Improperly Wed (Aristocratic Grooms #3)(14)
Author: Anna DePalo

“I suppose you acquired the Berkshire estate through a similar anonymous purchase? The privately held company that you used for the transaction wouldn’t be LG Management, would it?” She named the mysterious company that she had been told owned the Las Vegas hacienda that they were in.

Colin inclined his head. “LG Management, yes.” He quirked his lips. “Lord Granville Management.”

Belinda’s eyes narrowed. “How clever of you.”

“I’m glad you think so.”

Her mind raced even more. How was it possible that the family holdings had been so diminished and she had been unaware of it? Was the family’s financial situation that dire?

“How did you pay for your lavish wedding to Tod?” Colin asked, seemingly reading her mind.

Belinda started guiltily. “It’s none of your business.”

Colin thrust his hands in his pockets. “I imagine that in the customary way the Dillinghams bore some of the cost, but as far as the Wentworth share, I can’t imagine that you shouldered the entire burden.”

The truth was that she had paid for a portion of her wedding. But when Uncle Hugh and her mother had insisted on a lavish affair, she’d given in—on the condition that they bear the additional expense.

“I imagine that Hugh saw your nuptials as Napoleon’s escape from Elba,” Colin said, connecting the dots for her. “It was his last, desperate gamble to save the family legacy through a fresh infusion of cash from the Dillinghams. Unfortunately, it instead became his Waterloo.”

She stared at Colin in disbelief. It was inconceivable that a Granville owned Wentworth land now. But then again, she imagined that some people found it hard to comprehend that a Wentworth—namely, her—was married to a Granville.

But all was not lost, she told herself.

“Even if you own both properties,” she countered, “as your wife, I have a claim to them. We are married, after all.”

She’d learned something from consulting a matrimonial lawyer.

Colin’s eyes gleamed with reluctant admiration. “Yes, but only to half the property at most, in all likelihood. And at best, you might be able to get a legal accounting, but then you’d only be entitled to a portion of the cash value from the sale of the estates to a third party.”

The rat. Colin would rigorously litigate. She should have known better than to try to best Colin at his own game. Business moguls like him kept schools of corporate lawyers well-fed.

“What about the property that you acquired through your business during our nonmarriage?” she challenged. “Wouldn’t that be considered marital property subject to division in a divorce? We don’t have a prenuptial agreement.”

“Since our marriage has been brief and defunct from day one—” he didn’t say thanks to you, though Belinda felt the words as an accusation “—it’s unlikely that a court would view those as up for grabs. In any case, I assume your first priority would be trying to get back the Wentworth estate.”

Belinda tried to keep the defeat out of her shoulders, because he was right.

“It seems we’re at an impasse.”

“You’ve obviously given this thought,” she accused.

“Quite, but then three years is a long time to ruminate…about having a wife without conjugal rights.”

Belinda felt the flush crawl up her face. “What makes you think I give a fig for what happens to some old buildings and parcels of land an ocean away?”

“Oh, you do,” he returned silkily. “The Mayfair town house and the Berkshire estate are where you spent your childhood.”

Belinda bit her bottom lip.

“I only observed you from afar,” Colin added mockingly, “but I was aware enough of your comings and goings to understand that much.”

He was right, damn him.

She recalled running through the halls of the Mayfair town house when she was four or five, and later, learning to ride a horse on the Berkshire estate. And then there had been the innumerable dinner parties. She’d watched her mother get ready for them by donning an expensive gown and selecting the jewels from the family safe. When she was still an adolescent, she’d been invited to join those dinner parties. It was where she’d first met artists of national and international importance and learned the love of art that she’d turned into a career.

Still, she knew enough not to give away too much. “What do you want?”

“I want the woman I married. The one who made decisions for herself, instead of following in her family’s footsteps. For a wife like that, I might be willing to come to some sort of compromise about the disposal of my properties.”

“I’m not into rebellion enough to be your wife.”

“Oh, you’re more of a rebel than you think,” Colin returned smoothly, stepping closer.

Belinda lifted her eyebrows in mock inquiry.

“One can even say your move to New York, distancing yourself from the other Wentworths, was a small act of rebellion.”

She felt strangely exposed.

“It’s your choice,” Colin said. “You can choose to be a Princess Leia or a Han Solo. You can choose to be a stick-in-the-mud and annul our marriage for another safe and family-approved husband, or you can be someone who lives life according to her own terms. Which is it going to be?”

“Frankly, it’s like being offered a bargain by Darth Vader,” she tossed back, covering her sudden confusion.

Colin’s eyes crinkled, and then he laughed.

Belinda swallowed. Despite her flippant response, Colin’s words hit close to home. But then, what did he know of her life? She wasn’t a stick-in-the-mud, damn it. She was just responsible.

This conversation was enough to make a girl long for some shopping therapy.

“What’s in this for you?” she asked.

“I told you. I’m cultivating an investment.”

She fought the urge to stamp her foot in frustration. “I don’t know what that means.”

“Does it matter?” he retorted. “Your side of the game is clear. You can do as your family dictates and end our marriage, but that may leave the Wentworth heritage solely in my hands. Is that what you want?”

What she wanted? She had no idea, not anymore. There was too much at stake, and he was far too attractive, standing so close to her, looking so powerful and in control.

“The other option is better,” he tempted. “By staying married to me, you can both rebel and play the role of dutiful daughter or niece at the same time. It’s rare that such an opportunity presents itself.”