The Bride: In the Rich Man's World Read online

  HOW DO YOU GET A MAN TO PROPOSE WHEN HE THINKS OF YOU AS A SISTER?

  It would be a challenge—particularly since that man was steely tycoon Theron Anetakis. But Isabella Caplan had known from the moment she’d met Theron as a girl that she was meant for him, and he for her. And now she was going to make him realize it, too...by seducing him to one knee.

  But if becoming his bride came at the cost of his honor, could he forgive her? Could she forgive herself?

  Praise for New York Times bestselling author

  Maya Banks

  “More stories like this will make me a very happy reader indeed.”

  —SmartBitchesTrashyBooks.com on The Bride

  “Banks’ story has it all: wit, charm, mystery and sparkling chemistry between the characters.”

  —RT Book Reviews on Billionaire’s Contract Engagement

  “Banks has a top-of-the-line story with opposites making their way toward a new middle road together.”

  —RT Book Reviews on Tempted by Her Innocent Kiss

  Praise for USA TODAY bestselling author

  Carol Marinelli

  “[Marinelli’s] unforgettable characters will compel readers and pull at their heartstrings.”

  —RT Book Reviews on An Indecent Proposition

  “Marinelli’s In the Rich Man’s World is a fast-paced read with exciting characters and some intense emotional scenes. This page-turner is a great…read.”

  —RT Book Reviews

  MAYA BANKS

  has loved romance novels from a very (very) early age, and almost from the start, she dreamed of writing them, as well. In her teens she filled countless notebooks with overdramaticstories of love and passion. Today her stories are only slightly less dramatic, but no less romantic.

  She lives in Texas with her husband and three children and wouldn’t contemplate living anywhere other than the South. When she’s not writing, she’s usually hunting, fishing or playing poker. She loves to hear from her readers, and she can be found on Facebook, or you can follow her on Twitter (@maya_banks). Her website, www.mayabanks.com, is where you can find up-to-date information on all of Maya’s current and upcoming releases.

  CAROL MARINELLI

  Originally from England, Carol now lives in Melbourne,Australia. She adores going back to the U.K. for a visit—actually, she adores going anywhere for a visit—and constantly (expensively) strives to overcome her fear of flying. She has three gorgeous children who are growing up so fast (too fast—they’ve just worked out that she lies about her age!) and keep her busy with a never-ending round of homework, sports and friends coming over.

  A nurse and an author, Carol writes for the Harlequin Presents and Harlequin Medical Romance lines and is passionate about both. She loves the fast-paced, busy setting of a modern hospital, but every now and then admits it’s bliss to escape to the glamorous, alluring world of her Presents heroes and heroines. A bit like her real life actually!

  For more on Carol and her latest releases, visit her website, www.carolmarinelli.com.

  New York Times Bestselling Author

  The Bride

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  The Bride by Maya Banks

  In the Rich Man's World by Carol Marinelli

  Dear Reader,

  I’m so excited that one of my favorite Harlequin Desire books, The Tycoon’s Rebel Bride, is being reissued so that readers can revisit beloved characters and that new readers have a chance to meet them for the first time.

  Bella has long been one of my favorite heroines that I’ve ever written. She’s smart and sassy but most important, she’s determined when it comes to landing the man she loves. It’s so much fun to watch how befuddled Theron is by the gorgeous package of dynamite that explodes into his life and completely upends it.

  I hope that you’ll enjoy reacquainting yourselves with Bella and Theron, and if it’s your first encounter with them, I hope you’ll enjoy their love story every bit as much as I have.

  xoxo

  Maya Banks

  The Bride

  New York Times Bestselling Author

  Maya Banks

  To Fatin and Lillie, two terrific ladies

  I am very privileged to know and call friends

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Epilogue

  Chapter 1

  Theron Anetakis sifted through the mountain of paperwork his secretary had left on his desk for him to read, muttering expletives as he tossed letters left and right. Occasionally one would garner more than a brief glance and then he’d shove it to a separate pile of things requiring his attention. Others, he consigned to the trash can by his feet.

  His takeover of the New York offices of Anetakis International hadn’t been without its pitfalls. After the discovery that one of the staff members had been selling Anetakis hotel plans to a competitor, Theron and his brothers had cleaned house, hiring new staff. The culprit, Chrysander’s former personal assistant, was behind bars after a plea bargain. They had been leery of replacing her and allowing another employee unfettered access to sensitive company information, but in the end, Theron had opted to bring in his secretary from the London office. She was older, stable and most importantly, loyal. Though after the debacle with Roslyn, none of the Anetakis brothers were keen to trust another employee implicitly.

  Theron’s arrival from London had been met by a pile of documents, contracts, messages and e-mails. Two days later, he was still trying to make sense of the mess. And to think his secretary had already weeded out the majority of the clutter.

