by Lilly LaRue
“It never crossed my mind, since it’s okay for married men to have girlfriends. I suppose lovers or mistresses would be a better word for your companions though.”
A flush crept up his neck. “What’re you talking about?”
“I didn’t follow the gossip mags closely, or keep track of your conquests, but I know you haven’t been celibate, hubby. There was that same Brazilian model you were dating before Margot and Cristiano got engaged. I don’t remember who followed, but there was a parade.” Molly lifted a shoulder. “So, no, I didn’t think there was any reason not to date.”
He stopped his pacing in front of her. Molly forced herself to remain expressionless when he gripped the arms of her chair and leaned over her. “You are my wife. That is reason enough.”
She laughed. “You’re such a hypocrite, Aronne. You left me on our wedding day. There was another woman in your bed within weeks, and you had no intention of ever coming back, except if required for the divorce proceedings. How typically Italian-male of you.” Molly scoffed. “And you once claimed to eschew those double standards.”
His face tightened with her words. “Are you finished?”
“Sure.” It gave her a small surge of pleasure to see his mingled anger and discomfort, and she tried to squash it. The last thing she wanted was any emotional reaction to him. It was easier, and safer, to remain neutral to his presence.
“Perhaps we’ve both made mistakes.”
“How generous of you.”
He glowered. “I am willing to overlook this boyfriend for the sake of Cara.”
Molly frowned. “What does she have to do with Carter?”
His eyes narrowed. “Did you name my daughter for your lover?”
“No. I didn’t even know Carter when I was giving birth to Cara. Alone.” She bit down on her tongue to avoid saying anything else. Nor did she want to divulge the brainless sentimentality that had led her to name their daughter after the only term of affection he’d ever used. To this day, she blamed it on a combination of the endorphins, oxytocin, and plain old stupidity.
“Very well. I believe you.”
She rolled her eyes. “I am just so relieved by that.”
He frowned. “Why are you like this? What happened to the sweet girl you used to be?”
Molly’s eyes widened, and she couldn’t hold back a small laugh. “I guess she grew up. Responsibility tends to do that to a person.” She ran a hand through her hair. “Look, I’m tired, it’s been a long day, and I wish you’d just get to the point.”
“I want Cara.”
Stunned, she stared up at him, her mouth agape. The sincerity in his eyes sent a shiver down her spine. “That’s too bad.”
“I will have her. She is my daughter. A DNA test will confirm that, and then you’ll be forced to share custody.”
Molly swallowed, refusing to be visibly intimidated. “I think it’s too little, too late for you. No court will give you custody.”
“Maybe not at first, but there will be day visitations, and eventually overnight, followed by weekends, vacations, and ultimately joint custody.” He lowered his voice a bit. “After that, my goal will be full custody, and I won’t stop until I have it.”
She shook her head. “Why would you do that? Do you have any idea how difficult it is for a child to shuttle back and forth between parents? I never had to live it, but I had friends who went through that hell all the time. I won’t allow you to do that to Cara.”
“You can’t stop me. It seems you are estranged from your parents. Where will you get the money to afford attorneys to fight me?”
Molly gasped, and then a full laugh escaped her. “Is that your big threat? Marrying you was good for exactly two things. Cara, being the first, was the best thing that ever happened to me.”
“And the second?” he asked with a snarl.
“As soon as I was married, control of my trust reverted to me. I can give Cara anything she’ll ever want, and I don’t need to beg a cent from my parents.”
He seemed to deflate. “I see.” His mouth firmed. “We shall be evenly matched. The case will likely drag out for years.”
“I just don’t understand why you’re being so vindictive.”
He cursed. “It is not vindictive to want a place in my child’s life. You owe me that.”
Her laugh had a sharp edge. “I owe you exactly what you gave me: Nothing.” Seeing him flinch, she pressed the advantage. “You walked away. You chose to disregard my attempts to tell you about her. It’s unreasonable to expect to come back and just have me try to fit you into her life.”
