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Salazar's One-Night Heir
Jennifer Hayward
The challenge: take revenge for a decades-old injustice…Tycoon Alejandro Salazar will take any opportunity to expose the Hargrove family’s crime against his – including accept the challenge to pose as their stable groom! His goal in sight, Alejandro cannot allow himself to be distracted by the gorgeous Hargrove heiress…Her family must pay, yet Alejandro can’t resist innocent Cecily’s fiery passion. And when their one night of bliss results in an unexpected pregnancy, Alejandro will legitimise his heir and restore his family’s honour…by binding Cecily to him with a diamond ring!
The challenge: take revenge for a decades-old injustice...
Tycoon Alejandro Salazar will take any opportunity to expose the Hargrove family’s crime against his—including accept the challenge to pose as their stable groom! His goal in sight, Alejandro cannot allow himself to be distracted by the gorgeous Hargrove heiress...
Her family must pay, yet Alejandro can’t resist innocent Cecily’s fiery passion. And when their one night of bliss results in an unexpected pregnancy, Alejandro will legitimize his heir and restore his family’s honor...by binding Cecily to him with a diamond ring!
Alejandro cradled the glass in his palm, a ghost of a smile curving his lips.
“I do care, Cecily. Hence the situation we find ourselves in. I told you that before I knew about the pregnancy. In fact everything I said to you in Kentucky was true, every emotion I expressed real. The only thing I lied about was my identity, and that I had to do.”
Her stomach curled with the need to believe him. To believe something in all this was true and real—that what they’d shared had been real. But she’d be a fool to take what he was saying at face value—even more of a fool than she’d already been.
He gestured toward the cream sofa that faced the spectacular view. “Why don’t we sit down?”
“I’d prefer to stand.”
“Fine.” He lowered himself onto the chaise, splaying his long legs out in front of him. “We are keeping this baby, Cecily.”
“Of course we are. I am,” she corrected. “I would never do anything else.”
“Good. And just to clarify,” he drawled, eyes on hers, “when I said we are keeping this baby I meant us. We are both going to be parents to this child, which means we need to be together.”
She frowned. “What do you mean together?”
“I mean we will marry.”
Her knees went weak. She slid down onto the sofa, a buzzing sound filling her ears. “You can’t be serious.”
“Oh, but I am.”
‘I’ll wager that not one of you can go two weeks without your credit cards…’
The Secret Billionaires (#u4ccb7443-309f-59c5-92f4-6fa8f3a76b85)
Challenged to go undercover—but tempted to blow it all!
Tycoons Antonio Di Marcello, Stavros Xenakis and Alejandro Salazar cannot imagine life without their decadent wealth, incredible power and untouchable status—but neither can they resist their competitive natures!
Dared to abandon all they know, these extraordinary men leave behind their billionaire lifestyles and take on ‘ordinary’ lives.
But, disguised as a mechanic, a pool boy and a groom, they’re about to meet the real challenge…
Conquering the women they’ll meet along the way!
Di Marcello’s Secret Son by Rachael Thomas May 2017
Xenakis’s Convenient Bride by Dani Collins June 2017
Salazar’s One-Night Heir by Jennifer Hayward July 2017
Salazar’s One-Night Heir
Jennifer Hayward
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
JENNIFER HAYWARD has been a fan of romance since filching her sister’s novels to escape her teenage angst. Her career in journalism and PR, including years of working alongside powerful, charismatic CEOs and travelling the world, has provided perfect fodder for the fast-paced, sexy stories she likes to write—always with a touch of humour. A native of Canada’s East Coast, Jennifer lives in Toronto with her Viking husband and young Viking-in-training.
Books by Jennifer Hayward
Mills & Boon Modern Romance
A Debt Paid in the Marriage Bed
The Magnate’s Manifesto
Changing Constantinou’s Game
The Billionaire’s Legacy
A Deal for the Di Sione Ring
Kingdoms & Crowns
Carrying the King’s Pride
Claiming the Royal Innocent
Marrying Her Royal Enemy
The Tenacious Tycoons
Tempted by Her Billionaire Boss
Reunited for the Billionaire’s Legacy
Society Weddings
The Italian’s Deal for I Do
The Delicious De Campos
The Divorce Party
An Exquisite Challenge
The Truth About De Campo
Visit the Author Profile page at
millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk) for more titles.
For my husband, Johan, who helped me find my perfect ending in a book that stole my heart. You call life with a writer a ‘rollercoaster’ but I think you secretly like it!
