Indecent Intent by Bethany Amber Read Free Book Online Page B

her eyes. ‘A bargain?’ she could hear her own voice tremble. ‘What sort of a bargain?’
    â€˜You can enjoy all this luxury and more for one year,’ he explained, moving away to gaze out of the panoramic window, his back to her. ‘If Tom will allow me to buy you for that year.’
    Gabrielle stiffened. He could not be serious! ‘B-buy me?’ She could scarcely speak, so she reached for and sipped some of the glorious champagne to wet her suddenly dry mouth.
    â€˜Just for a year,’ Verity repeated, confirming his proposal. ‘And for that I will pay two million dollars.’
    He said the sum so calmly.
    Gabrielle’s breath caught in her lungs and her pulse quickened, pounding at her temples.
    â€˜However, if he loses the money with his gambling…’ Verity turned and stared at her, his hands resting comfortably behind his back, his stare more intense than she had ever noticed before. ‘If he loses the money,’ he said again, stressing the clause, impressing upon her the likelihood of such a loss occurring, ‘you are mine forever, and he works for me for the rest of his miserable life.’
    â€˜But – but you know he will—’
    â€˜Lose?’ Verity laughed. ‘Of course he will lose. The man is a born loser. And then you will belong to me, fair and square.’
    â€˜And if he refuses?’
    â€˜If he refuses…?’ the amusement vanished from his face, to be replaced by a cold, threatening stare. ‘My dear, your husband is already in debt to me… he has no choice but to accept my offer.’
Chapter Three
    â€˜Two million dollars?’ Tom’s eyes flashed with greed. ‘Two million dollars?’ He gazed around Marshall Verity’s suite, imagining how it would feel to occupy such luxurious surroundings.
    Gabrielle hung her head. Once again in the black dress she looked both deliciously sexy and demure. She knew what Tom’s answer to the proposal would be, but maybe he would soon win at poker or craps and be able to pay all the money back to Verity early, but she knew it was a vain hope. He’d never been on talking terms with Lady Luck, so why should she befriend him now?
    What would happen to her, she wondered, when the inevitable happened – when he lost the lot? Yes, she’d earlier been on the verge of leaving her moron of a husband, but so she had been many times before, and hoped to be many times again in the future. But she loved him, and she could not help but love him.
    â€˜Only for a year?’ Tom didn’t seem able to believe his luck or his ears. He looked at his wife, his face a confusion of emotions. She lifted her face and looked back at him, pleading silently with her sparkling eyes. Perhaps he would come through for her. Perhaps at the last minute he would change his ways and do the right thing by her – do what he knew he should do.
    But the greed was still there. She could see love in his eyes, too. She could see loss, and even pain. Yes, he did love her, despite the selfish way he treated her most of the time. But the greed was still there.
    â€˜And I have Gabrielle,’ Marshall Verity confirmed. ‘She is mine to use as I wish. Her body, especially, is mine.’ His hand rested possessively on her bare forearm. He stood beside her, looking intently at Tom, safe in the knowledge that his offer would be accept.
    â€˜And you will give me two million dollars?’ He was looking at Verity again, the deal being struck around Gabrielle, her input not asked for and not wanted – her feelings bypassed.
    Verity’s hand moved and his arm slipped around her shoulder, pulling her closer to him in a symbolic gesture of ownership. He was closing the deal. Even if Tom wanted to decline the proposal, it was now too late. Verity knew that, Tom knew that, and Gabrielle knew that.
    She hung her head again.
    â€˜So, it is agreed,’ Verity said,