The Blackmail Baby (HQR Presents)

by Natalie Rivers

  It was an impossible choice.

  Lorenzo stood by the glass wall of his study and watched Chloe walking along the far edge of the pond, beside a drift of purple irises. Her head was bowed and, although her blonde hair had fallen forward to obscure her face, he knew she was deep in thought. After all, he had given her a lot to think about.

  She looked tiny in her jeans and T-shirt, but Lorenzo was getting used to seeing her that way, which was nothing like the way she’d dressed when they were together. When she was his PA she had always dressed smartly for work, and, although her style had been less formal once they were personally involved, she’d always looked well-groomed.

  Now the difference in her appearance seemed to underline the difference in their relationship. She looked small and fragile as she sat down on a bench, and as she lifted her head to shake her hair back from her face Lorenzo could see that she was frowning.

  Her gaze drifted across the pond, then settled on the huge windows of Lorenzo’s study. She was looking right at him, although he knew she couldn’t see him because the glass had been treated to protect the privacy of his study. He stared back at her, feeling an unexpected jolt of irritation.

  Life had been so good, with all his plans for the future falling into place nicely. Why had she gone and complicated everything? He lifted his hand abruptly and, without fully registering his intention, he hit the control that opened the large sliding doors.

  Chloe was lost in her thoughts as she gazed across the pond. The sudden movement as the glass door slid silently open brought her back to her surroundings with a start. Then the sight of Lorenzo stepping purposefully onto the deck made her catch her breath in surprise.

  She stared at him in shock, slowly realising that she’d foolishly sat down in view of his study. She wasn’t ready to talk to him yet. She was nowhere near ready to decide what to do about his proposition.

  He moved swiftly along the deck, then without breaking his stride he turned onto the gravel path that tracked the edge of the pond. He was bearing down on her so quickly that she felt her heart start to race.

  She sprang up, ready to face him, although she was filled with the overwhelming urge to bolt. How had things got so difficult between them that the sight of him approaching made her want to run and hide?

  She squared her shoulders and stood as tall as she could. She was not afraid of Lorenzo. And she would not shy away from the situation he had put her in.

  ‘If you’ve come to pressure me for an answer, you’re wasting your time,’ she said. Her voice was clear and steady, and did not reveal how uncertain she was feeling. ‘I have not reached a decision yet.’

  Lorenzo came to a halt a few feet away from her—close enough for her to be reminded once again of his sheer size compared to her. But not so close that she had to crane her neck back to meet his eyes. He had discarded his jacket but he was still wearing the same white shirt as that morning.

  Her eyes settled on the clusters of creases where she had balled her hands in the fabric of his shirt while she wept, and a disconcertingly vivid memory of lying with her face against his chest flashed through her mind.

  ‘You are struggling to decide what is best for your future,’ Lorenzo said, ‘and I want you to understand why I believe this is the best arrangement—for everyone.’

  ‘You already told me your reasons,’ she said quietly. ‘Now it’s up to me to think this through. It’s an important decision I need to work out for myself—decide for myself.’

  ‘I understand that,’ Lorenzo said, ‘but committing to this marriage, and to raising a family with me, is a huge undertaking. I want you to make this choice with your head, not with your heart.’

  Chloe frowned, trying to make sense of what Lorenzo was saying.

  ‘But marriage is something you feel in your heart,’ she said, unsettled by Lorenzo’s sudden change of tack. Why was he trying to persuade her into this, rather than continue trying to tell her what was the right thing to do? ‘When you proposed to me in Paris, I was so happy. And I truly believed you felt the same way I did.’

  ‘I was happy,’ Lorenzo replied. ‘I thought that I had found the perfect woman to share my life with—the perfect, uncomplicated partnership based on friendship and compatibility. Not on an over-hyped emotional ideal that would inevitably disintegrate over time.’

  ‘Not all marriages fail,’ Chloe said, suddenly feeling defensive and sad at the same time. ‘You shouldn’t be so pessimistic—it’s depressing.’

