Wedded, Bedded, Betrayed

‘Yes. Anything else?’

‘Your demand for me to have your child is abhorrent and not something I can agree to.’

‘Let me be clear about a couple of things.’ Gabriele leaned forward, taking in the whiteness of her face. ‘My only reason for marrying you is to hurt your father. You know as well as I do that our marriage will crush him. You carrying a Mantegna child will be the ultimate destruction for his pride.’

‘You can’t bring a child into a marriage like this,’ she said hotly. ‘It’s immoral.’

‘A Ricci lecturing me on morals?’ He raised a brow and tutted.

‘Why would you even want to have a child with me? You hate me. You could have a baby with anyone.’

‘But I don’t want anyone. I want you.’

Her slim shoulders rose. ‘Why?’

‘When my father and I were arrested four years ago, I was engaged to be married. I pleaded guilty to save my father’s neck but Sophia, my fiancée, chose not to believe that or believe me. She couldn’t handle the media scrutiny and the associated shame it brought on her and ended our relationship. Believe me, I will never trust another woman again. After what your father did I will not trust anyone. I am the last of my line. You having my child will mean the Mantegna name lives on.’

Merely thinking about Sophia made him feel sick. She’d broken their engagement in a clinical fashion that hadn’t left him devastated for the loss of her love but furious that he had ever believed in it. He couldn’t believe he’d been ready to commit his life to such a disloyal, spineless creature. Thankfully there had been no time to brood; his overriding priorities at the time being to stop Mantegna Cars being pulled under and to protect his parents. That he’d only succeeded in the former was something he would live with for the rest of his life.

‘And you could love a child with Ricci blood in it?’ Elena challenged.

He shrugged. ‘The child will be half Mantegna. That will dilute the impact.’

‘What a disgusting thing to say.’

‘I’m merely being honest. If you agree to this marriage then I don’t want there to be any room for misunderstandings. Any child we have would be an innocent in all this and I do not hurt innocents.’

‘You’re hurting me.’

‘You’re not an innocent.’

She flinched and squeezed her eyes shut but he ignored her distress.

If she was anyone other than Ignazio’s daughter and favourite, closest child, he would feel sorry for her.

Then again, if she was anyone else he wouldn’t dream of the actions he was taking.

Elena was a special case.

Elena had watched his father be accused of a crime she knew damn well her own father had committed. She had seen Gabriele take the rap, had seen the worldwide media coverage, had likely seen the footage of him entering the federal prison system, and seen, mere days later, the coverage that his father’s great heart had given up on him. And through it all, she’d said nothing.

She’d allowed his father to die with his only child imprisoned for a crime her own father had committed and his wife all alone in a country whose language she had never quite mastered. And she’d done nothing.

As far as he was concerned she was as guilty for his father’s death as Ignazio, and he wouldn’t rest until every single Ricci had paid the price for their heinous lies and betrayal.

If she wanted to know what real pain was she should walk in his shoes for an hour.

‘Our marriage will last for as long as it takes to conceive and then we will go our separate ways.’

Her face went even whiter, her horror stark. ‘You would take a child away from its mother?’

‘I’m not the monster in this relationship,’ he said. ‘I’d be willing to have joint custody but the condition would be that it has no contact with any member of your family.’

‘You are a monster,’ she spat. ‘How you can even think about bringing a child into the world under such conditions...’

‘Nevertheless they are my conditions. Take it or leave it. I want a child. I want revenge. I can marry those two desires by marrying you. And look on the positives of having my child—as soon as you’re pregnant you’ll have outlived your usefulness and I will set you free. It is up to you. Or you can take your chances with the law.’

‘Let’s say for argument’s sake that I do agree to have a baby with you.’ Desperation laced her husky voice. ‘How are you going to have...have...sex with a woman you hate?’

‘Are you really that naïve about the workings of a man?’ he mocked. ‘Our libidos tend to work independently from our brains. You’re not a bad-looking woman. I’m sure making a baby with you won’t be too much of a hardship.’

If Elena had anything else to say she must have become incapable. Her eyes were wide and full of fury and outrage.

‘It is best our cards are laid on the table,’ he said. ‘And now that you know where you stand on everything, have you come to a decision? Will you marry me?’

Her lips pulled together. He could hear her breathing.

‘As long as that contract guarantees you will not take my baby away from me and as long as it guarantees you will destroy the alleged evidence and that you will stop the whispering campaign you’ve been conducting against my family then yes, I will marry you.’

He allowed himself the satisfaction of a smile.

But Elena wasn’t finished.

Hands clenched into balls, she said, ‘But you have to buy me a house in Florence and one close to your home in New York.’

‘What on earth for?’

‘If we’re sharing custody it means I can always be close to our child whenever it’s with you and be there if it needs me.’

He was surprised to find she had some latent maternal genes in her.

‘And I want it stipulated, in black and white, that you will never bad-mouth me or my family to our child.’

From the look on Elena’s face, Gabriele judged this was the deal breaker. He had to admire her. She had spirit. And, despite being a Ricci, compassion for a child who hadn’t yet been created.

‘Okay,’ he agreed with a lazy shrug. ‘I can agree to that.’

‘I want it written in the contract.’

‘Consider it done.’

‘Good. But just so you know, you’re not the only one who can hold a grudge and wish for vengeance.’ She rose from her chair and leaned forward so her furious eyes were mere inches from his. ‘When this is over I will personally see that you pay. There will not be a minute of the day when you don’t regret what you’ve done to me. I will see you burn in hell for this.’

Unexpectedly, something cold raced up his spine.

‘I’m already in hell,’ he said bitterly. ‘Your father put me there.’

Her top lip curled. ‘Then I will make it my mission in life to keep you there.’