Blackmailed into the Marriage Bed

by MELANIE MILBURNE

  Even if it damn well killed her.

  CHAPTER TEN

  VINN WAS DREADING telling his grandfather that Ailsa had left him. He even considered not telling him, but that would be doing what his father had done, pretending everything was fine when it wasn’t. Pathetic. But in a strange way now he could understand why his father had kept the news of his mother’s condition under wraps. It was too painful to face. His father had tried to spare him from pain in the only way he knew how. By pretending. By lying. By hiding the truth until it could be hidden no longer.

  But Vinn had to face Ailsa’s leaving him just as he’d had to face his mother’s death. It was just as permanent for there was nothing he could do to bring her back. Ailsa didn’t love him. And all this time he had fooled himself she was the one with more invested in their relationship.

  When Vinn went to the hospital the day after Ailsa had left for London, his grandfather still had a temperature and a change of antibiotic had been arranged. He couldn’t help feeling concerned at the frailty of his grandfather’s appearance. Would the news he was about to break make things worse? How would he be able to live with himself if he sent Nonno over the edge? But how could he live with himself if he kept up the charade?

  ‘Ailsa not coming in today?’ Nonno said, glancing past Vinn’s shoulders. ‘Is she still feeling a little under the weather?’

  Vinn pulled the visitor’s chair closer to the bed and sat down and slowly released a breath. ‘I don’t know how to tell you this, Nonno, but she’s gone back to London.’

  ‘For work?’

  How easy would it be to lie? All he had to say was yes and give his grandfather another day or two of peace before the ugly truth had to be faced. ‘Not just for work,’ Vinn said. ‘The thing is...we weren’t really back together.’

  His grandfather put his gnarled hand on Vinn’s forearm. ‘You think I didn’t know that?’

  Vinn stared at his grandfather. ‘You...knew?’

  Nonno gave a single nod. ‘I appreciate what you tried to do. I know you had my best interests at heart. But you have to want her back for you, not me. Because you can’t live without her. Because no one else will fill the space she left.’

  Vinn’s throat was suddenly so constricted it felt as if he’d swallowed one of the pillows off his grandfather’s bed. Two pillows. Plus the mattress. Ailsa had left a space so big and achingly empty his chest felt like it was being carved out with a rusty spoon. The inextricable knot was finally loosened inside him. He hadn’t been able to say the words but the feelings were there and could no longer be denied or ignored or masqueraded as anything else. His biggest fear hadn’t been falling in love. His biggest fear was losing the only person he had loved with all his heart and soul and body. He had to have the courage to own those feelings. To embrace them and express them. ‘I love her, Nonno. But I think I’ve ruined everything. Again.’

  ‘Have you told her you love her?’

  Vinn couldn’t meet his grandfather’s gaze and looked down at the wedding ring on his left hand instead. Why hadn’t he taken it off by now? Because you love her and can’t bear the thought of never seeing her again. He loved her. He loved her so damn much he hadn’t been able to move on with his life. He hadn’t taken off his wedding ring because taking it off would mean finally letting go of the hope. The hope that their marriage still had a chance. That was why he’d sent those Italian clients to her studio. He’d been unwilling to finally sever the connection. He’d clung to whatever thread he could to keep her in his life.

  He brought his gaze back to his grandfather’s. ‘What if I’ve poisoned that love? What if it’s too late?’

  ‘You won’t find out by sitting here talking to me,’ Nonno said. ‘The person you need to talk to is Ailsa.’

  Vinn sprang to his feet. ‘You’re right. But I hate leaving you while you’re still in ICU. That infection is worrying your specialists. What if you—?’ He couldn’t finish the sentence for the lump of emotion in his throat.

  Nonno waved his hand towards the door. ‘Go. I’ll be all right. I’m not ready to leave this world yet.’ His eyes twinkled. ‘I have one more thing to tick off on my bucket list.’

  * * *

  Ailsa got over her virus but her spirits were still so low she could barely drag herself through the day. Forty-eight hours had passed since she’d left Italy and she hadn’t heard anything from Vinn. Not that she’d expected him to contact her. Their relationship was over and the sooner she moved on with her life the better. But, even so, every time the studio door opened, her heart would give an extra beat in the hope Vinn might walk through the door.

  She’d sent a text to her mother to let her know there wasn’t going to be a baby, and told both her mother and stepfather she had left Vinn because she didn’t want them reading about it first in the press. Her mother had replied, saying she would come and see her as soon as she could.

  It was lunchtime when the bell at the top of the door tinkled again and Ailsa looked up to see her mother and stepfather come in. Normally when her mother said she would drop by it could mean days and days before it actually happened. Was this a sign things were improving in her relationship with her mother? ‘Mum? Dad? Why are you both here?’

  Her mother spoke first. ‘We were worried about you. And sad about your news about Vinn and you calling it quits. Are you okay? Is there anything we can do?’

  Ailsa shook her head and sighed. ‘No, there’s nothing anyone can do.’

