The Boss's Stolen Bride

USA TODAY bestselling author NATALIE ANDERSON writes emotional contemporary romance full of sparkling banter, sizzling heat and uplifting endings—perfect for readers who love to escape with empowered heroines and arrogant alphas who are too sexy for their own good. When she’s not writing, you’ll find Natalie wrangling her four children, three cats, two goldfish and one dog...and snuggled in a heap on the sofa with her husband at the end of the day. Follow her at natalie-anderson.com. Books by Natalie Anderson The Greek’s One-Night Heir Secrets Made in Paradise The Night the King Claimed Her Billion-Dollar Christmas Confessions Carrying Her Boss’s Christmas Baby Once Upon a Temptation Shy Queen in the Royal Spotlight Rebels, Brothers, Billionaires Stranded for One Scandalous Week Nine Months to Claim Her Jet-Set Billionaires Revealing Her Nine-Month Secret The Christmas Princess Swap The Queen’s Impossible Boss Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk. The Boss’s Stolen Bride Natalie Anderson www.millsandboon.co.uk ISBN: 978-0-008-92858-2 THE BOSS’S STOLEN BRIDE © 2023 by Natalie Anderson Published in Great Britain 2023by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental. 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Trademarks marked with ® are registered with the United Kingdom Patent Office and/or the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market and in other countries. www.millsandboon.co.uk Note to Readers This ebook contains the following accessibility features which, if supported by your device, can be accessed via your ereader/accessibility settings: Change of font size and line height Change of background and font colours Change of font Change justification Text to speech “What gives you the right to turn up where you were never invited? All because I dared to walk out on you?” Darcie rose on tiptoe to slam her truth right into his face. “There was never going to be a good time to leave you. There is always some imperative deal you’re working on, you’re always pushing for more.” Part of her admired him for that. She’d learned from him. Defeat swelled within her. Overwhelming, horrific defeat that brought forth bitter blame as the implications sank in. Her application to care for Lily would have to be delayed. Lily who was so little, so lost, so lonely—Lily who mattered more than anything. “You can’t think about anyone beyond yourself,” she berated Elias. “It is always about everything you want and need and it always has to be right now. Well, I have wants and needs too, and I needed to get married. Today.” “If that’s the case, then let me fix the problem I’ve created.” He seethed wildly. “You need to get married today? Then fine. You can marry me.” For Soraya—again and always! I’ll always be grateful for your whip cracking and cheer! Contents Cover About the Author Booklist Title Page Copyright Note to Readers Introduction Dedication CHAPTER ONE CHAPTER TWO CHAPTER THREE CHAPTER FOUR CHAPTER FIVE CHAPTER SIX CHAPTER SEVEN CHAPTER EIGHT CHAPTER NINE CHAPTER TEN CHAPTER ELEVEN CHAPTER TWELVE CHAPTER THIRTEEN CHAPTER FOURTEEN CHAPTER FIFTEEN CHAPTER SIXTEEN CHAPTER SEVENTEEN Extract About the Publisher CHAPTER ONE ELIAS GREYSON HADN’T just mastered the art of avoiding inconvenient emotion, he’d perfected it—effortlessly ignoring not just his own, but that of all others. To be unmoved in the presence of histrionics made all decisions—be they business or personal related—clinical and easy. Rage, recriminations, pleas or guilt trips didn’t penetrate his armour. No matter the provocation, Elias Greyson didn’t overreact, didn’t get riled, and definitely didn’t make snap decisions in the heat of the moment because he always ensured any heat was eliminated from important negotiations. Emotional reactions led to poor outcomes, he found. A measured, rational, controlled response was right. And if he were occasionally accused of being a cold-blooded, ruthless bastard, so be it. But today Elias was having a rare, imperfect day. Irritation burned up his spine—an irritation that had been building for the last two weeks. He checked the clock on his computer and said irritation roiled higher. He gritted his teeth. Of all the days for his ultra-efficient assistant to finally fail him. He was flying from London to the US in a few hours and he wanted everything organised ahead of take-off. His latest acquisition target, a venture capital firm based in San Francisco, was proving a difficult fish to hook. While the company would be useful for Elias to push further into the North American market, its chief exec, Vince Williams, considered ‘values’ to be important. The old man’s diligence searches went beyond company balance sheets all the way to any prospective raiding CEO’s silk ones. Apparently perfect Vince had been married to his childhood sweetheart Cora for over fifty years and was known