Claiming His Secret Love-Child: The Marciano Love-Child / The Italian Billionaire's Secret Love-Child / The Rich Man's Love-Child. Maggie Cox

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      She brought her eyes back to his and glared at him. ‘I suppose you’ve done this deliberately, haven’t you?’

      His expression remained as inscrutable as ever. ‘If you mean to imply that I have coerced you into working for me, then I think you need to examine the wording of the contract a little more closely,’ he said. ‘The terms and conditions are all there in plain English, and I gave you plenty of time to read them.’

      She ground her teeth. ‘I can see how this is going to be run. You want to pick up where you left off four years ago, and the only way you could do it was to lock me into a business deal that will ruin me if I pull the plug. Isn’t that taking revenge a little too far?’

      ‘It is not a matter of revenge, Scarlett,’ he said evenly. ‘About a year or so ago I came to Sydney on business and I visited a colleague who had recently had his penthouse redecorated. I was very impressed with the work and was intrigued, on asking, to find out it had been you who had done the design. I thought it would be interesting to meet you again, to see if what we had was still there.’

      She flung herself away from him in disgust. ‘I can’t believe I’m hearing this,’ she said. ‘You tossed me out of your life as if I was a bit of rubbish, and never once checked up on me to see if I was all right. I could have been mugged or robbed or even murdered that night, for all you cared.’

      Alessandro felt a familiar sharp needle of guilt stab at him. He had been so furious that night, he hadn’t stopped to think of anything but getting her out of his life. But, after a young female British tourist had been brutally assaulted a year or so ago a few blocks from his house, he’d realised he should have had Scarlett escorted to the nearest bus shelter or train station at the very least. It had been late, and although he lived in a respectable part of the city she very easily could have met with danger, wandering alone at night.

      ‘I hate you for what you did to me back then,’ she continued. ‘And I hate you for what you’re doing to me now.’

      ‘I am sorry,’ he said in a gruff tone. ‘I should have thought of your safety. It was wrong of me to treat you so appallingly.’

      Scarlett turned around to look at him. ‘I had your child, Alessandro, your son,’ she said, her voice catching over the words. ‘Haven’t you ever wondered about him?’

      His face became an unreadable mask. ‘No, for I know he is not mine.’

      She balled her hands into fists. ‘If he was standing here right now you wouldn’t be able to say that with the same arrogant certainty. He has your colouring, and the same eyes and hair.’

      ‘I seem to recall your travelling companion had dark hair and eyes too—or have you conveniently forgotten that little detail?’

      She eyeballed him determinedly. ‘I did not sleep with anyone but you the whole time I was in Italy.’

      He rolled his eyes and sighed with impatience. ‘I am so tired of this conversation.’

      ‘I am tired of you not believing me,’ she threw back in frustration. ‘Will you at least agree to meet him and see for yourself?’

      ‘I do not need to see him.’

      ‘Which means you don’t want to see him,’ she said with an embittered look.

      ‘Yes, that is right,’ he said with a cutting edge to his voice. ‘I do not want to be reminded of your duplicity. Even after all this time it sickens me to think of you lying to me like that.’

      Scarlett felt like screaming, and stalked over to the balustrade on the landing to get control. She drew in some deep breaths, her chest feeling so constricted she felt as if hundreds of tiny sharp knives were embedded between her shoulder blades, nicking at her every time she tried to breathe.

      ‘I will leave you to look over the rest of the building,’ he said into the taut silence. ‘You have my contact details if there is anything you need to check with me.’

      Scarlett turned to look at him. ‘Why do you want me to work for you when you refuse to believe me about your—’

      ‘Do not say it again,’ he cut her off abruptly. ‘I am not the father of your child, and no amount of times you insist to the contrary is going to change that fact.’

      ‘I just want you to meet him to see it for yourself.’

      His brows came together over his eyes in a furious frown. ‘I am warning you now, if you bring him to this work site at any time I will sever the contract myself. You will be responsible for whatever debt is incurred as a result.’

      ‘You can’t do that,’ she said, but there was terror wobbling in her voice at the fear that he could.

      He gave her a gelid look. ‘Go read the fine print, Scarlett,’ he said. ‘Then tell me what I can and cannot do.’

      Scarlett didn’t need to, she already knew.

      CHAPTER FOUR

      ‘SO HOW did it go?’ Roxanne asked as soon as Scarlett came into the studio at lunchtime.

      Scarlett dropped her handbag to the floor with a little thud. ‘I signed the contract,’ she said, her tone heavy with resignation.

      ‘Yippee!’ Roxanne jumped up and down, sending her riotous bright-red curls bouncing. ‘We’re going to be famous!’

      ‘Yes, but there are terms.’

      ‘Terms?’ Roxanne stilled and frowned at her. ‘What terms?’

      Scarlett flopped down in her office chair. ‘I can’t get out of the contract until I complete the job.’

      Roxanne blinked at her. ‘So?’

      ‘So I am in over my head,’ Scarlett said. ‘Both of our heads, actually. If for any reason I don’t finish the project, I am liable. We both are.’

      ‘But you’re going to finish the job, right?’

      Scarlett bit her lip. ‘What if he makes it impossible for me to do so?’

      Roxanne’s throat began to move up and down. ‘You mean you think he put that clause in there on purpose?’

      Scarlett’s brow was still heavily furrowed. ‘I’m not sure. I can’t help thinking he’s very cleverly luring me into his orbit. He told me he’d seen some work of mine and really liked it. I think it must have been Tomasso Venetti’s in Bellevue Hill. That’s the only penthouse I did last year.’

      ‘You did a fabulous job on that place,’ Roxanne said. ‘No wonder he liked it. You really have a way with old buildings, Scarlett. I’m sure that’s why he’s asked you to oversee the Arlington.’

      ‘I can’t do it without you,’ Scarlett said. ‘It’s a huge project, and I’m starting to suspect the devil will be in the details.’

      ‘We can handle it, Scarlett,’ Roxanne reassured her. ‘You just have to keep your head when you’re around him.’

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