A half smile curved his lips. “And so you have. Though, I’m starting to think that virginity is not necessarily innocence.”
She shrugged. “I won’t argue with you there.”
“Is this an admission of guilt?”
“Certainly not. I’m only saying my innocence is unconnected to whether or not I’ve slept with a man.”
“You really were a virgin, weren’t you?”
She lifted her chin, staring him down. “Is it important?”
He looked back at her, and for a moment she thought she saw something in his dark gaze, something that looked strikingly like guilt. But then it was gone, replaced with the smooth, impenetrable expression she’d come to expect from him. “Not particularly. If I had a conscience, I suppose it might be a little dented by the realization. Happy for both of us I don’t. Though, it might bear weight on how convinced I am that this is my child,” he said, directing his gaze at her stomach.
“It is your child. There was no one else before you, and no one else after you.” She watched his expression carefully for more clues. And was disappointed. So she pushed harder. “Makes it difficult for you to vilify me, doesn’t it?”
“You might find this strange,” he said, his tone hard. “But I’m not here to vilify you.”
“Well, you certainly aren’t here to shower me with flowers and compliments. So why are you here?”
“I’ve changed my mind.”
“What do you mean you’ve changed your mind?”
He stood, pacing the room. “I have decided the child support isn’t enough. I have decided that I want my child.” He paused, dark eyes boring into hers. “Not only do I want my child, I want you.”
HE HAD SUCCEEDED in shocking her. She was simply staring at him, her large, dark eyes wide, her lush lips parted.
“Was there something confusing about what I just said?” he asked.
He felt a twinge of something in his stomach. A slight bit of... Had he been any other man he might have thought it was insecurity. But that was impossible. Still, he was questioning his methods. He did not seem to be winning her over to his side with his current tactic.
But he despised the need to try and woo her. Especially considering that he still believed her to be a thief. But, perhaps treating her so harshly was not helpful.
He decided to try something slightly different. “What I mean to say is, I am keeping the child. And I am keeping you as well, as I find the idea of our child being without a mother unacceptable. I am still missing a million dollars. I do not feel as though keeping you in exchange is unreasonable.”
Her expression contorted, this time anger replacing shock.
He had the feeling he had not selected the proper method.
“You can’t...keep me. What does that even mean? You cannot keep a person.”
He frowned. “Certainly I can. I have a villa on the Amalfi Coast. And I intend to take you there.”
“You cannot be serious.”
“I am serious. I’m very serious. In fact, I intend to take you at once.”
“I can’t leave,” she said, her dark eyes shifting to the left. “Who will feed my cat?”
“You have a cat?”
She met his gaze again, her expression ferocious. “No, but I could.”
“There, you have no cat. There is no issue. It’s settled. You are leaving with me. Now.”
She blinked rapidly. “What about my job?”
“What about your job?” he said, waving his hand. “You are a waitress. And as the mother of my child, you will never have to wait tables again.”
“I don’t understand. Just a couple of weeks ago you sent me away, promising me no contact, and money.” She sounded desperate and angry.
Yes, he had said all that. But at the time he’d been knocked so flat by her revelation his reaction had been...much less than gracious. And he’d decided he didn’t believe her, because it was easier. She couldn’t be pregnant, not by him. Not when he’d used a condom.
He had decided that she probably wasn’t pregnant at all. But then the dreams of that wide-eyed little girl had continued to plague him. And so he’d decided to come down to the doctor’s appointment and prove it.
But Charity had been at the appointment. And then...and then the heartbeat.
And he had known in that moment it was his child. Had believed that, in this instance, she spoke the truth.
But he didn’t want her to be too confident in that just yet. Not while he was still sorting through his feelings.
“And you seemed to want me in the child’s life.”
“I don’t need you in the child’s life,” she said, “I only need child support.”
“I disagree.”
“You said that you didn’t want to be a father,” she said.
“And yet, it seems I’m going to be one. Want has nothing to do with it. But for stronger scruples or a stronger condom, we wouldn’t be in this mess. But alas, we had neither. Still, I think the situation can be salvaged.”
“I felt it had been salvaged rather well already.”
“Why? Because you got my money?” Perfect, chilled rage, rushed through his veins. “What do you plan to do with the child? Farm it out to relatives? An elderly aunt? No doubt while you continued to collect my money.”
“No, I intend to raise my baby. But I don’t need you to do it,” she said, lifting her chin, her expression defiant.
“I have as much right as you. I am the child’s father.”
“And, not to put too fine a point on it, I hate you.”
He chuckled. “Am I supposed to be bothered by that? You are not the first woman to hate me, and I daresay you will not be the last. However, you are the first woman to carry my child. And I will have you both. This is nonnegotiable.”
“Or else?” she asked, crossing her arms beneath her breasts, her dark eyes glittering.
“Prison is still an option,” he ground out.
She blinked rapidly. “You wouldn’t really send me to jail.”
“They take very good care of pregnant women in prison.” He looked at her, watched as the fear took hold of her. Good. Let her understand that he wasn’t giving hollow threats. He was not a man to be trifled with. Most especially by a woman who had wronged him. “I would hate to explain to our child that its mother was a criminal, but I will do what I must.”
“You bastard,” she said.
“Guilty. And you might want to be careful throwing that term around, as technically, our child is a bastard, too.”
Her dark eyes glittered. “How dare you?”
“That is the reality of the situation we find ourselves in, cara mia. If you do not like it, take steps to change it.”
“What steps?”
He lifted a shoulder. “You could always marry me,” he said.
It was the most extreme version of his plan, but not one he was entirely uncomfortable with. He saw no reason why marriage should