Bound by the Millionaire's Ring Read online

  The playboy’s temporary fiancée

  Millionaire racing driver Ramon Sauveterre is no stranger to fame, but he’ll do just about anything to keep the spotlight off his family. Including propose a decidedly short-term engagement to his gorgeous head of PR, Isidora Garcia!

  Isidora cannot forgive Ramon for dragging her into this farce—just as she’ll never forgive him for the indiscretion that broke her heart. But while their relationship might be fake, the burning longing his kisses spark is all too real—and resisting Ramon’s heated touch until the end of their arrangement proves utterly impossible...

  “The truth is, I’ve discovered something for which I feel more passion than racing,” Ramon announced in a firm voice.

  “Hard to believe, is it not? Racing has been my life for over a decade, but with my brother so happily married and starting his family I find I can’t wait to enjoy the same. I’m deeply in love and, well…”

  He moved around Isidora so he was no longer behind the podium and sank to one knee beside her.

  A massive gasp went through the crowd.

  The cacophony of flashes and clicks increased, but the shouting of questions ceased. An eerie expectancy characterized the wordless explosion of repeated shutter-click-flash. The lights strobed against his skin as he looked up at Isidora’s incredulous expression.

  She paled as comprehension dawned. Her eyes showed white around her gray irises. One hand came to her mouth and she might have said “Don’t you dare.”

  “You said if I quit racing you would marry me. So, mi corazón. Now will you make me the happiest man on earth?”

  The Sauveterre Siblings

  Meet the world’s most renowned family...

  Angelique, Henri, Ramon and Trella—two sets of twins born to a wealthy French tycoon and his Spanish aristocrat wife. Fame, notoriety and an excess of bodyguards is the price of being part of their illustrious dynasty. And wherever the Sauveterre twins go, scandal is sure to follow!

  They’re protected by the best security money can buy—no one can break through their barriers… But what happens when each of these Sauveterre siblings meets the one person who can breach their heart…?

  Meet the heirs to the Sauveterre fortune in Dani Collins’s fabulous new quartet:

  Pursued by the Desert Prince

  His Mistress with Two Secrets

  Bound by the Millionaire’s Ring

  Available now!

  And look for

  Trella and Prince Xavier’s story

  coming soon!

  Bound by the Millionaire’s Ring

  Dani Collins

  www.millsandboon.co.uk

  Canadian DANI COLLINS knew in high school that she wanted to write romance for a living. Twenty-five years later, after marrying her high school sweetheart, having two kids with him, working at several generic office jobs and submitting countless manuscripts, she got The Call. Her first Mills & Boon novel won the Reviewers’ Choice Award for Best First in Series from RT Book Reviews. She now works in her own office, writing romance.

  Books by Dani Collins

  Mills & Boon Modern Romance

  The Secret Beneath the Veil

  Bought by Her Italian Boss

  Vows of Revenge

  Seduced into the Greek’s World

  The Russian’s Acquisition

  An Heir to Bind Them

  A Debt Paid in Passion

  More than a Convenient Marriage?

  The Secret Billionaires

  Xenakis’s Convenient Bride

  The Sauveterre Siblings

  Pursued by the Desert Prince

  His Mistress with Two Secrets

  The Wrong Heirs

  The Marriage He Must Keep

  The Consequence He Must Claim

  Seven Sexy Sins

  The Sheikh’s Sinful Seduction

  The 21st Century Gentleman’s Club

  The Ultimate Seduction

  Visit the Author Profile page

  at millsandboon.co.uk for more titles.

  Dear Reader, for being such a passionate,

  wonderful fan of romance.

  Contents

  Cover

  Back Cover Text

  Introduction

  The Sauveterre Siblings

  Title Page

  About the Author

  Dedication

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  EPILOGUE

  Extract

  Copyright

  CHAPTER ONE

  ISIDORA GARCIA DIDN’T glance up as her boss entered her office. She recognized him in her periphery and was only a little surprised he was here in Paris. He was a new father, but when there was a crisis with one of his sisters, particularly Trella, he waded in without hesitation.

  “I just saw it,” she assured him. “I’m emailing—”

  She cut herself off as preternatural knowledge struck. Her body tingled and her skin felt stroked. Her fingers became clumsy while her blood grew hot and thick in her veins.

  She didn’t have to look up to know that was not Henri Sauveterre advancing on her. It was his twin, Ramon.

  A flash of intense vulnerability went through her. Treachery. Anguish.

  She clamped down on the rush of emotion, hiding it behind a falsely cool lift of her gaze to the man who looked identical to the one who had arm-twisted her into taking this position. They were both ruthless in their own way, but at least Henri wasn’t cruel.

  “I didn’t know you were in Paris.” Her voice came out steady enough to hide the tightness that invaded her throat.

  Like Henri, Ramon’s dark hair was cut short, but had a tendency to spike on top. His clean-shaven, spectacularly handsome features were sophisticated without being pretty, angular without being rugged. His Sauveterre eyes were green when they were amused and gray when they were not.

