There were a dozen threats he could make to ensure her agreement. He bit them all back. He felt bad enough as it was without adding more ill deeds to the slate against him. There was one more thing he could add, though...

‘I won’t change my mind but you can go ahead and sleep on it,’ he said. ‘While you’re lying in your bed thinking, consider the ramifications if you decide not to take me up on my proposal. If you marry me, scandal averted. If you don’t, the press will crucify you and drag your brother and the entire House of Mondelli through the mud with you. Do you really want to go through all that again? Do you want Rocco to go through all that again?’

She stilled, stormy eyes locked on his.

‘Do you want all the speculation over who the father is? The old scandal being raked up as the world wonders if you’ve been playing around with another married man?’

‘But I never...’

He hated to see the hurt and bewilderment that flashed across her features but he had no choice. For their child’s sake he would deploy every weapon in his arsenal to get her agreement. ‘You know that and I know that. The rest of the world will believe what it wants to believe and, as it’s doing so, the world’s eyes will be on you.’

‘You know how to play dirty,’ she said hoarsely, her chest heaving.

with the press and the world’s attention on your own.

loathing at him. ‘Do not think you can blackmail me,

from her delicious, plump lips landed like a barb in his chest. ‘But you

door and gripped the handle. ‘I’m going to my room

is only one

still wait on

CHAPTER THREE

Alessandra was already there. So too were Stefan, Zayed and a handful of other guests who’d stayed the night rather than retire to their

every person in the room looked exactly how he

as drunk as he’d wanted but his body was punishing him

hangover too. Only he knew the dark rings under her bloodshot eyes were caused by

had any more sleep than the snatches he’d

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