Married for His Secret Heir

by Jennifer Faye

  “I swear on my life that this baby is yours and mine. I didn’t come to you expecting anything. I have enough of my own money to take care of the two of us. I just wanted you to know. It was the right thing to do.”

  “Then I would say, no, things aren’t going to be all right. Those reporters at the palace gate, they are waiting for you and it has nothing to do with your work.”

  Elena’s gaze lowered, and she shook her head. “They’ll want some comment about the photo. But I didn’t do anything they said. I went on a few dates with Steven. That’s it. He told me he was divorced and lonely.”

  “How could you not know who he is?”

  “He gave me a fictitious name, and quite frankly, I don’t read the finance section of the paper. And he didn’t give me any reason to doubt him.” She worried her bottom lip as she internally berated herself. “I was such a fool.”

  “But smart enough not to sleep with him.”

  “Thank goodness.”

  There was one real reason why that wasn’t an option for her. Steven didn’t stack up to Luca. And though she tried not to, she couldn’t help but compare everyone to Luca. Did that make her pathetic? She hoped not.

  “And what will happen when they find out you’re pregnant?” Luca looked worried. “The paparazzi is going to jump to conclusions, just like they did with that photo. They are going to tell the world that jerk is the father of my baby!”

  There was so much emotion in that statement that Elena was caught off guard. Perhaps she’d been telling herself that he wouldn’t care about the baby because he didn’t care about her romantically—to soften his rejection. So where exactly did that leave them besides in a mess?

  CHAPTER NINE

  A BABY.

  My baby.

  Luca was having problems processing it all. A rush of emotions hit him like a tsunami. They swept away his breath and left him feeling unsteady.

  I’m going to be a father.

  Those were words he never thought he’d say. A tiny human was counting on him to get this right. Luca’s gaze moved to Elena’s still-flat midsection. It was so hard to believe there was a little human growing in there.

  Luca raked a shaky hand through his hair. “Wow! This is a lot to take in.”

  “I know it is. Maybe I should go so you can think. Just know that I don’t expect anything of you.” She started to turn away.

  “Wait. What?” Surely he hadn’t heard her correctly.

  “This mess with Steven, it’s not your problem. I’ll figure something out.”

  “Like what?”

  She shrugged. “Maybe I’ll just let the press have their say and ignore them. Eventually they’ll catch on to a new story—a bigger story.”

  Luca shook his head. “No way. I refuse to let that scum be linked to our child.”

  “Like you can stop that from happening.”

  This was his moment to step up—to do the right thing. He’d never had anyone count on him so completely. The responsibility was enormous. He had no idea how to be a parent.

  But he did know that no other man was going to take credit for fathering his child. No way! He refused to let that happen. He needed to head off the ensuing scandal. And there was only one way he could think of.

  “We’ll get married.”

  Elena shook her head in confusion. “I don’t think I heard you correctly.”

  “Yes, you did. You and I, we’re getting married.”

  “No.”

  “Yes. We have to. It’s the only way.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “Did you just demand that I marry you?”

  Had he? He supposed it might have sounded that way. Surely she had to see the logic of such a move. “This is what’s best.”

  She shook her head. “No way. It’s not what’s best for me.”

  “Then think of our baby.”

  “I am thinking of the baby. And you forcing me into a loveless marriage isn’t going to make any of us happy. Don’t you remember Paris? That night—well, it didn’t work out. Why in the world would you want to compound that mistake?”

  “Because as you pointed out, this is about a lot more than you and me. There’s the baby to consider. He or she will be the DiSalvo heir.”

  “Oh.” The dejected look on her face told him that he’d said something wrong, but for the life of him he didn’t know what it was.

  “What does ‘oh’ mean?”

  “Nothing. I’m just surprised.”

  “That I would want to marry you in order to protect our child?”

  “I’m surprised that you would propose marriage at all. I thought you were a proclaimed bachelor.”

  “I was.” He still wasn’t comfortable with the idea of making a commitment. He hadn’t had time to let it all settle in his mind. But time was running out before the press added two and two and got five. “Come on. Let’s go.”

  “Go where?”

  He sighed. Why wasn’t she following this? “To get married. Once we do that, the problem is solved and the paparazzi will back off.”

  “Maybe it will fix one problem, but what about all the other problems it will create?” She shook her head. “I can’t. I won’t. I know you well enough to know that you don’t want to get married, much less have children. I shouldn’t have told you—”

  “Yes, you should have. I don’t know why you’re fighting me on this. You have to see that I’m right.”

  “I don’t see that. Just let me take care of this. You won’t have to be bothered with me...or the baby. I’ll go back to Paris and I’ll refuse to name the father.”

  Was she even listening to what he was saying? She was going to compound this problem, whereas he planned to head it off from the start. “You’ll just add fuel to the fire. The gossip will grow with every news cycle. By not naming me, it’ll be like confirming that jerk is indeed the father.”

