The Tycoon's Virgin Bride - Part 1 (The Corskovi Dynasty) by Ann King

Chapter 1

 
    “She
should be with me,” Andre Corskovi asserted as he fixed the French cuff on his white
tuxedo shirt. A muscle in his jaw twitched as he finished getting dressed for
Hannah Steeles’ wedding in less than two hours.
    “Whoa
there,” his brother responded as he, too, got dressed in the hotel suite. “It’s
a little too late for that don’t you think?” Dane asked. “I mean what are you going
to do? Crash her wedding?”
    Andre’s
jaw clenched. He was just not in the mood for his brother’s dry sense of humor
this morning. But yes, that would be a plan, wouldn’t it?
    “You
should have proposed to her when you had the chance,” Dane continued.
    “I’m
not a marrying man, Dane. You should know that by now.”
    “Then
why are you pissed that she’s getting married to someone else?”
    “Because
she doesn’t love him. She just met him six weeks ago.” Andre’s stomach clenched
at the thought. He had promised his mentor, the man who’d taken him from the
streets of the Bronx to the boardroom of Wall Street and showed him everything
he knew, that he’d take care of his beloved step-niece. Hannah had already
experienced a rough time in life.
    She was
a decent girl who had a genuine kind heart. Not to mention that the more he
watched her blossom into a beautiful young woman, the more his feelings for her
intensified. But he hadn’t slept with her because he wasn’t the
stick-around-tied-down kind of guy. She deserved better. He didn’t want to jeopardize
what they had—a good, solid friendship. But growing up illegitimate like himself , she’d always wanted to have a family of her own. He
knew that. She’d confided in him about that.
    But
what had he done about it?
    Nothing.
    But now
that she was about to enter a loveless marriage for the sake of having a
husband for her future child his body fired into action.
    But was
it too late?
    Was
Dane right? Had he just missed his chance?
    Andre
was not a man who lost battles. If he wanted something, he always got it one way or the other. And right now he wanted Hannah. He
wasn’t about to lose her.
    He’d already
gone as far as to have his men check out the guy, Gustav, who proposed to her
after just a few weeks of dating. The dude she was about to tie the knot with
was slime—a womanizer. And that was only the tip of the iceberg.
    “You
will protect her, won’t you? Watch over her for me? She’s so vulnerable.” Clive
Steeles had told Andre just days before he suffered a massive heart attack
which claimed his life.
    “I
promise,” Andre had vowed. And that was what he was going to do.
    Gustav
had so many aliases and Andre wondered what his real name was. He had also cheated
on Hannah, not once but twice. Andre knew she didn’t have much experience with
men. She was practically   innocent . Yet, she’d ended up with this low-life. A vein throbbed
in his temple as he pulled his tux jacket on. He was going to give Hannah away
because her step-father had died recently Andre stepped
in to give Hannah away. The trouble was—he didn’t want to give her away,
he wanted to take her away. And he’d do it in front of one hundred guests.

 
    ***

 
    Hannah
Steeles glanced into the full-length mirror of the Las Vegas hotel room where
she was getting ready for her wedding in two hours. Her late uncle’s estate had
given her the funds to hold a lavish wedding at one of his hotels. She was
lucky.
    Her
gown was white and satiny with a plunging neckline and a long train. She looked
like a princess but she sure as hell didn’t feel like one.
    She
breathed in a deep sigh. She was supposed to be the happiest woman alive. She
was getting married. But to a man who she barely knew or
loved. Now she was thinking only of her mother in her wheelchair, tears
in her eyes that her daughter would have what she did not have. A husband. Hannah
had never known her father and her mother was an immigrant who spoke little English.
    Her
mother worked as a