resurrecting old wounds, especially when they had the power to slice her in half.
All that mattered was getting to the church. Except they were so far away from it now, and the car’s doors and windows were locked. And...
The limo came to an abrupt halt at a red light. His gaze lifted to hers again, and despite her determination to focus on the present, she was immediately transported back to heady nights, tangled limbs, hot kisses. Of lying naked with him alone on a yacht off the coast of Monaco, the sun beating down on their sated bodies. Of the trickle of champagne over her breasts, sinking into her navel, dripping between her opened legs. The feel of his hot, wet tongue licking along the Moët’s path, the thrust of his rigid cock inside her as she gave herself over to his adept skills...
“Your veil’s slipped, princess.”
Maddie jerked. The heavy sarcasm dumped her straight back into the middle of the dark pit she had fought to crawl out of.
It was him. Gabe Harrington.
“What?”
“Your veil,” he said and tapped his own head. “It’s skewed.”
Instinctively, she reached up and adjusted the veil, her heart hammering both from the effects of her erotic memories and from having the source of them show up completely out of the blue.
The bastard.
“Very much like your halo,” she said, narrowing her eyes. “Except that’s not skewed, it’s totally invisible. Covered by a chauffeur’s hat. Fallen on hard times, have you? The touch-shit-and-turn-it-to-gold Gabe Harrington forced into chauffeuring brides to church? I hope it pays well.”
The words projected like bullets across the space that divided them, propelled by each thunderous beat of her heart and the desperate need to lash out.
She couldn’t see his mouth in the mirror, but his eyes crinkled at the corners and did ridiculous things to her stomach.
“Except, as you’ve no doubt worked out, you’re not going to the church, are you?”
She tried to think, fought to remain calm as the car sped off when the light turned green.
“I don’t know what the hell you think you’re doing.”
“Saving you.”
She glared back at his reflection in the mirror. “Kidnapping me, more like. Is that how you get your kicks now? What? Did the property investment business lose its charm? Or did you just run out of people to swindle.”
He had the audacity to laugh. Full out. It cut through her ribs like the sharpest blade. How could he find humour in what he’d done to her father? To her?
“Let’s just say I consider it my public duty to save a woman from doing something that can’t possibly be in her best interests.”
Indignation rose thick and fast. She was so sick of people—men—telling her what was in her best interests. “Oh, I get it. One week spent fucking me and you think you’re an expert on what’s good for me, on what I want?”
“I know you don’t want a man old enough to be your frigging grandfather.”
Arrogant bastard. “So what’s this theatrical display really about? And don’t give me any bullshit about it being in my best interests. As I recall, you don’t do other people’s best interests.”
“Maybe things change.”
“But you don’t. You’re not the type. If you must know, you’re keeping me from marrying a man who has given me more respect and consideration than someone like you would ever be capable of doing.”
“I don’t remember you complaining.”
“There wasn’t much in the way of opportunity. Seeing as you had me on my back every damn minute you could.”
“And again. I didn’t hear any complaints.”
The bastard was right. She couldn’t deny it. No man had ever made her feel the way Gabe had. She suspected no man ever would.
“I suggest you save yourself the trouble of having to bail yourself out of jail and get me back where I belong.”
The corners of his eyes crinkled all out now. “Exactly the point of the exercise.”
Shivers ran down her spine, not just because they were passing through the airport’s gates, but she guessed he planned to take her back to Monaco.
She glanced at the dashboard clock. Far too late now to get to the church and slide Oscar’s ring on her finger. She didn’t want to think about the consequences of that, nor did she particularly want to focus on the overwhelming feeling of relief that rippled through her. Not that she would let Gabe know that.
“The minute you stop this car and let me out, I’m going to have you arrested.”
* * *
Gabe might have laughed at the futility behind Maddie’s threat, but he’d caught the worry in her tone. He remembered how her voice changed when she was upset, how she tried so hard to stop the tremor that snatched her breath away.
He hated the cloak-and-dagger approach, but it was the only way. She wouldn’t have listened to reason, would have charged in with guns blazing if it meant helping her father. He wasn’t in possession of all the facts, although he knew enough to put two and two together. Maddie wasn’t the type to get herself hitched to a man she didn’t love.
So, until he did know all the facts, he intended to keep her from making one hell of a mistake.
“How are you planning to alert the cops?” he asked conversationally as he pulled off his hat. “Send up a distress flare?”
He glanced in the mirror and saw the fierce burn in her amber eyes. If she lifted her chin any higher, that damned veil would slip off completely.
She opened her mouth to say something, probably uncomplimentary, then glared at him before slumping back in her seat and turning to look out the side window.
Her blond hair was drawn sharply back from her face in an elegant updo, making him remember how he’d enjoyed taking the tie from her hair whenever she’d worn it in the ponytail she favoured. It had become a kind of battle of wills for them. He loved the feel of the silky strands between his fingers, loved curling the satin locks around his fists and drawing her head back to kiss the delicate skin of her throat.
Despite her savvy wit, her steely strength, her sharp intellect, there was a vulnerability about her. It made him want to protect her. To act like a fucking knight in shining armour. Which was why he was here now. He had been powerless to resist.
She might have considered it sarcasm when he declared that he intended to save her, but that was exactly what he was doing. Hearing she was to marry had pushed his buttons like nothing else ever had, but then he’d discovered who the groom was and fury had sent him into a tailspin.
What the fuck was she thinking? A woman as vital and passionate as Maddie tying herself up with a conniving fucktard like Oscar Kingston?
