Captive in His Castle

by Chantelle Shaw

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  SHOCK RAN THROUGH Jess as she absorbed Drago’s statement. ‘What do you mean?’ she said unsteadily. ‘What child?’

  He exhaled slowly. ‘While I was engaged to Vittoria she fell pregnant, but she did not tell anyone—including me.’ Noticing Jess’s confused expression, he said heavily, ‘I’d better start from the beginning. I first met Vittoria when we were children. Our families were friends, and as we grew up we often used to meet at social events. My ill-fated love affair with Natalia, the exotic Russian woman who conned me and Cassa di Cassari out of a fortune, was humiliating, and I vowed that in future I would use my head and not my heart in relationships,’ he explained grimly. ‘I felt it was my duty to marry and produce an heir. Vittoria was beautiful and charming, and her family connections to Italian nobility made me decide that she would be the perfect wife.’

  ‘It sounds a coldly clinical way to choose a wife,’ Jess said, taken aback by his lack of emotion. ‘Didn’t you love her?’

  ‘I cared for her and respected her.’ Drago hesitated. ‘But I did not love her as I should have done. A few years before I had been crazily in love with Natalia,’ he admitted roughly. ‘I met her while I was still grieving for my father, and I completely lost my heart to her.’

  Jess nodded. ‘I can understand that. I fell desperately in love with Seb when I was very vulnerable after my friend Daniel died.’

  ‘Discovering how Natalia had betrayed me hurt like hell,’ Drago continued. ‘I never wanted to feel pain like that again. So it seemed eminently sensible to marry a woman I liked who shared my goals. Vittoria seemed to accept that I needed to devote time to running Cassa di Cassari.’ He grimaced. ‘It shames me to say that I did not devote the same amount of time to my relationship with her. I was unaware that she suffered badly from nerves and illogical fears and had, among other things, a phobia of hospitals.’

  Drago strode restlessly around the room, his mind bombarded by memories that still haunted him. ‘I had no idea that Vittoria had conceived my child. She showed no signs, and she said nothing until she started to bleed heavily. Only then did she admit that she was four months pregnant. Poor Vittoria was petrified,’ he said raggedly. ‘Initially it was thought that she was suffering a miscarriage, but she haemorrhaged severely and was rushed to hospital—where she was found to have a condition called placenta preavia. It is a complication during pregnancy, but in extreme cases it can lead to the death of the mother and the baby. Because Vittoria had not been for any prenatal checks her condition went undetected until she started to bleed. She almost lost her life.’ His throat moved as he swallowed hard. ‘And tragically she lost the baby.’

  ‘I’m sorry,’ Jess whispered, her heart aching for him and his ex-fiancée. ‘To lose a child during pregnancy must be agonising.’

  ‘I blamed myself.’

  She shook her head. ‘You could not have prevented what happened to Vittoria. You said yourself she suffered a rare complication with her pregnancy.’

  ‘If I had paid her more attention she might have told me sooner that she was pregnant and I would have persuaded her to see a doctor,’ Drago said, his voice raw with guilt. ‘If I had taken better care of her then her condition would have been detected and her pregnancy would have been closely monitored. I did not realise how much I wanted a child until my baby died,’ he confessed huskily. ‘Vittoria was heartbroken, and I certainly did not blame her when she decided that she no longer wished to marry me. I felt I had failed her and our unborn child.’

  He looked at Jess, his eyes blazing with emotion. ‘That is why I am determined to do everything I can to ensure that the child you are carrying is born safely. I want this baby very much, but I don’t know how you feel, Jess.’ He frowned. ‘You seem…distant. I get the feeling that you are unhappy about being pregnant and that maybe you do not want our baby.’

  It was his words “our baby” that wrecked Jess. Unlike during her first pregnancy, she was not alone this time. This baby had a father who clearly would be devoted to his child. The knowledge made her glad, but also desperately sad that she had been unable to be a mother to her first child.

  ‘Of course I want our baby,’ she told Drago thickly. Tears blinded her and she felt a pain inside as though her heart had cracked. ‘You have no idea how much I want to be a mother.’