  His irises were somewhere between slate and ash this morning, making a knot of tension coil in the pit of her stomach. His sensuous mouth sat in a flat line. His honed physique flexed beneath his tailored suit as he set his hands on her desk, leaning in to confront her.

  “Why aren’t you doing your job?”

  His lethal tone cut her in half, sending a burst of adrenaline through her.

  Oh, she hated herself for still being sensitive to his every word. Him, with his superiority, and opportunistic streak, and complete lack of conscience. She wanted to hate him. Did hate him. But she remained susceptible. In fact, it was worse, now that she knew how brutal he could be. At least when she’d been young and stupid, she hadn’t feared him.

  She took a firm grip on herself and tried to hide her dread by casually looking back at her screen. She couldn’t absorb what she’d been writing. She waved at her keyboard, aiming for nonchalance. “I’m doing it now. If you weren’t interrupting me, I could get on with it.”

  She managed to sound composed and begged her hand to stay steady. She didn’t want to reveal the fine trembles that worked upward from a deep, inner flutter in the pit of her stomach.

  Because even with hatred and fear gripping her, she found him utterly compelling.

  “What can you possibly do at this stage?” he growled. “The cat is out. Why didn’t you prevent it?”

  “Prevent your sister’s pregnancy?” Her pulse hammered once, hard, as she met his gaze, but she managed to tilt her mouth into a facetious smirk. “Not in my bailiwick, if you can believe it. I’ve had th
ree discussions with her, suggesting we leak the news in a controlled way. She chose to stay mum.”

  Pun not intended. Trella was tall and a wizard with cutting cloth to create the effect she wanted, but she was five months along. She couldn’t hide it forever.

  “You should have had a fourth discussion. And a fifth. Your father had the contacts to keep these things under wraps. Why don’t you?”

  Her heart stalled. Oh, he was not going to bring her parents into this, was he? That was such dangerous ground.

  At least it flipped her out of defensive mode into a willingness to go toe-to-toe.

  “Even my father can’t control every person with a social media account. The photo was posted by a woman visiting her mother at the hospital. You took Trella there yourself—in that car everyone notices. Of course people watched to see who got out.”

  She punctuated with a look that said, “Take some responsibility for a change.”

  “The only reason it took this long for the trolls to call it a baby bump was because they were having so much fun shaming her for gaining a few pounds.” Then, as she remembered his sister-in-law had delivered twins by emergency cesarean a few days ago, she asked, “How are Cinnia and the babies?”

  “Fine.” He pushed off the desk, expression blanking to aloofness—it was the way he and all his siblings reacted when questioned about their family, even when the inquiry was sincere.

  The Sauveterre twins had become media sensations the minute the second pair, Angelique and Trella, came along. Born to a French tycoon and his Spanish aristocrat wife, the children had been mesmerizing in their mirrored resemblance and elegantly perfect lives.

  Then, when the girls were nine, Trella had been kidnapped. She was recovered five days later, but rather than give the family breathing space, the media’s microscope had focused even more intently on their slightest move. The pressure had sent their father into an early grave and the fallout had continued for years.

  Angelique—Gili to her family—seemed to have found some happiness, though. She was secretly engaged to her soul mate, Kasim, which was why the family had convened in Spain.

  Their celebration had been cut short when Cinnia was rushed to hospital.

  Trella had jumped into Ramon’s distinctive Bugatti Veyron to chase the ambulance with him. Not content with the limited edition Pur Sang, worth millions, Ramon had had one custom-built to his own specifications. It was fully carbon this and titanium that, didn’t have a lick of exterior paint and topped out at a speed of over four hundred kilometers an hour.

  Isidora was dying to ask if it had air-conditioning.

  Worried for Cinnia, Trella had leaped out of the car without taking due care over how much midsection she showed.

  Any casual snap of a Sauveterre went viral. And one that allowed the public to speculate on a secret pregnancy and the identity of the father...? There was no containing such a nuclear bomb.

  Isidora knew all this because she had grown up with the girls. Her father had worked for Monsieur Sauveterre. She’d had tea parties with the girls before Trella was taken and still had slumber parties with them. She cared deeply for them and wanted the best for the whole family.

  That was why Henri had hired her. He trusted her with his sisters and all of the family’s most delicate PR announcements—most recently a statement that he and Cinnia had spoken their wedding vows in the hospital with their newborn daughters in attendance.

  None of that mattered to Ramon, however. To him, she was an outsider, not entitled to anything more than criticism and a pat. Fine.

  Fine. It didn’t hurt. She was so past yearning for his positive regard.

  “I was hoping you were Henri.” For a million reasons. “I was going to suggest taking the family portrait with Cinnia and the babies sooner than planned. I’m inundated with requests. Releasing photos might divert this focus on Trella.”

  “By all means, let’s make sacrifices of my brother’s innocent children before they’re a week old.”

  She was only trying to help. Swallowing back a lump that formed behind her breastbone, she rose to walk a file to the cabinet in the corner, mostly as an excuse to put distance between them. “Do you have another suggestion?”

  “Yes.”

