“I despised her. She deliberately got pregnant to blackmail me into marriage. And then when it didn’t work, she drank and did drugs while she was pregnant. I had to have someone watching her all the time. I came here to bring her back to my ranch, to keep the baby safe until he was born. You lost someone you loved. Shaina was . . .” Like me. He couldn’t bring himself to say it and he just trailed off.
Emma stared up at his face, her eyes wide and unblinking, completely focused on him so that he went still, feeling threatened—feeling as though she could see all the way to his soul, to the cold monster living there, waiting to strike. She shook her head slowly. “Not like you.” As if he’d spoken the words aloud and she’d heard them. “You aren’t who you think you are.”
He knew exactly who and what he was. He never spared himself by trying to whitewash his character. He’d embraced the cold monster, refusing to fall victim ever again. He would be stronger, more cunning, faster, more ruthless, than every enemy he had. And he would never be vulnerable again—not to anyone. They would find him an implacable enemy who pulled no punches and had no mercy when he struck at them—at any of them. And this one, this young, fragile woman who looked at the world through rose-colored glasses, she was going to belong to him and he was taking her, whether she wanted it or not. No, he was exactly like his enemies, only worse.
He paced away from the bed, away from her intent gaze. He was the one in control, not her. He wasn’t falling prey to her sweetness, or to the way she made him feel guilty. He controlled everyone in his world. He didn’t need others. They needed him. She wasn’t going to turn the tables on him by looking into his soul and seeing something he kept hidden from the world.
Vulnerable. For a moment she made him feel that way, as if she could hurt him, as if she had some power over him he didn’t understand. Jake rejected the feeling immediately. He would never be vulnerable again. And neither would his son. He glanced at the baby in her arms. He didn’t want or love the kid, but he was going to do right by him. He would see to it that Kyle had every advantage, and just looking at the baby in Emma’s arms, he knew this woman was the one he wanted for his son.
The hell with it all. He had a plan and he was going to carry it out. Emma would benefit and so would her child. Jake would be fair about it. Eventually she would grow to love him, even if he couldn’t love her back. Hell, he could even be faithful if he had to. He would give her a home, Kyle would have someone who would be good to him, and she would be well cared for. He had no doubt that he could satisfy her in bed and teach her to satisfy his every need. It would work out for both of them—for all of them. He shoved down whatever humanity still lay within him and hardened his heart.
He was taking her over. One small piece at a time, starting here, starting now, just the way he went after the companies he wanted. He studied his prey, assessed the weaknesses and vulnerabilities. Emma needed a home and money while she was pregnant. His lawyers would be the ones working for a settlement, and just like contracts for businesses could be misplaced, “lost,” or bought off, his lawyers could delay every procedure to ensure she needed him. Yeah, he was a bastard, cold and cruel and calculating, but he let himself off the hook by reminding himself he would take good care of her as he did all his possessions.
And make no mistake, Emma Reynolds. You will be my possession.
Emma would be no different from Kyle. He would see to everything for them and just keep emotionally distant. No one ever took what he owned.
As she fed the baby, Emma watched Jake pace the length of her room. His eyes shone with a power that both terrified and intrigued her. His body moved with a fluid grace that suggested danger. She knew she was mesmerized by his strength and confidence, by his very arrogance, yet there was something eluding her, something about him that was so familiar to her that drew her more than her need for someone to take charge. And right now she didn’t care all that much about living, other than to save her baby. If Jake Bannaconni wanted to take charge, she was going to let him—at least for a while.
He didn’t know her, only that she was young and lost and helpless right now. Once she could think without hurting, without being so afraid of taking a breath, she would be all right. At the moment, she couldn’t make decisions and be certain of what she was doing. Jake seemed to know exactly what he was doing. And whether he thought of himself as a good man or not, a part of her reached for him, wanted—no, even needed—to do as he asked her. Wanted to reach beyond the emptiness in his eyes and the blankness of his expression and see who he really was. And that had never happened before, not even with her beloved Andrew.
She kissed Kyle’s forehead and leaned down to whisper in his ear. “It will be all right. You’ll see. Don’t be afraid.” Because she was there and she needed the baby to focus her attention on, to give her something to cling to. She looked up at Jake’s face and caught a hint of satisfaction there. She filed it away. He wanted her attached to his son. Maybe he feared bringing the child home on his own, and she couldn’t blame him, although it was rumored he had enough money to hire an army of nurses. Whatever his reason, it didn’t really matter to her, not right then.
“How long before Kyle can go home with you?” Emma asked, nuzzling the baby’s head.
“A few more days, the doctors are saying. They want his weight up a little bit. What are they saying about you?”
She shrugged. “Pretty much the same thing.”
“Do you have any family?”
Emma instinctively knew he already had the answer, but for some reason he wanted to force her to admit the truth out loud. “No.” The moment she told him, she understood. It left her with nothing—and no one—and that shook her even more. She looked up at him, trying to see beyond her grief to care that she was putting herself in the hands of a complete stranger.
