me in absolute control of me. Then I met you,’ he husked. ‘I did not want love. I did not want commitment. I did not want
to pass on my family genes to another generation. Or to watch my children’s disappointment in me grow each time I did not come up to scratch as a father. Now I want it all.’ His fingers framed her upturned face, his eyes so dark Mia smiled because she just loved to drown in them. ‘I want the marriage, the commitment and the children. I want you to love me. I
need
you to love me. It’s crazy, frightening.’

‘I’m not going anywhere,’ Mia promised. Then, to lighten the sudden intense atmosphere, she begged, ‘Just one more tiny kiss before I go and dress.’

Flat black eyebrows rose in disdain. ‘I don’t do tiny,’ Nikos drawled arrogantly.

Too Beautiful, Too Rich, Too Pampered…

Sisters synonymous with style, glamour and now scandal, the Balfour sisters have some hard lessons to learn…

The Balfour dynasty needs urgent help to save their reputations and show the world what they are worth:

The Father

Oscar Balfour must somehow make his daughters appreciate their charmed lives. Will they learn from his mistakes in love?

The Daughters

Eight sisters by four different mothers. Each must take a new direction in life to find out who she really is.

The Rules

Passed down through generations, the Balfour Family Rules offer the guidance Oscar’s daughters desperately need.

Read on to discover morel

The Balfour girls are a British institution, the last of the society heiresses. Oscar’s daughters have grown up in the limelight and the Balfour name is rarely out of the tabloid newspapers. Having eight very different daughters is not without its challenges.

Olivia and Bella:
Oscars eldest daughters are non-identical twins, born two minutes apart, and couldn’t be more different. Where Bella is wild and exuberant, Olivia is practical and sensible. Olivia’s maturity is matched only by Bella’s sense of fun and both twins epitomise key Balfour qualities. The death of their mother when they were young still affects them, although they show their feelings in very different ways!

Zoe:
The youngest daughter of Oscar’s first wife, Alexandra, who tragically died giving birth to her. Like her elder sister Bella, Zoe has a tendency to walk on the wild side and is forever looking for her next social engagement. Her looks are striking, with her green eyes setting her apart from her sisters, but behind her glamorous façade hides a good heart and guilt over her mother’s death.

Annie:
As the eldest of Oscar and Tilly’s daughters, Annie has acquired a good business brain and a kind-hearted and practical outlook on life. Enjoying spending time with her mother at the Balfour estate, she has eschewed the glitterati lifestyle and concentrated more on her Oxford education than her looks.

Sophie:
The middle child is usually the
quietest and Sophie Balfour is no exception. In comparison with her dazzling sisters, Sophie has always felt overlooked and is uncomfortable with being ‘a Balfour girl’! Despite her shyness Sophie is artistically talented and has hidden passions that manifest themselves in her creative interior designs.

Kat:
The youngest of Tilly’s daughters has been wrapped in cotton wool her entire life. Since the tragedy of her step-father’s death, she has been fussed over and compensated for by everyone. Her wilful and spoilt behaviour make her born to run from tough situations and she is adamant that she will never commit to anything or anyone!

Mia:
The most recent addition to the Balfour family comes in the shape of Oscar’s illegitimate, half-Italian daughter Mia. Born after a one-night stand between her mother and the head of the Balfour clan, Mia was raised in Italy and is hard-working, humble and naturally beautiful. Discovering her new family has been tough for Mia, the social poise of her blue-blooded sisters is difficult to master!

Emily:
The youngest of Oscar’s daughters and the only child of his one true love, Lillian. As the baby of the family Emily is adored by her older sisters, claims the favourite spot in her father’s heart and has always been well protected. Unlike Kat, Emily remains down-to-earth and determined to make her dream of being a prima ballerina come true. The combined pressures of her mother’s death and the revelation of Mia as her new sister take their toll on Emily and she has enough strength to leave her father’s house and strike out on her own.

The Balfour family’s property portfolio is extensive, covering several stunning residences in the most exclusive areas of London, a breathtaking apartment on New York’s Upper East Side, a chalet in Klosters and a private holiday island in the Caribbean which is always in high demand with celebrities…although Oscar is very choosy about who can hire his retreat – no Z-list celebrities allowed!

However, the family seat is Balfour Manor, nestled in the heart of the Buckinghamshire countryside. It is this house that the girls all call home. With such a disrupted family life, this is the one place that represents security to each of them. It is here that the family spend Christmas together and, of course, they all gather again for the Balfour Charity Ball – the event of the year, attended by the
crème de la crème
of glittering society, in the heavenly setting of the gardens of the Balfour Manor.

To my dear girls,

At best I have been an inattentive father to you all and it has taken recent tragic events to open my eyes to the trouble such carelessness has caused.

Our old family motto was ‘Validus, Super-bus quod Fidelis’, or ‘Powerful, Proud and Loyal’. By enforcing the ten principles above, I begin to make amends; not only will I endeavour to find these qualities in myself, I pray that you girls will do the same. Over the next few months, I shall expect all of you to take these rules to heart, for each and every one of you needs the guidance they contain. The tasks I shall set you and the journeys I shall send you upon aim only to help you to find yourselves – to achieve change, to develop and learn how to become the strong women you have it within yourselves to be.

Go forth, my beautiful daughters, and discover how each of your stories ends…

Oscar

These ancient Balfour Rules have been passed down through the generations of the family. In the wake of the scandal revealed at the one hundredth Balfour Charity Ball, Oscar realised that his daughters lacked direction and clarity in their lives. Once discarded by Oscar, as a young and reckless man, the Family Rules were revived, revamped and re-instituted to offer the guidance his young daughters were in dire need of.

Rule 1
–
Dignity:
a Balfour must strive never to bring the family name into disrepute through unbecoming conduct, criminal activity or disrespectful attitudes towards others.

Rule 2
–
Charity:
the Balfours must not take for granted their vast family wealth. True riches are measured by how much one gives to others. Compassion is by far the most valuable possession.

Rule 3
–
Loyalty:
you owe loyalty to your siblings; treat them with respect and kindness at all times.

Rule 4
–
Independence:
members of the Balfour family must strive to achieve their own personal development and not rely on the family name to get them through life.

Rule 5
–
Courage:
a Balfour should be frightened of nothing. Face your fears with courage and they will lead to further self-discovery.

Rule 6
–
Commitment:
run away from your problems once and you will run forever.

Rule 7
–
Integrity:
don’t be afraid to adhere to your principles and have faith in your own convictions.

Rule 8
–
Humility:
there is great strength in admitting your weaknesses and working to overcome them. Do not discard another’s point of view merely because it does not agree with your own. A true Balfour can accept advice as well as offer it.

Rule 9
–
Wisdom:
do not judge appearances. True beauty lies beneath the skin. Honesty and integrity are worth far more than simple surface charm.

Rule 10
–
The Balfour Name:
being a family member is not merely a privilege of birth. The Balfour name entails supporting one another, valuing your family as you value yourself and carrying the Balfour name with pride. To deny your heritage is to deny your very essence.