by Jennie Lucas
“He returned all the money. Can you say the same?”
“What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about you and Blaise Falkner and every other billionaire—you are the real ones who should be...”
She abruptly cut herself off.
“Go on,” Vin said evenly. “You were about to accuse me of something?”
Scarlett looked him straight in the eye. “Every rich man I’ve ever known was heartless. My dad in his worst year was less a thief than all the corporate embezzlers and Wall Street gamblers with their Ponzi schemes, wiping out people’s pension funds, their savings, their hope!”
“You’re comparing me to them?”
“You wouldn’t sacrifice one of your platinum cuff links—” she glanced contemptuously at his wrist “—let alone risk your life or happiness, to save someone else.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Don’t I?” She lifted her chin. Through the car window he could see the gray-and-blue shimmer of Lake Geneva behind her. “You told me yourself. You don’t think twice about causing emotional pain. I bet you’ve never loved anyone in your life. And you asked me to marry you!”
“Love isn’t necessary.”
“That’s a screwed-up way of looking at things. That’s like saying there’s no point in eating things that taste good. Marriage without love, isn’t that like eating gruel for the rest of your life? Why eat gruel when you can eat cake?”
“Cake is an illusion. It all turns out to be gruel in the end.”
“That’s the saddest thing I ever heard.” She shook her head. “I feel bad for you. A billionaire who’s content to eat gruel for the rest of his life.”
Vin could hardly believe this penniless girl who had nothing and had once stolen his wallet actually felt sorry for him. “Better a hard truth than the sweet comfort of lies.”
“No, it’s worse than that. You’re a cynic who claims not to believe in the existence of love.” She looked up at him through dark eyelashes. “Some woman must have hurt you pretty badly.”
Yes. One woman had. But it wasn’t what Scarlett thought. “Then she did me a favor. Taught me the truth about life.”
“Taught you wrong.” She rubbed her belly, looking out the window as they drove closer to Geneva.
“Right or wrong, once the paternity test proves I’m your baby’s father, we will be celebrating our marriage.”
She tossed him a glance. “No, thanks. I’m no fan of gruel.”
Vin ground his teeth. “Are you trying to tell me your childish, foolish dreams of love are more important than our child’s welfare? A baby deserves two parents. A stable home.”
Her expression changed. “Don’t you think I know that? All I ever wanted my whole childhood was to have a real home. I don’t even know what it feels like to make roots, have friends, be part of a community.” Her voice cracked. “But you know what? We were still happy, even on the run. Because my parents loved each other. And they loved me.”
He didn’t know what that felt like, Vin thought unwillingly. He’d grown up in a derelict villa in Rome, neglected and ignored by a mother who was only interested in her love affairs. Her son was valuable for one reason only: to extort money from his father.
His so-called father.
Vin’s shoulders tightened.
Anyone he loved, he lost. His mother had coldly used him as a bargaining chip to finance her lifestyle, before she violently died. Paid nannies left or were fired. His kindly grandfather had had a stroke when Vin was eight. He’d become estranged from his loving father and stepmother at fifteen. Sometimes he felt like he’d been alone his whole life. As alone as that Christmas Eve, when he was only eight and was left utterly alone in the villa, forgotten in the dark—
He shook the memory away. His own child’s life would be very different. And he’d make sure his child’s mother was either a loving, stable, nurturing influence—or no influence at all.
“Why did you run away from New York?” he demanded. “Because you decided to believe everything you’d read about me?”
“Are you kidding?” Scarlett looked at him in amazement. “That pre-nup.”
Gripping the steering wheel, he glanced at her in surprise. “You wanted to avoid the pre-nup?”
“Did you really think I would sign papers to give you total power over not just me, but our child? Did you think I’d be so happy to become your trophy wife, I’d trade away my freedom for the rest of my life?”
“The pre-nup has been vetted by my lawyers to be completely fair...”
“Completely fair.” For the first time since he’d known her, he heard a cynical note in her voice. “When you would get to make every decision about our lives? And if we ever decided to divorce for any reason, you would automatically get full custody of our baby?”