  He paused over one letter addressed to Chrysander and almost tossed it as junk mail, but yanked it back into his line of vision when he saw what it said. His brow furrowed deeper as he scanned the page, and stretched out his other hand for the phone.

  Uncaring of the time difference, or that he would probably wake Chrysander, he punched in the number and waited impatiently for the call to go through. He spared a brief moment of guilt that he would also be disturbing Marley, Chrysander’s wife, but hopefully he would pick up the phone before it wakened her.

  “This better be damn good,” Chrysander growled in a sleepy voice.

  Theron didn’t waste time with pleasantries. “Who the hell is Isabella?” he demanded.

  “Isabella?” There was no doubt as to the confusion in Chrysander’s voice. “You’re calling me at this hour to ask me about a woman?”

  “Tell me...” Theron shook his head. No, Chrysander wouldn’t be unfaithful to Marley. Whatever this woman was to Chrysander, it must have been before he met Marley. “Just tell me what I need to know in order to get rid of her,” Theron said impatiently. “I’ve a letter here informing you of her progress, whatever the hell that means, and that she’s graduated successfully.” Theron’s lips thinned in disgust. “Theos, Chrysander. Isn’t she a bit young for you to have been involved with?”

&nbs
p; Chrysander exploded in a torrent of Greek, and Theron held the phone from his ear until the storm calmed.

  “I do not like your implication, little brother,” Chrysander said in an icy voice. “I am married. Of course I am not involved with this Isabella.” And then Theron heard Chrysander’s sharp intake of breath. “Bella. Of course,” he murmured. “I’m not thinking clearly at this hour of the night.”

  “And I repeat, who is this Bella?” Theron asked, his patience running out.

  “Caplan. Isabella Caplan. Surely you remember, Theron.”

  “Little Isabella?” Theron asked in surprise. He hadn’t remembered her at all until Chrysander mentioned her last name. An image of a gangly, preteen girl with ponytails and braces shot to mind. He’d seen her a few times since, but he honestly couldn’t conjure an image. He remembered her being shy and unassuming, always trying to fade into the background. She’d been at his parents’ funeral, but he’d been too consumed with grief to pay attention to the young woman. How old would she have been then?

  Chrysander chuckled. “She’s not so little anymore. She will have just graduated. Was doing quite well. Intelligent girl.”

  “But why are you getting a report on her?” Theron asked. “For God’s sake, I thought she might be a former mistress, and the last thing I wanted was her causing trouble for Marley.”

  “While your devotion to my wife is commendable, it’s hardly necessary,” Chrysander said dryly. Then he sighed. “Our obligation to Bella had temporarily slipped my mind. My focus of late has been on Marley and our child.”

  “What obligation?” Theron asked sharply. “And why haven’t I heard of this before?”

  “Our fathers were longtime friends and business partners. Her father extracted a promise from our father that if anything should ever happen to him that Isabella would be looked after. Our father preceded her father in death, so I assumed responsibility for her welfare when her father also passed away.”

  “Then you should know that, according to this letter, she’s arriving in New York two days from now,” Theron said.

  Chrysander cursed. “I can’t leave Marley right now.”

  “Of course you can’t,” Theron said impatiently. “I’ll take care of it. But I need details. The last thing you need right now is to be saddled with another concern. New York is my responsibility. I’ll count this as yet another problem I’ve inherited when we traded offices.”

  “Bella won’t be any problem. She’s a sweet girl. All you need to do is help her settle her affairs and make sure her needs are provided for. She doesn’t gain full control of her inheritance until she’s twenty-five or she marries, whichever happens first, so in the meantime Anetakis International acts as the trustee. As you are now the New York representative of Anetakis, that makes you her guardian of sorts.”

  Theron groaned. “I knew I should have bloody well made Piers take over the New York office.”

  Chrysander laughed. “This will be a piece of cake, little brother. It shouldn’t take you long at all to make sure she’s settled and has everything she needs.”

  * * *

  Isabella Caplan had no sooner made it past the airport security checkpoint when she saw a man in a chauffeur’s uniform holding a sign with her name on it.

  She held up a hand in a wave and made her way over. To her surprise, two other men stepped forward to flank her. Her confusion must have showed because the chauffeur smiled and said, “Welcome to New York, Ms. Caplan. I’m Henry, your driver for today, and these gentlemen are from Mr. Anetakis’s security detail.”

  “Uh, hi,” she said.

  “I’ve arranged for someone to collect your luggage from baggage claim,” Henry said as he herded her toward the exit. “It will be delivered to the hotel shortly.”

  Outside, one of the security men held the limousine door open for her then got in after her, while the second climbed into the front seat with Henry. Privacy wasn’t in the cards, and what she really wanted to do was wilt all over her seat.

  Isabella leaned back as the limousine pulled away from the passenger pickup area en route to Imperial Park, the hotel owned by the Anetakis brothers. Chrysander had arranged a suite anytime she visited New York, not that it had occurred often.

