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CHAPTER ONE

IT DIDN’T MEAN ANYTHING It was just a nature on a piece of paper and then afterwards

Erin sed as the silky white dress brushed against her bare ankles Afterwards she would be able to create a better future A different kind of future Most of all, she would be secure—and wasn’t that the whole point of this? That she would be safe

But she could feel her palroom had insisted she buy—‘It will add authenticity’—and wondered if her bright, forced smile would add the same kind of authenticity She doubted it As she walked towards the registrar’s desk her face was reflected back in a mirror—a face almost as white as her dress Beside her stood a man—a kind man and a dear friend whom she must pretend to love, at least until the ceremony was over And that was the hardest part of all

Because she didn’t believe in love She’d tried it once and it had only reinforced what she’d already known That love was for fools, and hadn’t she been the biggest one of all? She’d picked the worst kind of man A man as not worthy of love

Of anyone’s love

The titnesses were sitting quietly and the registrar was s, too, but Erin was certain she could see suspicion in the suess? Did she have any kind of inkling that Erin Turner was about to break the law for the first time in her life?

Beside her, Chico reached out and curled his fingers around her wrist, giving it a coan to speak

‘You are here to witness the joining in matrimony of Chico and Erin’

There was a pause as Erin heard a door behind her open and the sound of footsteps, but her heart was thu too loudly to care who had just walked in Her slass Her hand was now so slippery that she was afraid of dropping the flowers And then the question was being asked The question she had practised not reacting to over and over again

‘If any person present knows of any lawful ie, he or she should declare it now’

She watched the registrar give a quick nod—as if this particular query always got the same silent response—when suddenly a voice shattered the quiet of the institutional room

‘Da I do’

For a split second Erin froze and then she whirled round as she heard the Russian accent, her head refusing to believe what her heart and her body were telling her That it was nothing but a