“Divorce is not my plan,” he said sharply. “But I know I could not prevent you from leaving, if you wished it. Whatever you might think, there are no dungeons in my penthouse. The prenuptial agreement is merely a tool to minimize the impact of all your potentially bad decisions on our innocent children.”
“My bad decisions?” She shook her head almost sadly. “And that’s just the stuff in the pre-nup you told me about. Who knows what would have been buried in the fine print, a requirement that I give you five blow jobs a week?”
It was a crude comment, said matter-of-factly. There was nothing sensual or suggestive about her tone. If anything, she meant to insult him, to drive him away.
But his body’s reaction was instantaneous. He turned from coldly furious to burning hot in a second, blood rushing to his groin as images went through his mind of that full rose-red mouth, hot and wet, around his hardened length... He tried to clear his head of the erotic image as he shifted uncomfortably in the leather seat of the car.
“That was not my intention.” Although it sure as hell was now. Vin wondered what his lawyer’s expression would be if he told him to add a blow job requirement.
Scarlett continued stubbornly, “You accuse me of being childish and foolish. But in refusing to marry you, I’m protecting our baby.”
“How can you say that?” As they drove through the outskirts of Geneva, he stopped at a red light. “I can offer both you and the baby a lifestyle you could never dream of. Six houses around the world, private schools, jewels, cars. Private jets...”
She shuddered at his mention of the jets. It seemed strange to him.
“I’m protecting our baby from a man who would only want to control us,” she said softly. “Not love us.”
That brought Vin up short.
As they arrived at the clinic, a modern building with clean lines on the edge of the lake, he pushed his thoughts aside. Parking the car, with the dark SUV parking nearby, he got out and opened Scarlett’s door. He extended his hand to assist his very pregnant future bride.
With visible reluctance, she placed her hand in his.
Vin felt an electric jolt from the contact. As they walked together toward the front door of the clinic, he wouldn’t—couldn’t—let her hand go. He stopped, lifting it to his lips, and gently kissed the back of her hand. Her skin was soft. He felt her tremble.
“You could never love anyone.” Her voice trembled. “Because you’ll never trust anyone. Just the fact you’re making me take this test...”
“I believe you, Scarlett,” he said softly. “I’m only insisting on a paternity test because I’ve been lied to about it before.”
“What?”
“A woman once claimed I was the father of her nonexistent baby, trying to get me to marry her. But this time, in my heart, I already know the truth. You’re carrying my baby.”
“Vin...”
Reaching out, he tucked a tendril of her red hair behind her ear. Her green eyes were wide.
“I like it when you look at me like that,” he murmured. “You are so beautiful, cara. Your eyes are such a deep emerald. Like a forest.” He gently stroked the side of her face. �
��Your lips,” he whispered, “are red and plump and ripe as fruit. I’ll never forget—” he ran the tip of his finger along the full length of her bottom lip “—how it felt to taste them...”
Her tremble became violent. She looked so vulnerable, so stricken, so caught—she, who could have had any man she wanted with her beauty! Vin realized that he, too, was shaking.
His blood was pounding with the need to take her.
Then he remembered the bodyguards watching from the parking lot, the appointment at the clinic looming overhead.
Soon, he vowed to himself. Soon, he would satiate himself with her completely.
“You’re right about one thing.” He cupped her cheek. “I don’t believe in love. At least not the romantic kind. But I do believe,” he whispered, “in desire. I never stopped wanting you. From the moment we first met.”
“But you were going to marry another...”
“Because I thought you were lost to me. I thought I couldn’t have you. Now...I know I will.” Vin ran the pads of his fingertips lightly along the edge of her jawline, to her earlobes, to the tumbling red waves of her hair. “I will have you, Scarlett,” he growled. “At any price.”
CHAPTER FOUR
“THERE CAN BE no doubt, Mr. Borgia. The baby is yours.”
The Swiss doctor beamed at them. She was obviously pleased to be giving them good news.