  Her mother looked anxious and kept darting glances at Ailsa’s stepfather. ‘We feel so bad about everything. Me particularly. I know I haven’t been the best mother to you. I tried but I was so messed-up after... Well, I should have got some help instead of bottling it up. But that’s going to change now so—’

  ‘Mum, it’s fine, really. You don’t have to apologise.’

  ‘But I want to be closer to you,’ her mother said. ‘Since your father and I divorced... Sorry, I can’t help calling Michael your father even though—’

  ‘It’s fine, Mum. Michael is my father.’ Ailsa turned to face him. ‘You’re the only father I’ve ever known and ever wanted.’

  Michael blinked back tears and reached for Ailsa’s mother’s hand. ‘Thank you, sweetheart. What your mother is trying to say is we’re working at some stuff. We’re both having counselling.’

  Ailsa looked at her parents’ joined hands and the light shining in her mother’s usually haunted and shadowed eyes. ‘What’s going on?’

  Her mother gave a sheepish smile. ‘I feel bad saying this when you’re going through a relationship breakup, but your dad and I have realised we’re not happy without each other.’

  ‘But you weren’t happy together.’

  ‘That was because we weren’t being honest with each other,’ Michael said. ‘We’re learning how to do that now. I don’t want to lose your mother. I don’t want to lose the family we made together.’

  Ailsa couldn’t believe her ears. ‘So you’re getting remarried?’

  ‘Maybe,’ her mother said. ‘We’re not making any promises. But for now we’re enjoying putting the past aside and moving forward.’

  Ailsa hugged both her parents in turn. ‘I’m happy for you.’

  She just wished she could put the past aside and move forward too.

  * * *

  Ailsa was about to close the studio for the day when she saw Vinn walking towards the front door. Her breath stalled in her throat and her hand on the key in the door fell away and went to her chest, where her heart was threatening to leap out of her chest. He’d left his grandfather back in Milan to come and see her? What did it mean? ‘Vinn?’

  ‘Can we talk?’ Vinn said.

  Ailsa stepped back to let him enter and closed the door behind him. ‘Why are you here? Is your grandfather okay? Oh, God...don’t tell me something’s happened.’

 
He smiled and reached for her hands, holding them within the cradle of his. ‘Something has happened, cara. I’ve finally come to my senses and realised I love you. Can you forgive me for not telling you sooner?’

  Ailsa did a rapid blink. ‘You love me?’

  He gave her hands a gentle squeeze, his dark eyes shining. ‘So so much. I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to admit it. I was too frightened, too cowardly to admit I needed you, that I loved you so much I couldn’t bear to take off my wedding ring because it was all I had left of you. That’s why I fired Rosa. She told me I was a fool to let the wife I was madly in love with go without a fight. I fired her rather than face up to the truth. And I let you go—twice. Please say you’ll forgive me and come back to me.’

  Ailsa was crying and laughing at the same time and threw herself against him, winding her arms around his neck. ‘I love you too.’

  ‘You do? You really do? Even after all the stupid mistakes I’ve made?’

  She smiled. ‘Of course I do. You don’t have to say the words to show it, you know.’

  He grinned back. ‘True, but given how stubborn and blockheaded I am, I think it’d be wise if you did tell me now and again. At least once or twice a day.’

  ‘I love you.’ She pressed a kiss to his mouth. ‘I love, love, love you.’

  ‘That’s a start.’ He pressed a kiss to her lips. ‘Stay married to me, cara? Please? We don’t have to live all the time in Milan. I’ve been thinking about launching a showroom over here. Maybe you could send some clients my way.’

  Ailsa grimaced in shame. ‘I feel so bad I deliberately directed clients away from your beautiful designs out of spite. And all the while you were sending me clients. You’re a much better person than I am.’

  He stroked her face with a tender hand. ‘You are a wonderful person, cara. Don’t ever think you’re not.’

  Ailsa smiled again. ‘I’ve come to some realisations of my own in the last little while. I am much more than my DNA. I might not know who my father is but I know who I am and that’s all that matters.’

  Vinn hugged her close. ‘And I love who you are and can’t wait to spend the rest of my life proving it to you.’

  ‘I thought you only wanted me because you thought I was pregnant. I wouldn’t have left the way I did if I’d known you loved me.’

  He gave her a rueful smile. ‘I’d actually bought you flowers on my way home that day. I planned to ask you to stay with me. I guess it was a roundabout way of expressing the feelings I hadn’t yet admitted to myself.’

  Ailsa stroked his jaw. ‘We’ve been such fools wasting so much time. We’ve been making war instead of making love.’

  His dark eyes shone with deep emotion. ‘I want you in my life no matter what. Having children is not as important to me as you are. I love you and you’ll be more than enough for me.’

  Ailsa looked at him through a blurry sheen of tears. ‘Oh, Vinn, I do want a baby. I didn’t realise how much until I stood with you in that bathroom with that test wand in my hand.’

