âWhat if I say no?â
Not an option. Conrad played his trump card. âDo you want my signature on those divorce papers?â
Jayne dropped her rings on top of the computer that just happened to be resting over the divorce papers. âAre you blackmailing me?â
âCall it a trade.â He rested his hand over the five-carat diamond heâd chosen for her, only her. âYou give me two days and Iâll give you the divorce papers. Signed.â
âJust two days?â She studied him through narrowed, suspicious eyes.
He gathered up the rings and pressed them to her palm, closing her fingers over them again. âForty-eight hours.â
Forty-eight hours to romance her back into his bed one last time.
Dear Reader,
For as long as I can remember, I have adored James Bond moviesâthe glitz, the glamour, the thrills! Regardless of the actor, 007âs alpha appeal has certainly stood the test of time. Some of my favourite Bond movies include Monte Carlo-based Casino Royale, Never Say Never Again and GoldenEye. (Dreamy sigh!)
However, beyond the glitz, glamour and thrills, the part of the Bond mystique that touched my heart most came from seeing such an indomitable hero fall truly and deeply in love, like in On Her Majestyâs Secret Service. What a treat to write a story about my own Monte Carlo secret-agent hero as he secures happily ever after with his one true love!
Thank you for choosing an Alpha Brotherhood read. Iâm pleased to say there will be more in the series, the next one featuring Malcolm Douglas in Playing for Keeps.
Happy reading!
Cheers,
Cathy
catherinemann.com
facebook.com/CatherineMannAuthor Twitter: @CatherineMann1
USA TODAY bestselling author CATHERINE MANN lives on a sunny Florida beach with her flyboy husband and their four children. With more than forty books in print in over twenty countries, she has also celebrated wins for both a RITA>® Award and a Booksellersâ Best Award. Catherine enjoys chatting with readers onlineâthanks to the wonders of the internet, which allows her to network with her laptop by the water! Contact Catherine through her website, www.catherinemann.com, find her on Facebook and Twitter (@CatherineMann1) or reach her by snail mail at PO Box 6065, Navarre, FL 32566, USA.
Monte Carlo, Casino de la Méditerranée
It wasnât every day that a woman bet her five-carat, yellow-diamond engagement ring at a roulette table. But it was the only way Jayne Hughes could think of to get her pigheaded husband to take the rock back.
Sheâd left Conrad messages, telling him to contact her attorney. Conrad ignored them. Her lawyer had called his, to no avail. Divorce papers had been couriered, hand delivered to Conradâs personal secretary, whoâd been told not to sign for them under any circumstances.
As Jayne angled through the crush of gamblers toward the roulette table, her fist closed around the engagement ring Conrad had given her seven years ago. Since he owned the Casino de la Méditerranée, if she lost the long-shot bet, the ring would be back in his possession All or nothing, she had to lose to win. She just wanted a clean break and no more heartache.
Jayne plunked down the ring on the velvet square for 12 red. The anniversary of their breakup fell on January 12, next week. Theyâd spent three years of their seven years married apart. By now Conrad should have been able to accept that so they could move on with their lives.
Familiar sounds echoed up the domed ceiling, chimes and laughter, squeals of excitement mixed with the âahhhhâ of defeat. Sheâd called these walls full of frescoes home for the four years theyâd lived together as man and wife. Even though she moved with ease here now, sheâd grown up in a more down-to-earth home in Miami. Her fatherâs dental practice had kept them very comfortable. Of course, they would have been a lot more comfortable had her father not been hiding away a second family.
Regardless, her parentsâ finances were nowhere close to touching the affluence of this social realm.
Her ring had been a Van Cleef & Arpels, one-of-a-kind design that had dazzled her back when she believed in fairy tales.
Cinderella had left the building. Jayneâs glass slipper had been shattered right along with her heart. Prince Charming didnât exist. She made her own destiny and would take charge of her own life.
Nodding to the croupier in charge of spinning the wheel, she nudged her ring forward, centering it on the number 12 red. The casino employee tugged his tie and frowned, looking just past her shoulders and giving her only a secondâs warning before â¦
Conrad.
She could feel his presence behind her without looking. And how damn unfair was that? Even after three years apart, never once laying eyes on him the entire time, her body still knew him. Wanted him. Her skin tingled under the silky beige gown and her mind filled with memories of spending an entire weekend making love with the Mediterranean breeze blowing in through the balcony doors.