Excerpt
‘I swore I would one day make you pay for what you did to me, Ava, and that day has come,’ he said. ‘This villa is mine and everything in it—including you.’
She swallowed convulsively as she tried to pull out of his hold. ‘No…No!’
His fingers bit into her flesh. ‘Yes and yes, ma belle,’ he said. ‘Do you not want to hear my terms?’
Ava fought for control of her emotions. She bit the inside of her lip, tasting blood and the bitterness of regret. ‘Go on, then,’ she said, dropping her shoulders slightly.
His fingers relaxed their hold, his thumb moving in a slow caress over the pillow of her bottom lip until every nerve-end was tingling. Ava was mesmerised by his touch. It was so achingly gentle after his flaying words. She felt herself melting, the stiffness going out of her limbs, her body remembering how it felt to press up against his hard, protective warmth.
After a moment he seemed to check himself. His hand dropped from her mouth and his eyes hardened to black coal again. ‘You will be my mistress,’ he said. ‘I will pay you an allowance for as long as we are together. But I would like to make one thing very clear from the outset. Unlike the way you manipulated Cole into marrying you, I will not be offering the same deal. There will be no marriage between us. Ever.’
Melanie Milburne says: ‘One of the greatest joys of being a writer is the process of falling in love with the characters and then watching as they fall in love with each other. I am an absolutely hopeless romantic. I fell in love with my husband on our second date, and we even had a secret engagement, so you see it must have been destined for me to be a Harlequin Mills & Boon® author! The other great joy of being a romance writer is hearing from readers. You can hear all about the other things I do when I’m not writing, and even drop me a line, at: www.melaniemilburne.com.au’
Castellano’s Mistress of Revenge
By
Melanie Milburne
To my beautiful friend Louise Gordon. You are such a giving soul, so gentle and understanding and so non-judgemental. You have supported me through some very dark times and I dedicate this book to you in honour of our friendship.
Chapter One
‘OF COURSE, Madame Cole, you get to keep the jewellery and any other personal gifts Mr Cole gave to you during your marriage,’ the lawyer said as he closed the thick document folder in front of him. ‘But the Monte Carlo villa and the yacht, as well as Mr Cole’s entire business portfolio, now belong to Signor Marcelo Castellano.’
Ava sat very still and composed in her chair. She had trained herself over the years to keep her emotions under strict control. No flicker of fear showed in her eyes, and no tremble of her neatly manicured hands as they lay elegantly on her lap betrayed her. But, deep inside her chest, her heart felt as if a large hand had closed over it and begun to squeeze it with a brutal strength. ‘I understand,’ she said in a coolly detached tone. ‘I am in the process of making arrangements for my things to be moved from the villa as soon as possible.’
‘Signor Castellano has insisted you do not leave the villa until he meets with you there,’ the lawyer said. ‘Apparently there are things he wishes to discuss with you to do with the handover of the property.’
This time it was almost impossible to control the widening of her eyes as she looked across the wide desk at Monsieur Letourneur. ‘I am sure the household staff will be perfectly capable of giving him a guided tour,’ she said, tying her hands together to stop them from fidgeting with her bag.
‘Nevertheless he insisted on seeing you in person, at 8:00 p.m. this evening,’ Monsieur Letourneur said. ‘I believe he wants to move in immediately.’
Ava stared at the lawyer, her heart starting to flap in panic. ‘Is that legal?’ she asked. ‘The short-term lease on an apartment I had lined up fell through and I haven’t had time to search for an alternative. There’s been so much to do and I—’
‘It is perfectly legal,’ Monsieur Letourneur said with a hint of impatience. ‘He has owned the villa for several months now, even before your husband passed away. In any case, a letter was sent to you a few weeks ago to inform you of Signor Castellano’s intention to take possession.’
Ava felt her insides turn somersaults, not smoothly executed ones, but jerky and uncoordinated tumbles that left her feeling dizzy. She stared at the lawyer, unable to speak, barely able to think. What was she to do? Where was she to go at such short notice? She had money in her account, but certainly not enough to pay for a hotel for days, perhaps even weeks on end whilst searching for a place to live.
Right from the start Douglas had insisted on everything being in his name. That had been part of the deal he had made when insisting she become his wife. Then upon his death there had been so many expenses with the funeral and the outstanding bills he had left unattended to in the last stages of his illness.
‘But I received no such letter!’ she finally said when she could get her thoughts into some sort of working order. ‘Are you sure one was sent?’
The lawyer opened the file in front of him and passed her a copy of a computer-written letter which confirmed her worst nightmare. Somehow the letter must have gone astray, for she had never received it. She stared at the words printed there, unable to believe this was happening to her.
‘I believe you have a history with Signor Castellano, oui?’ The lawyer’s voice jolted her out of her anguished rumination.
‘Oui, monsieur,’ she said with a frown still pulling at her brow. ‘Five years ago…’ she swallowed tightly ‘…in London.’
‘I am sorry things did not work out better for you, Madame Cole,’ the lawyer said. ‘Mr Cole’s wishes were for you to be well provided for, but the global financial crisis hit him very hard, as indeed it did many investors and business people. It was fortunate Signor Castellano agreed to cover the remaining debts as part of the takeover package.’
Ava’s stomach suddenly dropped like a faulty elevator. ‘D-debts?’ The word came out of her parched mouth like a ghostly whisper. ‘But I thought everything had been seen to. Douglas assured me everything was sorted out, that there would be nothing to worry about.’ Even as she said the words she realised how stupid and naïve she sounded. She sounded exactly like the empty-headed trophy wife the Press had always made her out to be. But then didn’t she deserve the slight? After all, she had been a naïve fool to take Douglas at his word five years ago, only to find out within hours of marrying him his word was not to be trusted.
Monsieur Letourneur looked at her gravely. ‘Perhaps he did not wish to distress you with how bad things were towards the end. But let me tell you, without Signor Castellano’s generous offer you would be in very deep water indeed. Every financial institution in the world is jumpy these days. Margin calls are happening almost daily. Signor Castellano has agreed to cover all future requests for payment.’
Ava quickly ran the tip of her tongue across what remained of her lip gloss, tasting a sweet and sour cocktail of strawberries and fear. ‘That seems rather generous of him,’ she said, keeping her shoulders straight and her spine even straighter.
‘Yes, but then he is one of the richest men in Europe,’ the lawyer said. ‘His construction company has grown phenomenally over the last few years. He has branches all over the world, even in your country of birth, I understand. Do you intend to return to Australia now?’
Ava