For Melita and Maria—your help with the beautiful Portuguese language was so very much appreciated.
And for my co-writers Dani Collins and Rachael Thomas—it was a joy to work together and create such a fabulous series. I can’t wait for the world to read it!
XX
Contents
Cover (#u5a988af2-a23c-5874-bc33-a1c117743813)
Back Cover Text (#u7f58df6f-0ea0-592e-a0ea-cb2ffe0ae00a)
Introduction (#uaeb793f1-9628-5c10-8bad-0cc5ef25663d)
The Secret Billionaires (#ue2989622-d1ee-55b6-b14b-dccacd752f3d)
Title Page (#uc907acb0-97e1-544e-9d71-fd12e3421896)
About the Author (#u4d1b910c-94bd-56be-9abe-5f8c54aa5a2a)
Dedication (#u9605bd87-c7e2-50fd-bf9a-7b45ab49029e)
PROLOGUE (#ud01ffe7d-adfb-5756-84ea-9356797a1bf5)
CHAPTER ONE (#u9df22b5f-84e7-5767-ab18-32ba5343a0f3)
CHAPTER TWO (#uc69686ed-b70c-5650-b450-6bd6a91a85e8)
CHAPTER THREE (#u356bef4d-68e8-5298-8a50-05a7fd8fc97b)
CHAPTER FOUR (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER FIVE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER SIX (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER SEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER EIGHT (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER NINE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER ELEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TWELVE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER THIRTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER FOURTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
EPILOGUE (#litres_trial_promo)
Extract (#litres_trial_promo)
Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)
PROLOGUE (#u4ccb7443-309f-59c5-92f4-6fa8f3a76b85)
St. Moritz—February 2017
A 1946 MACALLAN, his three closest friends consuming that exceptional bottle of whiskey with him and a game of high-stakes poker played in a private room at one of St. Moritz’s swankiest clubs was a trifecta of such absolute perfection, Alejandro Salazar could not deny it was the ideal ending to a day spent paraskiing in the Swiss Alps.
Cutting a vertical line to the cliff’s edge, throwing yourself off a mountainside only to hope your parachute landed you in an equally traversable stretch of snow below required some coming down from—quality bonding time that only this particular male ritual could supply.
It had dwindled down to the four of them tonight after today’s challenge—Sebastien Atkinson, his good friend and mentor, founder of the extreme sports club they’d joined in college; Antonio Di Marcello, a giant in the global construction industry and Stavros Xenakis, the soon-to-be CEO of Dynami Pharmaceutical—perhaps the only quartet with the spare change to put up the ante this type of a game required.
Not even the trio of delectable Scandinavian women draped across the packed bar, looking for an opportunity to crash their party had been enticement enough to abandon such a rich moment in time. Friendships forged in fire.
Just last year they had pulled Sebastien off a Himalayan mountainside before it had collapsed in a cloud of snow that had nearly killed them all. The ending to this weekend’s challenge seemed tame in comparison.
An intense feeling of well-being settling over him, Alejandro sat back in his chair, rested his tumbler on his thigh and considered the table. There was a different air about the celebration tonight—subtle, but distinct.
Perhaps last year’s near tragedy still lay too close to the surface. Perhaps it had reminded them all that their club mantra—life is short—was truer than it had ever been. Or maybe it was because Sebastien had gone and done the sacrilegious in getting married, taking the sampling of the popular ski enclave’s wares off the table.
Stavros, as if sensing this new playing field, eyed Sebastien across the table. “How’s your wife?” he asked with a curl of his lips.
“Better company than you. Why so surly tonight?”
Stavros grimaced. “I haven’t won yet.” He lifted a shoulder. “And my grandfather is threatening to disinherit me if I don’t marry soon. I’d tell him to go to hell, but...”
“Your mother,” Alejandro said.
“Exactly.”
The Greek billionaire was between a rock and a hard place. If he didn’t play the game, extend the Xenakis line with an heir, his grandfather would follow through on his threat to disinherit Stavros before he assumed control of the pharmaceutical empire that would be his.
Stavros would have called his bluff, walked away with pleasure if it weren’t for his mother and sisters who would be stripped of everything they possessed if that happened, something Stavros would never allow.
Sebastien pushed a pile of chips toward the center of the table. “Do you ever get the feeling we spend too much of our lives counting our money and chasing superficial thrills at the expense of something more meaningful?”
