She soothed Carlo as best she could, placating him with hollow promises, and all the while her own future sharpened before her eyes.
When she disconnected the call some time later, Carlo was calmer but her own insides were quivering with emotion.
There was also a kernel of strength. She was resolute.
Because the answer to all her concerns was staring her in the face and she could—and would—be brave enough to admit that.
She could marry Antonio and she could give their child a family and a home, and the stability she’d never, ever had. She could give their baby the start in life she wanted, and that he or she deserved.
And she could solve Carlo’s worries for good. At least she thought she could.
She would marry Antonio, but only if he agreed to her rules. Because Amelia diSalvo wasn’t a fool, and Antonio was going to learn that the hard way...
‘TWICE IN ONE WEEK—lucky me,’ he murmured, crossing the marble floor of the foyer, his eyes fixed on Amelia diSalvo. As with the last time she’d come to his office in Madrid, she’d dressed to impress, this time in a pair of white trousers and a simple silk camisole top, pale blue in colour. Gold bangles covered one wrist, so many that they ran towards her elbows. Her skin had the hint of a tan and her face was sparingly made-up. He took his time studying her appearance, not least because he sensed her impatience and enjoyed provoking that reaction in her.
‘Antonio—’ her voice was clipped, her eyes cold with a silent warning ‘—can we speak?’
He tilted his head in silent agreement and gestured with his hand towards his office. She shot him one last look, a wary appraisal and a warning all wrapped into one, and then she walked ahead of him, just like the last time she’d been here.
As he passed his secretary he said, ‘Hold my calls. No interruptions.’
‘Yes, sir.’
Yes, sir. That was the response he was accustomed to. He spoke and people listened. His suggestions were universally obeyed because his suggestions made sense. Because he knew what he was doing. Because he was Antonio Herrera.
That seemed to hold little sway with Amelia, however. She didn’t wait on the threshold of his office this time. She pushed the door open and walked inside, so that when he joined her she was pouring two glasses of water.
‘I take it you’ve reconsidered my proposal,’ he murmured and she jerked her face towards his, her eyes zipping with resentment and anger.
‘I’ve reconsidered it and reconsidered it again a thousand times,’ she muttered. ‘In fact, right now I’m wondering what the hell I’m doing here.’
He waited. There were times for arguing and convincing, and there were times for simply being silent and letting a person explain their mindset. This was a time for the latter.
‘If we were to get married...’ she said
Something in his chest heaved with relief. No—not relief. It was a sense of victory that flared in his gut, because she was going to agree with his suggestion after all. This was her own version of Yes, sir.
‘I would have some rules.’
‘I see,’ he murmured, unconcerned. The war was about to be won—so what if there were final skirmishes? ‘Go on.’
She nodded, but there was anxiety in her features. ‘This wouldn’t be a normal marriage,’ she said, a small frown creasing her brow. ‘We don’t like each other. We don’t even know each other. But if the whole purpose of it is to give our child a family, we’d have to...redress that.’
He was silent.
‘I mean, we would need to get to know one another—make an effort to be civil.’
That was simple enough. He nodded his agreement.
Her eyes narrowed, and he saw something beyond her anxiety. A steeliness that he hadn’t expected.
‘And, to that end, you’d need to give up whatever you’re doing with Carlo’s business interests.’
His eyes narrowed imperceptibly and danger whipped through the air. ‘I will not do that.’
‘Then I can’t marry you,’ she said firmly, crossing her arms over her chest in a classic gesture of rejection. ‘So we might as well start talking about custody.’
He held a hand up, his nostrils flaring. ‘You would honestly be happy to give up without even trying?’
He noticed the way his accusation landed; she winced, her face scrunching up, and she looked away from him. ‘I’m here, aren’t I?’
A familiar rush of victory throbbed inside Antonio. ‘Yes.’
‘But I can’t marry a man who hates my brother and my father. They’re—’ her voice cracked unexpectedly ‘—they’re important to me.’
He couldn’t help the snort of derision. ‘So much so you change your name and hide from them in England?’
‘I’m not hiding from them!’ she retorted swiftly. ‘I’m...living my own life. And is it any wonder? With men like you waiting for me as part of the diSalvo legacy?’
He ground his teeth together, refusing to analyse why her words bothered him. ‘Fine. You love them. I hate them. That doesn’t matter.’ He slashed his hand through the air. ‘Our baby is separate to that.’
Her expression was pure exasperation. ‘Our baby is separate to that? You can’t seriously—’
‘What?’ he demanded, waiting for her to finish her sentence.
‘You’re like a child,’ she snapped, lifting her fingertips to her temple and rubbing.
He might have laughed were it not for how ludicrous her statement was. No one had ever called him childish. Even when he was a child!
‘Careful, querida, or I might be tempted to remind you of how very adult I can be...’
He was rewarded by a hint of a blush spreading through her cheeks. ‘That won’t be necessary.’ The words were so clipped and cold, yet he smiled. A wolfish smile, because he could see the fine tremble in her knees and the flush of her cheeks and he knew that whatever had drawn them together in the first instance was still electrifying the air between them.
‘I won’t raise a baby in an environment of hate.’
‘Then let’s not hate one another,’ he proposed.
‘You know what I mean,’ she said, shaking her head so pale blonde hair flew around her shoulders, catching the afternoon sunlight in a way that made him think of the beach and lazy afternoons on the deck of his yacht. ‘My father and brother will be a part of this child’s life.’
That, he hadn’t considered and the suggestion was immediately unwelcome.
‘What’s the baby’s first birthday going to be like, with you and Carlo glaring at one another across the cake?’
‘We shall have two parties.’ He shrugged, as though her concern was really so easily solved.
She rolled her eyes, a habit he should have been bothered by but instead found strangely addictive. ‘So you’re just going to pretend my family don’t exist?’
‘I didn’t say that,’ he responded instantly.
‘Oh, of course!’ She slapped her palm to her forehead in an exaggerated gesture of recollection. ‘You’re