Harlequin Presents--July 2021--Box Set 1 of 2 Page 8

  To her surprise her mouth watered. ‘How did you...?’

  ‘The chef downstairs delivered it a couple of minutes ago,’ he explained briefly. ‘Shall we take it outside?’

  She couldn’t face that garden yet. ‘Here is fine.’

  With him on one side of the vast counter and her on the other.

  Leo poured them both cool sodas and took a seat. Patient yet intense.

  ‘Tell me what you’re thinking,’ he said when they’d both replenished a little.

  She drew a steadying breath. At least now she wasn’t blushing like mad. ‘I’m not giving them up,’ she said. ‘I’m keeping them. They’re mine.’

  It was more than an echo of his own words. It was a challenge and they both knew it. He nodded but didn’t smile. He didn’t need to—satisfaction then determination flared in his gaze. ‘That’s a good start,’ he said. ‘Now we negotiate.’

  She didn’t think there was going to be much negotiation. There was going to be a decree from him and denial from her.

  ‘You know there’s one very obvious, very easy solution,’ he began.

  She watched him, waiting.

  ‘You can’t guess?’ he prompted.

  ‘I don’t think I want to,’ she muttered.

  A small smile of appreciation flickered. ‘We get married. Immediately.’

  She shook her head. ‘No.’

  It didn’t matter if bald, flat rejection was rude, it was a ridiculous suggestion. It surprised her that a man so future-focused and innovative and capable enough to be in charge of two successful companies would have such old-fashioned intention.

  ‘Why not?’

  ‘It’s unnecessary,’ she all but shouted. ‘We can take care of them without being tied to each other in such a complicated way.’

  ‘Isn’t it more likely to get more complicated if we’re not married?’ he countered silkily. ‘This is the most straightforward solution.’

  Straightforward? He had to be kidding.

  ‘Marriage will give these children legitimacy,’ he began.

  ‘That shouldn’t matter.’

  ‘It shouldn’t. But it does. It did for me.’

  She’d worried his personal circumstances might weigh on him, but there was a major point of difference that he was overlooking.

  ‘But you’re not like your father,’ she said carefully. ‘You won’t turn your back on them whether we’re married or not. Their experience will be totally different from what yours was. Our marriage is not essential.’

  ‘I disagree.’ Such finality. ‘And you don’t know—’

  ‘Times have changed—’

  ‘Have they?’ he interjected coolly. ‘Why would I want to take that risk? Why would I want my children to suffer from even a sliver of the judgement I was subjected to?’ He pinned her with a gaze far fierier than his tone suggested. ‘Why would you want that for them?’

  ‘Marriage isn’t about them. They don’t need us to be married to have the security you want for them. They could still have your name—’

  ‘It’s not enough,’ he shut her down.

  That glimpse of emotion, of anger, made her pulse skip. She saw him draw in a steadying breath, trying to control his reaction. This wasn’t easy for either of them.

  He was serious and focused, but now the forceful side emerged. ‘Do you not believe they deserve the best beginning in life?’

  ‘Actually I’m determined they’ll get exactly that,’ she said. ‘But the “best” is not shackling their parents together in a sham that will only end in tears and acrimony.’ She didn’t want an ‘arrangement’ that she would resent for evermore. Wasn’t she allowed to want love?

  ‘Tears?’ His gaze narrowed on her.

  She sensed him pivoting, prepping for another attack.

  ‘I’m not saying we have to sleep together.’ He softened his tone. ‘We can live separate lives.’

  What did that mean—to be married and yet, not married? Didn’t he want to ‘have’ to sleep with her? Even for that, she wasn’t enough. Her anger flared. ‘Are you saying you’ll cheat on me?’

  His mouth thinned. ‘Of course not.’

  He was too perfect, wasn’t he? Too determined not to make the mistakes of his father.

  ‘Then are you saying you can live without sex for as long as we both shall live?’ She batted her lashes at him. ‘Because if we have to marry at all, then it must be for life, right? Otherwise why are we bothering?’

  A muscle jerked in his jaw. ‘If you’re saying you expect this marriage to last, then that’s wonderful. That’s exactly what I want. We are in perfect agreement.’

  ‘We are not!’ She glared at him. ‘You’d settle for a celibate life?’

  A smirk slowly spread on his face. ‘As I’ll be married to you, I won’t need to.’ Dimples in both cheeks appeared while a glint lit his eyes. ‘Our past record makes me think that I won’t have to wait all that long for you to ask me to consummate our marriage.’

  What? She stared at him, her jaw dropped at his arrogance. And the mortification that he knew...so she had to deny it. ‘You’ll be waiting an awfully long time.’

  ‘Will I?’ His smile vanished and he shrugged carelessly. ‘That’s fine too. I don’t fool around all that much. I never have.’

  ‘So no partying? No endless stream of beautiful women?’ She’d suspected he wasn’t a playboy but he really wasn’t bothered by the prospect of a sexless future?

  ‘I haven’t the time to be frivolous,’ he dismissed the question.

  ‘You just work. A lot.’ Which concerned her just as much.

  ‘I like work. I’m not going to apologise for that.’

