The Jilted Heiress And Her Dangerous Husband

urd, so utterly insane, that Penelope could only lau

against his suffocating presence. "You're delusional," she said, her voice dripping with scorn. "The great Astor family would never, in a million

e room and poured a cup of black coffee from a silver carafe. His movements were unhurried, grac

s eyes were sharp, analytical. "And you want to get it back, don't you?" he asked quiet

of her ambition. The defensive posture she held wavere

oduced a single, neatly folded document. He walked to the glass coffee t

spicion, then him. Warily, she app

caught in

l from Carlisle Group subsidiaries to a series of unregistered shell corporations in the Cayman Islands. It

nd of fear, mixed with fury. "Where did you get thi

leaned down, his voice a seductive murmur next to her ear. "Your mother and brother won't stop with the hotel. They'll come after eve

lated. A marriage to an Astor, no matter how disreputable, provided a shield she desperately needed. It was

e cool, impassive mask she wore in the boardroom. "What'

. complicated," he said, his voice flat. "They want to see me settled. Married off. Tied down. Even if they despise me, a wife, especially o

esponsibility. It was a story that fit the man she thought he was last night. She stared into his eyes, se

ing over. "But we have terms. We sign the most comprehensive prenuptial agreement money can buy. Our finances remain entirely separate. W

masked it. "Done," he said without a moment's hesitation. "My lawyers ar

ped his

s, carrying sleek leather briefcases, stepped inside. They moved with the quiet,

d orchestrated it. Every move she made had been on a chessboard he'd set up hours, perhaps days,

evealing a document thick enough to be a novel. He placed it i

hidden traps, for any mention of assets she kept shielded from the world, specifically her silent ownership of a boutique investment

ffee as if he were reading the morning paper. But his eyes

legant slash of ink, filled the line at the bottom of

polar opposite of hers. The ink was barely dry when the lawyers gathered the copies

was qui

she now realized was a massive walk-in closet. He returned a mome

e leaving no room for argument.

it, elegant and understated. And she knew, with a sinking certainty, that it would fit her p

o the underground garage, where a black, bulletproof Maybach waited, its engine humming softly. A driver held the door