‘Stay where you are and I’ll send the car for you.’
Sergio cut the call before Kristen could argue. He always had to be in control of every situation, she thought grimly. His wealth gave him power, but it was more than money; his supreme confidence and arrogant self-assurance made him a commanding and authoritative figure—and his steely control over his emotions would make him a dangerous enemy.
* * *
The penthouse suite of the Hotel Royale looked very different from the last time Kristen had visited. On Friday evening the elegant sitting room had been immaculately tidy, but now it resembled a toy shop. Numerous boxes and torn wrapping paper littered the carpet; there was a train track complete with model trains in one corner, an enormous tractor, a robot figure and a model garage filled with toy cars.
Nico was sitting on the floor, pushing cars along a plastic roadway and making an engine sound. He barely looked up when Kristen walked in, before he returned to his game sending cars along the track to Sergio, who was pushing them back to him.
The biggest surprise for Kristen was to see Sergio stretched out on the floor, apparently absorbed in playing with the little boy. His tie was draped over the arm of a chair and his shirtsleeves were rolled up, revealing his tanned forearms covered with a mass of dark hairs. He looked so big next to Nico, yet Kristen noted with a pang the close physical resemblance between the man and the child.
She paused in the doorway, feeling strangely awkward and excluded. Usually when she met Nico at nursery he would hurtle into her arms and she would cuddle him. But, although he glanced at her again, he remained on the floor with Sergio.
‘Mummy, I’ve got lots of cars.’
‘So I see.’ Telling herself to stop being so stupid, she smiled and walked over to kneel down next to him. Immediately she was conscious of Sergio’s cool scrutiny. ‘Anyone would think it’s Christmas,’ she murmured drily. ‘You must have bought an entire toy shop.’
‘I have three Christmases to make up for.’ He didn’t try to hide the bitterness in his voice. Kristen flushed and quickly focused her attention on Nico.
‘It looks like you’re having fun.’
‘You didn’t come.’ Nico lifted his chocolate button eyes to her. ‘I looked and looked for you, Mummy.’
Kristen swallowed. ‘I’m sorry, sweetheart. The train broke down and got stuck in a tunnel. It wasn’t very nice.’ Her voice shook. She felt claustrophobic on the Tube at the best of times, and she had felt panicky and terrified while she had been trapped underground.
‘My daddy came.’
Sweet heaven! She shot Sergio a startled look and met his bland gaze. Forcing a smile for Nico, she said lightly, ‘Yes, it was very kind of him to collect you from nursery, wasn’t it?’
Nico nodded. ‘I went in my daddy’s big car.’
Kristen knew she shouldn’t be surprised by Nico’s uncomplicated acceptance of the situation. He was aware that his friends at nursery had daddies and he was bound to be fascinated by Sergio. But she was angry that Sergio had revealed his identity without checking with her first.
Leaving Nico to his game, she walked across the room and sank down on the sofa before her legs gave way. Today had been one unpleasant shock after another.
Sergio followed her and gave an impatient frown as he correctly read her mind. ‘What did you expect me to do? Surely it’s better for him to know that I’m his father rather than a stranger?’
She bit her lip. ‘I guess so.’
‘Santa Madre! It would be nice if you could help to make this easier for his sake.’
Sergio’s jaw clenched as he sought to control his temper. He had been furious when Kristen had failed to show up to collect Nico, and also disappointed. She had sounded so genuine when she had told him that Nico meant the world to her. He had almost been taken in by her and believed that she was more caring than his own mother had been.
At the nursery he had watched Nico become increasingly upset as he had waited for Kristen, and Sergio’s heart had ached for the little boy. It had brought back memories of how his mother had regularly been late to pick him up from the after-school club she had sent him to every day. On several occasions she had forgotten him completely, until one of the staff had phoned her to remind her about her son. Sergio remembered the cramping fear in his gut that one day his mother simply would not show up. What would happen to him then? he had wondered. Who would take care of him? He had given up hoping that his father would come and take him back to Sicily.
He had brought Nico back to the hotel, convinced that Kristen was irresponsible and did not deserve to have custody of their son. But, glancing at her pale face, he recalled how her voice had trembled when she had explained how she had been trapped on a Tube train, and his anger lessened. Her physiotherapist’s uniform of navy trousers and white jacket gave her a professional air but she still looked heartbreakingly young with her long golden hair falling around her shoulders. The purple smudges beneath her eyes indicated that she had slept as badly as he had for the past three nights.
Had memories of making love with him kept her awake until the early hours? Perhaps, like him, she could not forget the intense passion that had blazed between them three nights ago. He had never wanted any woman as badly as he had wanted Kristen. And he still desired her, Sergio acknowledged grimly. Much as he might resent the fact, he could not deny the truth.
When she moved her head her hair shimmered like a silk curtain and he could smell the lemony scent of shampoo. A button on her uniform had popped open so that he could glimpse the curve of her breasts beneath her semi-transparent bra. Heat flared in his groin and he shifted his position to try and ease the throb of his arousal.
Just then she glanced at him from beneath her long lashes and as their eyes met and held, something unspoken passed between them. If they had been alone he would have carried her into the bedroom—and she would have let him. It was the one thing he was certain of.
But they were not alone. He jerked his gaze from her and focused on his son—the child she had kept secret from him. Nico was still playing with the toy cars, his expression utterly absorbed as he chatted to himself in his sweet childish voice. A shaft of golden evening sunshine slanted through the window and fingered the little boy’s dark curls.
‘Dio!’ Sergio exhaled raggedly as he felt an arrow pierce his heart. ‘How could you have hidden him from me?’ he asked Kristen in a tortured voice. ‘He is my child. My blood runs through his veins. You must have known I would want to be part of his life.’
She shook her head, genuinely shocked by the raw emotion in his voice.
‘You didn’t give me that impression in the hospital. After I’d had the miscarriage, you said it was for the best that I had lost the baby...and I took that to mean you didn’t want a child.’ Her voice shook. ‘I thought you were relieved that I was no longer pregnant. And so when I discovered weeks later that I was still carrying your child, I assumed that you wouldn’t welcome the news.’
Sergio had stiffened and he looked almost grey beneath his tan. ‘I certainly did not feel relieved that you had lost our child. That day at the hospital...’ He swallowed convulsively. ‘You misunderstood me. One of the nurses had told me that miscarriages often occurred if the baby was not developing properly. She also said that women sometimes blamed themselves when they lost a child, and it was important I should reassure you that you could not have prevented what had happened.
‘That was why I said that perhaps it had been for the best. You were so upset, and I didn’t know how else to try and comfort you. You were crying and you needed me to be strong...not to cry too,’ he said raggedly.
‘I was so shocked when the doctor told me I was pregnant, and then in the same sentence that I had miscarried the baby,’ Kristen whispered.