The Millionaire's Convenient Bride Read Free Page A

that was meant to prevent all of his children from inheriting and spending the money unwisely. Louisa hadn’t informed them yet, and was eager to finalise it.
    “ I need to speak to him, and you, as soon as possible if that’s okay?” Louisa hit send on the email to her assistant, asking for the documents to be faxed to the lodge. She hoped the snow storm hadn’t knocked out the line.
    Sophie looked concerned by her request but didn’t hesitate as she rose to fetch her brother.
    “It would be best to do this in the office actually, Sophie.”
    “ You shouldn’t be walking around, Louisa. You need to rest.”
    “ It can’t wait, Sophie, I’m sorry.” Louisa hated to push the younger woman, who was very soft spoken because of having to live with her father for longer than her brothers. He had been a loud and demanding man, the reason both of her brothers had left home in their teens.
    Louisa hoped that Sophie understood that she snapped because it was a matter of importance. She helped her from the bed and placed an arm around her waist to help her to the office on the far side of the lodge. She could feel the strain in Sophie’s muscles from her nervousness about the situation.
    “It’s okay. It’s just a little more paperwork than I had anticipated,” Louisa said, trying to calm the other woman.
    “ Thank you, but I know my father. He was not happy unless he could control everyone’s lives. If it’s something to do with the will, I can’t say I’m surprised that something’s gone wrong.”
    Louisa considered trying to settle her fears again but thought better of it . She knew that Sophie was a strong woman under her delicate exterior. She had to be to have lived with her father for so long. The silence as they walked to the back of the lodge gave Louisa unwanted time to think. The thought of seeing Dominic again made her stomach clench in a way that had nothing to do with her injuries. His image swam in her mind’s eye. The smell of his cologne was everywhere in the house even though he didn’t spend much time there. His scent was so familiar to Louisa that it was ingrained in her mind, a mix of the spice of varnished wood, dust, and expensive cologne. Louisa shivered. The house was warm, yet still a chill crept through her skin, raising goose pimples on her exposed flesh. She tried not to think of how his lips had run along her skin that night, his breath warm as it trailed down her stomach, over her hips as he focused his mouth there. A harsh breath escaped her lips as she struggled to suppress the memory. If Sophie heard it, she didn’t comment. 
    ****
    Dominic reviewed the papers strewn on the mahogany desk. Many were figures for the year that he should have gone over last week, but he had been too busy helping his brother with the merger to even glance at them. Dominic had aged beyond his years since his father had died. The lines in his face had deepened far more than his twenty-nine years should have allowed, and he found more grey hairs by the day.
    Snow swirled outside the window, the icy cold causing frost to collect on the glass. The mountains that he knew were beyond their estate, visible even at night as dark looming masses on the horizon, were now blanked out by the white sheet. His mind was elsewhere, on the touch of Louisa’s skin as he had pulled her from that car. He’d thought she was dead, her lifeless body hanging limp against him as he’d placed her on the ground. A handful of snow had cleared her head of the blood that had run down her cheek from the cut on her forehead. The cold had seemed to revive her, and his whole body had slumped, the tension that built in his chest gone in a rushed breath of relief. She was alive. He’d smiled down at the woman who meant so much to him once upon a time. Yet there was still that memory, the sting that she left him with. He had known that her strong will wouldn’t allow her to give in to a man who would lead her to a life where she