The Scorsolini Marriage Bargain

He supposed that was how she saw the demise of their relationship, but he was not so accepting. “We agreed that we would present a united front for the time being.”

“A united front does not mean I am going to start taking orders like your pet dog.”

“Look at me, damn it!” he exploded, having had his fill of talking to the back or top of her head.

She did, her body turning rigidly to face him, her head coming up and her exotic green gaze glaring defiantly at him.

He glared right back, his patience completely gone. “I have never treated you in such a demeaning fashion.”

“Let’s not get into how you treated me at all,” she said scathingly. “It doesn’t matter anymore.”

“Are you saying that your request for a divorce is because you are unhappy with your treatment in this marriage?” The thought had never occurred to him. The weak sense of hope that coursed through him at the possibility made him angry and yet elated at the same time.

But wouldn’t a woman complain about things that bothered her before doing something as drastic as ask for a divorce? Particularly a woman as conscious of her duty as Therese?

“I did not ask for a divorce because I wanted out of our marriage over the way you treated me. If you will recall, I did not ask for a divorce at all.”

“Do not argue semantics with me,” he growled. “You said we had to divorce.”

“We do.”

“But not over my treatment of you?”

“No.”

Only one circumstance could have prompted a woman as responsible and loyal as Therese to dismiss those considerations and ask for divorce. She had to be in love with another man. Love made fools of even the wisest and most strong minded people. Look at his own father. His love for Flavia, coming as it did when he was still in love with his dead wife, had tormented him and ultimately because of it, he had betrayed himself and her.

The thought of Therese loving another man like that evoked a feeling of jealous rage so strong it almost overcame him. He forced it down however, unwilling to give way to such weakness. “I would appreciate you having a formal pregnancy test done.”

“That won’t be necessary.”

“Having a period is no guarantee you are not pregnant.”

“And if I was pregnant…would you be bored with me? Would you still be so content to give me a divorce?” she asked with a scathing sarcasm that was entirely unlike her.

Pride forbade him give her an honest answer, so he said nothing at all.

She sighed, deflating like a pricked balloon. “That is what I thought. I’m sure I am not pregnant. Let’s just leave it at that.”

“You have been doing something to prevent conception?” he asked suspiciously.

How deeply had her subterfuge gone?

“No.”

“Then the risk is there. You will have a formal test done.”

She shrugged tiredly, giving in with her body language before saying the words. “If that is what you want.”

“What I want has little to do with this conversation.”

“Well, it certainly isn’t about what I want.”

Claudio’s expression said he thought their conversation was about exactly that. He grabbed Therese’s shoulders, his grip not hurting her physically but causing mental anguish he would not begin to understand. “If you carry my child, there will be no divorce.”

Which was exactly what she had thought. She didn’t understand how she could feel more pain on top of everything else inside her, but she did. He’d spelled it out with words that could have no other interpretation. She mattered to him only in her capacity as potential incubator for the Scorsolini heir. For his child, he would remain married to a woman who bored him.

“Whatever you say.” She was so tired and disheartened, she didn’t have the energy or the desire to argue.

Besides, it didn’t matter. She knew she wasn’t pregnant. Having the test would not change anything.

His big body vibrated with a tension she did not understand. “You must be very certain it is not a possibility because the prospect of losing your possible freedom does not appear to upset you.”

Beyond caring what she revealed, she sighed. “Perhaps because I am not overly concerned about it.”

“Yet you just now told me that you are taking nothing to prevent it.”

“I’m not.”

“If that is true, how can you be so certain?”

“I don’t lie and I am certain.”

“The only evidence you have that you are not is that you have started your period. That is hardly full proof.”

“I haven’t started.”

“But you said—”