The Italian's Love-Child. Emma Darcy

to me. He sold me out for your approval.’

      ‘He saved you from folly,’ his father thundered.

      Luc sucked in a quick breath and forced himself to contain the violent emotions surging through him. There was no point in arguing against entrenched prejudice. Waste of time and breath. ‘Have you said all you want to say?’ he asked in a calmer tone.

      He watched his father fight an inner war before coming to the conclusion that it was time to shift ground before bad blood was irrevocably spilled. ‘Your mother expects you to lunch on Sunday,’ he tossed out as though he himself disdained any need for his surviving son’s presence at the family table.

      ‘Are Skye and Matt invited?’

      ‘They are not,’ he snapped, refusing to give a moment’s consideration to the challenge.

      Which was just as well, Luc thought, because he doubted he could persuade Skye into any meeting with his parents at this early juncture. ‘Then I won’t be there,’ he stated unequivocally.

      It earned a furious glare. ‘Your mother will be disappointed.’

      ‘I’m sorry for her disappointment but it is of your making, Dad. Let’s get this in precise perspective.’

      ‘Perspective!’ His father snorted in disgust. ‘I can only hope your blindness soon passes.’

      With the satisfaction of having the last word, he walked out, slamming the door shut behind him.

      Luc was somewhat surprised to find he didn’t care how his parents viewed his absence. All his life he had attended their parties, been a focus of their pride and pleasure. He’d actually fed their expectations of him. And been liberally rewarded for it.

      But taking Skye from him…taking Matt from him…it had killed any consideration he might have had for their feelings. He didn’t want to be with them. He wasn’t sure he ever wanted to be with them again…certainly not without Skye and Matt at his side, and both of them being welcomed into their company.

      Easter Sunday…

      No doubt he would be missed and his absence commented upon by family friends, much to the chagrin of his parents, but for Luc, Easter Sunday was simply the day he had to live through before he could take Skye and Matt away with him for a whole week together. He would quite happily stay in his Bondi Beach apartment; planning, anticipating, gearing himself up to win what he wanted to win.

      He stared at the door his father had shut and felt the world he had belonged to receding from him, losing its influence, losing its importance. He suspected the longer he stayed away from it, the less it would mean to him. In fact, it hadn’t meant much for a long time—just old familiar connections that had floated through the emptiness of his life after his family had got rid of Skye. He’d given them his courtesy and attention but would he really miss them?

      He didn’t need them.

      He needed Skye.

      And their son.

      Though he couldn’t deny there was also a bitterly burning need in him to have the injustice done to them acknowledged by his parents—acknowledged and redressed!

      CHAPTER TEN

      ANOTHER day of guilty pleasures, Skye thought as she stood under the shower in her ensuite bathroom, using the expensive perfumed soap which came supplied with all the other luxury items in the penthouse apartment. Luc was paying for everything—absolutely everything—and she shouldn’t really be riding along on his vacation with Matt, taking all he was giving.

      First class seats on the flight—Matt’s first ride in an aeroplane.

      More than first class accommodation—every possible comfort, plus wonderful ocean views and the big screen television set in the living room was connected to pay TV, luxury indeed for Matt who was fascinated by the huge variety of shows he could watch.

      Yesterday they’d had a marvellous time at Sea World—seeing the awesome Polar bears, watching the fun-loving seals and actually having shallow water encounters with dolphins. And Matt had had enormous fun today, playing with the Looney Tunes characters in the Splash Zone at Warner Bros. Movie World.

      She, too, was enjoying herself—couldn’t deny it—yet she had the uncomfortable sense of being put in Luc’s debt, despite his insistence that he owed her far more than he could ever repay. Worse than that was the secret pleasure of simply being with him. It wasn’t just sharing the joy of watching their son have the time of his life. The more time she spent with Luc, the more he reminded her of everything she had loved about him.

      It was extremely difficult to keep her focus on Matt. Not difficult…impossible! she ruefully corrected herself. Even here, in the shower, just running the soap over her naked body was stirring sensual memories of how Luc had once caressed her, making her feel how much she missed having that kind of intimacy with him.

      He certainly wanted it. There was no mistaking the simmering desire in his eyes whenever he looked at her, whether they were sharing some mutual pleasure in Matt or having a practical discussion on what they were to eat for their next meal. No direct reference was made to it, not by her, not by him. However, the simmering did keep her on edge, trying to ensure nothing she said or did turned up the heat.

      The mental cage she’d put around her own feelings for Luc was being continually rattled. The physical attraction was reinforced every time he touched her—a protective arm around her waist in a crowd, a courteous taking of her arm when entering a restaurant, holding her hand—and Matt’s—as they walked along together. There was nothing overtly sexual about any of it, yet it subtly made her acutely aware of wanting more from him.

      Marry me…

      Skye wished it could be as simple as that. She couldn’t bring herself to believe it, not with her past experience of the Peretti family. Luc might think he was in control of all the complex factors that would come into play if a marriage between them did take place, but she could feel their shadows in the background, waiting to grow more and more substance, threatening to strangle whatever happiness they might have together.

      Besides which, she couldn’t help having doubts about Luc’s motivation for a marriage with her. It wasn’t a clear-cut case of loving her, loving Matt, wanting them to be together. She felt the payback element very strongly—people being manipulated, including herself, which made her very uneasy about accepting anything at face value.

      Sexual chemistry was something else.

      Luc was certainly right about its not going away.

      With a wistful sigh, Skye finished washing herself, turned off the shower, and reached for the lovely soft bath towel—another luxury to revel in—another guilt, wrapping herself in what Luc’s wealth provided. This kind of living where cost was no object to every material pleasure was horribly seductive. And could very easily become addictive.

      Did Luc mean it to be?

      Was it another form of manipulation to get his own way?

      A one-week family vacation, showing her a bed of roses…

      No vacation was real life, Skye firmly told herself, more like a dream…time out of time. She had to keep remembering that, not let it influence her into glossing over the thorns in the situation with Luc’s family.

      Although it was mid-April, the days were still hot and the evenings balmy on the Gold Coast. Skye chose to slip into her white and brown sundress, wanting to feel cool and relaxed after wearing rather sticky jeans all day. It was also a relief to brush out her hair from the pinned top-knot and she left it loose. Luc had gone out to get takeaway for dinner tonight so she didn’t bother with sandals, padding out to the living-room barefoot to check on Matt.

      Having already supervised his bath and put him in pyjamas, she’d left him esconced in front of the television, happily watching a channel which only showed cartoons. He was still there, although now there was a pizza box beside him, and he was eating a big slice