Scarlett saw a flash of emotions cross Vin’s hard, handsome features—pride, relief, joy and then, as he looked at her, anger. He hadn’t forgiven her for running away.
Just you wait, Scarlett thought, giving him a bland smile.
But she’d thought she’d escape before this. Certainly before they drew the blood that they’d already tested in their in-house, state-of-the-art medical lab. She’d never intended for Vin to have the actual proof he was the father of her baby, proof he could use against her in courts of law.
But he’d never given her the opportunity. From the moment they’d arrived at the medical clinic, to the hour they’d spent waiting for the results, having lunch at a nearby elegant restaurant on the lake, Vin had never let Scarlett out of his sight. Even when she’d excused herself to use the restroom, he’d waited outside in the hallway, in an apparently courteous gesture. When she needed to get her handbag from the car, he’d insisted on sending a bodyguard to collect it.
Over lunch at the Michelin-starred restaurant, as he’d enjoyed lamb and asparagus in a delicate truffle sauce and a glass of wine, he’d expounded on what he would expect of her as his wife, each detail more outrageous than the last. He expected to dictate everything in her life, from the friends she kept to the clothes she wore!
She’d tried her best to lull his suspicions, listening meekly as she ate her lunch and sipped sparkling water. But inside, she was fuming.
Vin was so sure he’d won. He thought he could bully her into giving all her rights away—being nothing more than his indentured servant, the wife he could dominate, holding power over her future and their child’s! He was as bad as Blaise!
What century do you think we’re living in?
The century a rich man can do whatever he wants. To whomever he wants.
Actually, Vin was more dangerous. Because from the moment she’d met him, when he’d taken her in his arms and made her feel things she’d never felt before, pleasure and joy beyond imagining, he’d made her want to surrender to his demands. And he could do it again, if she let him.
I will have you, Scarlett. At any price.
She shivered as she remembered the hunger in his black eyes. The same hunger she felt for him.
But the price was too high. She couldn’t allow herself to surrender, not when it would cost her everything!
“Do you want to know the baby’s sex?” Dr. Schauss asked now in slightly accented English.
Vin’s eyes were wide as he looked at Scarlett. He cleared his throat and said in an unsteady voice, “Sure.”
The doctor smiled. “You’re having a boy!”
A boy? Scarlett’s eyes filled with tears. In just a few weeks, a sweet baby boy would be in her arms!
“A boy?” Vin’s face lit up, and he looked at Scarlett. His usual hard, cynical expression fell away and he looked suddenly young and joyful. Then he turned back to the doctor. “And the pregnancy? Is Scarlett well?”
If she’d loved him, or even trusted him, she might have been touched by the anxiety in his deep voice.
The doctor nodded. “Mademoiselle Ravenwood is doing well. Her blood pressure is fine and in spite of being so close to her due date, she shows no signs of imminent labor. Though that can quickly change, of course...”
“Then we have time to be married.” His expression hardened as he turned to Scarlett. “My lawyer in New York has sent the prenuptial agreement. As soon as we leave here, you will sign it, and we will marry.”
Scarlett’s heart fell all the way to her fur-lined boots. “I...”
Holding up his hand, he pressed his phone to his ear. “Ernest, find out where we can be married quickly. Yes, I know it’s more complicated in Europe. Tonight if possible, tomorrow at the latest.”
Staring at him, Scarlett instantly saw her mistake.
My God, she was stupid. She never should have let him get the legal proof that he was the father of her child. She should have screamed bloody murder rather than willingly give blood for the paternity test. Running away would be ten times harder now. He’d never give up looking for her. And he’d have the law on his side.
She rose unsteadily to her feet. “Thank you for the news, Doctor.” Her teeth were chattering as she glanced at Vin, who had turned away to bark questions to his assistant, about places like Gibraltar and Denmark and even, heaven help her, Las Vegas. In another moment, he’d be arranging the plane, then he’d be back to giving her his full attention. She had only seconds.
Adrenaline pumped her heart. It was now or never.
