His Merciless Marriage Bargain

“I said goodbye. You were the one who refused to leave.”

“You knew I wouldn’t go without Michael.”

“You didn’t seem to have a problem leaving him here earlier.” He stared down at her, blue eyes snapping fire. “Are you sure you and your sister are not twins?”

He couldn’t have said anything more hurtful if he’d tried. Her eyes smarted and her throat sealed closed.

Giovanni was arrogant and condescending and lacked even the smallest shred of human compassion. Thank God he didn’t intimidate her. She’d worked with dozens of powerful men over the past five years, men who had incredible power and staggering fortunes and egos to match. They all liked to be flattered. They all felt entitled. They all needed to be right. Giovanni was no different. She’d never get what she wanted if she fought him. If she angered him. If she continued to alienate him.

Alienating him would just hurt Michael, and that wouldn’t be fair or right. Juliet had made mistakes. Her life had become such a mess. But Michael wasn’t a mess. Michael was pure and innocent, and that innocence had to be protected. Yes, she’d failed Juliet, but there was no way she’d fail Michael.

And so, even though a dozen different things came to mind, protests and rebukes, in the end her feelings didn’t matter. She didn’t matter. This was about her nephew, who’d been left without a mother or a father and needed someone to champion him. And that someone was her.

“I don’t care what you think of me,” she said unsteadily, “but I do care what you think about Michael. He did not ask to be born. He is innocent in all this. And whether you like it or not, he carries your brother’s name, and DNA, and if I have to go to your court to get him proper child support, I will.”

“I don’t doubt you would, but you’d find that our courts move at a snail’s pace compared to your courts. You could be waiting for six or eight, or even ten years, for any type of legal decision.”

That knocked her back, thoughts scattering, but then she managed a careless shrug and found her voice. “You’re happy to wage a public war for that long? It seems so unlike you, considering how much you value your privacy.”

He shot her a look she couldn’t quite decipher. “So let’s put our cards on the table. Let’s stop with the games. How much are you asking for him?”

“How much child support?” she asked, needing to clarify his question.

“No. How much do you want for him? How much will it cost to take him off your hands permanently?”

CHAPTER FIVE

FOR A SECOND Rachel couldn’t breathe. The air bottled in her lungs until they ached, and her head felt light and dizzy. She exhaled on a gasp. “You…want…him?”

“That is probably stretching the truth.”

“Then why are you even asking?”

“Maybe I’m curious as to what it would take to get you out of my life.”

“So you don’t really want him—you just want to be rid of me.”

“I want the problem to disappear, yes.”

“But the problem would be living in your palazzo. Unless you sent him elsewhere. Boarding school for infants, maybe?”

He gave her a long, hard look. “He would not be mistreated.”

“Would he be loved?”

“My family is not in the habit of abusing children.”

“That’s not the same thing as being cherished and adored—”

“He would be raised the way Antonio and I were raised. With equal parts love and discipline.”

“And would you be the one to raise him?”

“That’s something to still be sorted out.”

“I couldn’t give you an answer then, not without knowing who’d raise him. Financial support is important but his care…the affection he receives…is everything and will determine not just his health but his happiness.”

“I wasn’t raised in the Dark Ages. I know children need affection.”

“Would you be able to give him a mother, or would you hire a nanny?”

“I am not about to find a wife just to give him a mother. I’d hire a nanny.”

“Would you be able to spend significant time with him?”

“I am a bachelor. I work long hours. But I would ensure that my nephew had the best care money could buy.”

That sounded awful. She suppressed a shiver.

One of his black brows lifted. “What’s wrong? You don’t look happy.”

“He deserves more than an expensive nanny.”

“She’d be well-trained and dedicated—”

“I think I’ve heard enough. You’ve painted a dreadful picture. There is no way I could leave Michael to your care.”