The Innocent Behind the Scandal (The Marchetti Dynasty 2)

Zoe nodded. She could manage that. She couldn’t manage more. She couldn’t manage what Maks seemed to be suggesting with his presence, and with a look in his eyes that sent far too dangerous yearnings deep into her soul, where she knew what she wanted but was too scared to articulate it out loud.

Maks shook his head. ‘That’s not how this is going to work. I won’t let you keep my child from me, Zoe.’

‘But you never even wanted a child.’

‘That was before it was a reality. That’s before I realised that I didn’t actually know what I wanted.’

Zoe didn’t want to ask the question, but the words fell out of her mouth. ‘What do you want?’

‘You,’ Maks said simply. ‘Us.’ He put a hand down on hers over her tiny, barely there bump. ‘This.’

‘Why are you saying this?’

Maks’s steel-grey gaze locked onto hers. ‘You don’t get it yet?’

She shook her head, terrified of the emotion simmering too close to the surface, threatening to break free.

He smiled, and Zoe was almost too distracted to notice that it lacked his customary confidence.

‘I love you, Zoe. I came here to pursue an affair, but deep down I knew that there was no way I could let you go again. I knew I wanted more than that. And it’s not just because of the baby. I won’t lie and say it’ll be easy. It won’t. The thought of being a father terrifies me. But I know I want to do it differently from my father. I want to give my child all the love and support I never had.’

Hot moisture prickled behind Zoe’s eyes. She desperately tried to stem the flow, but her cheeks were wet before she even realised she couldn’t stop the tears. Silent sobs racked her body.

Maks cursed and pulled her into his chest, wrapping his arms around her, holding her tight. Not letting go even though Zoe clenched her fists against him, as if that could stop him offering comfort.

He said gruffly, ‘I’m not letting go, Zoe. Ever.’

When the storm had passed, and Zoe was numb from the release of emotion, she pulled back. Maks looked down and cupped her face, wiping her cheeks with his thumbs. She sniffed. She could only imagine what a sight she looked. Puffy eyes. Puffy cheeks.

‘Do you really mean it?’

Maks’s mouth quirked. ‘That I love you? Yes, I do. The whole damn world knows it too, if they care to look at my expression in that photo rather than at the rest of my body.’

Zoe realised she’d seen it that day, through her viewfinder, but she’d been too scared to believe it for a second.

‘I know you love me too, Zoe. So don’t try and deny it.’

She looked up at Maks. A sense of futility washed through her. She did love him. She’d loved him from the moment she’d trusted him enough to let him make love to her.

Still, something stubborn inside her made her resist taking the final leap of faith. She said, ‘It’s just the baby.’

Maks shook his head. ‘No, you don’t get to use the baby as an excuse not to trust me, Zoe.’

‘But how can we do this after everything we’ve been through? I’m scared, Maks. Scared to allow myself to love you or to feel happy. Because I know how quickly it can be snatched away.’

And because she didn’t deserve it.

Maks raised a brow. ‘Is that a good enough excuse to half-live your life? In a perpetual state of fear and misplaced guilt?’

She looked up at Maks, but before she could respond he said, ‘There’s something else you need to know. I meant to tell you earlier...but you distracted me.’

‘What?’

‘You’ve never looked up anything about the crash in the press, have you?’

Zoe shuddered at the thought. ‘No, why would I?’

‘So you’ve never known that the reason your father crashed wasn’t because he was distracted. It was because a couple of joy-riding kids had stolen a car and were driving on the wrong side of the road...’