The Diamond Bride by Carole Mortimer

Author:Carole Mortimer [Mortimer, Carole]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9781460864890
Publisher: Harlequin Enterprises Pty Limited, Australia
Published: 2012-07-14T16:00:00+00:00

It was dark by the time they entered London, and, having just woken up, it was a minute or two before Annie realised in which part of the city they were. It wasn’t one she was too familiar with, Mayfair being an area she had only passed through in the past. But she wasn’t at all surprised when Rufus turned the black Mercedes down into an underground car park situated beneath a prestigious apartment building; he effectively owned Clifftop House and all the land around it, so it stood to reason that his London home would be just as prestigious.

She wasn’t surprised by the security of the building, either, a guard situated in the car park itself, another one in the lobby upstairs. Not that the men challenged their progress at all, obviously recognising Rufus as one of the wealthy tenants. The apartment itself didn’t actually seem like part of a block, being on the ground floor, with its own high-walled garden at the rear.

It was beautifully furnished, too, with obviously genuine antique furniture, the carpets in muted golds and greens. Elegance was the word that came to mind as Annie looked around. It was a far cry from the minute flat she had shared with three other girls until a short time ago; the huge sitting-room was almost as big as their whole accommodation had been!

‘I only rent it, Annie.’ Rufus was watching her reaction to her surroundings. ‘I don’t own it.’

The monthly rent on a place like this would probably amount to almost a year’s wages for her!

‘God damn it!’ Rufus suddenly ground out. ‘I’ve never had to apologise for my choice of home before!’

It wasn’t his home that bothered her—given the choice she would probably have gone for somewhere like this herself! No, it was the location and obvious cost of it that overwhelmed her, and emphasised the gulf between her own lifestyle and that of the Diamond family. But she certainly wasn’t asking him to apologise for it!

‘It’s very nice,’ she told him stiltedly, swallowing hard as he just looked even more annoyed. And they both knew what happened when he became annoyed!

‘It’s very tidy,’ Jessica put in. ‘You obviously haven’t been home for a while, Daddy,’ she added mischievously.

‘Not at all in the last three months,’ he acknowledged wearily. ‘I submitted my last story when I arrived in England on Wednesday, and came straight down to Clifftop House.’

Annie frowned across at him; he had been in a hurry to get there...

To see Jessica? Or had it been something else that had brought him so quickly to the family home?

He returned her questioning gaze enigmatically, and Annie knew she would find no answers there, not unless Rufus was prepared to give her them. He didn’t look as if he was!

‘I did, however, have some supplies brought in earlier today,’ Rufus continued briskly. ‘So it’s a cup of tea for Annie and myself, and a juice for you, young lady.’ He ruffled Jessica’s hair affectionately. ‘You show Annie to the bedroom next to yours, Jess, and I’ll go and make the drinks.

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