  So very disciplined. So very controlled. Her fingertips itched. She didn’t want him to be so damned perfect about everything. ‘All work and no play...’

  ‘Work is play for me.’

  ‘Really?’

  ‘Don’t you love what you do in the lab?’

  She didn’t want to answer that honestly. He sat back, his smile building almost back to dimple point. ‘Perhaps you’ll use this as an opportunity to figure out something you love doing more?’ He mused as if it were all an amazing chance she should be grateful to have. ‘You won’t need to work, so you can consider anything.’

  Was he bribing her now?

  ‘We’re not in love,’ she muttered.

  ‘What has that to do with anything?’ he blithely shot back. ‘It may as well be you. Especially given the current circumstances.’

  ‘It “may as well”?’ She gaped at him. ‘Don’t you want to fall in love and get married for real one day?’

  ‘Marriage has never been on my to-do list,’ he said. ‘But I can adapt when necessary.’

  His denial surprised her. Had he never wanted to settle down with a life partner? Yet he was the ultimate catch himself—intelligent, successful, brain-fryingly attractive, not to mention stupendously wealthy. Women must target him all the time.

  ‘You’ve never wanted a wife and children?’ she clarified.

  His expression shut down. ‘It’s not something I’d have gone out of my way to achieve.’

  To achieve? As if it really was an item on his to-do list. As if, should he decide to, he’d just make it happen—all so easily. Which was exactly what he was trying to do now. He was a person of action and achievement—in every area. She wanted to rebel against that. Because she so totally wasn’t.

  ‘But that’s what you want?’ He cocked his head, something flickering in his bright eyes. ‘To fall in love? Are you a romantic, Rosanna?’

  It didn’t matter. Right now she had to be a realist. Because unfortunately the only guy to have swept her away on a tide of desire was standing right in front of her, offering her something utterly unpalatable. She wasn’t going to have much opportuni
ty to meet anyone else, given she was going to be busy on double-baby duty. Which was fine. Because she was going to have her children.

  Leo looked tense. ‘You want a happy marriage like your parents had?’

  She nearly choked. Her parents were married to their work—and only by extension to each other. Nothing mattered more to either of them than their business, so they were a partnership that was far more professional than personal.

  He, too, seemed married to his work. So, no, she didn’t want that.

  ‘I don’t want to be trapped in some political marriage where we don’t actually want to be with each other but we’re together for societal reasons. That wouldn’t be good for the children. They’re not stupid.’

  ‘It would only be unpleasant if we were actually warring, which I don’t think we’ll do.’

  So he thought this would be some bloodless, cool-headed, passionless union? That might be true for him, but for herself? The feelings he aroused within her were definitely passionate. Definitely not cool-headed. And while he thought they could still sleep together—maybe—he didn’t seem that desperate for it. Perhaps that night wasn’t as memorable for him as it was her...

  He watched her thoughtfully. ‘Perhaps there are some other issues that could be solved if you agreed.’

  ‘Oh?’ She narrowed her gaze on him. ‘Such as?’

  ‘Our children will have security and safety.’

  ‘They can have that without us being married.’

  ‘They’re my heirs. I’m a wealthy person. They might be targeted.’

  She rolled her eyes. ‘We’re in Australia, not a lawless state full of bribery, corruption and kidnapping cartels.’

  ‘It’s still a risk I’m not prepared to take.’

  ‘Then we live in one of your buildings.’

  ‘I don’t wish to be separated from them.’

  ‘You want to be a hands-on father?’

  He stiffened. ‘I wish to be involved in their lives. For them to know who I am. And that I will do all that I can for them.’

  What did that mean, exactly—all that he could?

  He seemed to turn to stone before her eyes. More remote. More serious. More determined. ‘It could be very advantageous for your parents should we marry.’

  Her skin iced but deep beneath her blood began to bubble. The irony was that this was exactly the kind of socially advantageous marriage her parents had hoped she’d make. The reason why they’d sent her to that insanely expensive school was to meet the children of insanely wealthy people and foster connections that could enhance their careers. They wouldn’t be outraged on her behalf at this proposal, they’d be pushing for her to say yes. The second they found out about the pregnancy they’d probably march over and demand Leo ‘do the right thing’ and marry her. They would use their newfound, blood-bound relationship to the Castles for professional gain. Use their grandchildren as they’d used her. They’d interfered in her social life once before and it had been mortifying. She would effectively be a bought bride. But under his sufferance too—he’d endure it because he ‘had’ to ‘do the right thing’...and that would be hideous.

  ‘In what way?’ she asked coldly.

  ‘They wouldn’t need to worry about their work any more,’ he said.

  ‘Are you saying you’ll renew their contract if I marry you?’ she asked, unsure how she was keeping her voice steady. ‘Am I hearing you correctly? A bartered bride, that’s what you’re going for?’

  She didn’t want to be anyone’s burden—not less than one hundred per cent desired. So, no, she was never going to marry him. Never going to have a marriage of convenience.

  He paused. ‘There’s no need to be so emotive. We’re floating ideas. It’s part of problem-solving.’

  ‘By taking one thing utterly unrelated to this issue and using it as leverage?’

