‘I intend to meet her, spend some time in her company.’ Chilling bleak eyes trapped hers. ‘Accept it’s going to happen, Shannay.’ His pause was imperceptible. ‘One way or another.’
He was giving her a choice, that much was clear … The easy way, or via a legal minefield.
She momentarily closed her eyes against the sight of him, hating the position he was placing her in.
It was on the tip of her tongue to tell him to go to hell, and be damned.
For herself, she didn’t care. But she was fiercely protective of her daughter, and she’d tread over hot coals before she’d willingly expose Nicki to anything that would upset or destroy her trust.
‘You’re a ruthless son-of-a-bitch.’ Her voice was filled with bitterness, and he merely inclined his head.
‘So what else is new?’
‘Nicki is mine. I chose to carry her, give birth to her.’ Her eyes blazed with pent-up emotion. ‘I was the one to nurture and love her.’
A muscle tensed close to his jaw. ‘You denied me the opportunity to be there.’
‘We were through!’
‘You opted out.’
The correction hurt. ‘Instead of staying to fight for you?’ She offered a dismissive gesture and her voice became husky.
‘Please. I hit my head against a figurative brick wall at every turn. In the end, your mistress and your family won.’
His eyes narrowed. ‘You were my wife.’
The ‘were’ did it, and her chin tilted as she flung him a look of blazing defiance. ‘Fat lot of difference that made.’
‘I gave my vow of fidelity,’ he reminded with pitiless disregard, watching the conflicting emotions chase fleetingly across her expressive features.
Shannay didn’t want to think of their wedding day, or the days and weeks that had followed when everything in their world had seemed perfect. Until reality intervened, insidiously at first, until she was forced to recognise the manipulative calculation of planned destruction.
‘Empty words, Marcello?’
‘This is old ground, is it not? Now there is a more pressing matter to be resolved.’
Nicki.
Shannay felt pain shaft through her body, and her features became strained.
‘Where would you prefer to meet?’ he pursued hardily. ‘The kindergarten or your apartment?’
Dear heaven, no. ‘Not the kindergarten.’ Her mind scrambled for a compromise.
Nor the apartment. She couldn’t bear to have him invade her sanctuary, her space, where he’d assume control and she’d have to sacrifice her own in Nicki’s presence … or risk a situation which would alarm her daughter.
Lunch. She could do lunch. Somewhere child-friendly that Nicki was familiar with, and they’d keep it short and sweet … the shorter the better.
She named a venue and stated a time. ‘Tomorrow,’ she added, and saw his mouth tighten.
‘Today.’
‘No,’ she said firmly. She needed to assume some form of control in the situation.
His gaze seemed to bore into hers. ‘Today, Shannay. Twelve-thirty.’ He paused imperceptibly, and his voice became deadly quiet. ‘Be there.’
Today. Tomorrow. What was the difference? How would twenty-four hours change anything?
Marcello was here. And now she had no recourse but to deal with the situation.
‘If—if,’ she stressed, ‘I agree, there would need to be conditions.’
‘Such as?’
A pulse beat fast at the base of her throat, a visible sign of her inner turmoil.
Marcello regarded her steadily, noting the darkness of her eyes, the faint shadows beneath, and her pale features.
It would seem she hadn’t slept any better than he, and there was a certain satisfaction to be had in that.
‘As far as Nicki is concerned, you’re just—’ she hesitated, aware friend wasn’t the word she wanted to use ‘—someone I know.’
Marcello felt like shaking her, and barely controlled the need. ‘And when the paternity test reveals otherwise?’
Shannay’s features whitened dramatically. She really didn’t want to go there … at least, not until she had to. She checked her watch, and felt her stomach curl with apprehension. ‘I have to leave now, Marcello.’ Even if the traffic lights were in her favour, she was going to be late picking Nicki up.
Marcello straightened and extracted a set of keys. ‘I’ll follow at a discreet distance.’
Her eyes flared. ‘Because you don’t trust me?’
‘It’s a more simple process than consulting a map.’
Without a further word he crossed to a sleek sedan and slid in behind the wheel.
The sound of the car’s engine igniting galvanised Shannay into action, and she quickly copied him as she sent her car onto street level.
Dammit, she silently fumed. Who did he think he was?
A man who made his own rules and expected others to abide by them, she conceded grimly.
Nicki was waiting with a carer when Shannay entered the kindergarten, and she offered an apology, gave Nicki a reassuring hug, then she elicited a brief update on the morning before catching hold of her daughter’s hand as she led the way out towards the car.
She deliberately didn’t glance towards the street to check if Marcello’s sedan was parked in the vicinity.
‘We’re going out for a while.’ She kept her voice light, bright, as she attempted to still the nervous tension spiralling through her body.
‘To the park?’ Nicki queried hopefully. ‘Can we feed the ducks?’
Shannay fervently wished such a simple pleasure as eating a packed lunch in the park formed part of the day as she lifted Nicki into her booster seat and secured the safety fastenings.
She leaned in close and dropped a light kiss on her daughter’s nose. ‘After lunch, on the way home,’ she promised, aware there was no better time than now to impart whom they were meeting and why.
‘A friend of mine is visiting from Spain, and he’s invited us to share lunch with him.’ She smoothed a hand over Nicki’s hair and summoned a smile. ‘Won’t that be fun?’
Oh, sure, and little pink pigs should sprout wings and fly!
How could she state this man is your father?
Worse, voice her deepest fear …
Traffic was light, and she fought the temptation to take the route back to her apartment. Only the knowledge Marcello would seek her out and make the situation incredibly more difficult than it already was ensured she drove to the restaurant.
Taking a circuitous route was a minor act of defiance.
Did he know? Possibly. Although he gave no indication as she effected an introduction … and watched dry-mouthed as Marcello hunkered down to Nicki’s eye level.
Shannay stood tense and incredibly protective … anxious to the point of paranoia over her daughter’s reaction to the man who posed such a potent threat to their existence.
Quite what she expected, she wasn’t sure.
She was intently aware of Marcello,