  The storm had been building for a long time, and now it broke. She buried her face in her hands and her shoulders shook as sobs tore through her slender frame.

  ‘Jess?’ Shaken to the core to see her sobbing so uncontrollably, Drago strode over to the bed and lifted her into his arms. ‘Cara, don’t cry. I’m sorry I upset you. I just wasn’t sure how you felt about being pregnant.’

  Once again he had misjudged her, he thought grimly. There was so much about this woman he was about to marry that he did not understand—so many secrets that she kept from him. He could only hope that one day she would learn to trust him. For now all he could do was cradle her in his lap and wrap his arms tightly around her while she wept.

  It was a long time before Jess regained a fragile hold on her emotions. She had never allowed herself to cry like that before, and now she felt drained. Glancing at Drago from beneath her lashes, she felt her heart clench when she saw the bleak expression in his eyes. She wondered if he was thinking about the baby he and his fiancée had lost. He was clearly still haunted by the tragedy, and he must have found it hard to talk about the circumstances that had led to the ending of his engagement to Vittoria.

  Jess was touched that he obviously trusted her enough to confide in her about his painful memories. Trust was an important element in a relationship. She knew Drago was curious about the dreams that troubled her and caused her to cry out in her sleep. He had asked her several times who Katie was, and lately she had been tempted to tell him. But something held her back. Her troubled childhood and teenage years had left her wary of revealing her feelings, and deep down she was afraid that Drago would judge her badly for what she had done. She could not bear to see disgust or condemnation in his eyes. No one could understand the utter devastation she had felt when she had given her child away, and it was just too agonising for her to talk about.

  She closed her eyes, as if she could banish the heartbreaking memories of her past, and slowly became aware of how comforting it felt to be held close to Drago’s chest, listening to the steady beat of his heart beneath her ear. She could feel the warmth of his body through his silk shirt, and the scent of his aftershave teased her senses.

  He was stroking her hair, threading his fingers through its length in a rhythmic motion that was soothing but also sensual. A tremor ran through her as he cupped her chin and tilted her face to his dark gaze. Jess’s heart missed a beat when he gently brushed away the tears from her cheeks. Something was unfurling inside her, and she knew from the sultry gleam in his eyes that he felt it too. Desire beat a slow but insistent drum in her veins.

  ‘Cara?’ His breath whispered across her lips before he covered them with his own and kissed her long and sweet and with increasing passion until she trembled. ‘Do you want this?’ he asked in a voice roughened with need as he trailed his mouth down her throat.

  ‘Yes,’ she said honestly. ‘But do you?’ She gave him a troubled look. ‘You haven’t touched me since you found out I’m pregnant. I thought…I assumed you no longer found me attractive.’

  Drago lay back on the bed, still holding her in his arms, and rolled over so that she was beneath him. ‘Does this feel like I’m not turned on by you?’ he said wryly as the solid ridge of his arousal straining beneath his trousers pushed against her pelvis. ‘I have not dared sleep in the same bed as you because I knew I wouldn’t be able to resist making love to you.’ He frowned. ‘I read that sex in the early days of pregnancy carries a small risk of causing a miscarriage.’

  ‘Well, Dr Marellis told me that it was perfectly safe to make love while I’m pregnant,’ Jess murmured. She caught her breath when Drago slid h
is hand beneath her tee shirt and skimmed it over her ribcage to curl his fingers possessively around one breast.

  ‘In that case, do you think it’s okay for me to do this…?’ he said softly, smiling at her reaction when he stroked his thumb-pad across her nipple and it immediately hardened.

  ‘Perfectly okay,’ she gasped as he whipped her tee shirt over her head and closed his mouth around the taut peaks he had exposed. Pregnancy had made her breasts incredibly sensitive, and starbursts of pleasure shot through her as he flicked his tongue across one nipple and then its twin. After weeks of being denied him she was instantly aroused, and she gave a tiny embarrassed laugh when he tugged off her skirt and panties and dipped his finger into her honeyed sweetness.

  Eagerly she helped him strip, and when he stretched his bronzed, naked body next to her she clung to him and tried to pull him on top of her.