“Are you all right with Kyle? I’ll put a call in to my lawyers and get them started again on the settlement for you with the insurance company. And I need to make certain I have doctors lined up to care for you and Kyle once we’re home. You are coming with us, aren’t you, Emma? Because honestly, I really need your help.”
“What’s home?” Her voice shook a little.
“I have a ranch in Texas. I own property in quite a few places, but the ranch is my primary home and where I’d like you to stay. I can hire help while you’re on bed rest to take care of Kyle.”
She shook her head. “I don’t want you spending money on me.”
He shrugged his broad shoulders. “I think I have enough to take care of you without worrying too much about going hungry.”
She knew the name Bannaconni. She’d heard the whispers around the hospital. Private jets, exotic cars, men rushing to bring him papers to sign and rumors of a new wing for the hospital and lots of very up-to-date equipment. “Just because you have money doesn’t mean people should take advantage of you.” She shook her head. “I don’t want that.”
Then she was the only one on the planet. Was she really too good to be true? Everyone wanted something. His fingers itched to shake her. He needed to get a private investigator to find out everything he could about little Ms. Reynolds. The more information he had on her, the better equipped he would be to control her.
“You won’t be taking advantage of me. If you prefer, we can keep an accounting of any expenses I incur and you can pay me back when you get your settlement. I don’t want you to be misled, though. The ranch is very secluded, very remote. We don’t get or encourage many visitors, although I have ranch hands who work regularly for me and live on the property, so you won’t be alone when I have to go away on business. We can also get a temporary housekeeper to keep you company. If you want the job when you’re stronger, looking after the house and Kyle and your baby, then of course you can have it.”
She frowned and nuzzled the baby again. “You’re offering me a job as a housekeeper, looking after your home and child?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know the first thing about babie
s, or what to do with them. You can get the diaper on him, which makes you one step ahead of me already.”
“Jake,” Emma said gently, “you can’t be so desperate you’d hire a perfect stranger to take care of your son. I don’t want to talk myself out of a job, but . . .”
“And a home,” he added.
“And a home,” she agreed, “especially when I’m in such a bad situation. But you don’t know me. How can you trust me with your child?”
“I don’t.”
The two softly spoken words were uttered with complete honesty. Emma’s head snapped up and her gaze collided with his. A chill went down her spine.
“I’m hiring a private investigator. And I’ll warn you, I don’t want to ever see or hear or find evidence of physical, psychological or emotional abuse toward my son. I would destroy anyone who harmed him.”
For the first time, she smiled—a genuine smile. It was small, but it was there. “At least you have some sense.”
“I knew I’d be hiring someone. I need a housekeeper and someone to look after Kyle. If that works for you after you have your baby and you enjoy Texas, then we’ll work that out. By that time you’ll probably have more money than me and won’t want to stay.” He shrugged, careful not to allow any expression on his face.
She didn’t have a prayer of escaping once he had her on the ranch. He’d find ways to keep her there. Even if she didn’t fall for him at first, there was Kyle. And then he’d make certain her child was crazy about him. And the clincher was sex. Hot, demanding sex. If there was one thing he was damned good at, it was sex and his ability to make a woman come crawling back for more.
Jake let his gaze move over her. She was beautiful in a wild, exotic way. Not the polished sophistication he was used to, but certainly she looked sexy with her unusual eyes and her flawless skin. Her mouth was the thing of fantasies. He had absolute confidence in himself when it came to tying her to him with sex. Even Shaina, who ultimately despised him, had kept coming back, begging him for more.
Sex was his ultimate weapon over a woman like Emma. She was sweet and innocent and very young in spite of having been married and experiencing a tragic loss. There was brightness in her, and a purity that made her easy prey for a skilled hunter—and he was skilled. By sundown he’d know everything about her, including her favorite flowers, favorite color, and every dark secret and hidden wish.
“I can’t hire a detective to investigate you,” Emma pointed out. “So it hardly seems fair.”
He caught her chin, the pad of his thumb sliding over her lips. “You need more moisturizer. Your lower lip is splitting. And you can read all about me in the tabloids. Would you like me to bring you back a few magazines? Most of the junk is pure bullshit, but there might be a word or two of truth in them.”
“Tempting. Very tempting. Reading and believing gossip is so me.”
He took the lip balm from the nightstand and ran his index finger through it, applying it to her sore mouth. “Kyle’s asleep. How’d you do that? When I hold him after he eats, he squirms around and usually spits up everywhere.” He said it more to distract her than to find out the information. He didn’t intend to be feeding the kid, let alone holding him after he ate, but he couldn’t imagine that she’d let him get away with applying lip balm.
Jake wanted her used to his touch. He had seven months—maybe even longer, after her baby was born—to get her accustomed to his close proximity. He didn’t want her thinking about it, or being at all aware of him until it was too late. He made certain no touch seemed sexual, only comforting. The more she accepted his touch and got used to him, the more she relied on him, the easier it would be to take over her life. He would teach her to accept him without her knowing what was happening. By the time she was ready to accept another relationship, her life would be tightly, irrevocably bound to his.
“I told you,” Emma’s soft voice sounded faintly amused. “His tummy will get upset and he’ll never go to sleep if you hold him out away from your body. You have to hold him close to you, up against your chest.” Her eyes went soft and more green than blue. “Are you afraid to hold him close?”