  ‘Not pessimistic—realistic,’ Lorenzo said. ‘In my experience most marriages do fall apart, and it usually gets pretty ugly. Then the children are the ones who suffer the most.’

  Lorenzo looked down at her, reading the emotion written in her expression. She was normally such a positive-thinking, forward-looking person—which was one of the attributes that had drawn him to her in the first place. It was disturbing to see her look unhappy.

  ‘It doesn’t have to be that way,’ she said. ‘Happy marriages and functional families do exist.’

  ‘Neither of us experienced it as a child,’ Lorenzo said, ‘but that is why this arrangement can work for us. I know you want Emma, and your own children when we have them, to grow up in a stable environment.’

  ‘I know that I would never abandon my children,’ Chloe said. She looked up at him, the silvery green surface of the pond reflected in her eyes, ‘but how do I know I can trust you?’

  Lorenzo met her gaze, already knowing how intensely she was committed to motherhood. He knew how far she would go for Emma. And he knew she’d fight equally hard for her own children.

  Lorenzo’s mother had not bothered to fight for him. In fact she’d used him as a bargaining chip in a massive divorce settlement. What kind of mother would do something like that?

  Suddenly he found his thoughts hurtling back to his childhood—to a time that he’d thought that he had blotted out of his memory. And all at once he was remembering the hurt, disappointment and confusion as acutely as the day his mother walked out.

  He shook his head sharply, and focused on Chloe again. Her face was pale and worried, and he knew what she was thinking.

  ‘I get it,’ he said, his eyes boring down into hers. ‘You’re scared I’m going to leave you. It’s happened to you before—first your father, then your mother and sister. Even…’ He hesitated, reluctant to upset her more, but he had to make his point. ‘Even your best friend left you.’

  Chloe swallowed, the lump in her throat making it painful, and blinked back tears. How did he know her so well—yet so little at the same time?

  ‘I’m not going to leave you,’ Lorenzo said. ‘That’s the beauty of this arrangement.’

  ‘But…what about when someone else catches your eye?’ Chloe asked. A dark shadow moved across Lorenzo’s face and she knew she had offended him with her comment, but she had to carry on—her future was at stake. ‘You don’t love me—what happens when you meet someone you do love?’

  ‘Be careful what you say,’ Lorenzo said through gritted teeth. ‘Don’t forget what happened. You are the one who left—the one who abandoned this relationship.’

  ‘It wasn’t like that,’ she protested.

  ‘Even though you thought you loved me,’ Lorenzo said, ‘even then—with your own fear of abandonment so strong—you left. Not me.’

  ‘That was different,’ Chloe said. ‘I’d just found out you didn’t love me.’

  ‘Do you still love me?’ Lorenzo asked.

  ‘I…No…’ Chloe faltered, dropping her gaze and staring at the wide expanse of his chest. She couldn’t meet his eye, or surely he would know the truth. She did still love him, but she couldn’t expose her heart to him any more. It was just too painful.

  ‘My point exactly,’ Lorenzo said, his voice dripping with irony. ‘You thought you loved me—but you were fooling yourself, living in a silly romantic dream world. It wasn’t real, which is why you were able to walk out on me without a second glance.’

/>   His fingers slipped beneath her chin and he lifted her face to look into her eyes. Chloe met his blue gaze and a frisson ran through her. The emotion she saw in the depths of his eyes was intense.

  He said he didn’t believe in love, but she could feel how deeply he was committed to the future he was proposing. He wanted a stable, contented family as much as she did.

  ‘We were good together,’ he said, letting his hand slip back so that he was cradling her head. ‘This could be incredible. We could be incredible together.’

  ‘I don’t know…’ Chloe started to speak, but the feel of his hand was distracting.

  All she knew was she wanted to be with him. She wanted things back the way they had once been, when he made her feel special and safe at the same time.

  ‘Make this decision with your head, not your heart,’ he repeated. ‘Tell me that you want to stay married to me. That you want to raise a family with me. That you want to be my wife in every way.’