  ‘I’m saying they wouldn’t need to worry about losing their house.’ He frowned. ‘They need never work again. Early retirement, isn’t that everyone’s dream?’

  So he’d not renew the contract. He’d simply pay her parents to go away. The outrageously wealthy man’s answer to all problems.

  ‘Is early retirement your dream?’ she asked.

  That frown deepened. Yeah, she didn’t think so. Her parents lived for their work, just as Leo seemed to. Paying them to head off into the sunset wasn’t any way to coax her into agreeing. And that he’d hold her parents’ future fortunes over her made her think less of him.

  ‘None of your reasons are enough to induce me to say yes to a crazy proposal,’ she said bitterly. ‘I would’ve thought a successful businessman like you would’ve been able to think a little more creatively.’

  * * *

  Right now Leo wasn’t thinking at all. He was staving off the very basic, very wrong urge to kiss her into submission. He’d not known he suffered from caveman tendencies, but they were rising to the fore now and it was horrendous. He shoved them back down, gritting his teeth. What frustrated him most was that this wasn’t even an argument—she’d given a flat rejection from the start and stubbornly refused to entertain any good reason why she should reconsider. He’d come up against brick walls before. In the end he’d battered them down—destroying them in the process before rebuilding something better suited to his needs. He’d have to do the same here—because he’d do whatever was required to secure what he wanted.

  Except what he wanted right now was off the rails. His body was trying to overrule his reason and push him into action. With the shock of everything today he just wanted a moment to feel good again. Getting close to Rosanna would feel more than good. Instead he stood rigidly, rejecting the urge. Look where succumbing to that lust had got them already.

  Besides, he had to back-pedal over his mention of her parents. The fury that had ignited in her eyes? Mentioning them had obviously been a mistake, but he’d felt compelled to use whatever tools he had to secure his win. Except all he was doing was making her angrier and less agreeable. Unfortunately the spark in her eyes was making it hard for his brain to work. The flush in her face was fuel to his own flame, messing with his already reduced ability to rationalise his way out. He just wanted to touch her skin, trace the patterns of her freckles and flushes.

  He was an animal, he really was. To be thinking about sex right now?

  He had to focus on the imperative need of his new responsibility. He would give her and their children the security he’d not had. He would never turn his back on them. But tangible support was all he could offer. Financial security, physical safety and name. Nothing more. Certainly not happy ever after.

  Because he was not a romantic. And she? She’d not answered that.

  It was too bad for both of them, because marriage was the one and only structure in which all those things could be achieved.

  The years he’d spent fighting to prove his own damn provenance? His desperation in trying to help his mother? She’d worked so hard to support him with no help from her family and none from his father. She’d been cast off when pregnant and his father hadn’t just refused to admit or accept responsibility, he’d made her situation so much worse by denigrating her character. And Leo had been a burden for her—but she’d carried him, cared for him and he’d loved her for it. As soon as he was old enough it had been the two of them side by side together. But he’d been stupidly arrogant and eventually let her down with foolish, youthful laziness.

  When she’d died he’d vowed he would get justice for her. To him that had meant proving her truth against the lies of Hugh Castle. It was the least he could do when he’d failed her so completely—failing to get her the help she’d needed soon enough.

  And he couldn’t help himself from working his ass off to make something of himself in the futile hope of getting just the attention, let alone the approval, of a father who was never going to be interested no matter what
he did...

  Not being given a chance at all? That angered him more than anything. And it felt just the same now, as if Rosanna wasn’t giving him any kind of chance with her instant refusal of everything.

  ‘You don’t think it’s an abuse of power to make such an offer?’ She slayed him with the cool fury in her pale blue eyes. ‘Maybe you’re more like your father than you like to think.’

  Cold anger washed through him, equalling the rage he read in her expression. How dared she? He refused to be like his father. That was his whole point. His offer was the exact opposite of what Hugh had done. She wasn’t thinking straight. Nor, to be honest, was he. It had been a long, shocking day. Rosanna needed a break. He, too, needed time to recalibrate and figure out the way to convince her. Firing off now would only worsen things. He refused to lose control of his emotions. Instead he made himself count to ten.

  It barely worked. But he steadied enough to inwardly acknowledge that mentioning her parents was a kind of coercion. Even so, he didn’t quite care. He’d use whatever it took to secure the future of his children.

  He had to draw another breath. He could barely envisage them, or barely cope with the idea of not one but two small babies. Hell, he wouldn’t know the first thing to do with them. Caring for them? That was impossible. He’d failed at caring for his mother. With devastating consequences. So he needed Rosanna to be onboard. He needed her there. This, the woman who nurtured broken plant cuttings to new life, all health and vitality. She’d know what to do with the babies. She’d fill the emotional gaps that he couldn’t, and he would get her financial help. He’d hire her an army of nannies if she needed it. In this way they could be a good team. She just needed to understand that somehow.

  Rosanna stared as Leo’s eyes darkened with emotion. Had she scored a hit? Yet she felt bad; she didn’t truly think he was anything like the two-faced cheat Hugh Castle had turned out to be. But his offer put her on edge, making her wary of what else he might try.