Sleeping with the Enemy's Daughter
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Authors: Nadia Aidan
Sleeping with the Enemy's Daughter
by Nadia Aidan
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Copyright ©2009 by Nadia Aidan
NOTICE: This eBook is licensed to the original purchaser only. Duplication or distribution to any person via email, floppy disk, network, print out, or any other means is a violation of International copyright law and subjects the violator to severe fines and/or imprisonment. This notice overrides the Adobe Reader permissions which are erroneous. This eBook cannot be legally lent or given to others.
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Sleeping with the Enemy's Daughter
by Nadia Aidan
CONTENTS
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Sleeping with the Enemy's Daughter
by Nadia Aidan
A Total-E-Bound Publication
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www.total-e-bound.com
Sleeping with the Enemy's Daughter
ISBN # 978-1-907010-02-6
©Copyright Nadia Aidan 2008
Cover Art by Natalie Winters ©Copyright March 2009
Edited by Christine Riley
Total-E-Bound Publishing
This is a work of fiction. All characters, places and events are from the author's imagination and should not be confused with fact. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, events or places is purely coincidental.
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Sleeping with the Enemy's Daughter
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All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form, whether by printing, photocopying, scanning or otherwise without the written permission of the publisher, Total-E-Bound Publishing. Applications should be addressed in the first instance, in writing, to Total-E-Bound Publishing. Unauthorised or restricted acts in relation to this publication may result in civil proceedings and/or criminal prosecution.
The author and illustrator have asserted their respective rights under the Copyright Designs and Patents Acts 1988 (as amended) to be identified as the author of this book and illustrator of the artwork.
Published in 2009 by Total-E-Bound Publishing 1 The Corner, Faldingworth Road, Spridlington, Market Rasen, Lincolnshire, LN8 2DE, UK.
Warning: This book contains sexually explicit content which is only suitable for mature readers. This story has been rated
Total-e-melting.
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Sleeping with the Enemy's Daughter
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THE ENEMY'S DAUGHTER
Nadia Aidan
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Sleeping with the Enemy's Daughter
by Nadia Aidan
Dedication
To the wonderful women of Cactus Rose
Trademarks Acknowledgement
The author acknowledges the trademarked status and
trademark owners of the following wordmarks mentioned in
this work of fiction:
Krispy Kreme: HDN Development Corporation Weight Watchers: Weight Watchers International, Inc. ESPN: ESPN, Inc.
Scrabble: HASBRO, INC.
Schonbek: Schonbek Worldwide Lighting Inc. Swarovski: D. SWAROVSKI & CO.
Mercedes: DaimlerChrysler AG CORPORATION
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Sleeping with the Enemy's Daughter
by Nadia Aidan
Camille Douglas stepped into the spacious office and slammed the door behind her with a piercing thud. At the sound of a faint noise, she whipped her head to the side to see a single picture, encased in what appeared to be an expensive gold frame, topple from the mantle and fall with a soft thump to the floor. A tiny grin tugged at the corners of her mouth, but she fought it back, even as a childish sense of triumph stole over her.
With lazy steps, she sauntered towards the centre of the room, her high heels digging into the soft plush carpet, until she came to a stop in front of a large cherry oak desk. With a slight tilt of her chin, she schooled her features into a neutral expression and bravely met the gazes of the four men that stood before her, as hostility blazed in the matching depths of their eyes.
With a quick flick of the wrist, Camille tossed her unruly curls over her shoulder and straightened her back even as droplets of sweat coated her palms. She was scared, but she had no intention of showing it. The Downing brothers had brought her there to draw blood, but she would be damned if she gave them the satisfaction of knowing that she was nervous as hell.
"I'm here as you
summoned,
" she drawled in her soft, southern accent, her voice dripping with contempt. Jacob's eyes narrowed. He was the oldest and out of all of them, he was the most arrogant. She'd attended school with 8
Sleeping with the Enemy's Daughter
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him so she knew him the best, and out of all of them she hated him the most.
"You didn't have to come, although I am sure you knew it was in
your
best interests to do so," he said tightly. She stiffened at his words, her hands balling into tight fists.
"My best interests?" Despite a valiant effort, she couldn't stop the look of scorn that she knew, without a doubt, crossed her face.
"No, Mr. Downing—" she paused to glance at each of them. "Mr.
Downings
—" she corrected. "This meeting is in no way shape or form in
my
best interests, but what choice did I really have? You offered me a way to save my family ranch, so I'm here to take it."
