Sleeping With The Enemy. Annie West

him to spring, knowing she was caught even before he did so.

      All she could do was wait and see what manner the attack took.

      “No,” he finally said, “I can’t stop Renzo from looking for you. But even he cannot separate a man and his wife.”

       Chapter Five

      TINA’S breath was a solid ball in her chest. It sat heavy and thick and she couldn’t force it in or out for a long moment.

      “You look surprised,” Nico said mildly.

      Surprised? It was too mild a word for what she was feeling right now.

      “I can’t marry you, Nico,” she choked out.

      “Why? Because your brother won’t approve?” He made a sound of disgust. “He won’t approve of you being pregnant, either. If you cared about his approval, you would not have slept with a strange man that night.”

      It was too close to the truth, but it angered her nevertheless. “I suppose I deserve that, but it doesn’t change the fact that you don’t love me. I won’t marry a man who doesn’t love me.”

      She didn’t know quite where that had come from, but the moment she said it, she knew it was what she felt.

      His eyes glittered in the candlelight flickering brighter now that dusk was deepening. “Then you should have thought of that before you spread your legs for me.”

      Tina gasped, stung by his cruel words. “That’s not fair. Women are allowed to take lovers without wanting to marry or have babies with the men they choose.”

      “Yes, but they are typically more prepared than you were that night.”

      Her cheeks were aflame. “Oh, yes, it’s all my fault, right? But I’m not the one who used a faulty condom.”

      “And I’m not the one who chose a random stranger for my first sexual experience. You were lucky you got me, and not someone who might have treated you with less delicacy than the situation required.”

      “Well, bravo to you then,” she snapped. “But I’m still not marrying you. There is no reason for it.”

      “I can think of a few reasons, not the least of which is that I’m not giving you—or your brother—a chance to change your mind about letting me be a part of the child’s life.”

      She bowed her head demurely, though her heart was racing a million miles a minute. “I understand why you’d think that, but we can have papers drawn up. I’ll sign anything reasonable. We’ll make sure everything is spelled out.”

      He threw his head back and laughed, and a feeling of foreboding ricocheted through her. “How perfectly civil of you, cara. But this is not a negotiation. I don’t trust you or Renzo. There’s nothing you can say, nothing you can promise, that I will believe.”

      “I give you my word,” she said.

      “Your word means nothing to me.” He shook his head, leaned toward her and trapped her hand in his. “No, you will marry me, and just as soon as possible.”

      Tina thrust her chin out defiantly, though her heart hammered and her insides churned. “Even you cannot compel a woman to marry you because you decree it,” she said sharply. “I won’t do it.”

      His eyes narrowed. “How selfish you are, cara. You would deprive this child of my name? Of my status? You would allow him to grow up without a legal right to my legacy? Do you think he will thank you for it someday?”

      Her heartbeat slowed as his words twisted in her brain. God, she hadn’t thought of that. She’d grown up with her mother’s name, just as Renzo had, and they’d been just fine in the end—though it hadn’t always been easy. There’d been no estate to inherit, no vast sums of money to distribute among heirs. There’d been nothing at all, until Renzo made his fortune.

      “It’s not about money,” she said with certainty. “I have money, and our child will want for nothing.”

      Not only did she have the money from her trust fund, but she’d also been investing a chunk of it over the years. She now had quite a handsome sum that was all from her own hard work. Her brother might not let her work for him, but she did work—managing her money—and she did a damn good job at it, too.

      “I went to boarding school, Tina. I know what it was like. Those girls would have made your life hell, and a big part of that would have been your lack of pedigree. Do you want that to happen to your child?”

      Fury vibrated through her then. “I won’t send my baby away to school, you can be sure of that.”

      “It’s not only school, though, is it? If you want this child to have every advantage, to have doors open for him and to be accepted everywhere, then you will see that marrying me is the only way to achieve that.”

      She wanted to press her hands to her ears. “You make it sound so medieval, and yet this is the twenty-first century.”

      “People are not so changed, though, are they? Especially not in my circles.” He leaned forward and trapped her hand where it lay on the table. She tried to pull away, but his grip was as solid as the stone cliffs in the distance. “But there is another, even more pressing reason, darling Tina. If you do not agree to this marriage, I will destroy D’Angeli Motors.”

      A layer of ice coated her heart. Fear pumped into her in waves. “You cannot,” she said, proud that her voice did not break. “If you could, you would have already done so.”

      He let her go and sat back. “You forget, cara mia, that I am a much richer man than I was only a few weeks ago. And I will use that wealth—and the power that comes with this title—to destroy your precious brother if you do not agree to marriage.”

      Horror seeped into her then. She thought of Renzo, of Faith and baby Domenico, and a wave of guilt swept her. Renzo was happier than she’d ever known him to be now that he’d found Faith. He laughed a lot more these days, and he no longer risked his life on the track. His leg was also on the mend now that the surgeons had removed the scar tissue that had built up over time, and he would very likely be walking without a cane once it healed.

      He had everything. How could she put his happiness at risk, especially when she’d created this mess by indulging in a single impulsive act solely for her own pleasure? Renzo had done everything to make sure she had a good life, and this was how she repaid his generosity?

      “You are really very cruel, aren’t you?” Tina asked, her heart throbbing with fury and hurt.

      Nico’s expression didn’t change, though she thought the corners of his mouth tightened. “Life is cruel,” he said. “I am merely doing what I must to protect my child.”

      “Our child.”

      “Yes, our child.” He said the words plainly enough, and yet there was an inflection there, an unspoken threat. Our child if you do as I say.

      Tina shivered. It did not go unnoticed.

      “Are you cold?”

      “A little,” she said, unwilling to admit that her shiver was born more out of apprehension than the breeze.

      “Then let us go inside.”

      He came and held out a hand to her. She didn’t accept it, pushing herself to her feet without his help. He didn’t move away, however, and she found herself trying to take a step backward.

      The chair stopped her. He was so close. Too close. She could feel his heat crawling into her, surrounding her. His scent filled her senses, spice and man mingled with the aromas of leather and wood.

      Heat blossomed in her belly, flowed like a river of syrup into