by Susanna Carr
“I don’t want your blessing,” he said in a growl. “I want you and the baby.”
“That doesn’t make sense. I would not make you a good wife. I don’t have the right background, the right—”
“You are good for me,” he insisted. “You’re generous and affectionate. You’re bold and adventurous. You nurture and protect the ones you love. You love ferociously and you are deeply loyal.”
“There’s nothing special about that.”
“You have no idea how rare that is.” He crossed his arms and began to pace the room. “I know what it’s like to grow up in a family and feel like an outsider. I’m not going to let that happen to Chiara. She won’t have to earn my love or my affection. She already has it.”
“How can she have it?” she threw back at him angrily. “You think I was being unfaithful to you when she was conceived.”
“I did at first. I can’t deny it.” He rubbed his hands over his face. “It destroyed me. But that was when I thought you had cheated on me. I don’t care that she’s Giovanni’s daughter or even that she’s a Rossi. She is your child and I want to raise her with you.”
“That doesn’t change anything,” she said slowly, as if she’d been taken by surprise. “I won’t marry you.”
“I won’t stop asking,” he said as he stalked back to the bed, unable to hide his frustration. “I am bound to you whether or not we’re married.”
“And if I keep refusing?”
“That won’t change how I feel. You walked away from me but I kept my commitment to you. I will make sure you and the baby are getting the best care,” he confessed. “I will always take care of you and Chiara even if we don’t marry. Never question that.”
He didn’t know how he could prove his love for her and Chiara. He had demonstrated it when they had been together, but those actions had been tainted with his original plan. If Isabella returned to him she’d been taking a great leap of faith.
“I’m asking you to trust me,” he said as he took her hand again. This time she didn’t pull away. “I will show you, Bella. You once gave everything to make our relationship work and I have the same commitment to you and Chiara.”
“You say that now …”
“I will prove it every day,” he vowed. “Starting today. I’m taking you to my hotel and I will look after you and the baby.”
She pressed her lips together as she considered his offer. “I’m not sure about this,” she said nervously.
It wasn’t quite a yes, but she hadn’t said no. Antonio smiled triumphantly.
“I’m still not marrying you,” Isabella warned him.
“You will,” he said as he raised her hand to his lips. “When you trust me. You will.”
EPILOGUE
ISABELLA stirred awake and instinctively reached for Antonio. Her fingers brushed against the warm, crumpled bedsheet. She frowned and slowly opened her eyes, her gaze focusing on her hand. The diamonds on her wedding ring caught the faint light and sparkled in the shadowy bedroom.
Propping herself on her elbow, Isabella squinted at the bedside clock and saw that it was a little after three in the morning. She glanced around the large room. The curtains were still pulled back and she saw the Rome skyline glittering in the distance.
“Antonio?” she called out softly, her voice husky with sleep.
She rose from the bed when she didn’t receive an answer. Grabbing her discarded nightgown that was lying on the floor in a pool of satin, Isabella slid it over her body. The hem skimmed her thighs.
She tiptoed barefoot out of the bedroom and paused at the threshold when she heard faint whispering. It sounded like Antonio’s voice, and it came from the direction of the nursery. Isabella felt a flicker of worry. Had Chiara cried out and she hadn’t heard it?
Isabella reached the door to the nursery and peered inside. She saw Antonio, wearing a dark pair of pajama bottoms slung low on his lean hips. The sight of him gently cradling her fussy baby in his arms made her breath hitch in her throat.
Antonio should look out of place in the pink and green nursery. He was too sexy, his looks too darkly erotic, to sit in a rocking chair. He was known for his power and ruthlessness, but one year-old Chiara had already wrapped him around her tiny finger.
“Chiara, listen to your papa,” Antonio said in a hushed, mesmerizing tone to the infant snuggled against his bare muscular chest. “We had an agreement. You are to sleep when the moon is out.”
Isabella leaned against the doorframe as she watched her husband and her child. They had an agreement? She bit back a smile. How frequently did Antonio and Chiara have these late-night heart-to-hearts?
It shouldn’t surprise her. From the moment she and Chiara had left the hospital Antonio had gotten into the habit of long talks with her daughter. He would encourage Chiara to reach for a toy, he would read the newspaper to her as if it was a children’s fairytale, and he would soothe her when she cried loudly during her bath.
“A Rossi always honors his word,” he murmured as he stroked the baby’s back.
Chiara sighed and her tiny body relaxed against Antonio’s chest.
“Remember,” Antonio said softly as he laid the baby in her crib, “you get your mama’s undivided attention during the day while I’m at work. I get your mama at night.”
“Did you ever think,” Isabella whispered as she walked into the nursery, “that Chiara gets up in the middle of the night so she can have your undivided attention?”
“Then she’s a smart girl.” He tucked a light blanket around the infant.
Isabella was enamored of the depth of patience and tenderness Antonio demonstrated. He always had words of praise and optimism, whether Chiara had an accomplishment or a setback. She knew Antonio would be a great father.
Antonio turned and Isabella could see his exaggerated scowl in the faint moonlight. “That nightgown looks familiar. Didn’t I strip it off you earlier tonight?”
“You did,” Isabella said with a smile as sexual excitement bubbled inside her. “I thought I should wear something special for our wedding night, but you ripped it right off me.”
“And now you’ve put it back on?” His voice was low and playful. “You should be punished.”
“You need to catch me first.” She hurried out the door and got all the way to the hallway before she felt Antonio’s arm wrap around her waist. Isabella bit back a squeal as he flattened her spine against his chest.
“I’ve got you,” he said triumphantly against her ear as he pushed the straps of her nightgown past her shoulders. “And I’m not letting go.”
She sensed a deeper meaning in his words. The nightgown slid past her hips and onto the floor. She turned and looped her arms around his broad shoulders, the tips of her breasts grazing his chest. “I’m not letting go, either. You can count on that.”
All the characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author, and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all the incidents are pure invention.
All Rights Reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Enterprises II BV/S.à.r.l. The text of this publication or any part thereof may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, storage in an information retrieval system, or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher.
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the prior consent of the publisher in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
® and TM are trademarks owned and used by the trademark owner and/or its licensee. Trademarks marked with ® are registere
d with the United Kingdom Patent Office and/or the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market and in other countries.
First published in Great Britain 2013
by Mills & Boon, an imprint of Harlequin (UK) Limited.
Harlequin (UK) Limited, Eton House, 18-24 Paradise Road,
Richmond, Surrey TW9 1SR
© Susanna Carr 2013
eISBN: 978-1-472-00152-8
Table of Contents
Excerpt
About the Author
Title Page
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Epilogue
Copyright