Page 10 of Back to Claim His Italian Heir
‘So this is why you were marrying that man,’ he stated, his gaze sweeping slowly over her.
‘Will?’ Emma asked, surprised he was making that jump. He hadn’t reacted very much to the news he was going to be a father, she acknowledged with a flash of bitterness. ‘Yes. I knew I couldn’t provide for this baby on my own. I’ve barely been able to provide for myself.’ She lifted her chin, daring him to challenge her. ‘Will knew about the baby,’ she added. ‘He was absolutely fine with it.’
‘And yet,’ Nico returned scathingly, ‘he was willing to walk away quickly enough when he discovered you were married to me. What sort of man does that?’
The condemnation in his voice annoyed her. He was blamingWillin this whole fiasco? ‘You didn’t actually give him much choice,’ she pointed out. ‘Since you told him to leave. And why wouldn’t he? What else was he supposed to do, when we obviously couldn’t marry, after all, since I was already married to you?’ She would have to text Will and explain, she realised, dreading that conversation, even over the phone. Poor Will. He’d been so kind to her, and this was a horrible way to repay him. She would have to find some way to explain.
‘I would think,’ Nico returned coolly, ‘or at least hope, that a man would have more regard for his own child.’
She stared at him—those cool green eyes, now narrowed; the full, sculpted lips pressed together in censure—and realised the assumption he’d made. He thoughtWillwas the father, and although his presumption absolutely infuriated her, she recognised, reluctantly, that it was not an entirely unfounded conclusion to draw. She knew she wasn’t showing very much yet; the obstetrician had said she was small for fourteen weeks, mainly because of the debilitating morning sickness she’d had since the beginning.
Staring at Nico, knowing what he now believed, she was tempted, treacherously, to let him go on believing it. Why shouldn’t she, after all? He was controlling, suspicious, and right now he seemed as if he hated her—hardly the kind of father she wanted for her baby, or, for that matter, husband for herself. Why not walk away if she could?
Nico, Emma knew, had just given her the only out she could possibly take. If he believed she was pregnant with another man’s child, he would almost definitely divorce her, as he’d already said he intended to do. Wasn’t that really the best thing for both of them? He was never going to love or trust her again, not that she even wanted him to, of course, and she didn’t love or trust him, anyway. Not any more. That kind of suspicion was hardly the best basis for a marriage, a family, and, anyway, she knew she’d always done better on her own. She’d stayed strong, safe, smart. She should walk away now, for the sake of her baby.Theirbaby...which was why she closed her eyes, let out a long, defeated sigh.
‘Nico...the baby isn’t Will’s.’ She parted with each word reluctantly, wondering even as she spoke if she was making a huge mistake. Another one. She was used to being tough, taking it on the chin, and looking out for herself, so why she was breaking all her rules now, she had no idea. Maybe because she’d never known her own father. She couldn’t do the same to her own child...or to Nico. Even if it would be smarter to.
‘Another man, then?’ His nostrils flared and his mouth tightened. ‘You do work fast, Emma. Faster even than I realised, it seems.’ His voice vibrated with anger, and suddenly Emma found herself matching his fury.Thatwas where he went with this? Yet another man? They’d been at it non-stop for their whole affair, why would it not occur to him that he, herhusband, was the father?
‘You really are remarkably insulting,’ she snapped. ‘I have to say, it’s a real talent, along with making assumptions, which is what you’ve done since you marched into my wedding—’
He leaned across the table, his eyes flashing jade. ‘A wedding that never should have happened!’
‘You weredead!’ The words seemed to echo through the restaurant, followed by the loud and obvious sound of someone clearing his throat. Emma glanced over and saw a white-jacketed server waiting to take their order, struggling to keep a bland look on his face. An unruly laugh escaped her and she put her hand over her mouth while Nico glared first at her, and then the waiter.
‘We’ll both have thestrangulet,’ he bit out. ‘And mineral water, please.’
‘I told you, I’m not hungry,’ Emma protested, although now that her stomach was empty, she actually did think she could manage some food. She knew she should eat for the sake of her baby, yet she couldn’t bring herself to bow to Nico’s wishes yet again, even about something so small.
‘You need to eat,’ he returned with a quelling look. ‘And thestranguletis the best thing on the menu. Besides, it’s not too rich or spicy, so it should be appropriate.’
