His Mistress with Two Secrets Read online

  Pregnant with the billionaire’s babies!

  After the painfully public demise of her intense fling with renowned tycoon Henri Sauveterre, Cinnia Whitley discovers she’s pregnant...with twins! Cinnia burns with the memory of his touch, but bearing a new generation of the Sauveterre dynasty will bind her to Henri forever—unless she keeps it a secret...

  Henri is infuriated when he discovers Cinnia’s deception. His little sister’s abduction ended all his intentions of having a family—but any Sauveterre deserves his full protection. Henri must make Cinnia his wife, and he’ll show her just how pleasurable their reunion can be!

  “This was why I didn’t want children. But we’re here now, so we’ll do what we must. You’ll marry me.”

  “No,” Cinnia said in a husk of a voice, lips white.

  Henri drew in a testy breath, frustration returning in a flood of heat. “Did you hear what I just said?”

  “Yes, I heard you. Fine. I’ll live behind your iron curtain, but—” She swallowed. “But I won’t marry you.” Her chin came up in what he knew was her stand-ground face.

  His ears buzzed as he sifted through her words. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean I’ll live with you, but I won’t live with you.” She flushed and pulled her shoulders up defensively around her ears.

  “You don’t want to sleep with me?” His heart bottomed out. She couldn’t mean that.

  She flinched and looked away, blinking hard. “No. I don’t.”

  “Liar.” It came out of him as a breath of absolute truth.

  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!

  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 hearts?

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

  Pursued by the Desert Prince

  March 2017

  His Mistress with Two Secrets

  April 2017

  Ramon & Isadora’s story

  Coming soon!

  Trella & Prince Xavier’s story

  Coming soon!

  DANI COLLINS

  His Mistress with Two Secrets

  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 Harlequin Presents 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

  Harlequin Presents

  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

  No Longer Forbidden?

  More than a Convenient Marriage?

  The Sauveterre Siblings

  Pursued by the Desert Prince

  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

  One Night With Consequences

  Proof of Their Sin

  Visit the Author Profile page at Harlequin.com for more titles.

  Join Harlequin My Rewards today and earn a FREE ebook!

  Click here to Join Harlequin My Rewards

  http://www.harlequin.com/myrewards.html?mt=loyalty&cmpid=EBOOBPBPA201602010002

  Dear Reader,

  Henri is the oldest of the Sauveterre Twins. After his sister was kidnapped, he decided never to marry and have children, fearing they would become targets. He doesn’t resent being a twin, but he knows who he is beyond that label. He’s very individual, likes control and routine. “Life is unpredictable enough without improvising your way through it” is his attitude.

  Cinnia is also very practical, if independent to a fault. As far as mistresses go, she was the perfect match for Henri, demanding little from him. That’s why he was so blindsided when she left him.

  I adore when this happens to our alpha males, when they are über-confident and think they have their lives so well in hand and then, wham! The heroine straightens her spine and slams the door behind her.

  Cinnia is pregnant and she knows exactly how Henri will react. Badly! If they can make the jump from defensive and aloof to realizing they are perfect for one another, they have a chance at real happiness. I’ll let you turn the page and discover for yourself how they make out. Enjoy!

  Dani

  Dedication

  For my parents, who are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary as I write this. Much love always from #1.

  Contents

  PROLOGUE

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  EPILOGUE

  EXCERPT FROM CROWNED FOR THE DRAKON LEGACY BY TARA PAMMI

  PROLOGUE

  AS SHE ENTERED the clinic from the stairwell, Cinnia Whitley almost knocked the door into a woman standing inside. Cinnia murmured a distracted apology, thinking she might have seen her before, but not here. She would remember someone so tall and stiff and alert standing in that particular place.

  Wait. Was she a guard? It was an odd place to hover. Maybe that’s why she seemed so familiar. After spending two years with sober-faced watchmen dogging her movements, perhaps it wasn’t the face she recognized so much as the attitude.

  Because, if the woman was merely a relative waiting on a patient, there was a very comfortable lounge at the front of the clinic. The back entrance was for people like Cinnia, the paranoid ones who crept in through the building’s underground car park in hopes of keeping her visit to this prenatal specialist strictly confidential.

  Cinnia didn’t bother speculating who the celebrity patient could be. She had bigger fish to fry. She was here for a scan to confirm suspicions on why she was expanding so quickly.

  No, she kept thinking, absolutely refusing to entertain the most likely reason. She had a lot of work to get through in the next twenty-two weeks and had struggled to find time for another morning off for this test. If the doctor’s suspicions were correct, her entire future would have to be recalibrated.

