by Maya Blake
Her stomach hollowed out. ‘Why...why the increase?’
‘It’s just a precaution at this stage.’
‘What does that mean?’ she demanded. ‘Precaution against what?’
‘It means neither you nor Gianlucca are in danger at the moment.’
‘But you’re expecting us to be at some point?’ Her voice had risen with her escalating fear and the shaking had taken on a firmer hold.
He shook his head. ‘You don’t need to panic—’
‘Oh, really? You tell me my son could be in danger and then tell me not to panic?’ she blurted, all the different scenarios she’d talked herself out of tumbling back again. She brushed her hands over her arms as cold dread drowned her.
‘I meant, there was no need to panic because I’ll ensure your safety,’ he said.
‘Safety from what?’ When he remained silent, she jumped to her feet and paced the small living room. ‘I think you should start from the beginning, Romeo. Who are these people and what do they want with you? With our son?’ She froze. ‘Are you involved in...in criminal activity?’ she whispered in horror.
His mouth compressed and his face set into harsh, determined lines. ‘No, I am not.’
The scathing force of the words prompted her to believe him. But the fear didn’t dissipate. ‘Please tell me what’s going on.’
He rose, too, and paced opposite her. When his fists clenched and unclenched a few times, she approached. At the touch of her hand on his arm, he jerked, as if he’d been elsewhere.
As he stared down at her, his mouth compressed. ‘My past isn’t what you’d call a white-picket-fence fairy tale,’ he said obliquely.
Maisie attempted a smile. ‘Only the books I read to Lucca contain those. Real life is rarely that way.’
A grim smile crossed his lips. ‘Unfortunately, mine was a little more dire than that.’
She kept quiet, mostly because she didn’t know how to respond.
‘The man whose blood runs through my veins was the head of a Sicilian organised crime family.’
She gasped, then stepped back as the import of the words sank in. ‘You’re a member of a Mafia gang?’
‘No, I’m not.’ Again that scathing denial.
‘But your...your father is?’
‘He wasn’t my father. We just share the same DNA,’ he bit out in a harsh tone that spoke of anger, bitterness and harrowing pain.
Maisie’s eyes widened. As if aware of how he’d sounded, Romeo breathed deeply and slid his fingers through his hair. ‘The abbreviated story is that I met him twice. Both times ended...badly. What I didn’t know until yesterday was that he’d kept tabs on me all my life.’
‘Why?’ she demanded.
Romeo shrugged. ‘Since I didn’t know the man, I can only guess it was some sort of power-trip thing to watch whether I failed or succeeded. Or it may have been for other reasons. I care very little about what his motives were.’
Maisie frowned. ‘You talked about him in the past tense...because...’
‘He and his family died in a yacht explosion a year ago.’
The rush of blood from her head made her light-headed. ‘Was it an accident?’ she asked, her lips numb.
His mouth pursed for a few seconds before he answered, ‘Officially. But probably not.’
Her gasp brought his head up. Cursing under his breath, he strode to her and grasped her arms. ‘I’m only going by what my gut tells me, Maisie. I don’t have hard evidence to the contrary.’
‘And your gut tells you he was assassinated?’
He nodded.
A million more questions crowded her brain, but she forced a nod. ‘Go on.’
His hands moved to her shoulders, a firm glide that left a trail of awareness over her skin. ‘I received a letter from his lawyers a month ago, summoning me to Palermo, which I ignored. I received a few more after that. The last one told me he’d left me something I needed to collect in person.’ His mouth twisted. ‘My curiosity got the better of me.’
‘What was it?’
‘His monstrosity of a mansion. Along with his plans for my future.’
Ice slithered down her spine. ‘What plans?’
One hand moved to her neck and cupped her nape. The familiarity of that gesture thawed the ice a little, replacing her terror with a wave of warm awareness.
‘He never had a son...not a legitimate one anyway. I think somewhere along the line he intended to contact me, bring me into the family business. He just never got the chance to. But he told his second in command about it. He was the one who asked the lawyers to contact me.’
‘What does he want from you?’
‘The famiglia is falling apart. They need a new injection of young blood, and an even greater need for an injection of financial support.’
‘You have both.’
‘But I intend to give them neither.’
Maisie stared at his granite-hard face, the deep grooves bracketing his mouth and the dark gold of his eyes, and the pennies finally tumbled into place. ‘But if you don’t intend to... Oh, my God. You think they mean to use Lucca to make you do what they want?’ she rasped in a terror-stricken voice.
His grip tightened and one finger caught her chin and raised her face to his spear-sharp gaze. Her stomach knotted at the savage determination on his face. ‘They will never get their hands on you or our son. You have my word on this, Maisie.’
She shook her head, her insides growing colder by the second. ‘But you can’t guarantee that, can you? Or you wouldn’t be here with six bodyguards in tow.’
‘There’s one way to ensure your safety,’ he said, his gaze raking her face as if he wanted to pull the answer from her even before he’d asked the question.
‘What’s that?’ she murmured.
‘You will marry me. Then you and our son will know the protection of my name.’