  She frowned. “Maybe you’re right, but I can’t do it. Binding us both to a...to a fake marriage, it just won’t work.”

  He had to admit that she deserved better than to marry someone who couldn’t love her the way she deserved to be loved. Perhaps he was broken inside. He hadn’t chosen to shut down after his mother’s death. It had just happened to him, like a raging case of the flu. No one wants it. No one expects it. And then pow! It hits you.

  At least with the flu, you recover. Whatever happened to him the day his mother died, it hadn’t gone away. His feelings just shut down—much like his father.

  And so marriage had never been on his wish list. He knew it could become emotional warfare. All that emotional baggage wasn’t something he wanted in his life.

  But this was about so much more than what Elena deserved and what he wanted—there was now a baby involved. And this was no ordinary baby—it was the DiSalvo heir. His secret heir.

  He cleared his throat. “Marriage is the only way I can think of to protect our child and give him or her a legitimate claim to their heritage.”

  Elena didn’t move for a moment. And when she spoke, it was so soft that he had to strain to hear her. “Perhaps you’re right.” She paused as though gathering her thoughts. “On some level, your idea makes some sense—”

  “Good. We have to do what is right for the child.” He was finally getting through to her. He drew in a deep breath, hoping that everything was finally resolved. “Elena, I’m going to ask you one more time. Will you agree to marry me?”

  “No.” There wasn’t even the slightest hesitation in her quick answer. She waved her hands, as though to chase away the idea. “I...I can’t do this.” A tear slipped down her cheek, and she swiped it away. “It’s too much. Too fast. Too...wrong.”

  “Elena, don’t do this. Don’t do this to us—to our child.”

  This time it was El
ena who took off down the beach, but she wasn’t walking. She was running. Her long hair fluttered in the breeze.

  Luca swore as he watched her run away from him. He’d never imagined if he proposed to someone she would run away in tears. Why did it seem as though he was always making Elena cry?

  Part of him wanted to let her keep running until she wore herself out. And the other part of him wanted to go to her and comfort her. He was torn by the tumultuous emotions. And for a man used to keeping his emotions in check, this was a lot.

  He realized that from this day forward, he would have not one but two people to worry about—to protect. He knew just how unpredictable life could be, and he couldn’t imagine living through another loss. His heart just couldn’t take it.

  And it didn’t help that Elena was already a darling of the paparazzi. Her life was routinely on display for all the world to see—including potential stalkers.

  However, his father would be thrilled to know the DiSalvo line would continue—someone to carry on the lemon grove. If there was still something to hand down. And that was Luca’s fault. He shouldn’t have let the distance between them become a yawning canyon with no footbridge to connect them.

  But that problem was going to have to wait. First, he had to convince Elena to marry him. Knowing her as well as he did, she wouldn’t make it easy on him.

  And so he had to make it hard for her to turn him down.

  He reached for his phone. This was going to take some work, but he would make her his bride in short order. And he would claim his baby—his baby. The words sounded surreal.

  Life certainly did change on the spin of a coin.

  Yesterday, he’d had a firm grip on his life. And today, he and Elena were having a baby.

  And somehow, some way, they were getting married.

  He’d make it happen. But it was going to take a little more forethought than he’d first envisioned. And he had no time to waste.

  CHAPTER TEN

  SHE WAS TRAPPED.

  The paparazzi was camped out on the perimeter of the palace gates like leeches, just waiting to suck the life out of her.

  Elena turned away from the roving cameras of the press. She’d been hoping that their fascination with her would end quickly, but that wasn’t to be. It was open season on her life, and the reporter with the first exposé or telling photo would make a bundle.

  And after speaking with Lauren Renard, Elena learned the painful truth—she’d been dropped from the fashion line. All her scheduled shoots had been canceled. Her contract was to be voided. And her name was on the lips of everyone in the know throughout Paris.

  Without being spotted, Elena retreated to the royal gardens. Where she normally took solace in the serenity of the colorful blossoms and the gentle, perfumed air, today she didn’t notice any of it. Her insides were tied up in knots. What was she going to do?

  Luca’s parting words kept repeating in her mind like a broken record.

  Don’t do this to us—to our child.

  Normally, she’d blow off such a rushed, heat-of-the-moment proposal. No one would mean such a thing. After all, it wasn’t like they were a couple. This pregnancy, it wasn’t supposed to happen. They weren’t meant to happen.

  But a marriage proposal from Luca was different. He was not a man to throw around such words whether casually or in the heat of the moment. She knew him—or at least she thought she did. But everything had changed so dramatically between them since that night in Paris. Now, she questioned whether she’d ever known him at all.

  Too restless to sit down, she started walking with no destination in mind. She moved past the garden gates and into the field of sunflowers. Blind to the world around her, she could only envision the what ifs and might haves that this pregnancy had brought into her world.

  She moved to the cliff overlooking the sand and sea. The breeze rushed past her, combing through her hair. Despite the beauty of this particular spot with the azure-blue sky, the sunshine dancing upon the water and the sailboat in the distance bobbing with each swell, all Elena could think about was that her life had come to a fork in the road.

