Revelations of the Night Before

The soup arrived and she found that she was starving. After a few careful bites, she ate with more gusto than she’d been able to enjoy for days now. She didn’t know if the soup would stay down, but eating was preferable to talking to Nico right now.

She could feel him watching her. Finally, she looked up and caught him studying her as if he were really seeing her for the first time. It disconcerted her.

She dropped the spoon and sat back. “Is there a problem?” she snapped. The words shocked her since she didn’t usually seek confrontation as she couldn’t bear to have anyone angry with her.

And yet she found she did not care when it came to this man. He was already angry with her. What did it matter if she challenged him? It would change nothing about the way he sat there smoldering with fury.

And blistering sex appeal. She couldn’t forget the sex appeal.

“Nothing I can’t handle,” he said smoothly, and she felt angry color rising in her cheeks. He was baiting her and she was falling for it every time. Why couldn’t she just keep her mouth shut and let him smolder?

Hard on the heels of anger came fear. It surprised her. But it was a cold fear that wrapped around her throat and squeezed as she considered all the implications of what had happened between them.

Why had she told him about the baby? She should have kept silent. It wouldn’t have truly hurt her baby not to know its father just as it hadn’t hurt her. And her family would be safe from this man’s fury.

Because he was furious, she was certain. Coldly furious. And calculating. She had no idea what he was capable of, but she feared it. He was not the same person he’d been when she’d idolized him as a teen.

“I appreciate the lunch,” she said, pushing her chair back, “but I’m afraid I have to go now.”

He watched her almost indolently. She wasn’t fooled. He was like a great cat lounging in the sun, one minute content, the next springing to life to bring down a gazelle.

“You aren’t going anywhere, Valentina.” He spoke mildly, but again she was reminded of the cat. He was toying with her.

She thrust her chin out. “You can’t stop me.”

His eyes gleamed in the light streaming in from the window. “I already have.” He motioned to the waiter, and then took out a credit card and handed it to the man when he arrived with the bill.

Tina sucked in a deep breath and tried not to panic. She was not this man’s prisoner. She could get up and walk out of this restaurant and there was nothing he could do to stop her. He didn’t own her in any way, nor would he.

Tina grabbed her purse and headed for the exit. She didn’t run, but she was very aware of what was happening behind her. Nico didn’t say a word, his chair didn’t scrape the floor, and she breathed a sigh of relief that he wasn’t following her. She burst into the open, the sunlight lasering into her eyes as the noise from the square assaulted her.

She turned and walked blindly, not caring where she went so long as Nico did not follow. This time, she would escape him. She would return to the hotel soon enough, but for now she just wanted to get lost in the crowds. He did not own her, no matter what he said. She repeated it over and over to herself as she walked down the cobbled streets, dodging tourists with cameras who weren’t paying attention to where they were going, and men who hooted and whistled at her.

These were not the middle ages; women had babies on their own all the time. She did not need a man in her life, and she certainly didn’t need that one. He could not compel her to do anything she did not want to do.

Tina walked until she found herself crossing a busy street, and then she was among the pedestrians again, walking alongside booths that had designer knock-off purses, scarves, bottle openers, and miniature Colosseums and Pantheons among their wares. The pedestrian traffic grew heavier the farther she went, and then the sound of rushing water came to her ears. A few steps more and she stood in front of the massive facade of the Trevi Fountain. She clutched her purse tightly to her body as she navigated the crowd and made her way down to the foot of the fountain.

Water gushed from below the feet of Neptune, over the troughs below the horses, and into the vast bowl of the fountain. Tina stood there with her heart aching. People laughed and took pictures of each other. A smiling couple held hands and then threw a coin into the water together. Impulsively, Tina dug a coin from her purse and gripped it hard enough so that the smooth round edge imprinted into her palm. Then she closed her eyes and said her wish to herself before she threw it into the water.

She wished that Nico would leave her alone, and that Renzo would never find out who had fathered her baby. Too late, a voice in her head told her. If you’d wanted that, you never should have told him.