Aronne leaned closer yet. “Not just her life, cara mia. I have plans for your life too.”
She shivered when he ran his hand down her arm. “Like what?”
“I think it’s time you acted like a real wife. My wife. We will reconcile, for Cara’s sake.”
“You’re out of your mind.” She tried to push him away as he leaned closer. “I want nothing to do with you.”
“Still lying, Molly?” He clicked his tongue as he cupped her breast, caressing the nipple to a hardened state. “I could have you on your back, legs spread, in less than ten minutes.”
She turned her head, unable to meet his gaze and deny his words as forcefully as she wished. The attraction to her husband had bloomed back to life. His proximity made it hard to think, just as it always had. He was using it as a weapon to control her. Even knowing that, she wasn’t able to remain immune. A gasp escaped her when he unfastened the top button of her shirt. “Stop it.”
“Why should I? We both know it can be incredible.”
Molly summoned all her reserves and turned her head to glare at him. “Maybe physically, but it’s empty. I hate you, and you’ve acknowledged I’m no substitute for my sister.”
Aronne flinched. “Anger overtook me that day, and I wanted to hurt you. I lashed out, but I shouldn’t have said that.”
“Why not? It’s true, right?”
After a hesitation, he nodded. “At the time.”
“I’d prefer to be honest. I can’t be Margot for you, and I have no interest in trying. There is nothing between us. I want a divorce so I can marry Carter.” Oops, there went the honesty. She and Carter were getting serious, but not to that level. “One day,” she added, trying to absolve herself of the accidental fib.
His face twisted into a mask of anger. “Never. You will never marry him and make my daughter his.”
“I’ll do what I want, Aronne. You lost the right to have any input when you left.”
“Perhaps, but I’m back now, to claim my child and my wife.” He moved quickly, picking her up in his arms and striding down the hallway.
Molly fought, but his grip was tight. He didn’t release her until they were in her bedroom, where he dropped her on the bed. “Stop right now. I don’t want you.”
Aronne straddled her, holding her hands above her head. “We both know that’s a lie. You went to such trouble to get me before. Now, you can have me.”
“I don’t want you,” she repeated through clenched teeth.
“You’re going to stop lying to me.” He lowered his head to nibble on her ear before he whispered, “Or are you just lying to yourself?”
Molly moaned when he nudged his leg between her thighs, his knee nestling against her core. “This won’t solve anything. I want you out of my house.”
“That is unfortunate, because I want to be inside you, cara.” He continued unbuttoning her shirt with one hand, his weight keeping her pinned to the bed.
She glared at him. “You’re resorting to rape now?”
He laughed. “We both know it won’t be rape. You want it as much as I do.” Aronne circled her mound with his knee, pressing until she moaned again. “Do you imagine it’s me when you’re with your boyfriend?”
“Don’t be disgusting. I wouldn’t do that. Unlike you, I haven’t had so many lovers that it’s impossible to keep track of whom I’m with.” She trembled as he pushed h
er bra up over her breasts, renewing her struggles to free herself. In her heart, she knew she was trying to escape her own reaction more than his touch. “Get off me.”
“I think you mean to say ‘get me off, caro mio’,” he said with a chuckle. His tone turned smoky. “That will be my pleasure, bella moglie.”
“You aren’t my dear, and I’m not your beautiful whatever.”
“Wife. I disagree. You are most definitely my beautiful wife.” He trailed his forefinger across her breast, pausing to squeeze the nipple lightly. “Your breasts are bigger. Did you breastfeed?”
She nodded, a little lost by the surreal turn in the conversation.
“I would have liked to see that. Are you still breastfeeding?”
“No.” She gasped when he squeezed her again. “Cara self-weaned at eleven months.”
“Pity. I’ll look forward to witnessing it with our next child.”
Molly’s mouth dropped open. “You’ve really lost it. There won’t be a second child. We’re getting divorced.”
