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A Ring for Vincenzo's Heir(10)

By:Jennie Lucas


Holding up his hand, he pressed his phone to his ear. "Ernest, find out  where we can be married quickly. Yes, I know it's more complicated in  Europe. Tonight if possible, tomorrow at the latest."   





 

Staring at him, Scarlett instantly saw her mistake.

My God, she was stupid. She never should have let him get the legal  proof that he was the father of her child. She should have screamed  bloody murder rather than willingly give blood for the paternity test.  Running away would be ten times harder now. He'd never give up looking  for her. And he'd have the law on his side.

She rose unsteadily to her feet. "Thank you for the news, Doctor." Her  teeth were chattering as she glanced at Vin, who had turned away to bark  questions to his assistant, about places like Gibraltar and Denmark and  even, heaven help her, Las Vegas. In another moment, he'd be arranging  the plane, then he'd be back to giving her his full attention. She had  only seconds.

Adrenaline pumped her heart. It was now or never.

"Mademoiselle Ravenwood-" the Swiss doctor looked at her with concern in  her kindly bespectacled eyes "-are you quite all right?"

"Fine, I'm great." She forced a smile. "I just need to go to the ladies' room. If you'll excuse me."

"Of course-"

Scarlett swiftly exited the brightly lit exam room. She saw Vin's eyes look up piercingly as she closed the door.

She fled down the hall, past other beaming couples holding ultrasound  photos and smiling nurses and doctors in white coats. She ran down  multiple hallways, looking desperately for the back exit, since she knew  that Vin's bodyguards were waiting at the front entrance of the clinic.

She found the back staircase and raced down it, one hand over her heavy  belly as she scrambled to think of a coherent escape plan. She'd go back  to Gstaad and beg Wilhelmina to use her influence with her boss-Kassius  Black-to hide her. If that failed, she'd borrow money and hop a train  for somewhere Vin had no connections at all. She scrambled to think how  far she'd have to go. Samarkand? Ulaanbaatar? Vladivostok?

Scarlett burst out of the steel-framed door to the sunlight and fresh  air of the wide lawn behind the clinic. She saw the shining gleam of the  lake, saw a local bus approaching on a distant road. She started to run  across the grass-

Then came to a screeching halt.

Vin was on the grassy hill beside the clinic, his arms folded. "Going somewhere?"

Out of earshot but watching the exchange with interest, she saw his  bodyguards. Her lips parted, but she couldn't find her voice. Couldn't  find a single word of explanation or excuse as he came forward, his  handsome, implacable face set in stone.

She stammered, "How did you-"

"I expected you to run."

"But I didn't argue with you at all!" she gasped. "I didn't even criticize the obnoxious things you said at lunch!"

"That's how I knew." His voice was almost amused. "The fiery woman I know would never let such a thing pass."

"It was a test?" Her voice squeaked in outrage.

He shrugged. "You seemed like you were willing to come quietly for the  paternity test. I was glad to let it ride. But of course I knew." He put  his hands in his pockets, looking more devastatingly handsome than ever  in his tailored dark suit and long black coat. He tilted his head  curiously. "Actually, I'm a little disappointed in you, trying the same  trick twice. I'd like to think you had a little more respect for my  intelligence."

She sucked in her breath as he came closer. His dark eyes were almost  feral above the hard hungry slant of his cheekbones and rough edges of  his jaw, shaded with five-o'clock shadow.

"Why are you so afraid of me?" he asked softly. "You seem to think I'm a  murderous villain, merely because I seek to take responsibility for my  child and marry you."

She lifted her chin furiously. "You don't wish to marry me. You're insisting on it! You're no better than Blaise Falkner!"

He grew dangerously still. "And now you insult me?"

"He wanted me to sign papers forcing me to give the baby away, too!"