CHAPTER FIVE
SHE WENT HOT, then cold, then colder. Until she felt as brittle as chilled glass. Dumbly, she stared into those burnished gold eyes, sure she’d misheard him.
‘What did you say?’
‘The famiglia isn’t as powerful as it once was, but I’m not willing to dismiss them out of hand, either. Marrying me will grant you and Lucca protection, which you could be vulnerable without.’
‘No way. I can’t... I can’t just marry you! We know next to nothing about each other.’
A look curled through his eyes. ‘Our circumstances aren’t commonplace. Besides, we’ve already done things a little out of sequence, don’t you think?’
She laughed, but the sound was more painful than she wanted it to be. ‘This is far from a quaint little romantic caper.’
He nodded. ‘Sì, which is why I want to ensure I have all the bases covered for your protection.’
‘Oh, God!’
‘Maisie—’
‘No.’ She pulled out of his hold and backed away. ‘This is preposterous. You have to find another way to protect Lucca.’
Golden eyes bored into hers. ‘There’s no other way. There’s an unspoken code, gattina. They may be thugs, but they respect family. Marrying me means you and Lucca become off limits.’
‘But it still won’t be a cast-iron guarantee, will it?’
He shrugged. ‘Nothing in life is guaranteed. I have no intention of involving myself in that life, but there may be resistance. A temporary marriage is our best option.’
The cold pronunciation chilled her to the bone. She kept backing away until her shoulders nudged the window. Unrelenting, he prowled towards her.
‘No way. I can’t do it, Romeo. I just... I can’t just fold up my life and uproot my son to live goodness knows where, looking over my shoulder every day!’
‘Look!’ He r
eached her, grasped her shoulders and turned her around, directing her gaze to the street, where his men maintained a watchful guard. ‘Is this how you want Lucca to live? Surrounded by men in black carrying guns? Can you honestly say that you’ll experience a moment of peace in the park, knowing that his life could be in danger from unknown elements at each second of the day?’
She shuddered. ‘That’s not fair, Romeo.’
His bitter laugh scoured her skin. ‘Life’s never fair, gattina,’ he whispered in her ear. ‘Believe me, I have firsthand experience in just how unfair life can be. That’s why I want this for our son. He will bear my name, legitimately, and my protection.’
‘But you cannot guarantee that, can you? Can’t you just go to the authorities and tell them about this?’
He levelled a deep sigh. ‘Sì, I can. My lawyers have been apprised of what’s going on. But, technically, Lorenzo hasn’t committed a crime yet, just issued veiled threats. Even when he does, the wheels of justice don’t always move fast, Maisie. You of all people should know that.’
Sadly, she knew that all too well. Nevertheless, she couldn’t give what he was suggesting any room to grow. That a part of her wanted to let it grow deeply unnerved her. ‘We can still—’
‘We can do a lot of things.’ He reached for her again, pinning her arms to her sides. ‘None would be as effective as what I’m proposing. At the very least, it’ll buy time until I can find another solution.’
She pulled away. She thought of her parents, of the frosty existence she’d lived with. Her parents’ lack of warmth hadn’t just been directed at her. They’d been equally frosty to each other. As she’d grown up, she’d realised that the only reason they’d married and stayed married had been because of her. A shiver of horror raked her from head to toe at the thought of placing herself in a similar arrangement. Lucca was sharp. It would be a matter of time before he sensed that his parents didn’t love one another. The thought of what it would do to him made her recoil.
‘Maisie—’
‘No!’ she cried. The part of her that hadn’t been freaking out completely threw up its arms and buckled beneath the part that was exploding with hysteria. ‘I won’t do it! I won’t—’
She gasped as strong arms clamped around her and she was hauled into his body.
‘Basta! There’s no need to get hysterical.’
She fought to free herself, but his arms tightened their hold on her. ‘I’m not getting hysterical,’ she lied. Inside, she was going out of her mind with information overload. And being this close to Romeo, feeling his taut, warm body against hers, wasn’t helping, either. Planting her hands on his chest, she pushed. ‘Let me go, Romeo!’
‘Calm down, then I will.’
She stilled, then made the mistake of glancing up at him.
His eyes were molten, his lips parted slightly as he stared down at her. The look on his face morphed to replicate the dangerous sensations climbing through her.
‘No...’ she whispered.
‘No,’ he agreed roughly. And yet his head started to descend, his arms gathering her even closer until her breasts were pressed against his chest.
A second later, his hot, sensual mouth slanted over hers, and she was tumbled headlong into a different quagmire. Only, this one contained no fear, no horror. Only an electrifying sizzle that rocked her from head to toe.
His tongue breached her mouth, his teeth biting along the way. Maisie whimpered as sensation engulfed her. She opened her mouth wider, her tongue darting out to meet his.
He groaned and pulled her closer. One hand fisted her hair, angled her head for a deeper penetration, while the other slid down her back to cup her bottom. He squeezed and yanked her into his hardening groin. As if a torch paper had been lit between them, Maisie scoured her hands over him, trailing his shoulders, his back, the trim hardness of his waist before her fingers dug into the tightness of his buttocks.
