‘I hadn’t given it much thought.’
‘I don’t believe you. Any woman who discovers she is pregnant is naturally going to think of the father and what genes her child might inherit.’
He was right—but then Zac always thought he was right. It infuriated Sally, and she told him the truth.
‘I wanted to enjoy my pregnancy, relaxed and free of stress, and as you are the least restful person I know I decided on balance it was better to put off telling you straight away. But I would have told you eventually. I was thinking probably after my baby is born.’
‘After?’ His rapier-like glance raked her from head to toe, as though he had never seen her before, and in one stride he was towering over her. ‘You were thinking about telling me after my child was born?’ he prompted incredulously. ‘How long after? One year? Two? Ten?’ he drawled, and, reaching for her, he hauled her hard against him.
Her eyes widened at the icy anger in his tone. His dark gaze caught and held hers and she was powerless to break the contact.
‘Well, listen to me now, Sally Paxton. I am doing the thinking for both of us from now on. No child of mine will be born out of wedlock. You will marry me, and our child will have two parents.’
‘No,’ she bit out between clenched teeth. ‘I won’t marry you. But I will allow you visiting rights,’ she conceded determined to hang onto her temper and stay calm and reasonable. But she was equally determined not to allow Zac to walk all over her.
‘If anyone gets visiting rights it will be you, because I fully intend for my child to live with me. I will file for custody the second it leaves your womb.’
‘You won’t get it,’ she shot back. ‘This is England—the mother almost always gets custody.’
‘Not quite right. Britain is part of the European community, and I will tie you up in the courts here and in Europe for years. Is that what you want for our child?’
‘You would do that?’ Sally asked, and saw the implacable determination in his dark eyes. Suddenly she was more afraid than angry.
‘Yes.’ His hands slipped from her shoulders, but before she could move his arms wrapped around her, one hand splayed across the base of her spine, bringing her into close contact with his large body. ‘But it does not have to be that way, Sally.’
Her breasts tightened against the soft wool of her sweater in agitation—or so she told herself. But to her shame the pressure of his strong thighs against her was arousing other more basic emotions. She curled her hands on his forearms in an attempt to keep some space between them, but it didn’t help…
‘Be reasonable, Sally.’ He glanced down to where her swollen nipples were clearly outlined by the fine wool of her jumper, then back to her face. ‘Sexually we are more than compatible—we are totally combustible,’ he said wryly. ‘And all marriages are a money-based transaction and I have a limitless amount. Whether I spend a fortune fighting you in court, or you marry me and gain the benefit of unlimited wealth for yourself and our child, it is up to you to decide, but either way I will win in the end. I always do.’
Sally looked searchingly at him. The tension in the room was palpable. Her decision, he had said…She either married him or consigned her as yet unborn child to growing up in the midst of a battle between two warring parents. A far from ideal scenario, she knew, but the idea of marriage terrified her. She was only four months pregnant, and no matter what Zac threatened she had plenty of time to make a decision.
‘Then I will see you in court,’ she answered spitefully.
She saw the surprise and anger in his eyes, and his arms fell to his sides and she was free.
‘Now I want you to leave.’
‘Not before you give me the coffee you promised…I am frozen in shock, and it is the least you can do seeing as I have given you a child,’ he drawled mockingly.
Torn between good manners and a desire to be rid of him, she hesitated. Good manners won as he added, ‘Please…’
‘Have a seat.’ She indicated the sofa. ‘I’ll make you a coffee and then you can leave.’ And, turning, she entered the kitchen.
Sally switched on the kettle and put her hands flat on the worktop, her head bent. She had managed to hold her own with Zac, but only just…Being in his company, talking to him—mostly arguing, she amended—had brought a host of painfully suppressed emotions bubbling to the surface, and being held in his arms had almost been her undoing.
She lifted her head and stared out of the window at the garden and the rolling fields beyond. She took a few deep, steadying breaths, striving to calm her fast-beating heart and slowly rising temper. That he had the gall to turn up out of the blue and then demand she marry him was unbelievable.
But stress was not good for the baby, and she continued to breathe deeply.
She had half expected Zac to follow her to the kitchen—she wasn’t blind; he was as mad as hell beneath that mocking exterior—but surprisingly he didn’t. The kettle boiled, and she made a mug of instant coffee for him, and a cup of tea for herself. She placed a few biscuits on a plate and put the lot on a tray. But she was reluctant to face Zac again.
A deep, shuddering sigh escaped her. She couldn’t hide in the kitchen much longer, and Zac was right in a way: they would have to talk eventually. Her baby deserved to know its father. But then, thinking of her own father, she was not absolutely convinced that was true, and on that thought she walked back into the living room.
Chapter Fourteen
SALLY walked straight past Zac to place the tray on the opposite side table. She picked up the coffee mug and turned to look at him, and her hand froze in mid-air.
He had removed his overcoat and was wearing a black sweater and matching pants. Sitting on the sofa with his shoulders hunched, his elbows resting on his knees and holding his head in his hands, the arrogant Zac Delucca looked utterly exhausted. As she stared he lifted his head and ran his hands distractedly through his now over-long hair.