His Blackmail Marriage Bargain

by Penny Jordan

  ‘Which you later claimed were just ramblings,’ Autumn reminded him softly.

  ‘Ramblings be damned! Perhaps I wasn’t wholly aware of what I was saying, but don’t ever doubt that they were the things I’d yearned to say to you all along and never had the courage. If you like, my illness overrode the instructions I’d given to my brain to keep emotions out of our relationship, and revealed exactly how I felt about you with a vengeance. I gave you a first-class opportunity to get back at me for all that I’d done to you, and yet you didn’t take it. For the first time in my life I’d experienced true womanly compassion and it gave me hope that in turn it might grow to something else. And then when you started talking about leaving me…’

  ‘I couldn’t decide whether you’d meant what you said or not,’ Autumn confessed, ‘and I thought that by saying I was leaving it might force you into admitting how you felt, but I got no reaction at all, and I decided that you didn’t want me after all.’

  They could talk about his childhood later, and how it had affected his whole life.

  ‘It’s over,’ Autumn said gently, lifting her face in mute supplication, her mouth parting softly. Yorke covered it demandingly, and time fell away. Her hands trembled violently against his chest, his heartbeat no longer steady but a charged drumbeat against her skin. Her small murmur of satisfaction as he removed her gown was smothered by the renewed pressure of his mouth, her arms wound tightly round his neck, her fingers buried deep in the thick dark hair.

  How long they simply clung together in that kiss she didn’t know. It stripped both their souls bare, extinguishing the anguish of years and burning away the pain. And then Yorke was lifting her, carrying her through into his room, placing her gently on the bed, her eyes following the lean lines of his body, with a pleasure she made no attempt to conceal. He smiled down at her in total understanding.

  ‘It’s good, isn’t?’ he asked comprehendingly. ‘Not to have to hide how we feel any longer.’

  It was. It added a new dimension to their lovemaking, a tender fierceness that swept away the last barriers. They touched one another as though it were impossible that they could ever have their fill. Simply touching and discovering all the things which each had kept hidden from the other for so long, tenderness at last giving way to desire.

  ‘Oh God, Autumn, I want you…’ Yorke muttered insistently, pulling her fiercely against him and letting her feel his need.

  She watched him beneath downcast lashes, her body sensuous with passion, sensing instinctively that there was still one final barrier they had to surmount together.

  ‘Then show me,’ she murmured provocatively, reaching for him, and sliding her lips against his throat. ‘Or do I have to beg you?’

  The past was exorcised; the ghosts laid; the future bright with a golden happiness which seemed to reach every part of her body.

  ‘I love you,’ Yorke murmured against her mouth, and then there was no need for words; no need for anything but the mutual assuagement of a need that could no longer be denied.

  * * * * *

  If you enjoyed this story by

  New York Times bestselling author

  PENNY JORDAN,

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  CHAPTER ONE

  “THE THING IS, Mr. Valenti, I’m pregnant.”

  Renzo Valenti, heir to the Valenti family real estate fortune, known womanizer and chronic overindulger, stared down at the stranger standing in his entryway.

  He had never seen the woman before in his life. Of that he was nearly one hundred percent certain.

  He did not associate with women like this. Women who looked like they had spent a hot, sweaty afternoon traipsing through the streets of Rome, rather than a hot, sweaty afternoon tangled in silk sheets.

  She was red-cheeked and disheveled, her face void of makeup, long dark hair half falling out of a bun that looked like an afterthought.

  She was dressed the same as many American college students who flooded the city in the summer. She was wearing a form-fitting black tank top and a long, ankle-length skirt that nearly covered her dusty feet and flat, unremarkable sandals that appeared to be falling apart.

  Had she been walking by him outside, he would never have paid her any notice. Except she was in his home. And she had just said words to him no woman had said to him since he was sixteen years old.

  But they meant nothing, as she meant nothing.

  “Congratulations. Or condolences,” he said. “Depending.”

  “You don’t understand.”

  “No,” he said, his voice cutting through the relative silence of the grand antechamber. “I don’t. You practically burst into my home telling my housekeeper you had to see me, and now here you are, having pushed your way in.”

  “I didn’t push my way in. Luciana was more than happy to let me in.”

  He would never fire his housekeeper. And the unfortunate thing was, the older woman knew it. So when she had let a hysterical girl into his home, he had a feeling she considered it punishment for his notorious behavior with the opposite sex.

  Which was not fair. This little creature—who looked as though she would be most at home sitting on a sidewalk in the vicinity of Haight-Ashbury, playing an acoustic guitar for coins—might well be some man’s unholy punishment. But she wasn’t his.

  “Regardless, you’re not drawing this out and making a show, and I have no patience for either.”

  “It’s your baby.”

  He laughed. There was absolutely no other response for such an outrageous statement. And there was no other way to remove the strange weight, the strange tension that gripped him when she spoke the words.

  He knew why it affected him. But it should not.

