A Marriage Fit for a Sinner

‘If you think I’m going to turn myself into a pet you can pick up and hop on a plane with whenever it suits you, you’re in for a shock.’

He merely quirked an eyebrow at her. She bristled but carried on reading.

She paused at the sixth clause. ‘We can’t be apart for more than five days in the first year of marriage?’

The half-smile twitched. ‘We don’t want tongues wagging too soon, do we?’

‘You mean after the first year I can lock myself in a nunnery for a year if I choose to?’

For the first time since Zaccheo had exploded back into her life, she glimpsed a genuine smile. It was gone before it registered fully, but the effect was no less earth-shattering. ‘No nunnery would accept you once you’ve spent a year in my bed.’

Her face flamed and the look in his eyes made her hurriedly turn the page.

The ninth made her almost swallow her tongue. ‘I don’t want your money! And I certainly don’t need that much money every month.’ The sum stated was more than she earned in a year.

He shrugged. ‘Then donate it to your favourite charity.’

Since she wasn’t going to win that one, she moved on to the tenth and last clause.

Eva jerked to her feet, her heart pounding as she reread the words, hoping against hope that she’d got it wrong the first time. But the words remained clear and stark and frightening. ‘You want...children?’ she rasped through a throat gone bone dry with dread.

‘Sì,’ he replied softly. ‘Two. An heir and a spare, I believe you disparagingly refer to that number in your circles. More if we’re lucky—stop shaking your head, Eva.’

Eva realised that was exactly what she was doing as he rose and stalked her. She took a step back, then another, until her backside bumped the sleek black cabinet running the length of the central wall.

He stopped in front of her, leaned his tall, imposing frame over hers. ‘Of all the clauses in the agreement, this is non-negotiable.’

‘You said they were all non-negotiable.’

‘They are, but some are more non-negotiable than others.’

A silent scream built inside her. ‘If this one is the most important why did you put it last?’

‘Because you would be signing directly below it. I wanted you to feel its import so there would be no doubt in your mind what you were agreeing to.’

She started to shake her head again but froze when he angled himself even closer, until their lips were an inch apart. Their breaths mingling, he stared her down. Eva’s heart climbed into her throat as she struggled to sift through the emotions those words on the page had evoked.

Zaccheo was asking the impossible.

Children were the reasons why her last two relationships before him had failed before they’d even begun.

Children were the reason she’d painfully resigned herself to remaining single. To spurning any interest that came her way because she hadn’t been able to bear the thought of baring her soul again only to have her emotions trampled on.

She wouldn’t cry. She wouldn’t break down in front of Zaccheo. Not today. Not ever. He’d caused her enough turmoil to last a lifetime.

But he was asking the impossible. ‘I can’t.’

His face hardened but he didn’t move a muscle. ‘You can. You will. Three days ago you were agreeing to marry another man. You expect me to believe the possibility of children weren’t on the cards with Fairfield?’

She shook her head. ‘My agreement with Harry was different. Besides, he...’ She stopped, unwilling to add to the flammable tension.

‘He what?’ Zaccheo enquired silkily.

‘He didn’t hate me!’

He seemed almost surprised at her accusation. Surprise slowly gave way to a frown. ‘I don’t hate you, Eva. In fact, given time and a little work, we might even find common ground.’

She cursed her heart for leaping at his words. ‘I can’t—’

‘You have twenty-four hours. I suggest you take the time and review your answer before saying another word.’

Her stomach clenched. ‘And if my answer remains the same?’

His expression was one of pure, insufferable arrogance. ‘It won’t. You make feeble attempts to kick at the demands of your ancestry and title, but inevitably you choose blood over freedom. You’ll do anything to save your precious family name—’

‘You really think so? After the meeting we just had? Are you really that blind, or did you not see the way my sister and my father treat me? We are not a close family, Zaccheo. No matter how much I wish it...’ Her voice shook, but she firmed it. ‘Have you stopped to think that you pushing me this way may be the catalyst I need to completely break away from a family that’s already broken?’