The Tycoon's Marriage Exchange Read Online Free PDF

happily nodded back and quickly found his wife, whispered something in her ear and the two of them grinned excitedly as they moved to the edge of the crowd to make the announcement. 
    Kallista saw the interaction and her whole body tensed.  She wanted to scream out, to stop them.  To tell them she’d changed her mind.  There was no way she could marry a man as mean and angry as Hector Christophe !  He was moody and grouchy and at this moment, she actually hated him.  She’d tried so hard to impress him.  First with her pretty dress, and then with her hostessing skills.  She was exhausted trying to show him how well she could do this kind of thing and he never said a word!  He stayed on the opposite side of the room, never even glancing in her direction.  She knew because she kept looking for him, needing to know where he was and ensure that he had a drink and that he was in a group, feeling included.
    Why had she thought he’d felt like an outsider last week at her parents’ house?  The man had people fawning over him.  It was almost embarrassing how many people were trying to get his attention and lure him into their group for just a few moments so they could bathe in the reflected glow of his glorious presence. 
    So much for protecting him, she thought with disgust.  That man didn’t need any help from her and she’d been silly to think she could ever do anything for him. 
    The damn man had tens of thousands of people working for him in so many countries she couldn’t even list them.  Didn’t he know that even lowly employees like fiancées and wives needed just a little bit of encouragement?  She wanted to hit him, to rail against how horrible he was.  She definitely didn’t want to announce that she would be tied to this man for the rest of her life, to a life of misery and loneliness . 
    But looking at her parents, she couldn’t say a word.  Her mother had actually gained back a bit of weight and was looking wonderfully healthy.  Her father’s color was no longer pallid and he looked excited, better than he had in months. 
    And she noticed her mother’s engagement ring!  Good grief, she hadn’t realized that it had been missing but now, seeing her raise her glass and the diamonds sparkled in the light, Kallista wondered if her mother had pawned the ring to raise money for her father’s company, or if she’d just lost it. 
    The missing paintings in the house were back, she knew, so the odds were that her mother hadn’t lost that precious ring. 
    As Hector approached, she resigned herself to this fate once again. 
    She shivered as Hector took her hand in his large, warm one and she was so surprised by the spark of electricity, not of any kind of static charge, but of the way his touch made her feel, it so surprised her that she almost yanked her hand back.  Scared of the touch, wanting to cringe away from it bec ause she didn’t understand it, she looked up at him, startled and anxious. 
    Hector felt her resistance and became even more furious.  For the past several hours , all he’d wanted to do was make love to this woman and here she was, cringing at his touch. 
    “Can I have your attention everyone?” her father was saying to the crowd.
    Kallista ’s heart wrenched as she watched her parents.  They were so excited, so proud and she bowed her head in confusion.  And even embarrassment.  That spark had done something to her.  Below the fear, there was a desire to touch him again.  She’d never wanted to touch a man like this, she thought.  She turned to him, trying to smile at him as her parents announced that they would be married.  Far away, Kallista heard the crowd break out in applause and excitement, but she couldn’t really hear them as her blood roared through her system.  As her eyes looked up at Hector, she was pleading with him for help.  He was so strong, surely he would be able to explain this phenomenon to her. 
    But he was back to his angry