  ‘Not yet, tesoro,’ he said softly and, moving down the bed, he eased her legs apart and lowered his head so that his mouth found the sensitive heart of her femininity.

  Jess whimpered with delight at his skilled foreplay and the dedication with which he used his tongue to bring her to the edge of heaven. After her emotional breakdown she needed him to restore her, and she trembled with desire when the fierce glitter in his eyes told her the moment had come. But instead of entering her he rolled onto his back, taking her with him, and lifted her above him.

  ‘This way you’re in control,’ he murmured, and groaned as she slowly took his swollen length inside her. ‘I always knew that with those amazing green eyes you had to be a sorceress,’ he said thickly.

  And then there were no more words—just the sound of their quickening breaths and moans of pleasure as together they set a driving rhythm that quickly took them higher and higher, until with a sharp cry Jess shuddered with the sweet ecstasy of her climax. Seconds later Drago lost his battle to hold back the tidal wave of his need for this one unique woman, and he buried his face in Jess’s fragrant hair as his big body shook with the force of his release.

  She was the mother of his child, and soon she would be his wife. Those two things brought Drago a level of contentment he had not expected, and he felt a curious tug on his heart as he placed his hand possessively on Jess’s flat stomach. Her pregnancy was unplanned but he had no regrets. He wanted his baby, and he wanted to marry his flame-haired firebrand.

  He tensed as the realisation hit him. But after a moment he relaxed, and his mouth curved into a smile when he saw that Jess had fallen asleep with her head resting on his shoulder. She was so beautiful she made his insides ache. But as he watched a tear seeped from beneath her lashes and slid down her cheek, and she whispered a name. Katie.

  They married in a small, pretty church tucked away down a narrow side street that few tourists had discovered. Jess was surprised, for she had expected the wedding to take place in a register office, and she was even more surprised when Drago’s mother met her at the door of the church and handed her an exquisite bouquet of cream roses.

  ‘I had no idea that my son is such an incurable romantic,’ Luisa said drily. ‘He said to tell you that he chose these to complement your dress.’

  Jess swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat. ‘They’re perfect.’ Her ivory silk wedding dress was a fairy-tale creation that had been made for her by the designer Torre Umberto. The fluid lines of the gown suited her slender figure, and the crystal-covered bodice sparkled in the sunshine of a Venetian summer’s day.

  But the biggest surprise came when she walked into the church with Fico, who was to give her away, and saw Mike, Gaz and the rest of her workforce from T&J Decorators gathered in the pews.

  ‘Drago arrange for your friends to come,’ Fico told her in a gruff whisper. ‘He say it make you happy.’

  As she reached the altar and lifted her eyes to Drago’s handsome face Jess knew she was happier than she had ever been in her life—and the thought terrified her. In all the bleak years of her childhood she had not imagined happiness like this, and she felt she did not deserve it.

  Drago did not love her, she reminded herself. He was only marrying her because she was expecting his baby. But the gentle expression in his eyes as he took her hand and the marriage service began filled her with hope that they could make their marriage work.

  Remember how Seb betrayed you, she told herself sternly. She had fooled herself into believing that he cared for her, and the legacy of that mistake would haunt her for ever. But she could not prevent the frantic leap of her heart when Drago slid a gold wedding band onto her finger and followed it with an exquisite emerald and diamond ring in the shape of a flower.

  ‘The solitaire ring was too big and showy for you,’ he murmured. ‘This suits your small hand much better, and the emeralds match the colour of your eyes.’

  Emerging from the church as man and wife, they boarded a gondola decorated with roses, and as Drago kissed her and the wedding guests cheered Jess decided that fairy tales could come true after all.

  The reception at the Palazzo d’Inverno was an informal affair, and she was able to spend time chatting with the guys from T&J Decorators. Mike, who had acted as foreman in her absence, had now taken over running the business.

  ‘I’m glad things have worked out for you, Jess,’ he told her. ‘But me and the lads miss you. If you ever get bored of swanning around in a palace I’ll always find you some work. You’re one of the best chippies in the trade.’

  ‘Thanks, but being a mother is the only job I’m going to want for a long time,’ Jess replied, her eyes softening as she imagined holding her baby in her arms.