  Twins? Really? No. Multiple births weren’t even hereditary when they were identical and she thought only mothers passed along the fraternal trait. A father with an identical brother and two younger, identical twin sisters couldn’t pass that to his offspring.

  Could he?

  Henri did whatever he wanted. She knew that much.

  She did not miss that arrogance, or him, or the life he led with guards like that one dogging his every step, she assured herself with another flick of a glance at the woman by the door.

  So why did she spend her mornings combing through online gossip pages, reading every scrap she could find about him? Reading that Henri was back to his old ways of dating and dropping was pure self-destruction, but at least there wasn’t much written about that. His twin, Ramon, was stealing all the thunder, still racing and winning while doubling down with his own passionate exploits through a rotation of women who were loved and left.

  The Sauveterres were a private lot, despite their domination of the media. But in her time with Henri, Cinnia had noticed that Ramon always seemed to make a splash in the papers when something was going on with the family, like he was deliberately pulling the attention.

  Her breakup with Henri was two months ago. Old news by now. It must be Angelique he was trying to cover for.

  The brothers were insanely protective of their younger sisters, which was understandable given Trella’s kidnapping when she was a child. Angelique was the only one seen in public these days and was becoming quite notorious, what with her affair with the Prince of Zhamair—or rather both him and the Prince of Elazar, if the online rags were to be believed.

  Cinnia frowned, still thinking there was something about the photo of Angelique with the Prince of Elazar that wasn’t right. Impossibly, she had thought it was actually Trella in that photo, but Trella was a recluse. Cinnia had only met her in person a couple of times.

  The nurse was on the phone and finally noticed her. Cinnia waved a greeting and tried to smile past her jumbled thoughts. Tried not to think of Henri and twins. It was too big and scary to absorb unless she was forced to.

  The nurse indicated to a clerk that Cinnia was here. The clerk nodded and turned to the cabinet to pick out her file.

  Cinnia loosened her scarf and started to unbutton her coat, pleased to be warm and dry when it was such a tremendously miserable day, even by London’s late-February standards.

  Behind her, a door to an exam room opened, startling her into stepping out of the way and turning.

  “Oh. Excuse me,” the woman said.

  “My fault—” Cinnia began, then blurted, “Oh, my God!” as she recognized that model-like physique and those aristocratic features. “I was just thinking about you!”

  “Cinnia!” Angelique beamed and they went in for a hug like long-lost sisters, affection squeezing Cinnia’s arms tight around the other woman, her excitement completely overriding what should have been way more caution on her part.

  The reality of Cinnia’s situation hit belatedly and continued to strike in successive slaps over the next few seconds.

  Cinnia felt Henri’s sister stiffen as she came up against Cinnia’s baby bump beneath the layers of her clothes.

  Don’t tell him, Cinnia thought with panic.

  They drew back. Cinnia knew she wore a look of horror, which was awful when she was actually happy about the baby, happy to see—

  “Oh, my God,” Cinnia whispered. “I thought you were your sister.”

  Cinnia had always been able to tell the twins apart quite easily. It had been surprise and a quick glance and an even quicker assumption that had made her mistake Trella for Angelique. Trella never left the compound in Spain without one of her siblings accompanying her.

  Did that mean Henri was here? Cinnia looked around with alarm, only seeing the guard.

  Of course—that’s why the guard seemed familiar. She’d seen her at Sus Brazos, the Sauveterre family home in Spain. This was Trella, even though there was nothing distinct to tell the women apart, Cinnia just knew by something in their demeanor. Angelique had that hint of reserve that Henri wore, while Trella had the radiance of warmth that Ramon projected.

  Then it hit that not only was it odd for Trella to be out in public, with no family in sight, but she was also in a prenatal clinic.

  “Oh. My. God.”

  What was the normally cloistered Sauveterre twin doing in London? Holding a bottle of prenatal vitamins and looking guilty as hell? How did a woman who lived like a nun and had female guards get herself pregnant? Henri was going to lose his mind!

  Trella tucked the bottle behind her back and opened her mouth, but only a weak um came out.

  Cinnia’s eyes were widening to the point they stung. She was pretty sure they were going to fall right out of her head.

  She watched Trella’s gaze narrow as the full scope of where they were and why penetrated her side. Cinnia’s blood pressure had been stable so far, but her limbs began to tingle and her head went so hot she felt like her hair was on fire. She was pretty sure whatever breaths she was managing to draw lost all their oxygen before hitting her lungs.