  He could imagine no circumstance under which he would touch such a ridiculous little hippie. And even so, he had just spent the past six months devoted to the world’s most obscene farce of a marriage.

  And though Ashley had been devoted to the pleasure of both herself—and other men—during their union, he had been faithful.

  A woman with a small baby bump, barely showing beneath that skin-tight top, claiming to be carrying his child could be absolutely nothing but ridiculous to him.

  He’d had nothing at all but six months of fights, dodging vases flung in a rage by his crazy wife—who seemed to do her best to demolish the stereotype that Canadians were a nice and polite people—and then days on end of ridiculous cooing like he was some kind of pet she was trying to tame again after a sound beating.

  Little realizing that he was not a man to be tamed, and never had been. He had married Ashley to make a point to his parents, and for no other reason. As of yesterday, he was divorced and free again.

  Free to take this little backpacker in any way he wanted to, if he so chose.

  Though, she would find the only place he wanted to take her was out the front door, and back onto the streets she had come from.

  “That, you will find, is impossible, cara mia.” Her eyes went round, liquid, shock and pain visible. What had she imagined would happen? That he would fall for this ruse? That she would find her salvation in him? “I can see how you would build some strange fantasy around the idea I might be your best bet for help,” he said, attempting to keep his tone calm. “I have a reputation with women. But I have also been married for the past six months. So whatever man is responsible for knocking you up in a bar crawling with tourists and never calling again? He is not me, nor will you ever con me into believing it is. I am divorced now, but in
the time I was married I was faithful to my wife.”

  “Ashley,” she said, blinking rapidly. “Ashley Bettencourt.”

  He was stunned, but only momentarily, by her usage of his wife’s name. It was common knowledge, so of course if she knew about him, she would know about Ashley. But if she knew he was married, why not choose an easier target?

  “Yes. Very good,” he said. “You’re up on your tabloid reading, I see.”

  “No, I know Ashley. She’s actually the person I met in a bar crawling with tourists. She’s the one who knocked me up.”

  Renzo felt like he’d been punched in the chest. “Excuse me? None of what you’re saying makes sense.”

  The little woman growled, lifting her hands and gripping her head for a moment before throwing them back down at her sides, curling her fingers into fists. “I am…I am trying. But I thought you would know who I was!”

  “Why would I know who you are?” he asked, feeling at a loss.

  “I just… Oh, I should never have listened to her. But I was… I am just as stupid as my dad thinks I am!” She was practically wailing now, and he had to admit, this farce was inventive even if it was damned disruptive to his day.

  “Right at this moment I’m on your father’s side, cara, and I will remain so until you have offered me an explanation that falls somewhere short of being as stupid as my ex-wife getting you pregnant.”

  “Ashley hired me. I was working at a bar down by the Colosseum, and she and I started talking. She was telling me about the issues in your marriage and the trouble you were having conceiving…”

  The words made his gut twist. He and Ashley had never attempted to conceive. By the time they’d gotten to a place where they might discuss giving him an heir to his empire, he’d already decided that no amount of shock value made her worth it as a wife.

  “I thought it was weird, her talking to me like that. But she came back the next night, and the next. We talked about how I ended up in Italy and how I had no money…” She blinked. “And then she asked me if I would consider being her surrogate.”

  Pressure built in Renzo’s chest until it exploded. English deserted him entirely, a string of vulgar Italian flowing from his lips like a foul river. “I don’t believe it. This is some trick that bitch has put you up to.”

  “It’s not. I promise you it isn’t. I had no idea that you didn’t know. No idea at all. It was all very… What she said… It made sense. And…and she said it would be easy. Just a quick trip to Santa Firenze, where the procedure is legal, and then I just have to…be the oven. I was supposed to get paid to make the bread, so to speak, and then…well, give it to the person I…baked it for. Someone who wanted the baby desperately enough to ask for help from a stranger.”

  Panic tore through Renzo like a wild beast, savaging his chest, his throat. Making it impossible to breathe. What she was saying was impossible. It had to be. Mostly.

  Ashley was…unpredictable. And God knew how that might manifest. Especially since she’d been enraged by the divorce—made simple because of their marriage in Canada, which she had felt was calculated on his part. It was, of course.

  But she wouldn’t have done this. She couldn’t have. Still, he pressed.

  “It made sense to you that a woman pursued surrogacy, and claimed to have a husband whom you never saw?”

  “She said that it would be impossible for you to come to the clinic. She could only do it because she wore large sunglasses and a hat. She said that you were far too recognizable. She said you were very tall.” She swept her hand up and down. “You are. Obviously. You don’t blend. Not even sunglasses would disguise… You know what I mean.”

  “I know nothing. It has become apparent to me over the past few minutes that I know less than I thought. That snake talked you into this. How much did she pay you?”

  “Well, she hasn’t given me everything yet.”

  He laughed, the sound bitter. “Is that so? I hope that final price is a high one.”

  “Well, the problem is that Ashley said she doesn’t want the baby anymore. Because of the problems that you’re having.”