“Mademoiselle Ravenwood—” the Swiss doctor looked at her with concern in her kindly bespectacled eyes “—are you quite all right?”
“Fine, I’m great.” She forced a smile. “I just need to go to the ladies’ room. If you’ll excuse me.”
“Of course—”
Scarlett swiftly exited the brightly lit exam room. She saw Vin’s eyes look up piercingly as she closed the door.
She fled down the hall, past other beaming couples holding ultrasound photos and smiling nurses and doctors in white coats. She ran down multiple hallways, looking desperately for the back exit, since she knew that Vin’s bodyguards were waiting at the front entrance of the clinic.
She found the back staircase and raced down it, one hand over her heavy belly as she scrambled to think of a coherent escape plan. She’d go back to Gstaad and beg Wilhelmina to use her influence with her boss—Kassius Black—to hide her. If that failed, she’d borrow money and hop a train for somewhere Vin had no connections at all. She scrambled to think how far she’d have to go. Samarkand? Ulaanbaatar? Vladivostok?
Scarlett burst out of the steel-framed door to the sunlight and fresh air of the wide lawn behind the clinic. She saw the shining gleam of the lake, saw a local bus approaching on a distant road. She started to run across the grass—
Then came to a screeching halt.
Vin was on the grassy hill beside the clinic, his arms folded. “Going somewhere?”
Out of earshot but watching the exchange with interest, she saw his bodyguards. Her lips parted, but she couldn’t find her voice. Couldn’t find a single word of explanation or excuse as he came forward, his handsome, implacable face set in stone.
She stammered, “How did you—”
“I expected you to run.”
“But I didn’t argue with you at all!” she gasped. “I didn’t even criticize the obnoxious things you said at lunch!”
“That’s how I knew.” His voice was almost amused. “The fiery woman I know would never let such a thing pass.”
“It was a test?” Her voice squeaked
in outrage.
He shrugged. “You seemed like you were willing to come quietly for the paternity test. I was glad to let it ride. But of course I knew.” He put his hands in his pockets, looking more devastatingly handsome than ever in his tailored dark suit and long black coat. He tilted his head curiously. “Actually, I’m a little disappointed in you, trying the same trick twice. I’d like to think you had a little more respect for my intelligence.”
She sucked in her breath as he came closer. His dark eyes were almost feral above the hard hungry slant of his cheekbones and rough edges of his jaw, shaded with five-o’clock shadow.
“Why are you so afraid of me?” he asked softly. “You seem to think I’m a murderous villain, merely because I seek to take responsibility for my child and marry you.”
She lifted her chin furiously. “You don’t wish to marry me. You’re insisting on it! You’re no better than Blaise Falkner!”
He grew dangerously still. “And now you insult me?”
“He wanted me to sign papers forcing me to give the baby away, too!”
“That’s not what I—”
“At least with Blaise,” she interrupted, “I knew from the start he was a monster. But I liked you. I slept with you.” She hated the tears that rose in her eyes. She wiped them away furiously. “But beneath your charm, you’re just the same as Blaise. Selfish to the core. You’re determined to force this prenuptial agreement on me. Well, guess what, I’m not going to sign it! You can’t make me marry you. We’re in modern-day Europe, not the Dark Ages!”
“Oh, for...” A low mutter of hard words that she guessed to be Italian curses escaped his sensual lips. He set his jaw. “I don’t have time for this. I’m due in Rome in five days. The prenuptial agreement is waiting in the car. You can read it thoroughly while we’re driving to the airport.”
Her stomach fell. “Airport?”
“En route to our wedding in Las Vegas.”
“I’m not getting on a plane!”
“Why,” he jeered, “because you’re afraid I will kidnap you to some shadowy place not so civilized as Switzerland? You think so little of me. Why did you let me seduce you, let me fill you with my child, if the idea of taking my name and being under my protection and letting me provide for you is so unpalatable? If you truly believe me to be such a villain, why did you give me your body?” he said softly. “Why did you grip my shoulders and cry with joy as I made love to you again and again?”
