Nina felt pride straighten her spine. ‘It’s all I can afford at present.’
He gave a harsh laugh. ‘At present is right. No doubt you have already got some other poor unsuspecting man in your sights for your next free ride.’ He gave her a look of undiluted disgust and continued. ‘You must be offering something pretty special underneath that “butter would not melt in your mouth” pose for anyone to take you on with another man’s baby in tow.’
Nina had never considered herself a volatile person; Nadia had been the firebrand, her unpredictable mood swings causing many an unpleasant scene. But somehow, hearing Marc’s disdain, even though it was directed at her twin, bit her deeply and on her sister’s behalf she fought back.
‘Are you offering to take up where Andre left off?’ she asked in a tone dripping with sultry provocation.
His dark eyes glittered with hatred so intense it secretly unnerved her.
‘I can see how you want to play this,’ he said after another nerve-tightening pause.
‘On the contrary, I want nothing other than for you to leave my home immediately. You’re not the least bit interested in my n…er…daughter.’ She took a quick breath to disguise her vocal stumble. ‘If you don’t leave then I will have no other choice than to call the police and have you thrown out.’
Black eyes clashed with grey for endless seconds but finally Nina was the first to lower her gaze.
‘Please leave, Mr Marcello. I have nothing else I wish to say to you.’
‘I want to see my niece.’ His adamant tone brought her eyes back to his. ‘I want to see the child my brother fathered.’
Nina pressed her lips together as she saw the struggle he made to keep his emotions under control. She heard it in his voice and saw it in his rigid stance as he faced her, his dark eyes shining with sudden moisture.
She hadn’t expected him to have such depth of human feeling and it shamed her to realise how seriously she’d misjudged him. After all, she reminded herself, he had not long buried his only sibling under tragic circumstances. Even with all Nadia’s distressing foibles, she knew that in the same situation she would be little less than devastated.
‘I’m sorry.’ Her voice came out unevenly.
His mouth twisted. ‘Are you?’
She didn’t answer but moved past him to the pram under the single window. She was conscious of his tall frame just behind her as she peeled back the covers so he could see Georgia’s face.
She felt him standing close beside her, his arm brushing hers as he looked down at his brother’s child for a long time without speaking. The silence was so intense she could hear the sound of his breathing, his chest moving in and out with the effort of controlling his reaction to seeing his niece for the first time.
‘Can I hold her?’
Nina felt as if her heart had done a complete somersault in her chest at his simple request. What if he held her the wrong way and she cried?
‘Um…I don’t think—’
‘Please.’ His raw tone brought her eyes back to his. ‘I would like to hold my brother’s child. She is all that I have left of him.’
Nina released an uneven breath and carefully lifted the sleeping baby from amongst the covers, cradling her gently before turning and handing her to him.
She watched as a thousand emotions flashed over his handsome features as he brought the tiny bundle close to his broad chest, his dark gaze thoughtful as he looked down at the perfection of Georgia’s peaceful face.
‘She is…beautiful.’ His tone was distinctly husky.
Nina had trouble keeping the emotion out of her own voice. ‘Yes, she is.’
His eyes met hers briefly. ‘What did you call her?’
She lowered her gaze a fraction. ‘Georgia.’
‘Georgia,’ he repeated as if tasting it. ‘It suits her.’
She chanced a look at him and was surprised to see how at ease he was holding the infant, one of his large hands cradling her securely while the other explored her miniature features as if in wonder.
‘Does she have a middle name?’ he asked into the heavy silence.
‘Grace,’ she answered, wondering if she should tell him it was her own middle name, but at the last minute deciding against it. She’d been so touched when Nadia had told her of her choice of names, and for a while had hoped her sister was going to finally settle down and face her responsibilities. But within a few short weeks of Georgia’s birth she had gone back to late-night partying and drinking, leaving the baby with Nina so often that Georgia had begun to cry whenever Nadia had made any approach at all, as if sensing her total inadequacy as a carer.
Nina was increasingly aware of the silence in the room as Marc Marcello held his niece, his dark gaze fixed on the child’s face.
She said the first thing that came into her head. ‘I think she looks like Andre, don’t you?’
Marc swung his gaze to where she was standing, his hard expression instantly clouding. She thought he was going to agree with her but instead he turned back to the child in his arms and asked, looking down at her, ‘Did he ever see her?’
‘No.’
She’d been furious when Nadia had told her that Andre hadn’t wanted to see his baby, and couldn’t help wondering if that was the reason her sister hadn’t bonded with the child in the first place. The whole way through the pregnancy Nadia had had all her hopes pinned on Andre falling in love with his child once he saw her, thus ensuring a secure future for Nadia as his wife. When he had flatly refused to take a paternity test to establish whether or not the baby was his, Nadia had gone into a deep depression, closely followed by a spate of reckless partying.
‘No,’ she repeated, her tone holding a distinct note of bitterness. ‘I expect he was too busy preparing for his wedding.’
Marc didn’t answer but Nina could see the sudden tightening of his jaw as if her words had annoyed him.
She watched as he laid the baby down once more, his touch sure but gentle as he tucked the light bunny rug back into place.
When he turned to face her she found it difficult to hold his piercing gaze as she thought of how she was deceiving him. It suddenly occurred to her what a dangerous game she was playing. Wasn’t there some sort of law against impersonating another person? Marc Marcello was nobody’s fool and if he were to ever find out how he’d been duped there would be hell to pay, she was sure.
‘Miss Selbourne.’ His deep voice brought her troubled gaze back to his.
‘Y-yes?’ She moistened her lips, somehow sensing he was going to state his intentions, all her instincts telling her she wasn’t going to like them one little bit.
‘I want to see my niece on a regular basis and, while I understand your aversion to such an arrangement, I think you know I will pursue this legally if you refuse.’
‘I’m her mother,’ she bit out. ‘No court in Australia would remove her from my custody.’
‘You think not?’ His lip curled. ‘What if I told them about your little affair with a certain prominent politician just a few weeks after giving birth to my brother’s child?’
What affair? Nina thought in panic. What politician? What the hell had Nadia been up to?
He must have seen the flicker of alarm cross her features as he added in a cool deliberate tone, ‘You see, Miss Selbourne, I have all the dirt on you and I intend to