  ‘I enjoyed meeting your friends,’ Drago said later, as they drove across the bridge linking Venice to the mainland. They were on their way to his house in the Italian Alps, where they were to spend their honeymoon. ‘Remind me of the name of the guy covered in tattoos?’

  ‘You mean Stan the Van? He does most of the driving to job sites.’

  ‘And the guy with spiky pink hair and a missing front tooth?’

  Jess grinned. ‘He’s called Sharky because he’s Australian and has a scar that he says is from where he was bitten by a shark, but no one believes him.’ She hesitated. ‘I know they’re a bit rough round the edges, but they’re great guys and they have been like a family to me.’

  Drago glanced at her and felt again that curious tug on his insides as he thought how beautiful she looked in her wedding dress. ‘Now you are a member of the Cassari family,’ he said gently. ‘But we’ll go to London often, so that you can visit your friends. I own a penthouse in Park Lane.’

  The address of his London apartment was a reminder that they came from different worlds, Jess thought ruefully. She couldn’t help feeling worried again that she would not fit into his sophisticated lifestyle with his glamorous friends.

  ‘By the way, Sebastian Loxley is in prison.’

  She shot him a startled look. ‘How do you know?’

  ‘I hired someone to track him down.’ Drago gave a grim smile. ‘I wanted to have a…let’s call it a discussion,’ he said in a dangerous voice, ‘about the way he treated you. But for now he’s out of my reach—serving eight years for credit card fraud.’

  ‘I’m glad,’ Jess said shakily. ‘At least while he’s in prison he can’t hurt anyone else.’

  Tired after the hectic day, she slept for much of the three-hour drive to the north of Italy, and woke to find the car was winding up a steep road surrounded by mountains.

  ‘Welcome to Casa Rosa,’ Drago said as he pulled up on the driveway of a picturesque alpine lodge.

  The lower slopes of the mountains were grassy meadows, but the highest peaks of the Alps were still covered in snow that reflected the fiery brilliance of the setting sun.

  ‘I’ve never been this close to mountains before,’ Jess murmured in an awed voice as she looked around at the breathtaking scenery.

  ‘In the winter even the lower slopes are covered in snow.’ Drago smiled at her. ‘After th
e baby is born I’ll teach you to ski, if you like.’

  Jess gave him a puzzled look. ‘But who would look after the baby while we were skiing?’

  ‘We will employ a nanny. You’ll need help with the baby. Although I intend to cut down my work commitments, I’ll still need to spend time running the company.’

  While he was speaking Drago led the way into the house—a charming lodge with low ceilings, wood-panelled walls and stripped-pine floorboards scattered with colourful rugs.

  But Jess did not notice the quaint charm of the house as she said fiercely, ‘I don’t want a nanny. I’m perfectly capable of taking care of my baby.’

  Seeing the light of battle in her eyes, Drago held back from telling her that he planned to hire a nanny so that he and Jess could enjoy some time together. Much as he was looking forward to being a father, he intended to be a very attentive husband. ‘We’ll discuss it another time,’ he murmured. ‘For now, I think you should go to bed. You must be tired after a busy day.’

  ‘I slept in the car,’ Jess reminded him, ‘and I’m not at all tired.’ Her heart missed a beat when he cupped her chin in his hand and tilted her face to his.

  ‘Good. I’m not tired either.’ His deep voice seemed to wrap around her like a cloak of crushed velvet. ‘So, what do you think that two people who are on their honeymoon and who are not tired should do, cara?’

  His mouth was tantalisingly close to hers. Jess licked her suddenly dry lips and watched his eyes blaze with feral hunger. ‘I think they should go to bed,’ she answered huskily.

  ‘How can our marriage be anything but a success when we are clearly on the same wavelength?’

  His sexy smile stole her breath. And then he kissed her and the world went away.

  The master bedroom had a wall of glass that gave stunning views of the mountains. In the purple softness of dusk Drago removed her wedding dress and the tiny wisps of lacy underwear, and Jess helped him out of his grey wedding suit, her fingers clumsy with impatience as she undid his shirt buttons.