If it was possible, he might have flushed a deep red. He wanted to shake her again. He wasn’t afraid. The kid was just small. Jake was enormously strong. If he closed his fingers too tightly, he might injure the baby—that was all. It wasn’t fear. He wasn’t afraid of anything.
Emma extended her arms toward Jake, holding out the baby to him. Jake let out his breath and reached for the boy, intending to leave, to hand him over to a nurse.
“Don’t go yet,” Emma said and patted the bed beside her as she slid back down, wincing as she moved her injured leg. “Stay with me for just a little while so I don’t get paranoid about going with you to Texas.”
He rarely stayed with anyone longer than absolutely necessary, and Emma got under his skin with her haunted eyes and fragile vulnerability. On top of that, his son was sleeping peacefully in the palm of his hand. If he sat on the bed, he would be trapped by the two of them, by their vulnerability and need for protection. The wildness in him stirred every time he got close to Emma, rising up like the untamed creature it was, recognizing her in some mysterious way he didn’t understand or trust. Swearing under his breath, he sank down beside the small, broken woman.
She pushed at his arms, forcing him to bring Kyle close to his chest so that infant lay nestled tightly against his heart. “Like that. Babies sometimes get a sense of falling and they fling out their arms, frightened. When the blanket is tight around them or they are in close to your body, they feel safe. He can hear your heart beat and feel your warmth.” She raised her guileless gaze to his. “When you hold someone, don’t you feel safe and warm?”
His gaze shifted from hers. Hell. No one asked him those kinds of questions, not in all of his thirty-three years. He looked down at his son. The baby’s face was relaxed, tiny, so pink and naked. He slept peacefully, his breath so light Jake could barely feel his chest rise and fall.
Jake swallowed hard and slipped his finger against the tiny palm. The boy had paper-thin fingernails, so small they were barely there. A lump rose in his throat, threatening to choke him. The little hands were perfect, all the fingers, lines and whorls, knuckles, everything. The small fingers wrapped around his bigger one and Jake held up his other, much larger hand to study the two together. “Look at that, Emma. I swear, my hands must have looked like that when I was a baby.”
“You should get his handprints now and then again each year to compare them. Put yours right next to his. It will be fun for you to watch him grow. I planned on doing that when my baby was born.”
“Plan,” Jake corrected gently.
She kept her head down.
“Emma. Look at me.” He used his velvet no nonsense voice.
Her head jerked up, her gaze meeting his, tears turning the aquamarine eyes to a deep, vivid, shimmering green. He slid his hand under her chin to hold her captive, his thumb feathering along her trembling mouth. “When your baby is born, you plan on keeping records of handprints,” he repeated.
She swallowed hard. Tears tracked down her face.
Jake wiped them away with the pad of his thumb. “Say it, Emma. When the baby is born. You aren’t going to lose it. Say it out loud.”
She swallowed again and nodded. “When the baby’s born.” Her voice came out in a whisper.
He smiled and leaned in to brush his mouth over the top of her head. “That’s my girl. You’re tired. Go to sleep and forget about everything. Thanks for helping me figure out how to hold him.”
He resisted the urge to stay with her, the silent plea in her eyes. She was having more of an effect on him than he had counted on. Sighing, he closed the door behind him.
OVER the next few days, Jake brought Kyle to Emma’s room and set up a command post on the small desk by her bedside. The hospital’s IT administrator installed a network drop for his laptop, and he ran his business from her room while she grew
stronger and the baby put on more weight. Jake occasionally fell asleep in the chair, but most of the time he rarely slept.
He learned to awkwardly change Kyle’s diapers and give him a bottle, surprised that the boy seemed to recognize him. Kyle obviously preferred Emma, with her soothing voice and gentle rocking. Jake placed the child into her arms the moment she asked for him, wanting the bond to grow strong. When the hospital began to make noises about Emma being discharged, he brought up the subject of traveling with him to Texas again.
“Emma. You are coming home with us, aren’t you?” He kept his voice very gentle and matter-of-fact, as if it didn’t matter and it was wholly up to her. In reality, she had nowhere else to go and no money, and she desperately needed care. He had sprung the trap and she was well and truly caught.
Emma looked very confused and somewhat ashamed, but a little helpless. He knew he had won the moment he saw her face. He patted her shoulder and gave her a smile. “I’ll arrange everything.”
He had won the first battle just as he had known he would. And he would win the entire war. He was a master strategist; Emma Reynolds had no hope of defeating him.
He made the necessary calls to the lawyer, ensuring she would have no finances available to her for several months, knowing things could be delayed much longer, if necessary. He made the calls to the ranch, setting up a nursery and a room for her. He personally supervised the movers, hating to save reminders of Andrew Reynolds, but knowing he had to. The doctors were on his side and helped him arrange for an ambulance to take Emma to his waiting private jet. Weak, pregnant and penniless, with no family to aid her, and already attached to his son, Emma Reynolds allowed Jake Bannaconni to take over her life.
4
FOUR MONTHS LATER
Burning Wild Page 7