She stood there a few minutes more before she turned to climb back up the steps as people jostled for position. She came to an abrupt stop when she looked up and realized who stood at the top, waiting for her.

So much for wishes.

He was silhouetted against the purpling sky, his dark form drawing more eyes than just hers. Tina’s heart skipped a beat as she gazed up into that beautiful dark face. His hands were in his pockets. He looked, for the barest of moments, lonely.

But that could not be right. Niccolo Gavretti was not the kind of man who would ever be lonely. He was wealthy, titled and gorgeous. And, as she knew from experience, a sensual and amazing lover.

He was the last person in the world who should ever be lonely.

He held out a hand to her, beckoning her. She took the last few steps, reluctantly placing her hand in his as she neared the top. He steadied her over the last step and then she was standing beside him, her purse clasped to her chest like a shield.

As if anything could protect her from him.

“I’ve made an appointment with one of the city’s top obstetricians, unless you have a doctor you prefer.”

She shook her head, suddenly defeated. If she ran, he would follow, and if she fought, he would fight back. He was a force to be reckoned with, and she did not truly want to fight him. That was not how she wished her relationship with the father of her baby to be. If she had a hope of staving off trouble, she would go with him. For now.

Nico put a hand in her back and guided her through the crowd until they popped out onto a street nearby. A dark Mercedes sat with the engine idling, and when they approached it a man got out and opened the door for them.

Once they were inside, the doors closed and they were soon moving through traffic. The glass was up between the driver and them, and there was nothing but silence in the rich interior of the car.

“Now would be a good time to show me the scar,” Nico said at last.

“I’m not sure I want to,” she said softly. “I think I liked it better when you thought I was lying.”

The leather squeaked as he turned toward her. “I’m not going to hurt you, Valentina.”

“Or my family,” she added firmly. Because she realized now that it was a very real possibility he would go after Renzo somehow. She had seriously underestimated the depth of his hatred for her brother—and Renzo’s for him.

There was silence for a moment. “I can’t promise that.”

Her heart felt pinched in her chest. She pictured Renzo with Faith and their son, and it killed her to think that she could be responsible for causing them trouble. “I will do as you ask, without complaint, so long as you leave Renzo out of this.”

He studied her for a long moment. “I’m still not positive he doesn’t have something to do with this situation. Why would I leave him out of it?”

This is your fault.

Yes, it was her fault. Anger began to swell inside her again, crowding out the despair, glowing and expanding until she thought she would burst with it, until her skin was on fire from trying to contain it all. Men!

“I love my brother, but if you think for one moment I would agree to some scheme that involved me getting pregnant just so he could get back at you somehow, then you are insane! What woman in her right mind would let her body be used like that for the express purpose of revenge? I have no idea what happened between you, but no one died so I’m pretty certain it wasn’t that bad. What you’re suggesting is disgusting.

“And not only that,” she added when he didn’t say anything, “I think the two of you are pigheaded and foolish for allowing this to continue all these years. It’s childish to have a mortal enemy. No one has mortal enemies these days.”

“Rich men do,” he said, but for once his voice wasn’t harsh or hard or angry.

Tina folded her arms against her body. “I doubt it’s that bad. I simply think you make it so.”

“What an innocent life you’ve led,” he replied, and a current of old shame flooded her.

Yes, she’d been naive for far too long. She’d grown up sheltered, pampered and scared to say boo. Boarding school, and then university, had done much to erode her shyness—but at heart she was still that girl who hid behind her hair and feared the world.

Except that she refused to show that fear. To anyone. She put a hand over her belly. She had to be strong now, no matter what. No matter that she was scared. No matter that she quaked inside at the thought of what she’d done to her family.

“If by ‘innocent’ you mean that I fail to see the need to harm others, then fine, call me innocent.”

He made a soft noise of disbelief. “In business, my dear, you must always be willing to be ruthless. It’s the only way to survive and thrive.”