  “Are you...okay?” Cinnia asked hesitantly. She didn’t know exactly what Trella had been through when she had been kidnapped, but she knew it had left her afraid of men for a long time. Afraid of a lot of things.

  Trella, being an enormously resilient and self-deprecating person, let out a choke of hysterical laughter and rolled her eyes. It was a “look where I am,” and her shrug conveyed that she was dealing with an unplanned pregnancy, but not one caused by something traumatic.

  “How about you?” she challenged with wry cheer, then sobered. She frowned at Cinnia’s middle. “Is it...?” She glanced around.

  Henri’s. That’s what she was asking.

  Cinnia’s eyes teared up. Please don’t tell him, she silently pleaded.

  This was part sitcom, part Greek tragedy. Her own hysterical laugh pressed for escape, but her tight throat wouldn’t release it.

  Trella straightened her spine so she was that little bit taller than Cinnia. She gave her wavy dark hair a toss.

  “We’ll pretend this didn’t happen.” She was a stunning woman in her midtwenties, but she looked nine years old, hiding stolen candy and bravely pretending it wasn’t in her red-hot hand.

  This was the sister Henri had told Cinnia had existed in his childhood, the brat who had driven him crazy getting herself into trouble, always needing her big brother to step in and fix it.

  Cinnia wanted to hug her again. She was so proud of Trella, even if conquering her past had led to a complicated future.

  And she desperately wanted to share this moment with Henri, instinctively knowing that after the shock, this sign of healing in Trella would be a much-needed bright spot.

  Or not. Worrying about any Sauveterre would sit heavily on him. Taking care of his mother and sisters was as much responsibility as he was willing to shoulder. That’s why he’d drawn such a hard line against marrying and procreating.

  A wistful sigh filled her, but she held it in. Ironic that she wanted to be there for him as he dealt with his sister’s news knowing full well he would lose his mind once he learned Cinnia was carrying his child.

  I told you from the beginning I would never marry you.

  Her heart clenched afresh, abraded and stung. Scorned.

  “Ms. Whitley,” the nurse said behind her. “I can take you now.”

  “It’s really good to see you,” Cinnia said to Trella, holding out her arms for another quick hug. “I’ve missed all of you.”

  Most of Cinnia’s interactions with Henri’s family had been over the tablet, but she felt the loss of connection to the Sauveterre clan quite deeply.

  “I would ask you to give my regards to everyone, but...” Cinnia trailed off.

  Trella’s arms were firm and strong around her. She pulled away slowly, tilting her head so they were eye-to-eye. Would her baby have those Sauveterre eyes, Cinnia wondered with a pang? Babies?

  “You and I can stay in touch now,” Trella said with a conspiratorial twitch at the corners of her mouth. Her expression sobered to concern. “Can I call you? I’d like to know why...”

  Cinnia knew that keeping the pregnancy from Henri was a losing battle. She just wanted a plan in place before he found out so he wouldn’t feel trapped. Trella was far too close to her siblings to keep her own pregnancy a secret from them for long. Once she spilled those beans, Cinnia’s condition would be quick to follow.

  But if she could buy a little time to get her ducks in a row, maybe find out exactly how many babies she was actually having...

  She nodded. “If you’re still in London at the end of the week, why don’t we have dinner?”

  CHAPTER ONE

  Two years ago...

  CINNIA WAS NOT a social climber, but her roommate, Vera, was. Cheerfully and without apology. Thus, when Vera wangled opening-night tickets from the owner of the hottest new nightclub in London, she demanded Cinnia accompany her.

  “I told him about your title,” Vera said. “That’s how I got him to say yes to our coming.”

  “The title that belongs to my great-uncle a million times removed whom I’ve never met and who wouldn’t know me from Eve?”

  “I might have exaggerated how close you are. But I told him about your granny’s vintage tiara and since his theme is ‘flappers and gangsters,’ and he wants window dressing, he said we could come as staff. No swag,” Vera said with a dismayed wrinkle of her nose. “Just mingle with the guests. Be first on the dance floor, that sort of thing.”

  Cinnia was reluctant. Her weekends were her only time away from her job at a wealth management firm to put the pieces in place for striking out on her own. She had set September as her goal and had a mile-long list of to-dos to make it happen.

  “You work too hard,” Vera groaned. “Look at it as a chance to rub elbows with potential clients. This will be wall-to-wall, top-tier, A-list celebs.”

  “That’s not how it works.”

  Cinnia’s mother saw a different opportunity when Cinnia spoke to her over the tablet. “Tell me I can’t wear the tiara so I can tell Vera there’s no point.”