Maxine Sullivan - The CEO Takes a Wife / The Throw-Away Bride

“Felicia, how does it feel to be the mother of the bride?” one of the journalists called out.

“Old,” she said with a pout.

Everyone chuckled. “You’re not so old, Felicia,” the journalist said.

Felicia sent him a stunning movie-star smile. “Darling, I love you.” She winked. “Come and see me after the reception.”

“I’ll hold you to that,” the reporter quipped with a huge grin.

Felicia chuckled, stepping between Olivia and Alex and linking her arms through theirs. “Let’s smile for the cameras, darlings.”

A few minutes later, they were still snapping pictures. Alex looked across at Olivia and could see how much of a strain it was becoming. He felt the same. On the other hand, Felicia seemed as though she would go on forever, cornering the attention and loving it all. It’s what she did best.

He stepped away from the women. “Right, that’s enough,” he all but growled. They still had a reception to get through.

Felicia darted a look at him and seemed to realize the moment was over. She turned back to the cameras and clapped her hands. “Right, fellas. That’s a wrap. This is my daughter’s day and I want to go play mother of the bride.”

Alex looked beyond the words and realized something. He had no doubt Felicia loved her daughter, but he had to wonder if Felicia didn’t love Felicia just that little bit more. He suddenly had a new appreciation of what it must be like to live with a superstar.

And he had a new appreciation of Olivia as her own person. For Olivia to get out from under her mother’s shadow, to make a name for herself as she’d done, showed her depth of character. He’d chosen well in his bride.

Hell, and he’d just gotten married!

His sacrifice had been worth it.

Then he looked at his new wife and all at once it didn’t seem like such a sacrifice. There would be benefits.

Very nice benefits.

Not the least of which would be making love to a flawless beauty who put up walls he now intended to pull down.

Olivia was glad when they moved back inside the Opera House to the waiting reception. Not that she had escaped the prying eyes. There were at least three hundred guests here today and the haste of their marriage had most of them looking at her and Alex with suspicion.

Was she or wasn’t she?

It was a thought she tried to put to the side and not think about. It had been the same last night at a Valente family dinner in her honor. She couldn’t help but note the question in everyone’s eyes.

Everyone’s except Cesare Valente’s.

He knew why Alex was marrying her so hastily.

Surprisingly, Olivia hadn’t expected to like Alex’s father, but she did. And his stepmother, Isabel, was a doll. Both his parents hit it off really well with Felicia, and Isabel had even promised to keep an eye on Felicia until her mother returned to the States in a week’s time. Her mother was such a good actress that a week of being charming to people who were charmed by her shouldn’t be so difficult.

As for herself, she hadn’t realized how much of an actress she was until today. As she danced with Alex, she tried not to let everyone see how much he affected her. And he knew it, too. That confident, arrogant gleam in his eyes told her how much he knew it with every step they took.

“You look beautiful in that wedding dress,” he murmured, sending her heart pounding like a hammer.

“Thank you.”

“Was it something you just threw together?” he teased.

Her lips twitched. “Actually I designed it for the daughter of a billionaire, but the wedding was called off at the last minute so I got to keep the dress.”

“I hope they paid you for it.”

She glanced away then back again. “We’re still working on that” The father was being obstructive, which no doubt accounted for his billions.

Alex frowned. “Let me know if you need any help.”

Olivia couldn’t help it. She chuckled. “What are you going to do? Set the dogs on him?”

He grinned. “I could rough him up a little for you.”

She laughed again and his grin widened. Maybe it was from being whirled around the dance floor, but all at once she felt giddy—giddy with the pleasure of looking at him. Seconds ticked by, and the gleam in his eyes told her he felt something, too.

The music ended, giving her the chance to move out of his arms. Soon they stood talking to his two brothers and Olivia tried to look calm.

“How’s it feel to be an old married man now, Alex?” Nick Valente teased, his lips curved in a confident smile that must be a family trait.

Alex slid his arm around Olivia, pulling her close to smile down at her. “Can you blame me for wanting to tie the knot with this beauty?”

She felt herself flush, but drew her gaze away from Alex and found both Nick and Matt considering her with piercing eyes.

“No,” Matt drawled. “I can’t say I blame you at all.”

Olivia stared at all three men. Handsome was too tame a word for them. Yet it was more than just looks. It was an innate quality. They were men who knew who they were and what they wanted. Nothing would stop them.

She wondered if they suspected the sacrifice their older brother had made for them. Alex had told her they didn’t know about his father’s demand, but she wasn’t so sure they didn’t suspect something. It was there in the way both men looked at her, as if they didn’t trust any woman or her motives, and especially when that woman had hooked one of them in marriage.

Thankfully, Isabel came up to them with Cesare, sniffing back tears in an elegant manner. “Cesare, I can’t believe our eldest boy is now married.”

Olivia knew that Isabel was Alex’s stepmother, not his real mother, who had died when he was small, but by all accounts he considered Isabel his “true” mother.

Cesare glanced at Alex then away again. “Izzie, he’s a grown man, not a boy,” he said, a hint of gruffness in his voice that made Olivia look at him and wonder if he regretted forcing his son into this marriage. A moment later she came up against a new, determined look in the older man’s eyes that said his moment of regret had passed.

“Oh, Cesare,” Isabel lightly scolded. “I’m allowed to be sentimental today. I’m the mother of the groom.” She hugged Olivia. “And I have a beautiful daughter now, too,” she said, sending a warmth through Olivia that made her suddenly want to cry.

“Pity I didn’t see her first,” Nick joked, giving Olivia a slow wink.

“It wouldn’t have mattered,” Alex said, pulling her in even closer against his hip, his voice totally serious. “She was mine from the moment I saw her.”

She gasped, even as Nick stared at Alex and held his gaze. Then whatever he saw had the middle brother nodding in agreement. “I believe you’re right.”

Olivia’s moment of warmth disappeared but before she could take them to task for their comment, Isabel said, “Stop it, you two. You’re embarrassing Olivia.”

But Olivia wasn’t embarrassed.

She was angry.

It was bad enough knowing she’d walked into this marriage with her eyes open, but making her sound as if she was something to be tossed back and forth between the brothers didn’t make her feel exactly civil toward them.

As if Isabel knew, she clicked her tongue and slipped her arm through Olivia’s, drawing her away from Alex. “Come on, sweetie. Let’s go see your mother. She’ll be missing you.”

Olivia gladly let herself be taken away, but a few steps on, Isabel squeezed her arm. “Take no notice of them, Olivia. They’re fine men who get a bit carried away with their own self-importance at times.” She laughed lightly. “Their father’s the same.”