  ‘Yes,’ she said. ‘Yes, I do.’

  But she was speaking from her heart. It was impossible to do anything else. Her heart was calling out so loudly to him that she could not have heard anything her head was saying even if she’d tried.

  ‘You’ve made the right choice,’ Lorenzo said, pulling her towards him.

  Chloe closed her eyes as he enfolded her in his arms. It felt so good, as if she truly belonged there.

  Then his hands started to move across her body, and she knew that he intended to make love to her. A quiver of apprehension mixed with anticipation tingled through her. She had just agreed to this—to be his wife in every way.

  But she was suddenly nervous, as if this exact moment was the moment of no return in her life.

  From this point on her future was mapped out, and before she knew it she would be a mother. She would be bound in marriage to a man who didn’t love her—a man who did not even believe in love.

  ‘What is it?’ he asked, pulling back and holding her where he could meet her eyes. ‘What’s wrong?’

  ‘It’s too soon,’ she said, tightening her fists to emphasise her words and realising to her shock that once again they were tangled in his shirt, gripping the fabric tightly. ‘I’m not ready.’

  ‘Not ready?’ Lorenzo repeated. He slid his hands across her back in a way that sent shivers through her whole body. ‘You know that won’t be a problem for long.’

  ‘No—I need more time to get used to this,’ she said, unfurling her hands from his shirt and taking a step backwards. But his long arms were still around her, preventing her from moving very far away. ‘Let me go. Let me go so I can think.’

  Almost to her surprise, Lorenzo dropped his arms to his sides and stepped away, his feet crunching on the gravel path.

  He stood completely still, looking down at her from beneath heavy lids. She knew how much he wanted her, and that thought sent a rush of desire storming through her.

  Making love had always brought them closer, made the connection between them stronger. Surely it would do the same thing now. She had to give their new understanding a chance, but she wasn’t ready to completely sign away her future.

  ‘I’m not ready for more children,’ she said. ‘Everything has been so unsettled…there’s Emma to consider…it’s just too soon to rush into something so big.’

  ‘I agree,’ Lorenzo said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a little foil-wrapped package. ‘Making babies can wait. This, however, cannot,’ he finished huskily, hauling her towards him and covering her mouth with his.

  CHAPTER SIX

  THE burning heat of arousal erupted through Lorenzo’s body, and he dragged Chloe closer still, lifting her onto her tiptoes and bending her back to kiss her. The taste of her mouth was intoxicating, and the feel of her slender body in his arms threatened to send him over the edge.

  He was holding her so close that he could feel every tremble and quake that shook her. He could tell how much she wanted him and that knowledge was setting his own senses on fire.

  It was too long since he’d made love to Chloe. Too long since he’d held her naked body in his arms and brought her pleasure in every way he knew, before eventually giving in to his own explosive climax.

  Now he was consumed by a sexual need so strong that he suddenly realised that he had to find somewhere private. In the past he would not have hesitated to take her right there on the bench beside the water, but he knew that this time one quick release of passion would not be enough. It would take much longer to slake the barrage of desire that stormed his body and he intended to take every ounce of satisfaction that he could.

  He pulled back from his kiss and swept her up in his arms. He would take her to the pool house—they would be undisturbed there for as long as it took.

  Chloe lay breathlessly in his arms, gazing up at his gorgeous face. He’d literally swept her off her feet and her heart was racing with anticipation of what was to come. Just knowing that he was carrying her away to make love to her sent a thrill of excitement skittering through her.

  She had no idea where he was taking her, and she didn’t care. She was only aware of the rhythmic movements of his body vibrating through her as he strode along the path away from the house. He carried her effortlessly, as if she were as light as a feather, and she revelled in his strength, remembering that he had the power to send her to unimaginable heights of ecstasy.

  She hardly noticed when they reached their destination. It was only when the door clicked shut behind them that she dragged her eyes from Lorenzo’s face and looked around her.