A rough sound exploded from his lips as he rocked against her pelvis, imprinting his erection against her belly in a clear demand that made her moan. Hunger she’d taught herself to bury suddenly reared up, urgent and demanding. When his hand cupped her breast and toyed with her nipple, Maisie wanted to scream, Take me!
But even that sound would have taken too much effort, drugged as she was by the power of his kisses. Her fingers trailed back up, curled into his hair as she gave herself over to the sensation drowning her.
‘Gattina...my little wildcat,’ he groaned once he’d lifted his head to trail kisses along her jaw.
Maisie moaned as he bit her earlobe. ‘Romeo.’ Her speech was slurred and the secret place between her legs lit on fire from wanting him. From wanting her hunger assuaged.
He recaptured her mouth and Maisie was certain she would die just from the pleasure overload.
‘Mummy!’
They exploded apart, their breaths erratic and ragged as they stared at each other across the space between them.
Romeo looked dazed, hectic colour scouring his cheekbones, his golden eyes hot and brooding and alive with arousal. She suspected she wore the same look, if not worse.
‘Mummy!’
She lurched, still dazed, towards the door leading out into the hallway.
‘Gattina.’
She didn’t want to hear that term, didn’t want to be reminded that she’d behaved like a horny little hellcat with her son asleep two doors away. But she turned anyway, met that torrid, golden gaze.
‘Fix your shirt,’ he rasped throatily.
Maisie looked down at the gaping shirt exposing her chest. The buttons had come undone without her having the vaguest idea when it’d happened. Flushing, she shakily secured them and hurried to her son’s room.
He sat up in bed, rubbing his eyes, his lower lip pouting. She sat and scooped him into her lap and hugged him close.
‘Hey, precious. Did you have a bad dream?’
‘Yes. It was the bad goblins.’ His lip trembled and he tucked his head into her shoulder.
‘It’s okay now, baby. Mummy’s here. I’ll slay the silly goblins so they can’t get you.’
He gave a sleepy little giggle and wriggled deeper into her embrace.
She sat there, minutes ticking by as she crooned to him, until he fell back asleep. Planting a gentle kiss on his forehead, she caught movement from the corner of her eye and looked up to see Romeo framed in the doorway.
With her emotions nowhere near calm, Maisie couldn’t form a coherent thought, never mind form actual words, so she watched in silence as he came and crouched at the side of the bed, his hand trailing gently down Lucca’s back.
When his eyes met hers, her breath strangled at the fierce determination brimming in the hazel depths.
‘You will slay his imaginary goblins. But what about his real ones?’ he murmured, his voice low and intense.
‘Romeo—’
‘I will take care of those. All you have to do is accept my name.’
The implications of what he was asking was no less daunting, no less grave than it’d been half an hour ago when he’d dropped the bombshell. While she’d never given much thought to a future beyond being a mother and owner of a business she loved, she’d also not written it off. But what Romeo was asking... The idea was too huge to even comprehend.
‘It’s not as monumental an undertaking as you think,’ he said, reading her thoughts with an accuracy that terrified her. ‘Think of it as a time-buying exercise.’
His gaze fell to Lucca’s sleeping form. His hand moved, as if to touch him, but he placed it back down on the bed.
The telling gesture made Maisie’s breath strangle in her chest. ‘You care about him, don’t you?’ she murmured.
A look crossed his face, which he quickly blanked. ‘I didn’t know he existed until twenty-four hours ago. But he
’s mine, and I take care of what’s mine.’
He looked up, the clear, deadly promise blazing for her to see. It shook her to the soul, seeing the promise she’d made to her son the moment he’d drawn breath visible on another person’s face.
She opened her mouth to say yes, then felt a cold finger of dread. As much as she wanted to protect her son, she couldn’t live with herself if she risked swapping Lucca’s physical well-being for his emotional one.
His eyes narrowed, and she was sure he was reading her thoughts again. He gently scooped up Lucca and placed him back in bed, pulling the Lego-themed coverlet over his little body before he straightened.
‘Let’s finish this talk. Now.’ His voice vibrated with low, commanding intensity.
His heavy, dominating presence crowded her as they re-entered the living room. Knowing what she had to say, she turned to face him.
‘What’s the problem?’ he asked.
She threw out her arms. ‘Where do you want me to start? Even if I wanted to say yes to what you’re proposing, what happens with us?’
A dark frown clamped his forehead. ‘Us?’
‘Yes, us. You and me. We’re virtual strangers. What makes you think we’d last a day under the same roof?’
He shrugged. ‘I’m inclined to think if we both know what’s at stake, we can make it work.’
And what was at stake was her son’s welfare. This was all for Lucca. She was merely the extra passenger along for the ride. The current situation had only made the claiming more urgent. The kiss that had happened was just residual hormones from their last time. Nothing more.
Lucca was the reason Romeo was here in the first place. She didn’t think for a second that saying no would send Romeo packing. Regardless of the Mafia code or a marriage of convenience, the man in front of her would claim his son. She knew it with a bone-deep certainty.
‘Maisie.’ Another hard command. She was beginning to recognise how he’d risen to his powerful status so quickly. He packed more imperious presence in his little finger than most men packed in their whole bodies.