She stared at each of them, the bitter animosity she'd fought to mask, now blazed in her gaze as anger ignited inside her at the thought of why she was there in the first place. If it wasn't for what the ranch symbolised she would have told them all to kiss her ass a long time ago. But with the predicament she was in, she was now forced to kiss
their
asses.
The Douglas Ranch had been in her family since her greatgreat grandmother, Ida Douglas, a former slave with almost no education, had managed to purchase a small plot of land outside of San Antonio Texas during the Reconstruction Era. At the time, it hadn't been much, but over the years, the ranch had grown in size, eventually becoming a lucrative and extensive ranching operation, until their name was synonymous with the wealthy black elite of Texas. That had 9
Sleeping with the Enemy's Daughter
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all changed six years ago when her father died and her greedy, tramp of a step-mother squandered most of the family assets in one poorly conceived business deal after the next.
By the time Camille returned from her graduate studies in Dublin six months ago, it was too late. The ranch was up for foreclosure, and everything that her family had worked so hard for was now in the hands of their bitter enemies and hated rivals—the Downings. The four Downing brothers now held her family legacy in their hands, and with the exception of going on a murderous rampage, she would stop at nothing to reclaim her family heritage.
"Have a seat, Ms. Douglas," Jackson, the second oldest said and waved his hand towards the lone chair in the middle of the room. She glanced at it. There were no other chairs in the room. She shook her head. There was no way in hell she was going to sit, while those cocky, arrogant bastards stood
over
her.
"No thank you. I'll stand."
Jackson shrugged. "Suit yourself." Apparently, that had been their one attempt at courtesy. From the stubborn set of their matching jaw lines, Camille could tell that their southern hospitality well had probably dried up long ago—or at least it had towards her and her family. That was fine with her. She wasn't there to be courted like some dainty southern belle. She was there to hear their terms so that she could negotiate the selling of
her
property back to
her
.
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Sleeping with the Enemy's Daughter
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"Look gentlemen. There's no sense in pretending that this is an amicable meeting, so why don't we just skip the pleasantries and get straight to business. How much is it going to cost me to get my land back?" There. She'd said it. Her heart beat frantically in her chest as she watched them glance at each other, their expressions registering surprise. She was sure her bluntness had caught them off guard. No matter. That
was
the reason why she was there so it shouldn't have come as too big of a surprise that the subject of her ranch would end up on the agenda.
Camille silently fumed, when they leaned in close to exchange hushed words. Their voices were barely more than a whisper, but she could still hear her name. She tapped her foot angrily against the soft carpeted floor, amazed by their rudeness, and a little annoyed that the sound of her stomping foot was muffled.
When they finished with their discussion, Jackson, Jeff and Jason all nodded at their older brother, as if signalling that they were in agreement.
She watched with wary eyes while Jacob studied her. His gaze settled first on her face, before leisurely drifting across her figure. A gasp of shock threatened to erupt from her lips when his eyes lingered on her overly large breasts that strained against her gray suit. As a size sixteen, it was hard to find decent clothing to contain them, but she thought she'd done a good job of hiding her chest that day. Apparently
not.
A fresh wave of fury washed over her as she bristled under his scrutiny, barely suppressing the urge to ask if he wanted a closer look when his eyes zeroed in on the area between her 11
Sleeping with the Enemy's Daughter
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legs. She shook her head, appalled by his audacity. When he lingered there for several moments, she couldn't contain herself any longer.
"Mr. Downing? Is there something that you would like to
say
to me—to my face?" She snapped angrily. Jacob arched a single eyebrow and his lips curled up into a slight grin that looked more like a leer. Her nostrils flared at the gesture. There was nothing amusing about his actions.
"Actually, there is." His eyes held her gaze, his expression blank. "How much is the ranch worth to you?" Camille stood there for several moments considering his question, before giving him the only answer that she could—
the truth.
"It's worth everything. It's been in my family for generations, and I would do anything to keep it," she said, knowing her eyes revealed the sincerity of her words.
"Anything?"
She blinked for several seconds. There was something in his voice that gave her pause, but she finally nodded saying,
"Yes. I would do
anything
to keep it." She fixed her gaze upon each of them before adding. "I cannot buy it at market value yet, but I have a trust and some money saved. I can give you some now and then work out a pay—"
"Thank you, Ms. Douglas for that offer, but we have already come to a decision on the payment plan." Relief instantly flooded her at his words, and for the first time since she'd agreed to the meeting, she allowed the tension to seep from her body. They were going to let her buy 12