“Marry someone I hate? Who hates me back? No, thanks.”
He couldn’t believe she was trying to fight him when it was the only practical solution. He gritted his teeth. It was that idea of love, once again interfering with all common sense!
“Have you thought this through?” Folding his arms, he regarded her coolly. “I could take you to court. Have you declared an unfit mother, selfishly placing our child at risk.”
Letty rose to her feet in turn, matching him toe-to-toe, though he was bigger by a foot in height and at least sixty pounds of muscle. She narrowed her eyes. “You could try.”
In spite of himself, he almost smiled. Another thing he’d forgotten about her character. She fought harder for others than she ever did for herself.
“You really think you can handle a custody battle? You think there are waves of lawyers out there, willing to support Howard Spencer’s daughter pro bono, when all they’d get for their trouble is a lot of bad PR?”
Her cheeks flushed, even as she lifted her chin defiantly. “We’ll see, won’t we?”
But beneath her bravado, her expression was soft and sad. Her long dark ponytail gleamed in waves down her back, and his eyes strayed to the roundness of her belly and full breasts, voluptuous beyond belief. In this moment, Darius thought she looked like everything desirable in a woman—the perfect image of what any man would dream of in a wife.
He suddenly imagined how she might look in court. Whatever her father’s sins, if she did find a good attorney, she could be packaged and sold to the presiding judge as the poor, innocent, poverty-stricken waitress threatened by the cold, power-hungry billionaire. No matter how many legal sharks he hired, Darius wasn’t guaranteed to win. There was some small possibility he might lose.
He abruptly changed tack.
“Does our baby deserve to have parents at war? Living in here—” he motioned to the peeling wallpaper, the cracked ceiling “—instead of my penthouse? Does he deserve to grow up in poverty without the protection of his father’s name? Without my love?”
Letty looked stricken. “Our baby could still have your love.”
“He deserves everything I can provide. Are you really so selfish as to make our child suffer for the sake of your own angry pride?”
He saw emotions struggle on her face. She really was a terrible liar. He knew he was very close to getting what he wanted—her total surrender.
“We could make our marriage work,” he murmured. “Our son or daughter would be our priority, always.”
“Son,” she said unwillingly.
He looked at her sharply.
She took a deep breath, then slowly smiled. “We’re having a boy.”
“A boy!” The nebulous idea of a baby suddenly solidified in Darius’s mind. He could imagine his son smiling, playing soccer, laughing, hugging him. And the fact that she’d revealed that detail proved how close she was to agreeing to his proposal. His resolve solidified. Stepping closer, he said softly, “Marry me, Letty.”
Looking uncertain, she bit her lip. “It would be a disaster. Not just for me. For you. Don’t you know how much people hate me?”
“Not once you’re with me,” he said confidently.
“You don’t understand how bad it is…”
“I’m sure you’re exaggerating.” He’d all but won. Now that his unborn child was secure, he was already jumping ahead to the thought of enjoying Letty’s surrender in full, imagining her naked and writhing with desire in his arms. He wanted to take her back to the penthouse immediately. Then he remembered. “I am hosting a charity event tonight. The Fall Ball.”
She looked impressed in spite of herself. “You’re hosting that this year?”
“We can announce our engagement to all of New York.”
“It’s a mistake!”
“Let me worry about that.”
“Okay, but…”
“But what?”
A shadow crossed her face. “But I don’t love you anymore.”
He felt a strange emotion, deep down inside. He crushed it down before he could identify what it was.
“I do not need your love. I can assure you that you’ll never have mine. Love is for children. I just need your compliance.” When she still hesitated, he took a deliberate step back. “Or I can walk out that door and go straight to my lawyer.”
Letty looked wistful in the gray light from the small window. She sighed sadly. “Have it your way.”
“You’ll marry me?”
She nodded.
He felt a surge of smug masculine triumph. “Good choice.”
Pulling her roughly into his arms, he did what he’d yearned to do for six months and kissed her.
From the moment he felt her lips against his and tasted her sweetness—her mouth, her tongue—he was lost, and at the same time, found. Her lips parted, and as she melted against him, he savored her surrender. His body and long-dead soul roared back to life.
Letty wrenched away. “But first, you’ll take me to your charity ball tonight. And see firsthand what it would be like to actually have me as your wife.”
“Good—”
“Just remember.” She gave him a crooked smile. “You asked for it.”
LETTY ALMOST DIDN’T leave a note for her father. Her anger at his betrayal was too high. But in the end she didn’t want him to worry, so she scribbled a note and left it on the counter.
Out with Darius, and I’m never talking to you again.
Darius had taken one look at her closet and told her he was taking her shopping for the ball. She’d tried to protest, but he’d retorted, “There’s no point in announcing our engagement if you turn up at the ball dressed in rags. No one would believe it.”
“Fine,” she said sulkily. “Waste your money on a ball gown. See if I care.”
But she had the sudden disconcerting feeling that her life was no longer her own.
As she climbed into his sports car, her stomach growled with hunger. But she vowed she wasn’t going to say a word about it. It was bad enough he was buying her a dress. She wasn’t going to ask him for food, like a beggar!
But as Darius climbed into the driver’s seat beside her, all her senses went on high alert. Having him so close did strange things to her insides. As he drove through the busy traffic, she glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. His dark hair wasn’t even mussed, and his powerful body was relaxed in the leather seat. He looked so much calmer than she felt.
But why wouldn’t he be relaxed?
He’d won.
She’d lost.
Simple as that.
Or so Darius thought. Letty clasped her hands together in her lap as she looked out the window. Once he actually saw what life would be like for him with her at his side, he wouldn’t be able to get rid of her fast enough. Maybe she and her father could still be on that bus to Rochester