‘That was part of my deal with Jeanette. And I admit we’ve been lucky. I suppose because I’m the last man in the world to want a child, they didn’t look.’
‘So you want me to dump you—’ She rubbed her fingers across her forehead. ‘But you haven’t won your case yet, have you? I could make things difficult for you.’
‘Yes.’ The thought brought a bitter taste to his mouth. ‘But I’ll have to take that chance.’
‘What makes you think you’re the right home for a little girl, Rio? What can you offer a child?’
He didn’t hesitate. ‘Security. The absolute certainty that I’ll always be there for her.’ He’d never felt the need to explain or defend his decision to anyone before, but suddenly he had a burning need to defend himself to Evie. ‘I’m not planning to nominate myself for super-dad any time soon, but I can offer her a stability that has never been present in her life.’
‘That’s quite a promise, coming from a man who doesn’t believe in commitment.’
‘This is one commitment I’m prepared to make.’ He didn’t expect her to believe him. How could he when he was well aware he’d given her no reason on which to base that belief?
And already his mind was computing the options because he knew she was going to walk out. Why wouldn’t she? He’d deceived her. He’d used
her. He’d hurt her. He’d had sex with her—
And now she was going to make him pay.
He needed to ring the lawyers and warn them, although what they would be able to do, he had no idea.
Reaching into his pocket for his phone, his fingers encountered his wallet. He paused and then pulled it out and retrieved the photograph from behind a stack of dollars. Hesitating for only a fraction of a second, he handed it to her. ‘This is Elyssa. It’s not a brilliant one—I took it with my phone in the summer. Her hair is darker than it looks in the photograph.’ He watched as she stared down at the photograph.
‘Please leave me alone,’ she said hoarsely. ‘I need a minute to myself.’
Rio hesitated, and then turned and walked back into the living room. Conscious of how much he’d hurt her, he retrieved his BlackBerry from his jacket pocket. The only option open to him now was damage limitation.
He was in the process of dialling his lawyer when her voice came from behind him.
‘Put the phone down.’ She stood in the doorway, stiff and unsmiling, the photograph still in her hand. ‘I’ll stay and finish this charade if you think it will help you. Not because you shoved a photograph of a vulnerable little girl into my hand and made me feel guilty which, by the way, was yet another example of ruthless manipulation on your part, but because you took that photograph in the first place. It’s the first time I’ve ever known you to use your BlackBerry for anything other than work. If you carry a picture of your daughter around, there must be some good in you somewhere. I have yet to see it, but I live in hope. Unlike you, I’m prepared to take some things on trust. Given that Elyssa seems to have drawn the short straw with her mother, she needs someone who is prepared to stand up and fight for her, not that I think that excuses your appalling behaviour.’
Stunned by her words, Rio inhaled deeply. ‘Evie—’
‘And you need to learn to take some things on trust, too. You need to show some faith in people.’ She walked across the room and placed the photograph carefully in his hand. ‘A little girl’s future is at stake—you should have known I’d do the right thing. I didn’t need a guilt trip to set me on the right path. If you’d told me the truth in the first place—’ there were tears in her eyes ‘—I just wish you had told me the truth, Rio.’
‘My daughter’s future was all that mattered to me.’
‘If you’d told me, I would have helped you.’ Her lashes sparkled with moisture. ‘You need to stop being such a cynic because the last thing a little girl needs is a father who is a cynic. When you’re reading her fairy stories, maybe it’s right to adapt the ending—maybe it isn’t right to tell children that they all lived happily ever after, I don’t know—but neither is it right to bring her up believing that everyone is guilty until proven innocent. That there is no good in anyone. That all people are out to get what they can out of everyone else. If you’re going to apply corporate principles to parenting, then it’s never going to work.’ Taking a deep breath, she squared her shoulders. ‘Now, get your coat and phone that driver of yours. We’re going shopping.’
Still braced for catastrophe, it took Rio a few moments to assimilate the fact that she wasn’t leaving. She was offering to stay. Her generosity floored him. ‘Of course I’ll take you shopping.’ His voice was husky with an emotion he didn’t recognise and he lifted his hand and brushed a strand of hair away from her moist cheek. Gratitude, he thought. And admiration. He realised that he’d been wrong about her again. She was far, far stronger than she looked. ‘I’ll buy you the biggest diamond you’ve ever seen as long as you tell me I’m forgiven.’
‘I didn’t say anything about diamonds and I didn’t say anything about forgiveness. We’re going to a toy shop. If you truly intend to be a father to Elyssa, then you need to start learning what little girls like for Christmas.’ Despite everything, there was humour in her gaze. ‘I probably ought to warn you that I’m something of an expert. Fasten your seat belt because I have a feeling this is going to be a steep learning curve.’
CHAPTER EIGHT
‘FAIRY wings?’ RIO’s tone was incredulous. ‘You’re sure?’
Evie reached for a pair of pink gossamer wings which hung from a metal hook. She felt devastated. Ripped to shreds by the revelation that he’d lied to her. ‘Trust me, fairy wings are always a hit with four-year-olds. Better buy a spare pair, ready for when she breaks these.’ It felt strange, having this conversation with this man. She had a sense that what she was saying was as alien to him as the Russian Vladimir spoke.
As if to confirm her suspicions, he looked at her blankly. ‘Why will she break them? She’s a little girl, not a Sumo wrestler—’
‘Yes, but she’ll want to sleep in them,’ Evie explained patiently, ‘because that’s what little girls always do and sleeping in them will break them. When that happens you can either explain to her that they’re gone for ever or you can spoil her rotten and get her another pair. Normally I’d suggest it’s dangerous to spoil her but, given that she’s obviously had a completely rubbish time lately, I think an extra pair is probably in order.’
Without hesitation, Rio cleared the shelves of pink fairy wings.
‘I meant one spare pair,’ Evie said faintly, ‘not ten.’
‘I’m not risking anything. As you say, she’s had enough trauma for one lifetime.’ Rio handed them to his stunned bodyguard. ‘So we have fairy wings and spare fairy wings and spare spare fairy wings. What next?’