  Oh, that supercilious attitude grated. If her father hadn’t badgered and cajoled, if Henri hadn’t offered her disgusting amounts of money, if she didn’t adore Trella and Angelique and now Cinnia, and want to protect her friends as much as Henri did, she would quit this job. Even this little bit of interaction with Ramon was too much.

  “I’m all ears,” she said without turning around. She shoved the file into the cabinet, feeling a burning sensation streak down her back. He was not looking at her butt and she was not wishing he would. Seriously. She consciously tried not to tense, but she needed to resist him. She was so done with this man!

  “Arrange a press conference,” he said. “I’m announcing my retirement from racing.”

  * * *

  Isidora had the nicest ass he’d ever seen—and he was a connoisseur.

  When she turned with surprise, one arm remaining atop the filing cabinet so her buttons strained across her breasts, he stole an appreciative glance at that, too, before lifting his gaze to her astonished expression.

  Auburn brows framed warm brown eyes. Her gold-tipped lashes were thick and lush. Her glossy hair, which had toned down from a bright copper as a child to a rich burgundy wine, was pulled back in a clip. He couldn’t help imagining it falling freely around those high, honey-toned cheekbones. She wore little makeup, needing nothing to give her skin that glow of health, or shape her plump lips.

  He typically stuck with overt beauties, ones made with a generous hand that exuded sexuality. When it came to physical companionship, he preferred obvious women and uncomplicated encounters. Indifference was his goal. He didn’t objectify women, but they objectified him. He was fine with being trophy-hunted. He gave as much pleasure as he took and they both walked away unharmed and completely satisfied.

  Isidora had never offered anything so simplistic. Her years of doe-eyed hero worship had reflected yearnings and expectations he could never fulfill. So he had done her an enormous favor five years ago. He had let her believe he had slept with her mother. That adolescent crush of hers had needed to be crushed.

  She still hated his guts for it. Overnight, she had stopped accompanying her father to the office or Ramon’s races. She continued to visit his sisters, but sent regrets to any parties the Sauveterres invited her to attend. While completing her degree in public relations, she had maximized work-abroad opportunities. On the few occasions Ramon had crossed paths with her, she had left the room as quickly as she politely could.

  That’s how he’d made such a study of her ass.

  Her contempt had finally gotten to him last year, when he’d seen her at her father’s sixty-fifth birthday party. He had rivalries in business and on the track, but no one outright hated him. Isidora had been all grown up, incandescent in a sapphire-blue dress. Surely she was far enough past her childish infatuation to hear the truth and get over her anger.

  “I want to bury the hatchet,” he had said when he’d cornered her into a waltz. “Let’s go somewhere private, talk this out.”

  “Is that what you’re calling it these days? Burying the hatchet?” Her tone had been glacial. “No, thanks.” She had walked away before the song finished.

  Still acting like a child, he had deduced, but he had her attention now.

  “You’re retiring,” she repeated now, with disbelief. “From racing.”

  “Si.” It was the least he could do for his family.

  “But you’re still winning. Your fans will be devastated.”

  “I have sufficient fame and money.”

  “But... You love it. Don’t you?” She closed the file cabinet and faced him, weight hitched to one hip so her knee peeked out the slit in her skirt.

  Definitely no longer a child, his libido took great
care to note.

  “It’s just a pastime.” Psychologists would say his need for speed was compensation for failing to catch up to Trella when she’d been kidnapped. That might have been true in the beginning, but he was genuinely fascinated by the mechanics of high-performance engines and loved competing. Nevertheless... “This is something I’ve been considering for some time. I’ll continue to sponsor my team and stay involved that way.” These were the pat answers he would give the press this afternoon.

  “It seems extreme. Trella’s pregnancy can’t be denied. Not forever.”

  He folded his arms, not used to defending his decisions to anyone. He didn’t bother to soften the condescension in his tone as he explained, “I’m choosing to announce it now to distract from the rumors about her, but quitting racing was inevitable once Cinnia turned up pregnant. Henri can’t travel as much as he used to.”

  He and Henri jointly ran Sauveterre International, but work had been Henri’s sport of choice for mental distraction. Ramon had never shirked his responsibilities, but he had never felt guilty handing something to his brother if he had to race.

  Henri had greater concerns now. Ramon was more than willing to pick up the slack so his brother could look after his young family.

  “So you’ve been planning this all along?”

  “I knew once the babies came, my role would change.”

  “We all knew you were taking over this office so Henri could move to Madrid, but I don’t think anyone expected you to quit racing.”

  “We planned to make all the announcements next month. With the babies coming early, we’ve moved up the timetable. I will begin restructuring today. Starting with you.”

  Her eyes widened. “Me? I arranged a transfer to Madrid. It takes effect with Cinnia’s due date, but—Are you saying that with the babies coming early, I need to move that up?”

  “You’re staying here.” He probably shouldn’t take so much pleasure in making that statement, but he found enormous satisfaction in it. “My sisters came to Paris with me. They’re sorting things at Maison des Jumeaux in preparation for Angelique leaving. Her engagement will be announced soon and there are details with Kasim’s family that need your delicate touch.”