“No.” He sounded sublimely confident. “We’re going to make this marriage work.”
“I don’t want to. I don’t want anything from you.”
He shifted his position to straddle her with both legs and press his hard shaft into her soft folds. “There is at least one thing you want, and we will build on that.”
“No.” She honestly tried to fight him, and herself, when he unsnapped her jeans to stroke her intimately, but it was a losing battle. With the same ruthless precision he had displayed on their wedding day, he brought long unused nerve endings back to life, making her moan and whimper.
At some point, she realized he had released her arms, and she now clutched his shoulders as he pulled off her pants and underwear. “This is a really bad idea.”
“But it feels so good.” His erection sprang free from his pants when he opened the zipper, and he didn’t bother to remove them before sinking inside her. “You feel good, Molly. I thought about this a lot.”
“Now who’s lying?” She wanted to push him away, but he changed his angle enough to hit an especially sensitive spot, making her moan.
He bent one of her legs to curve around his back, so he could get deeper inside her, making her gasp from the sensation. “I’ve never lied to you.”
With them joined, it didn’t seem like a good time to continue the argument, but she didn’t believe he’d spared her even a thought in the past two years. An orgasm swept through her abruptly, and she dug her nails into his skin, a small part of her hoping it hurt. Suddenly, reason returned, and she pushed harder against his chest. “Pull out.”
Eyes glazed with passion looked down at her with a bit of confusion. “What?”
“Don’t come inside me. I’m not on birth control, and I don’t want another child.” She shuddered at the thought, remembering how difficult her pregnancy with Cara had been. A large part of it had been the depression that had overtaken her, but she remembered it as a negative experience, one never to repeat—especially with him.
With a curse, he withdrew just in time. She felt the warm spurt against her thigh as he climaxed and was relieved she had remembered. As soon as he slumped forward, she scooted backward, escaping him to hide under the coverlet. “Now that you got what you came for, leave.”
He looked hurt. “I didn’t come for a quick lay, Molly. I want us to get to know each other, the way we should have before we got married and had a child.”
“Don’t you care what I want?”
He scoffed. “Carter? Can he make you come like that?”
Refusing to answer, she said, “It will never work between us, Aronne. We don’t even like each other. I’m willing to try a limited visitation schedule with you, but anything else is out of the question.”
“I’m unwilling to have limited access. I want you to move in with me.”
She shook her head. “We aren’t leaving our home.”
A slow smile spread across his face. “Very well. I’ll move in here. I’ll even use a guestroom—for now.”
“I didn’t invite you.” She crossed her arms. “I don’t want you here.”
Sounding casual, he said, “Did you know Mamma was excited when I told her I wanted to be a proper husband and father? She didn’t sound distant anymore. More color returned to her cheeks, and I swear she got a little better with the news.” He arched a brow. “It’s her fondest wish that we be as happy as Cristiano and Margot.”
“Don’t do this.” Sophia was one of her weaknesses, and he knew it, the manipulative jerk. He might not be a liar, but he was certainly a selfish schemer.
He moved over to lie beside her, putting his arm over her stomach atop the blanket. “I’m merely telling you what Mamma wants. She could recover faster, or perhaps knowing you aren’t even willing to try will cause a relapse.”
“I hate you,” she said with a depth of passion she hadn’t known she could still feel for the man beside her.
Aronne gave her a sad smile. “You don’t. You wish you did, but it isn’t possible to hate me when we’re so good together in bed.”
Sighing, she said, “Fine. You can stay with us for a few days, until Sophia’s better.” Through narrowed eyes, she saw the trace of satisfaction in his smug expression. “However, you’ll be in the guestroom, and this won’t happen again.”
He seemed on the verge of arguing before he shrugged. “I’ll sleep in the guestroom, but we both know this will happen any time I want it. To avoid accusations of double standards, I will make myself equally available whenever you want me.”
“Never.”
