In the Argentine's Bed / Secret Baby, Public Affair: In the Argentine's Bed

He was done being played. Perhaps meeting his birth father would bring some reality back into this charade.

“I’ll meet Tarrant Hardcastle and make up my own mind about him.”

“He’s not your father. He didn’t raise you.”

“He bears half the responsibility for bringing me into this world, whether he wanted to or not.” He drew in a breath as anger heated his blood. “Now he thinks he can fold me to his bosom like a long-lost sheep?” He blew out a hard breath. “We’ll see. For now, I want to look into the face of the man who left my mother to die.”

He glanced at Susannah, who’d watched their exchange, her kiss-reddened lips parted in stunned silence.

He cursed the strong feelings Susannah herself had awakened in him. He couldn’t seem to get her out of his mind. Her solemn gaze haunted him, and her hungry passion.

And he had to admit that, along with the chaos she’d unleashed, came the fresh air of truth.

He drew in a deep breath and stared at her. “I’ll come to New York with you.”

Chapter Six

Susannah and Amado stood side by side in the elevator, ascending to Tarrant’s private office on an upper floor of his Fifth Avenue retail palace. Amado’s tailored suit gave him a formal, distant air. Usually unruly and windblown, his dark hair was slicked back to reveal his strong features.

He didn’t speak. He seemed lost in thought—and who wouldn’t be?

Tarrant, his wife Samantha, daughter Fiona and newfound son Dominic were waiting for them.

Susannah was only there because Amado wouldn’t let her go.

He’d insisted that she spend the night with him in his room at The Pierre. There he drew her into the tight circle the two of them made, away from prying eyes. He worked his dark, sensual magic on her, turning her inside and out in a realm of intense pleasure.

She didn’t even try to resist.

He needed her. Longing and tension snapped in the air. She could taste his anger in the heat of his skin. Smell his hunger in his musky male scent.

His lovemaking was aggressive, demanding, unbearably erotic.

Afterward, they’d lain tangled in the expensive sheets, exhausted and more wound-up than ever.

Ding.

The elevator stopped. Amado hooked his arm around her elbow as if to foil any attempted escape.