Wed on His Terms: Million-Dollar Marriage Merger

Rena halted. Jamming her eyes closed momentarily, she whirled around. “You loved him? How can you say that? He’s gone because of you!” Rena’s anger flowed like the rush of a river. “You should never have come home. David was happy until you showed up.”

Lips pursed, Tony jutted his jaw out. Oh, how she remembered that stubborn look. “I’m not responsible for his death, Rena.”

“He wouldn’t have gotten behind the wheel of that race car if you hadn’t come home. When you showed up, that’s all David talked about. Don’t you see? You represented everything David wanted. You ran away from the vineyards. You raced. You won. You became a champion.”

Tony shook his head. “It was a freakish accident. That’s all, Rena.”

“Your return here brought it all back to him,” she said solemnly.

“My father died two months ago. I came home to run the company.”

Rena glared at him. “Your father,” she muttered. Santo Carlino had been a harsh, domineering man who’d wanted to build his empire no matter the cost. He’d tried to buy out every small winery in the area. And when the owners refused, he’d managed to ruin their business somehow. Purple Fields had seen the brunt of the Carlino wrath for years. Yet her parents had fought him tooth and nail, keeping their small patch of life out of Carlino hands. “I’ll not speak ill of the dead, but …”

“I know you despised him,” Tony stated.

Rena stuck to her promise and held her tongue about Santo Carlino, but she couldn’t help how she felt and made no apologies for those feelings. “Go away, Tony.”

Tony’s lips curved up, a sinful, sexy curl of the mouth that at one time had knocked her senseless. “This is my land.”

She slumped her shoulders. “Right.”

Rena inhaled sharply, mentally chastising herself for driving up here—a bonehead move, as David would say. She was even more remorseful that she’d taken this short walk with Tony.

With hasty steps she brushed by him, but his reach was long and painfully tender when he caught her arm. “Let me help.”

A lump formed in her throat. He didn’t know what he was asking. She’d never accept his help. She glanced into dark, piercing, patient eyes. That was something for the record books—a patient Tony Carlino. He hadn’t become a national stock car champion from his ability to wait.

She shook her head briskly. “Please don’t touch me.”

Tony glanced at his hand lying gently on her arm, then stroked the length of it, sliding his hand freely up and down. “I mean it, Rena. You need me.”

“No, I’ll never need you.” She jerked her arm free. “You just want to ease your guilty conscience.”

Tony’s eyes grew hard and sharp.

Good.

She didn’t need his help or his pity. She’d done without him for twelve years and didn’t need anything he had to offer. All she wanted was to curl up in her bed and dream about the day when she’d hold her precious baby in her arms.

Tony rubbed his aching shoulder and stretched out his legs, closing the Carlino books for the day. His racing injuries had a way of coming back to haunt him whenever he sat at his father’s desk. Maybe it was because Santo never wanted him to leave Napa. He’d chosen racing over the family business and had left it all behind twelve years ago.

He’d wanted more than grapes and vines and worrying about the weather, crops and competition. Of course, Santo Carlino hadn’t taken it lightly. He’d cursed and complained and refused to speak to Tony when he’d left.

Tony pursued his dream despite his father’s tirades. Being the oldest of three sons Tony was expected to take over the business one day with his brothers by his side. But as it turned out none of the three sons had stayed home to run the Carlino empire.

Now with Santo gone, Tony had no choice but to return. His father’s last will and testament made sure that each of his sons spent some time together running the company. He’d stipulated that in order for any of them to claim their inheritance, the land, the company, the Carlino empire, one of them had to agree to become the new CEO within six months.

It was just another way for his father to manipulate them. But Tony hadn’t come back to Napa for the money. He had plenty of his own. He’d come back to lay his father to rest and to let his weary body recover from injuries garnered in a wreck at Bristol Raceway just months before.

He’d called his younger brothers home. Joe, the real brain in the family, had been living in New York, trying to develop the latest software phenomenon. And Nick, the youngest, had been creating havoc in Europe, earning a reputation as a gambler and ladies’ man.

Tony smiled at that. Little Nick had a wild streak that could lay shame to a young and virile Santo Carlino in his bachelor days. But if one thing could be said about his old man, it was that he was a loving and faithful husband. Tony’s mother, Josephina, had tempered him with love and adoration. Many thought her a saint for putting up with Santo, but only the family knew that Santo would have died for her.

“So when’s the wedding?” Joe entered the office at Carlino Wines with his hands on his hips, his studious dark brown eyes visible behind a pair of glasses.

When Tony glanced at him in question, Joe continued, “You told me you were getting married.”

Tony shoved the ledger books away and leaned back in his chair. “You need a willing bride for a wedding.”

“Wanna tell me why you chose Rena? Is it Purple Fields you’re after? Or something else?”

A sigh emerged from deep in Tony’s chest. He rubbed tension from his forehead. “Maybe I want it all.”

“Want or need?”

Tony narrowed his eyes and gave his brother a look.

Joe shrugged in an offhanded way. “You’ve never spoken of marriage before. And the last thing I thought I’d hear at David’s funeral was that you intended to marry his widow. Even if it is Rena. We all know she’s not exactly your biggest fan.”

Tony scoffed. How well he knew. “Hardly that.”

“So, what is it? Do you love her?”

Tony’s face crinkled up, despite his efforts to keep a blank expression. The truth was he had loved Rena when they’d been younger but he’d loved racing more. He wound up breaking her heart by leaving her behind to pursue his dreams.

Now he had a chance to make it up to her and honor the pledge he’d made David. At the time he’d made that vow it was a no-brainer. David was on his last breaths, and he’d implored Tony to take care of Rena and the child he’d suspected she carried. Tony hadn’t flinched when he’d made that promise.

Did Tony want to marry Rena and raise a child that wasn’t his? He simply didn’t know. But it was what he planned to do.

“No, I don’t love her.” He stood and looked his brother straight in the eyes, lowering his voice. “This goes no further.”

Joe nodded.

“I made David a promise to take care of Rena, the winery and … and their unborn child.”

Joe pressed a finger to the bridge of his glasses, securing them in place. He contemplated a moment staring back at Tony then gave an understanding nod. “Got it. Rena knows nothing about this I suppose.”

“Nothing.”

“Are you seeing her?”

Tony winced, thinking back on the excuses she’d given him. “I’ve tried several times since the funeral.”

“Not cooperating is she?”

“No.”

“Can’t imagine why she doesn’t want to start up right where you left off twelve years ago,” Joe said, mockingly. “She picked up the pieces after you left her. It was a hard fall, Tony. I remember hearing all about it. When she fell for David, everyone thought it was the right move. They were happy for her. Sorry, but your name was mud around here for a long time. Then you started winning races and people forgot about the pain you caused Rena. Except Rena. She never forgot. She really loved David, and now he’s gone. You can’t blame her for hard feelings. She’s had it rough.”