  ‘A swimming pool,’ she murmured, not really meaning to say the words out loud.

  ‘Later.’ Lorenzo’s voice was thick with arousal. ‘We’ll swim later—now I need you naked.’

  Sudden heat flared between Chloe’s legs and her whole body started to quiver. She was burning up inside and she needed Lorenzo as much as he needed her.

  ‘Put me down,’ she said, wriggling in his arms. She was too restricted in his grip—she wanted to touch him, to move against him, to rip his clothes off him.

  ‘Wait,’ he commanded, striding past the pool to a lounge area beside a bar. Then finally he set her down on top of the bar, her feet swinging high off the floor.

  He stood back for a moment, looking deep into her eyes, and Chloe could see that he was breathing raggedly—and she knew it had nothing to do with the effort of carrying her into the pool house. Her own heart was racing and she was trembling from head to foot.

  Suddenly he stepped forward, pressing himself between her thighs, and cupped her face with his large hands. For once their mouths were the same height, and he drew closer and began to kiss her.

  His tongue slid sensuously between her lips, in an erotic exploration that quickly left her breathless again. At the same time she felt him grip the hem of her T-shirt and she sat up taller, arching towards him as he peeled it off her. Her bra followed quickly, then his hands closed over her breasts, caressing and coaxing her nipples into diamond-hard points.

  ‘Oh!’ A moan of pleasure sighed out of her and her head fell backwards. Her hands rested flat on the surface of the bar just behind her, and her arms were locked straight, stabilising her body as she thrust her breasts towards him.

  His tongue flicked over one erect nipple and she trembled in response, willing him to continue. Then he sucked the whole aching peak of her breast into his mouth and worked it with his tongue. The impact was immediate and she suddenly found herself rocking her pelvis, startled by the wildfire he had ignited in an entirely different part of her body.

  A low, almost feral growl rumbled out of Lorenzo, as if he was completely in tune with what she was experiencing. His hands went straight to her jeans and undid the button, then moved quickly on to the zip. He struggled for a moment, cursing her jeans as he failed to unfasten them.

  ‘Lie back!’ he commanded, and Chloe found herself obeying. A moment later Lorenzo tugged the offending garment off, removing her underwear at the
same time. She was about to sit up, but then he reached out and pushed her firmly back down.

  Chloe drew in a shaky breath, realising that she was lying completely naked on the bar, with Lorenzo poised intimately between her legs. His breath was hot on her exposed centre and a rush of excitement surged through her, making her start to tremble uncontrollably.

  The black granite bar was cold beneath the skin, but she was burning up with sexual anticipation. Then, when his mouth made contact with her pulsing flesh, she felt as if she’d gone up in flames.

  The intensity of the sensation buzzing through her quivering body made her cry out. She could see the sky above her through the glass roof of the pool house, and it felt as if she had taken flight, spiralling up through the fluffy white clouds into the blue heavens.

  She pressed her hands against the granite, trying instinctively to anchor herself, but his mouth continued to work its magic, sending her up and up, further and further out of her body. Time ceased to exist and there was nothing she could do but surrender to the incredible waves of pleasure rolling through her. Then just when she didn’t know if she could bear the intensity any longer, the moment exploded into a starburst of euphoric bliss.

  She lay panting on the bar, unable to move a muscle, feeling completely and utterly satisfied. Then the next thing she knew she was back in Lorenzo’s arms. He carried her to the lounge area and laid her down on one of the couches.

  She gazed up at him languidly, limp with the after-effects of her intense orgasm. But then, as he moved over her, a reawakened blast of sexual excitement tore through her body.

  She’d never known it was possible to fly back to such incredible heights so quickly, but as his hard, masculine length slid deep inside she cried out in pleasure.

  Her whole being was suffused with glorious, undulating waves of rapture, and she closed her eyes, clinging to Lorenzo. His powerful body was hot and hard, and as he moved within her she sensed him begin to tremble and quake. Then, as he continued to thrust, driving them both on and on, they suddenly took flight together.