  This trip had been planned as nothing more than a brief stopover on her way to Europe, a fact she’d apprised Chrysander of in her correspondence. All of that had changed the minute she’d received a terse missive from Theron Anetakis informing her that he was now overseeing her affairs, and he would meet briefly with her in New York to make sure she had everything she needed for her trip abroad.

  He didn’t know it yet, but her trip was a thing of the past. She was going to stay in New York...indefinitely.

  The limousine pulled up in front of the hotel and ground smoothly to a halt. Her door opened, and the security guard who’d ridden in front extended his hand to assist her out. Once inside the lobby, she was ushered immediately to her suite, bypassing the front desk altogether.

  Within ten minutes, her luggage was delivered to her room along with a bouquet of flowers and a basket filled with an assortment of snacks and fruits.

  If that wasn’t enough, just as she settled onto the couch to kick off her shoes and catch her breath, another knock sounded. Grumbling under her breath, she went to open the door and found another hotel employee standing there. He extended a smooth, cream-colored envelope.

  “A message from Mr. Anetakis.”

  She raised an eyebrow. “Which Mr. Anetakis?”

  The young man looked discomfited. “Theron.”

  She smiled, thanked him and then closed the door. She turned the envelope over and lightly ran her finger over the inscription on the front. Isabella Caplan. Had he written it himself?

  Experiencing a moment of silliness, she brought the paper to her nose, hoping to catch his smell. There. Light but undeniably his scent. She remembered it as though it were yesterday. He obviously still wore the same cologne.

  She broke open the seal and pulled the card from the envelope. In a distinctly masculine scrawl, he’d written his instructions for her to come to his office the next morning.

  An amused smile curved her lips. As arrogant as she remembered. Summoning her like a wayward child. At least Chrysander had dropped by her suite to check in on her. But then she’d been a mere eighteen, and he’d also provided a veritable nanny to chaperone her for her visit to the city.

  She’d be more than happy to meet Theron on his terms. It would make it that more satisfying to rock him back on his heels. The basis for her big trip to Europe had been solely because that was where Theron lived. Or had lived. When Chrysander married, he and his wife moved to his Greek island on a permanent basis. Which meant that Theron had moved a lot closer to Isabella. Finally.

  The trip to Europe was off. Her seduction of Theron was on.

  She sank onto the couch and put her feet up on the coffee table. Vibrant red toenail polish flashed in front of her as she wiggled her toes. The delicate ankle bracelet flashed and shimmered with the movement of her foot.

  Theron had only gotten more gorgeous over the last few years. He’d lost the youthful handsomeness and replaced it with raw masculinity. While she’d been waiting to grow up so she could stake her claim, he’d only become more desirable. More irresistible. And she’d only fallen more in love with him.

  It wouldn’t be easy. She didn’t imagine he’d fall readily into her arms. The Anetakis brothers were hard. They could have any woman they wanted. They were ruthless in business, but they were also loyal, and honor was everything.

  The phone rang, and she sighed in aggravation. The phone was across the room, and she was quite comfortable on the couch. Shoving herself up, she stumbled over to answer it.

  “Hello?”

  There was a brief silence.

 
; “Ms. Caplan—Isabella.”

  She recognized the accented English, and a thrill skirted down her spine. It wasn’t Chrysander, and given that Piers was out of the country and had never so much as had a conversation with Isabella, it could only be Theron.

  “Yes,” she said huskily, hoping her nervousness wasn’t betrayed.

  “This is Theron Anetakis. I was calling to make sure you made it in okay and are settling in with no difficulty.”

  “Thank you. Everything is fine.”

  “Is the suite to your liking?”

  “Yes, of course. It was kind of you to reserve it for me.”

  “I didn’t reserve it,” he said impatiently. “It’s my private suite.”

  She looked around with renewed interest. Knowing that she was staying where Theron spent a lot of his time gave her a decadent thrill.

  “Then where are you staying?” she asked curiously. “Why would you give up your suite?”

  “The hotel is undergoing renovations. The only available suite was...mine. I’m temporarily taking a different room.”

  She laughed. “I could have taken other accommodations. There was no need for you to move out for me.”

  “A few days won’t make a difference,” he said. “You should be comfortable before your trip to Europe.”

  She swallowed back the denial that she would be going to Europe. No sense in putting him on guard as soon as she arrived. There’d be plenty of time to apprise him of her change in plans. Mainly when he had no chance of talking her out of it.

  A mischievous smile curved her lips. “I received your summons.”

  He made a sound of startled exclamation that sounded suspiciously like an oath. “Surely I didn’t sound so autocratic, Ms. Caplan.”

  “Please, call me Isabella. Or Bella. Surely you remember when we weren’t so formal? Granted it’s been a few years, but I haven’t forgotten a single thing about you.”