The waiter silently took their menus as Emma leaned back in her chair. Even when he was being thoughtful, Nico made assumptions. Acted arrogantly. The man really was impossible. She would be well rid of him.
He’d been like that before, she remembered, calling all the shots, although considering the luxury he’d showered her with, she hadn’t minded too much. That first night he’d wined and dined her, and then, as it had been so late, he’d insisted she stay the night. A gentleman, he hadn’t touched her then, but, looking back, Emma saw he’d still acted with the arrogance that that moment would surely come—when he said it would.
When they had begun their affair, he’d made it clear it was a temporary arrangement; she was only there at his behest, for as long as he decided it would last. He’d arranged everything—their accommodation, travel, even what she wore, ate, drank, did. She’d been, Emma acknowledged bitterly, like a doll he could dress up and play with, and she hadn’t minded because the world he’d introduced her to had been so glamorous and intoxicating, unlike anything she’d ever known. She’d just been along for the wondrous ride, caught up in the fairy tale even as she tried to caution herself that, like everything else in her life, it wouldn’t last.
Their whole relationship—the single month of it—had been out of time, away from reality. First in New York, staying in the most opulent hotel Emma could have ever imagined, and then in Rome, at his palatial penthouse flat. She hadn’t even had a passport before she’d met him. She hadn’t been anywhere, done anything, besides simply try to survive, and yet he’d opened worlds to her, with the travel, the luxury, the amazing food, the attention.
So many worlds...including the intoxicating one of passion. But she really could not let herself be distracted by the memories ofthatright now.
‘So this Will was amenable to marrying you even though you were pregnant with another man’s child,’ Nico surmised, shaking his head, clearly finding the notion incredible, and, no doubt, repellent.
‘Yes, he was.’ She was too angry to bother correcting Nico right now, and in her fury she wasn’t even sure that she should. The assumptions he made were really beyond the pale.
The waiter came back to fill their water glasses, and Emma took a much-needed sip. Her throat felt terribly dry, and her heart was hammering. She took a steadying breath. ‘He didn’t want to marry anyone at all, wasn’t interested in a romantic relationship, but his mother kept pressuring him, pretty unbearably. He’s a shy, mild sort of guy, and he couldn’t take it. So this was the solution.’ And it had worked—or at least itwouldhave worked—admirably for both of them. ‘It was an amicable arrangement, based on companionship, nothing more,’ she told Nico. ‘Like I said, it suited us both.’ And she would need to talk to Will and explain everything as soon as she could. He deserved that much, at the very least.
Nico didn’t look particularly impressed by her words. Emma had a feeling that right now Nico wouldn’t believe her if she told him the sky was blue. It was a wearying thought.
‘And what of the child?’ he asked. ‘He was willing to raise it as his own, act as its father?’
Emma swallowed, nodded. All right, she’d been too angry to correct Nico, it was true, but this was starting to feel uncomfortably like lying. She really needed to tell him the truth, or at least decide for herself whether she was going to tell him. The longer she strung this out, the more furious he would be at her seeming deception...if he ever found out. And he would find out, because she really didn’t think she could keep such a huge secret from him. Besides, she was terrible at lying. But as she considered all she stood to lose the words wouldn’t come. ‘Yes, he was,’ she managed finally. ‘Like I said, he’s a good man.’
She’d met Will at a party she’d been hired to waitress for; he’d been at the bar, drinking steadily, and had, in something of a stupor, told her all about his controlling mother and the desire to simply live his life without her relentless interference. He was utterly committed to his work as a software engineer, and wasn’t interested in any romantic relationships, although he thought he wouldn’t mind having children one day.
Emma, having just discovered, to her great shock, that she was pregnant, had been wondering how on earth she was going to manage. She’d been living in a bedsit, enduring the usual hand-to-mouth existence, trying to eke out the money Nico’s cousin had given her before she’d left. And yet despite all that she’d known, absolutely, that she wanted this baby. She wanted someone to love, someone to be hers. A family, at last, like she’d never, ever known. The family she’d always longed for.
She’d joked to Will that they should marry—and yes, ithadbeen a joke, if a somewhat desperate one. To her utter surprise, Will had taken her at her word. He’d given her his card and asked for her number, and Emma had assumed that would be that—a drunken conversation, nothing more—when he’d texted her the next day.