A Ring to Claim His Legacy by Rachael Thomas

Author:Rachael Thomas
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2018-08-13T18:09:05+00:00

CHAPTER SEVEN

IMOGEN ENTERED THE party on Marco’s arm, aware of everyone’s scrutiny. The gold dress she’d finally settled on made her feel really special, although it didn’t quite fully conceal the bump of their baby. She glanced around as they walked across the already crowded room and she could guess what some people may be saying about her and the baby, about why Marco had become engaged.

It made her nervous. Not that she’d ever show it. She held her head up, smiled at the guests who greeted them and kept close to Marco. It was one of the most uncomfortable things she’d done so far as part of the charade. The other had been telling her parents about Marco. Making them believe she and Marco were happy and in love had been as hard as having most of New York’s elite society scrutinising her.

The discomfort wasn’t helped by her annoyance and frustration that Marco had told her something of himself then shut the barriers and locked her out once more. As if to compensate for this he’d turned up the charm to lethal levels and already she could feel herself drawn to him once more, just as she had been on the island.

The ballroom of the imposing Fifth Avenue hotel was stunning and being here amidst all these people was like stepping out of reality all over again and into the world of escape she’d occupied on the island. Marco was attentive and looked so handsome in his tuxedo, and she knew that if she wasn’t careful she’d succumb very easily to his charm, to the romance of the moment. It was luring her once more ever closer.

‘So many guests!’ she exclaimed as she held Marco’s hand, not willing to let it go now despite her reservations about getting close to him again.

‘My sister,’ Marco said as he guided her towards two tall, slender, dark-haired women, ‘Bianca.’

‘I’ve heard so much about you,’ Bianca said as she kissed Imogen on first one cheek then the other. Her warm smile was reflected in her eyes and Imogen liked her instantly. ‘No wonder my brother wouldn’t come back from his island retreat.’

Imogen laughed to cover the shock. Bianca knew about her and her time with Marco on the island? Did that mean he’d talked about her to Bianca before they’d met again in Oxford? A little gleam of hope began to swirl through her.

‘And we are all so excited about the baby.’ Bianca spoke more softly as Marco started chatting to other guests. ‘A baby is just what Marco needs.’

There it was again. Marco needed the baby. ‘It must have come as a shock,’ Imogen said as Bianca’s excitement trickled through her, pushing to one side that niggling doubt. She was sure she could talk to Bianca. Just maybe not right now.

‘Not a shock, no. He’s always known he would be the one to continue the family name,’ Bianca said with a smile that briefly held sadness. ‘It was a lovely surprise and I’m so happy you are getting married and staying in New York.

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