  ‘You do? Really?’ His hands gripped her so tightly it was almost painful. ‘But I don’t want you just saying that to appease me.’

  ‘I want to make a family with you, darling,’ Ailsa said and gave him a twinkling smile. ‘How soon can we get started?’

  He gave her an answering smile and brought his mouth down to hers. ‘Now.’

  EPILOGUE

  Three months later...

  IT WAS THE most unusual way to find out if a pregnancy test was positive or not but Ailsa didn’t care. Unusual because instead of just her and Vinn peering at the test wand in the bathroom with expectant breaths held, Vinn’s grandfather and Carlotta and Rosa were waiting in the sitting room downstairs for the results. Rosa had come back to work for Vinn and was such an enormous asset to the company that Vinn had been able to step back a little and spend more time with Ailsa and his grandfather.

  Ailsa started to well up when she saw the positive lines appear and Vinn’s arm around her waist tightened. ‘That looks like a positive to me,’ he said, grinning at her. ‘What do you think?’

  She turned in his embrace and linked her arms around his neck, smiling up at him with such joy filling her heart she thought it would burst. ‘I think you are going to be the best father in the world. I love you. Do you have any idea how much?’

  He pressed a gentle kiss to her mouth. ‘I love you too, more than I can ever say, although it has to be said I’m pretty damn good at saying it now, don’t you agree?’

  ‘You are.’ She kissed his mouth back. ‘And I never get tired of hearing you say it.’

  Vinn brushed back an imaginary hair from her face, his expression so tender and loving it made her chest expand as if her heart was searching for more room. ‘I’m dying to spread the good news to Nonno and Carlotta and Rosa but there’s something I have to do first.’

  ‘What’s that?’

  ‘This,’ he said, and covered her mouth with his.

  * * * * *

  If you enjoyed BLACKMAILED INTO THE MARRIAGE BED, why not explore these other stories by Melanie Milburne?

  A VIRGIN FOR A VOW

  THE TYCOON’S MARRIAGE DEAL

  A RING FOR THE GREEK’S BABY

  Available now!

  Keep reading for an excerpt from VIERI’S CONVENIENT VOWS by Andie Brock.

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  Vieri’s Convenient Vows

  by Andie Brock

  CHAPTER ONE

  HARPER MCDONALD GAZED at the mass of bodies writhing on the dance floor. With green and blue laser lights playing over their jerky movements they somehow produced a mesmerising whole, like a choppy sea. A DJ was performing on the elevated stage, the pulsing music so invasive that Harper could feel it reverberating through her body, defying her to stand still. She had never witnessed anything so hedonistic, so tribal. Even the air felt different, heavy with the scent of luxury and indulgence and wealth.

  As another impossibly glamorous couple swept past her, Harper pulled in a breath, trying to ignore the way her stomach was knotting inside her. She felt so out of place she might as well have had a pair of antlers on her head. But she wasn’t here to blend in or to dance or to schmooze with the beautiful people. She was here for one reason only. To find her sister.

  Descending the stairs, she tentatively started to skirt the edge of the dance floor, looking for someone who might be able to help her. Somebody here had to have some in
formation, had to know what had happened to Leah. But she had only gone a few steps when she was physically halted. With a shriek of terror she found herself airborne, both arms grabbed in a vice-like grip, the hold so powerful that her feet were lifted clean off the ground.

  ‘Get off me! Put me down!’ Frantically turning her head, she saw a pair of giant, suited men, their wide, impassive faces eerily shadowed by the coloured lights, giving nothing away. With a surge of adrenaline she tried to twist inside their grasp but this only made their brutish hands tighten further. Panic washed over her.

  ‘I insist that you put me down.’ She tried again, raising her voice over the incessant throb of noise, kicking her legs beneath her. ‘You’re hurting me.’

  ‘Then stop squirmin’.’

  Offering no more than this one piece of advice, the pair of man beasts continued to move forward, Harper trapped between them like the filling of a sandwich. The crowd of revellers parted to let them through with surprisingly little interest in her plight. No one seemed remotely interested in helping her.

  ‘Stop this!’ She battled to halt the hysteria that was rising in her throat. She didn’t have a clue who these thugs were, only that she was being forcibly escorted against her will. And not even towards the entrance where the idea of being evicted into the chill of the night suddenly seemed all too inviting. No, she was being propelled in the opposite direction, further into the mysterious depths of this dark and dangerous place. A series of terrifying images flashed through her mind—abduction, murder, rape. And then the worst dread of all—was this what had happened to Leah?

  Well, there was no way she would let herself be taken. She would fight with everything she had to save herself and her sister. ‘I’m warning you.’ She kicked her legs wildly beneath her once more. ‘If you don’t put me down right now I will scream so loud I will burst your eardrums.’

  ‘I wouldn’t advise that,’ a low voice growled in her ear. ‘If I were you I’d keep nice an’ quiet. When you’ve done what you’ve done you’ve gotta expect consequences. Makin’ a fuss ain’t gonna help nothing.’