‘You would not be able to stop me if that were my intention. If none of your—admirers would be willing to come forward I am sure I could find a couple of men who would give evidence against you. I only have to cast doubts on your ability to be a proper mother and Keri will be given into my care. Do you want that?’
‘You think money can buy everything, don’t you, Mr Marcose?’ she said brokenly.
‘Please, call me Leon, anything else would be verging on the ridiculous in the circumstances. And I shall call you—–?’ he paused expectantly.
‘Templar,’ she replied miserably.
‘Unusual,’ came his comment. ‘And no, I know money cannot buy everything. Most things, but not everything. But in this case it will get me what I want.’
‘And what is that?’ Templar asked dully, cradling the now sleepy Keri against her.
‘I wish to make a future for Keri. I cannot do that by taking her into my house as my brother’s child. Everyone will know her for what she is, and that I do not want. She is a beautiful child and deserves to have the sort of background I would wish for her. So I propose to marry her mother and so pass Keri off as my own child.’
‘WHAT!’ Templar stared at him in horror. ‘You can’t possibly be serious?’
Arrogant eyebrows rose over heavy-lidded eyes, the firmness of his mouth showing his displeasure. ‘But I am, perfectly serious. The final decision does of course lie with you. You can either give up your daughter or marry me.’
Templar placed Keri back in her cot, moving like an automaton. She wrung her hands together, her eyes dwelling thoughtfully on the copper curls just visible from the bedroom. She looked again at the dark forbidding face of the man who had the power to wreck her whole life, and saw no softening there, he obviously meant what he said.
His thick dark hair was brushed casually back from his high forehead, his nostrils flaring arrogantly as she continued to look at him. How could she let her little Keri live with this hard, embittered man, with no one to give her a mother’s love? Or would he get someone else to provide that? He was a very determined man and a little thing like her unhappiness wouldn’t matter to him as long as he got what he wanted. And there could be no doubt that he wanted Keri. If she told him now that Keri wasn’t her child he would take her away from her anyway; much better to keep that knowledge to herself. As long as this man attained control of his niece what possible difference could it make that Templar wasn’t her mother? As far as she could see it would only be Keri and herself who suffered by his gaining such information.
‘Why—’ her lips felt stiff and she found it difficult to articulate. ‘Why should you want to do a thing like that?’ she asked nervously, licking her lips.
His expression didn’t alter as he flicked a speck off the tailored jacket of his light grey suit. ‘Why should I not?’ he returned coolly. ‘And do not obtain the mistaken idea that I am considering this course of action for any other reason than Keri’s future. You, as a person, do not interest me in the slightest. Secondhand goods are not my line.’
‘And just what is your line, Mr Marcose?’ she asked, ignoring his insults as she felt sure he wanted to annoy her, and she wouldn’t give him that satisfaction.
‘Surely Alex told you?’
He sounded slightly mocking and Templar flushed uncomfortably. ‘No,’ she answered lightly. ‘I don’t believe your occupation ever entered into our conversation, in fact, I don’t think we ever discussed you at all.’ Which happened to be true. How could she have discussed anything with a man she had never met?
His eyes darkened to a metallic grey. ‘Alex seems to have been remiss concerning several of his relationships. I had never heard of you either. Just what was your line-before you had Keri?’
Templar bridled angrily at his condescending tone. ‘My line, as you put it, happened to be modelling.’
‘Really? Alex seems to have found girls in that profession particularly attractive for some reason.’ His eyes studied her intently. ‘Ah, yes, I remember now. When I first saw you I thought you appeared familiar. You are the girl in the make-up advertisement, are you not?’
Her nose wrinkled slightly at his obvious distaste. ‘That was one of my last assignments,’ she remembered wistfully.
‘You would like to return to your profession?’
Templar shook her head. ‘Not now. It’s too late. I have Keri and she’s my whole life.’
Her visitor looked bored. ‘You do not have to continually try to convince me of your devotion to the child. I have given you the options, you have only to make your choice.’
She paced restlessly about the room. ‘It’s not as simple as that,’ she insisted.
‘I see. You have a—boy-friend?’
Momentarily Templar thought of Ken and then dismissed him. He could hardly be cast in the light Leondro Marcose was trying to put him in. ‘No, I have no boy-friend.’
‘You surprise me,’ he said dryly.
‘I have a male friend, but that’s all he is,’ she said firmly. ‘Anyway, that isn’t the reason for my hesitation. You can’t honestly expect me to seriously consider marriage to a man I’ve known barely an hour, a man that I know nothing about. You claim to be Keri’s uncle, but I only have your word for that.’
‘Do not be hysterical!’ he snapped. ‘If it is information about myself that you want then I will gladly tell you a few facts about myself. My name you already know. I am thirty-six years of age, and unmarried. I have worldwide business interests, mainly hotels and property. I am Greek, but I live mainly in my apartment in London. Of course, if you decide to marry me, I will move you into my house in the country. I shall be taking Keri there anyway, whatever you decide to do. A nanny will be obtained for her.’
‘It most certainly will not!’ Templar said adamantly. ‘If, and I emphasise the if, I allow you to force me into this senseless marriage, I will continue to care for Keri myself. Goodness, I could have arranged for a nanny for her myself and carried on working to pay for her. But I don’t think that’s the way to bring up a child. It would be heartless to do that to her now, she has come to rely on me completely.’
He gave a slight inclination of his head. ‘That is, of course, unfortunate. It seems you have little choice in the matter, then.’ He stood up.
She stayed his departure, her face desperate. ‘Please! Look, couldn’t you just care for Keri and myself? We could—well, we could still come and live with you. But surely we don’t have to marry?’
‘The idea appeals to me no more than it does you. But Keri’s likeness to Alex is too noticeable for her to be other than his child—or my own. And in this case I would prefer that she was thought to be mine. Alex may have had a fleeting relationship with you, but in Greece he has a fiancée who could be hurt by your mere existence. In your country it may be accepted that women have children outside of marriage, but such a thing would not be allowed to happen in my country.’
‘Must I remind you that it was your brother who was responsible for Keri’s birth? The woman is not solely to blame for the situation she finds herself in.’
His mouth set in firm lines. ‘I realise this. That is why it is only right that I should care for you and your child. It is unfortunate that this has occurred at all, but now that it has, and Alex is no longer alive to face up to his responsibilities, I will have