‘You’ve admitted you’re not prepared to believe you’re the father till you get evidence, so why would you want to make such a public commitment to a woman who may or may not be the mother of your child?’
His jaw clenched again. ‘Because the press won’t rest in their hounding of you—and us—until I do. I’ll be pilloried for not supporting my pregnant mistress. I don’t have the luxury of hundreds of years of legacy-building to withstand that kind of negative press attention.’
‘But I’m not your mistress,’ Skye wailed.
If she hadn’t fallen pregnant she would only have ever been a one-night stand to this man. A dim memory as he got on with his life with his perfect wife. That stung far more than she liked to admit.
‘Let’s face it,’ she said, trying to hide the insecurity she felt and hated. ‘I would never have been a mistress of yours. What happened between us was out of character for both of us, brought on by extreme—’
‘Chemistry,’ he supplied, sounding grim.
Skye got hot, thinking of how that chemistry had manifested itself a few hours ago. ‘Whatever. I just don’t think it’s necessary to overreact and make a commitment for the sake of it.’
He folded his arms and shook his head. ‘You don’t get it, do you?’ He kept going before she could respond. ‘You are fast becoming a household name here in Spain. I can guarantee you that right now people are looking you up, trying to delve into the most secret details of your life. You can never just fade away again. Not as long as people think you’re the mother of my baby.’
Skye frantically racked her brains for a solution. ‘I’ll say I made it up. To get money out of you... Or because I was jealous of your engagement.’
Lazaro shook his head. ‘It’s too late. I’ve done all the damage control I can, but the only option going forward is for us to marry. And soon. Within the next week.’
Skye’s legs turned to jelly. She had to grip the wall beside her as something occurred to her. ‘Is this because your half-brother and ex-fiancée got married? You want to get back at them? I’m not a pawn, Lazaro.’
‘No, it’s not because of them. I’d decided to do this before I saw that they’d married.’
The only thing convincing Skye that he was telling the truth was, well, why would he lie? He didn’t need to.
‘You can arrange it that quickly?’
He nodded. ‘I have contacts. We can do it here, in the nearest town. A civil service.’
The speed at which this situation was morphing out of Skye’s control was dizzying. ‘What if I say no? You can’t force me to marry you.’
‘You’re the one who has said it’s important for you to live your life differently. To give your—our child a secure and stable future. Settled. I can offer you the life you never had with your mother. And, what I experienced, there’s no way I’ll abandon my child.’
The reminder of how much they had in common made Skye feel emotional, when it was the last thing she wanted to feel. But he was right. She did want to offer her child a stable life. And a father.
‘What would...? How would this work?’
‘The way I see it happening is this: we would marry for a period of up to five years—enough time to get you and the child settled, establish a base that suits us both and that gives our child a solid start in life—and then we would separate amicably and arrange joint custody. I would always be in my child’s life, and he or she will know who its father is. I can promise you that. My own father treated me like a dog in the street. I want more for my child—just as you do.’
Skye absorbed his words. ‘This is a lot to think about...’
Lazaro looked at her for a long moment. ‘On some level you must have been prepared for this when you decided to come to Spain to tell me about the baby. You can let me know what you decide in the morning, but we both know there’s only one solution here...the right one.’
He turned and walked away, leaving her standing there feeling as though her guts had been pulled out and squeezed.
Was he right? Had she been prepared for this when she’d come to Spain? No. She’d never imagined this. She’d never thought for a second that he would commit to her like this. Offer her a life. Her and the baby. She’d never imagined that he’d still want her.
Her conscience struck her. But had she fantasised about this? That was another thing entirely. And, to her shame, on some level she knew she had. Not that he would marry her, but that he would want her.
She turned to face the view blindly, not seeing the dusky lavender-hued sky. She could only see inwards, to a rushing kaleidoscope of images—meeting Lazaro for the first time, that passionate encounter, interrupting his engagement and incurring his wrath, then earlier, and now this ultimatum.
Because that was what it was.
Skye shivered. She had seen many facets to this man, but ultimately this was who he was: a ruthless billionaire whose main focus was in protecting his reputation and his business at all costs. Skye and the baby would only ever be by-products.
She had to surmise bleakly that even if he had married Leonora, she would have suffered a similar fate. Because Lazaro clearly wasn’t interested in forging personal connections or creating the kind of family unit Skye had always yearned for.
She was glad she hadn’t told him the full extent of her dreams and aspirations. She’d exposed herself enough as it was.