  “Problems?” The question was incredulous. “Does she mean our divorce?”

  “I… I guess.”

  “So, you did some cursory research on us, and then no more?”

  “I don’t have internet at the hostel,” she said flatly.

  “You live in a hostel?”

  “Yes,” she said, her cheeks turning a darker shade of pink. “I was just passing through. And I ran out of money. Took a job at a bar, and I’ve been here longer than I anticipated. Then I met Ashley about three months ago.”

  “How far along are you?”

  “Only about eight weeks. I just… Ashley decided she didn’t want the baby anymore. And I don’t want to… I don’t want to end the pregnancy. And I thought that even though she said you didn’t want to handle any of this, because it damaged your view of the whole thing… I wanted to come to you. I needed to make sure.”

  “Why is that? Because you fancy that you will raise the baby if I don’t want it?”

  It was her turn to laugh. There was no humor in it, only hysteria. “No! I’m not going to raise a baby. Not now. Not ever. I don’t want children. I don’t want a husband. But I was involved in this. I agreed to it. And I feel like… I don’t know. How can I not feel responsible? She became a friend to me almost. I mean, she was one of the first people in forever who talked to me, told me about her life. She made sure I knew how much she wanted this baby and…now she doesn’t. She might have changed her mind, but I can’t change my feelings about it.”

  “What will you do?” he asked. “What will you do if I tell you I don’t want the baby?”

  “I’ll give it up for adoption,” she said, as though it were the most obvious thing. “I was going to give birth anyway. That was part of the agreement.”

  “I see.” His thoughts were racing, trying to catch up with everything that the woman in front of him—the woman whose name he still didn’t know—was saying to him. “And was Ashley planning on paying you the rest of the fee if you continued with the pregnancy?”

  The woman looked down. “No.”

  “So, you had to make sure that you could still collect your fee? Is that why you came to speak to me?”

  “No. I came to speak to you because it seemed like the right thing to do. Because I was becoming concerned about your lack of involvement in the whole thing.”

  Anger built inside him, reaching its boiling point and bubbling over. “Allow me to paint a clear picture for you of what exactly happened. My ex-wife went behind my back to hire you. I still don’t understand how this happened. I don’t understand how she was able to manipulate both you and the doctor. I don’t understand how she was able to accomplish this without my knowing. I don’t understand what her end game was, as she is now clearly backing out. Perhaps now that she has seen she will get no money from me, and I’m not worth the effort anyway, she does not wish to be saddled with my child for the rest of her shallow existence. Or, perhaps it is simply Ashley. Who decided to do something on a whim, thinking that something of this magnitude would be a delightful surprise she would drop in my lap like the purchase of a new handbag. And much like my ex feels about handbags, she has decided she is bored of this one and moved on to the next shiny thing. Regardless of her motivation, the end result is the same. I didn’t know. I did not want this baby.”

  At that, she seemed to deflate. Her shoulders shrunk inward, some of her defiant posture diminishing. “Okay.” She blinked rapidly, lifting her chin and staring him down. “If you change your mind, I’m at the hostel Americana. You can find me there. Unless I’m working at the bar across the street.” She turned on her heel and began to walk away from him, toward the front door. Then she paused. “You claim you’ve been in the dark this whole time. I just didn’t want you to have that excuse anymore.”

  Then she walked out of his house. And just like his ex-wife, he de
termined that he would think about her no more.

  * * *

  It nagged at him. There was no escaping it. For three days he’d attempted to ignore and dismiss the events that had occurred earlier. He did not know the woman’s name. He didn’t even really know if she was telling the truth. Or if she was another of his ex-wife’s games.

  Knowing Ashley, that was it. Just a game. A weird attempt to try to draw him back into her web. She had been far too content with the dissolution of their union. Particularly after she had been so bitter about it in the first place. She had claimed he had always known it would end this way. Which was why they had sought marriage outside the country. Divorce in Italy was far too complicated. And, he supposed, the fact that he had covered his bases in such a manner was in some ways indicative of his commitment. Or at least, his faith in the mercurial Ashley.

  But then, he imagined Ashley had gotten her revenge. Surrogacy was not legal in Italy. Undoubtedly, why she had sought to have the procedure done in neighboring Santa Firenze.

  More the pity that his sister, Allegra, had dissolved her agreement with the prince of that country and married Renzo’s friend—Spanish duke Cristian Acosta, who would be no help to him in this situation—instead.

  He should let it go. Likely the woman was lying. Even if she weren’t…what should it matter to him?

  A sharp pang in the vicinity of his heart told him he clearly hadn’t had enough to drink. So, he set out to remedy that. But for some reason, grabbing a hold of the bottle of Scotch reminded him of what the stranger had said before she’d left.

  She worked at a bar. She worked at a bar near the Colosseum, and if he wanted to find her he could look there.

  He took the stopper out of the Scotch bottle. That would all be very well and good if he in fact wanted to find her. He did not. There was no point in searching for a woman who was—in point of fact—probably only attempting to scam money out of him.