Synopsis: The Heiress’s Instant Seduction

by Dani Collins

SYNOPSIS: THE HEIRESS’S INSTANT SEDUCTION

Self-made tycoon Grayson Maddock doesn’t need anyone, but he’s curious enough about his past to stay in a hotel belonging to the man he believes is his father.  Gray would have drawn the line at sleeping with the man’s former daughter-in-law, however, if she’d confessed that’s who she was.  She might have also mentioned she’s the elusive Traviata heiress.  Few women could so neatly threaten his wealth, reputation, and emotions; he won’t let her get away it.
 
Oppressed by a fortune that makes her a kidnap target, Angelique Traviata lives under a false name so she can realize her dream of being a pediatrician.  She doesn’t even date, certain a second husband would limit her the way her first did.  But a compelling attraction draws her to a stranger’s bed–and into a relationship that jeopardizes both her independence and her heart. 
 
Initially resentful of her secrecy, Gray is willing to pretend a more serious relationship when Angelique’s overprotective family discovers their tryst.  For a price.  Angelique can’t hide her yearning for him and he wants to explore the relentless desire he feels for her.   They even discover a compatibility of sorts.  They’re both ambitious, highly sensual, and neither wants children, Angelique because of her budding career and a sadness in her past; Gray because he doesn’t know his own father so can’t envision becoming one. 
 
The arrangement works to a point, but Gray wants more of Angelique’s time than she can give.  Then her identity is discovered and a media circus ensues.  She’s devastated.  She didn’t want to fall in love with Gray, but she has.  Now he has betrayed her. 
Possessive, protective, too affronted to dignify her accusations with denial, Gray delivers her to her parents’ compound on the French seashore where the truth comes out: Angelique’s own error allowed her colleague to expose her. 
Gray claims not to own a heart, but Angelique has dented his.  Make-up lovemaking earns his forgiveness, but only until the condom breaks.  What autonomy Angelique might have preserved disappears as Gray, worried for her safety, insists on marriage and lockdown security.   Angelique is desperate for a sign he feels as she does and this shotgun proposal won’t do it.  The antique ring he offers does.  Worn by his mother, the sentiment it symbolizes wins her.  She confesses her love–only to discover Gray’s ulterior motive when her former father-in-law recognizes the piece. 

Gray finds his father, but loses Angelique.  She doesn’t believe emotion prompted his proposal, nor does she wait to be convinced.  When she learns through her colleague of a schoolbus accident in Milan, she evades Gray’s security to reach and treat the children. 
Fearing a ruse by potential kidnappers, Gray follows and becomes embroiled in the crisis.  The media paints him a hero, but he doesn’t long for fame or even his father’s regard.  As he later tells Angelique, he helped because he never wants to know the fear he saw in those parents’ eyes.

The remark sounds like a rejection of marriage and parenthood, especially when Gray calls her a dangerous woman to love. 
Angelique breaks down; she loves him but understands he can’t love someone willing to takes chances in order to practice medicine.  She can’t give up, though.  How else can she live up to how precious everyone seems to think her?

Gray knows she’s too talented a doctor to be cloistered.  He meant she must cooperate with security to ensure her safety and their child’s.  He loves her too much to risk losing her. 

Awed that he supports her career, Angelique realizes she can trust herself in the bond of matrimony with him.  But is he as ready? 
Gray didn’t realize he was seeking love when he went looking for his father, but he found it with Angelique.  By taking her in glorious, unprotected lovemaking, he proves his desire to expand their love with a family of their own. 

END

Tomorrow, the editor’s critique