With a quick move, he leaned forward to capture her mouth in a possessive kiss. She resisted, keeping her muscles stiff as long as she could. The moment she relaxed against him and parted her lips, he drew back.
“Never? Somehow, cara mia, I don’t think so.”
Chapter Five
It annoyed Molly that Cara took to Aronne like she’d known him forever. Aronne seemed comfortable in the role of father and easily picked up everything he needed to know to care for her. Cara seemed to become the center of his world, and she hated feeling jealous of the attention he gave their daughter.
Either he had lost interest in her, or he was trying to be on his best behavior, because he hadn’t even tried to touch her in the past five days. Molly knew that was for the best, but it didn’t keep her from being disgruntled. I just want the pleasure of rejecting him. Yeah, right. She knew that was a lie even as she had the thought. Much as she hated the fact, she still found Aronne desirable.
That didn’t mean she wanted to play happy family with him. It was good for Cara to get to know her father, and perhaps it would have a beneficial effect on him, but the only thing between them should be their daughter. Physical longings led to emotional complications she didn’t want to face. Falling in love with her husband was unacceptable. She couldn’t trust him to stick around, and what kind of loving relationship could a couple have without trust?
Saturday morning, she woke early, hearing Cara babbling away. She smothered a yawn and slipped on her robe to pad down the hall to the nursery. As she stepped in the room, she stopped at the sight of Aronne sitting in the rocker, Cara on his lap. She was playing with the buttons on his shirt and talking away. Having spent so much time with her, Molly understood a lot of what the toddler said, but she was surprised to realize Aronne did too, as he responded appropriately to her comments.
“Dada.” Cara beamed when Aronne let out a laugh that sounded like pure happiness.
Molly tried to force back the sentimental tug at her emotions reminding her how she had felt the first time Cara said, “Mommy,” at eight months old. Her gaze locked with his, and the joy in his eyes made it difficult not to return his grin. “It’s pretty amazing, isn’t it?”
He nodded, hugging the baby closer. “Thank you, Molly.”
She frowned. “For what?”
Aronne nodded toward Cara. “For her. You didn’t have
to have her. At your age, no one would have faulted you for choosing not to.” He flushed. “To be honest, I might have suggested that alternative, since it would have been easiest for me.” With a grimace, he said, “I can’t imagine not knowing her now.”
Dammit. She blinked at the moisture in her eyes, unable to deny the love in his gaze as he looked at Cara. Their daughter seemed just as enthralled with her father. Her carefully nurtured fantasy of him losing interest and taking off once more disintegrated. If Aronne ever left the city again, it was obvious he would still remain in his daughter’s life. She hated the idea. Didn’t she?
“I considered it,” she said, sounding less emotional than she felt. “It was my mother’s solution, of course.” She couldn’t hide her distaste. “Mother confided she’d had an abortion at sixteen, and it hadn’t done her any harm. I think it was the thought of turning into her that scared me away from a termination.” Molly walked closer to them. “When I saw her on the ultrasound at twelve weeks, little heart beating away, I couldn’t wait to hold her. It was instant love.”
“I can relate.” His expression was one of wonder as Cara took his finger, trying to bring it to her mouth to suck. “No no, piccolino. I’ve felt your teeth before.”
Most of the softness left his face when he looked up at her, though his eyes remained tender. “Papa called this morning. Mamma gets to go home today. She’s already insisting we all come for brunch tomorrow.”
Molly smiled. “That sounds like Sophia. Who can tell her no?”
“It takes a braver man than me,” he said with a wink.
♥♥♥
Sophia looked much better the next morning when they sat down at the table for brunch. Molly couldn’t help wondering if Aronne had been right about their supposed reconciliation hastening her recovery. Feeling the burden of maintaining the charade that they were considering reconciling gave her an instant headache.
To her surprise, Aronne insisted on feeding Cara as they sat down to brunch. He’d done so before, but always with a little guidance, and in his casual clothes. She winced at the first smear of tomato on his khaki blazer, which he shrugged off.