"That's not what I-"

"At least with Blaise," she interrupted, "I knew from the start he was a  monster. But I liked you. I slept with you." She hated the tears that  rose in her eyes. She wiped them away furiously. "But beneath your  charm, you're just the same as Blaise. Selfish to the core. You're  determined to force this prenuptial agreement on me. Well, guess what,  I'm not going to sign it! You can't make me marry you. We're in  modern-day Europe, not the Dark Ages!"

"Oh, for..." A low mutter of hard words that she guessed to be Italian  curses escaped his sensual lips. He set his jaw. "I don't have time for  this. I'm due in Rome in five days. The prenuptial agreement is waiting  in the car. You can read it thoroughly while we're driving to the  airport."   





 

Her stomach fell. "Airport?"

"En route to our wedding in Las Vegas."

"I'm not getting on a plane!"

"Why," he jeered, "because you're afraid I will kidnap you to some  shadowy place not so civilized as Switzerland? You think so little of  me. Why did you let me seduce you, let me fill you with my child, if the  idea of taking my name and being under my protection and letting me  provide for you is so unpalatable? If you truly believe me to be such a  villain, why did you give me your body?" he said softly. "Why did you  grip my shoulders and cry with joy as I made love to you again and  again?"

Scarlett looked up at him, hardly able to breathe. He was so close to her. "I didn't..."

"It took a week for the nail marks to disappear from my back."

She flinched, then glared at him, folding her arms. "So you're good in  bed. Big deal. I didn't have the experience to fight my desire for you  then, but I do now. I won't sell myself to you and I definitely won't  sell my baby."

His dark eyes narrowed. "So you prefer that our son has no father? That  he is raised without my name or my protection or my love, all of which I  freely offer you now?"

"Your...love?"

"Of course, you think I would not love my own child?"

Oh. Of course that was what he meant. Biting back her disappointment,  angry with herself for feeling it, she said, "You're not offering me  anything for free. If you were, you wouldn't make me sign those horrible  documents."

"You expect me to marry you without a pre-nup? Leaving you free to take half my fortune?"

Scarlett shook her head stubbornly. "Of course not. You wouldn't want to  take the risk. But neither do I. So, the answer is simple. We will not  marry."

Vin stared at her in the Geneva sunlight. A soft wind rustled the autumn  leaves above the grassy slope, between the modern two-story clinic and  the sparkling water of the lake. She heard the soft call of a bird, the  distant sound of honking and noise from the city.

"Because you're hoping to marry for love." He glared at her. "You are  just like my mother was, before she died. Ignoring your responsibilities  to run toward some romantic fantasy."

"I'm not! I'm running away from a nightmare. You!"

His lips pressed together. "Perhaps once our child is born, you will run away from him, too."

"Never!" she gasped.

"How do I know?"

"I love my baby more than anything!"

"So all you want from me is child support-is that it?"

"I don't want your money."

"You'd be the first."

"Money comes with strings, as you know perfectly well. Or you wouldn't offer it."

"So how do you expect to support our baby alone?"

"Well..." She tilted her head, thinking. "If you weren't pursuing me,  and I didn't have to hide from you, I might go back to Gstaad and learn  to cook fried chicken."

Vin looked at her incredulously. "You mean, instead of living in the lap  of luxury as my wife, you'd pursue a career as a common cook?"

"You're such a snob! Fried chicken makes the world a better place. Can you say that about what you do?"

"Owning a billion-dollar airline?"

"Yeah, stuffing passengers like cattle into economy class, in seats the size of a postage stamp!"

He ground his teeth, letting her insult slide. "I have great  appreciation for fine meals and for the talented chefs who prepare them.  But according to Wilhelmina Stone, that's definitely not you."

"So I'll learn." Scarlett folded her arms. "I worked my way through a  year of community college to become a nursing assistant, studying at  night after working all day. I can handle it. All it takes is hard work  and a willingness to do without sleep, and fortunately I've had  experience with both."

Vin's dark eyes glinted so dangerously, she was almost surprised she  didn't burst into flames beneath the force of his glare. "So you don't  want my name, you don't want my money and you won't marry me. You prefer  for our child to have no father at all while you aspire to low-paying  jobs and try to survive."