Her Husband's Christmas Bargain. Margaret Mayo

Чтение книги онлайн.

      Luigi was angry, fiercely angry. His stomach was a tight, knotted ball and he wanted to lash out. He had felt bad enough when Megan left him, but for her to be carrying his child when she did so went beyond the pale. Had she hated him that much? Did she still hate him?

      In truth, he hadn’t realised that anything had gone wrong with their marriage. Night after sleepless night he’d racked his brains for a possible reason and come up with nothing. He’d thought she was happy, she had no reason not to be. He was a good provider; she’d never been left wanting. He’d worked long hours, yes, but she understood that. It was the only way to get anywhere.

      None of her friends or even her parents had known where she’d gone, and his search had proved fruitless. Not even the police could help him. He had immersed himself more deeply into his work, hoping that one day she would get in touch. Finally, though, he’d had to accept that their marriage was over. And he’d worked even harder.

      When he’d seen her in his London store he’d been stunned, and when he had looked closely at the little girl he’d known at once that it was his child. He had an old photograph somewhere of his mother at the same age and there was a distinct likeness.

      Megan had denied him his daughter and now she was trying to say that he had no rights to her. Lord, she really must hate him. What the hell had he done to her? Of one thing he was sure; he wasn’t going to let her get away with it. She was not going to walk out on him again.

      ‘I have no choice?’ she questioned now. ‘Believe me, no one, and that includes you, makes me do anything I don’t want to do.’

      He admired the way she stood up for herself. Her bright eyes and prickly stance reminded him of an animal defending its young. And that was exactly what she was doing. But Charlotte was as much his as Megan’s.

      ‘Give me a reason why you don’t want to spend Christmas with me.’ He was sure she had none, except that she no longer loved him. But that was no excuse for depriving her daughter, his daughter. He’d never very much liked children, and he’d always worked over Christmas, but all of a sudden he found himself looking forward to taking a few days off and getting to know this beautiful little girl who kept peeping at him from behind her mother’s dressing gown.

      He would shower her with presents, she would want for nothing, and it would be a Christmas filled with all the good things in life.

      And after that? asked his conscience.

      After that he would keep her with him, of course. It was her rightful place. Both Charlotte and Megan. He would accept nothing less.

      ‘The reason,’ she told him swiftly, ‘is that Charlotte doesn’t know you. And, to be quite honest, I don’t want her to get to know you. An absentee father is worse than not having one at all.’

      ‘What do you mean, absentee father?’ he asked sharply. ‘You were the one who walked out.’

      ‘Because I never saw you, dammit. What sort of a life was that? And I don’t want Charlotte suffering the same way.’

      ‘You belong with me,’ he growled fiercely. ‘Are you forgetting your wedding vows?’

      ‘Mummy, what’s the matter?’ Charlotte tugged at Megan’s dressing gown, forcing her to soften her face and look down at her worried daughter.

      ‘Nothing, sweetheart. I’m just not sure that I want to go and spend Christmas with your—father.’ It pained her to say the word.

      ‘I’d like to go,’ whispered her daughter, giving him a timid smile.

      Luigi felt exultation. The battle was half won. All he needed now was Megan’s acceptance.

      ‘It looks as though you’re getting your wish,’ she finally managed to choke out. ‘You’ve always been the same, haven’t you, Luigi? Nothing ever stands in your way. How many million have you made?’

      The question surprised him. ‘Enough to buy the whole Gerards Group,’ he admitted proudly.

      ‘What?’ she asked, her eyes narrowing, a deep, incredulous frown dragging her fine brows together. ‘I knew you had ambition but I never imagined that you’d do this well—so quickly.’ Gerards was a department store par excellence. ‘Where are you living these days?’

      ‘I have an apartment right here in the City where I spend most of the week, but my house is in Sussex.’

      ‘Did you know I lived here?’

      She looked appalled at the very thought and his lips twisted bitterly. ‘Not at all. I was checking that everything was running smoothly when I overheard this little girl asking Santa Claus for a daddy. It was such an unusual request that I watched as she ran back to her mother. You can imagine my astonishment when I saw that it was you.’

      ‘And so you put your spies on the job and found out where I lived, is that it?’ she demanded, her grey eyes bright now with accusation.

      ‘Wouldn’t you have done the same if you’d found out that you had a three-year-old daughter whom you knew nothing about?’ he countered harshly. ‘I find it hard to believe that you’ve done this to me.’

      Megan СКАЧАТЬ