Bound By My Scandalous Pregnancy / Redemption Of The Untamed Italian

I swallowed my surprise and followed him.

This time, knowing the calibre of the man who waited behind another set of imposing doors, I tightened my gut, sure I could mitigate the effect.

I was wrong.

Being on his home turf had heaped another layer of magnificent appeal upon a man who already held more than his fair share. In the sunlight that filtered through wide, rectangular windows, his dark hair gleamed. A skin-skimming stubble highlighted his strong jaw, and with that sexy dimple in his chin it was impossible to stop the flare of heat that attacked my body, robbing me of vital breath for precious seconds.

The matching jacket to his tailored grey trousers hung on a hook in the far corner of his office, leaving him in a pristine white shirt that moulded his broad shoulders and powerful biceps.

Terrified I was already losing the fight for composure, I hurried to speak. To get this over with.

‘Thank you for seeing me, Mr Xenakis.’

Eyes that had been conducting a slow, thorough scrutiny of me rose to fix on my face. ‘Miss Preston.’ His voice was grave. ‘I’m beginning to think you have some sort of death wish. Or do you simply relish testing my patience?’

‘Neither. Believe me, this is the last place I want to be.’

His arrogant head cocked. ‘I sense the inevitable but coming,’ he drawled mockingly. ‘Although I have no earthly idea what it could be.’

Despite his words, he narrowed his eyes, as if he fully suspected a scam. Or worse.

Say it. Just say it and leave.

I sucked in a breath that went nowhere near replenishing my lungs or giving me the courage I craved. ‘I’m pregnant. The baby is yours. I thought you should know.’

Deathly silence echoed in the vast office. Then he inhaled sharply, the white-hot sound sizzling across the large room.

‘Christos, you do have a death wish,’ he breathed in sizzling disbelief, and his face, unlike last time, when there’d been shock and bleak despair, was a picture of complete and utter fury.

‘I don’t, I assure you. But—’

‘Then you’ve taken complete leave of your senses. Because that can be the only viable explanation for this—’ He stopped abruptly, his hands clenching and unclenching at his sides.

For one mad moment I wanted to say yes. That only a peculiar strain of madness would explain why I couldn’t look away from his face, why I couldn’t quite catch my breath in his presence.

‘The door is behind you. Use it right now or I won’t be held responsible for my actions.’

It was a hushed entreaty, perhaps even a final attempt at civility for a man hanging by a thread.

Considering I’d jumped on a plane with little hope of being granted even this audience, I was surprised I’d got this far. But complete dismissal wasn’t what I’d expected.

The urge to linger, to make him believe, if only for the sake of telling my baby someday that I’d tried, fired through me—along with the question that still demanded an answer. The question about his false statement, the consequences of which had certainly taken me by surprise.

But Neo’s face was turning even more ashen, his chest rising and falling in rapid shudders as he remained frozen in place.

‘Why?’ The question was ragged, torn from his soul.

‘Excuse me?’

He prowled forward several steps, granting me a better look at his face. And there it was. That look of desolation.

‘Why would you do this? Did someone put you up to it? As a joke, perhaps?’ he asked from between whitened lips. ‘Or a bet?’

‘We don’t move in the same circles, Mr Xenakis. Nor am I friendly with anyone who would deliberately cause someone distress with such a prank.’

‘Then tell me why?’

There was a tinge of desperation in his question. Of bewilderment.

‘Because it’s the truth!’

He jerked forward again, his throat moving as his eyes drilled into me. ‘No, it’s not. As I told you in London, I’m incapable of fathering children. Three years ago the best doctors in the world delivered that staggering news. And do you know what I did?’

Numb, I shook my head, my anger at his lies dissipating in the face of the searing emotion in his eyes.

‘I found a set of doctors with better credentials than the original set. Guess what? They arrived at the same conclusion. So now do you see how what you’re saying is impossible?’

Why?

Where?

How?

Questions flashed through my brain even while I accepted that this wasn’t the time or place.

I licked lips gone dry with growing anxiety. ‘I can’t speak to your experience. All I can tell you is my truth.’

If anything, his fury grew. ‘Does this truth involve a lapsed memory on your part?’

I shook my head. ‘I’m sorry—you’ve lost me.’

His jaw turned to steel. ‘You wouldn’t be the first woman to find herself in this situation and devise a plan to pass another man’s child off as—’

‘Don’t you dare finish that sentence!’

‘Because it’s much closer to this “truth” you seek to ram down my throat?’

‘Because it’s most definitely guaranteed to get you slapped! And while we’re throwing accusations around, what about what you said to me?’

‘I beg your pardon?’

‘You assured me I had nothing to worry about. You said I couldn’t get pregnant! That it was impossible.’

‘And I have a file of medical reports to back that up. What do you have?’ he snarled.

‘I have that immaculate conception you wished for, apparently. Because three pregnancy tests last week and a trip to the doctor confirms that I’m carrying a baby. Your baby!’

He shook his head, started to speak.