  The decisions she was about to make were so much more enormous than when she’d had to choose between attending college here on the island or pursuing a modeling career in Paris. To a young girl of eighteen who had led a sheltered life, venturing to a big city—even one as romantic as Paris—had still been a scary idea, especially when she knew absolutely no one there.

  But now she had to make a decision not only for herself, but also for her child. The road to the left was one for just her and her baby. It would be them against the world. And if she took the road to the right, she envisioned herself holding her child’s hand with Luca holding their child’s other hand. Which was the right answer for all of them?

  She started to walk again. Her head pulsed with chaotic thoughts of possible scenarios for her future. Her hand pressed to her midsection, feeling a protective instinct that she’d never felt before. She might disagree with Luca on numerous things, but there was one thing they agreed on. They had to do what was right for their child.

  Their child.

  The words stuck in her mind. As much as she wanted to make all the decisions about this baby, she couldn’t. They’d created this tiny life together, and it was only right that they share the decisions. It was her first solid resolution, and it felt right.

  And then another thought came to her: she downright refused to be dictated to by Luca or anyone else. In that moment, it didn’t matter to her one iota that Luca was an earl or that his uncle was the king. They would make decisions together—she would not bend to his will.

  Elena stopped walking. Suddenly she was feeling a bit better. Her jumbled thoughts were starting to gain some clarity. Even the pounding in her head was starting to subside.

  When she glanced around, she realized that she’d been drawn back to one of her childhood haunts. And it was looking none too good. The little cabin had been abandoned eons ago, but as kids, she and Luca had worked to patch up the roof with branches and leaves. They made it into their secret clubhouse.

  She stepped inside and glanced up, finding most of the roof was now gone. So much for their repairs. She smiled at the memory of them working so hard together. Back then, it was so much easier for them to communicate.

  Why couldn’t life be like it used to be?

  The sound of an engine cut through her thoughts. It was getting closer. Who in the world would be riding around out here at the far reaches of the royal estate? And then she realized that it was probably the security guards making their rounds.

  She stepped outside to let them know of her presence, not wanting to alarm them. But when her gaze adjusted to the bright sunshine, she found that it was not a guard seated behind the wheel of the navy blue Jeep with the royal crest emblazoned across the hood. It was Luca.

  He jumped out. “So this is where you ended up?”

  “I...uh, was just walking.”

  “That’s some walk. It’s been a few hours since you left me on the beach.”

  “I had a lot of thinking to do.” She wasn’t so sure she wanted to get into it all now. “How did you find me?”

  “After I checked your parents’ place and the gardens, this place came to mind. You always used to come here when you were upset.” He stepped past her and entered the cabin. He looked around before returning to her side. “I wonder if our child will find this spot and make it their clubhouse.”

  “I...I don’t know.” She supposed that it was a possibility when she visited her parents.

  Luca moved to stand in front of her. “Listen, I’m sorry about earlier. I didn’t handle that very well.”

  “You’re right. You didn’t.” And surprisingly, she wasn’t furious with him any longer. “How about we write it off to sh
ock? You didn’t know what you were saying.”

  “But see, that wouldn’t be the truth.” He reached out for her hand, but she stepped back. “I did mean it when I said we should get married.”

  She shook her head. “Not like this. I don’t want anyone to marry me because they have to.”

  “It’s not that way.” He shifted his weight. “I could walk away, but I’m not.”

  Elena let out a nervous laugh. “I can hear it now. At one of your sister’s parties, someone will ask, ‘And how did Luca propose to you?’ And I’ll say, ‘He fell on his sword to save me and my child from the monstrous press.’” She shook her head, dispelling the awful scene. “Not exactly the romantic beginning to a marriage that a girl would hope for.”

  His eyes widened as though a thought had just come to him.

  She didn’t want to know his new idea. It was best that they end things here while they were still speaking to one another.

  She lifted her chin and met his gaze. “I should be going.”

  “Wait.” He reached for her hand. “I know I messed things up when I proposed to you earlier—”

  “You didn’t propose.” Her gaze narrowed. “You practically ordered me to marry you.”

  His mouth opened, but nothing came out. And then at least he had the decency to look a tad embarrassed.

  As much as she’d like to tell him that his idea of them getting married was preposterous, she couldn’t. She hadn’t thought of any other way to protect the baby and pass on the proper legacy their child deserved. If she were to marry Luca, their child would fit in—unlike her, who was forever on the outside looking in.

  Luca craned his neck, looking at their surroundings. What was he looking for?

  “Of all the places with flowers on this estate, why couldn’t there be some here?” he said with a sigh.

  “Flowers?” It took her a moment to realize that he wanted to collect them for her. Her heart picked up its pace at the realization that he was trying to do this proposal thing properly. “I don’t need flowers. But I do need us to come to terms.”