He shook the memory away. His own child's life would be very different. And he'd make sure his child's mother was either a loving, stable, nurturing influence-or no influence at all.
"Why did you run away from New York?" he demanded. "Because you decided to believe everything you'd read about me?"
"Are you kidding?" Scarlett looked at him in amazement. "That pre-nup."
Gripping the steering wheel, he glanced at her in surprise. "You wanted to avoid the pre-nup?"
"Did you really think I would sign papers to give you total power over not just me, but our child? Did you think I'd be so happy to become your trophy wife, I'd trade away my freedom for the rest of my life?"
"The pre-nup has been vetted by my lawyers to be completely fair..."
"Completely fair." For the first time since he'd known her, he heard a cynical note in her voice. "When you would get to make every decision about our lives? And if we ever decided to divorce for any reason, you would automatically get full custody of our baby?"
"Divorce is not my plan," he said sharply. "But I know I could not prevent you from leaving, if you wished it. Whatever you might think, there are no dungeons in my penthouse. The prenuptial agreement is merely a tool to minimize the impact of all your potentially bad decisions on our innocent children."
"My bad decisions?" She shook her head almost sadly. "And that's just the stuff in the pre-nup you told me about. Who knows what would have been buried in the fine print, a requirement that I give you five blow jobs a week?"
It was a crude comment, said matter-of-factly. There was nothing sensual or suggestive about her tone. If anything, she meant to insult him, to drive him away.
But his body's reaction was instantaneous. He turned from coldly furious to burning hot in a second, blood rushing to his groin as images went through his mind of that full rose-red mouth, hot and wet, around his hardened length... He tried to clear his head of the erotic image as he shifted uncomfortably in the leather seat of the car.
"That was not my intention." Although it sure as hell was now. Vin wondered what his lawyer's expression would be if he told him to add a blow job requirement.
Scarlett continued stubbornly, "You accuse me of being childish and foolish. But in refusing to marry you, I'm protecting our baby."
"How can you say that?" As they drove through the outskirts of Geneva, he stopped at a red light. "I can offer both you and the baby a lifestyle you could never dream of. Six houses around the world, private schools, jewels, cars. Private jets..."
She shuddered at his mention of the jets. It seemed strange to him.
"I'm protecting our baby from a man who would only want to control us," she said softly. "Not love us."
That brought Vin up short.
As they arrived at the clinic, a modern building with clean lines on the edge of the lake, he pushed his thoughts aside. Parking the car, with the dark SUV parking nearby, he got out and opened Scarlett's door. He extended his hand to assist his very pregnant future bride.
With visible reluctance, she placed her hand in his.
Vin felt an electric jolt from the contact. As they walked together toward the front door of the clinic, he wouldn't-couldn't-let her hand go. He stopped, lifting it to his lips, and gently kissed the back of her hand. Her skin was soft. He felt her tremble.
"You could never love anyone." Her voice trembled. "Because you'll never trust anyone. Just the fact you're making me take this test..."
"I believe you, Scarlett," he said softly. "I'm only insisting on a paternity test because I've been lied to about it before."
"What?"
"A woman once claimed I was the father of her nonexistent baby, trying to get me to marry her. But this time, in my heart, I already know the truth. You're carrying my baby."
"Vin..."
Reaching out, he tucked a tendril of her red hair behind her ear. Her green eyes were wide.
"I like it when you look at me like that," he murmured. "You are so beautiful, cara. Your eyes are such a deep emerald. Like a forest." He gently stroked the side of her face. "Your lips," he whispered, "are red and plump and ripe as fruit. I'll never forget-" he ran the tip of his finger along the full length of her bottom lip "-how it felt to taste them..."
Her tremble became violent. She looked so vulnerable, so stricken, so caught-she, who could have had any man she wanted with her beauty! Vin realized that he, too, was shaking.
His blood was pounding with the need to take her.
Then he remembered the bodyguards watching from the parking lot, the appointment at the clinic looming overhead.
Soon, he vowed to himself. Soon, he would satiate himself with her completely.
"You're right about one thing." He cupped her cheek. "I don't believe in love. At least not the romantic kind. But I do believe," he whispered, "in desire. I never stopped wanting you. From the moment we first met."
"But you were going to marry another..."
"Because I thought you were lost to me. I thought I couldn't have you. Now...I know I will." Vin ran the pads of his fingertips lightly along the edge of her jawline, to her earlobes, to the tumbling red waves of her hair. "I will have you, Scarlett," he growled. "At any price."
CHAPTER FOUR
"THERE CAN BE no doubt, Mr. Borgia. The baby is yours."
The Swiss doctor beamed at them. She was obviously pleased to be giving them good news.
Scarlett saw a flash of emotions cross Vin's hard, handsome features-pride, relief, joy and then, as he looked at her, anger. He hadn't forgiven her for running away.
Just you wait, Scarlett thought, giving him a bland smile.
But she'd thought she'd escape before this. Certainly before they drew the blood that they'd already tested in their in-house, state-of-the-art medical lab. She'd never intended for Vin to have the actual proof he was the father of her baby, proof he could use against her in courts of law.
But he'd never given her the opportunity. From the moment they'd arrived at the medical clinic, to the hour they'd spent waiting for the results, having lunch at a nearby elegant restaurant on the lake, Vin had never let Scarlett out of his sight. Even when she'd excused herself to use the restroom, he'd waited outside in the hallway, in an apparently courteous gesture. When she needed to get her handbag from the car, he'd insisted on sending a bodyguard to collect it.
Over lunch at the Michelin-starred restaurant, as he'd enjoyed lamb and asparagus in a delicate truffle sauce and a glass of wine, he'd expounded on what he would expect of her as his wife, each detail more outrageous than the last. He expected to dictate everything in her life, from the friends she kept to the clothes she wore!
She'd tried her best to lull his suspicions, listening meekly as she ate her lunch and sipped sparkling water. But inside, she was fuming.
Vin was so sure he'd won. He thought he could bully her into giving all her rights away-being nothing more than his indentured servant, the wife he could dominate, holding power over her future and their child's! He was as bad as Blaise!
What century do you think we're living in?
The century a rich man can do whatever he wants. To whomever he wants.
Actually, Vin was more dangerous. Because from the moment she'd met him, when he'd taken her in his arms and made her feel things she'd never felt before, pleasure and joy beyond imagining, he'd made her want to surrender to his demands. And he could do it again, if she let him.
I will have you, Scarlett. At any price.
She shivered as she remembered the hunger in his black eyes. The same hunger she felt for him.
But the price was too high. She couldn't allow herself to surrender, not when it would cost her everything!
"Do you want to know the baby's sex?" Dr. Schauss asked now in slightly accented English.
Vin's eyes were wide as he looked at Scarlett. He cleared his throat and said in an unsteady voice, "Sure."
The doctor smiled. "You're having a boy!"
A boy? Scarlett's eyes filled with tears. In just a few weeks, a sweet baby boy would be in her arms!
"A boy?" Vin's face lit up, and he looked at Scarlett. His usual hard, cynical expression fell away and he looked suddenly young and joyful. Then he turned back to the doctor. "And the pregnancy? Is Scarlett well?"
If she'd loved him, or even trusted him, she might have been touched by the anxiety in his deep voice.
The doctor nodded. "Mademoiselle Ravenwood is doing well. Her blood pressure is fine and in spite of being so close to her due date, she shows no signs of imminent labor. Though that can quickly change, of course..."
"Then we have time to be married." His expression hardened as he turned to Scarlett. "My lawyer in New York has sent the prenuptial agreement. As soon as we leave here, you will sign it, and we will marry."
Scarlett's heart fell all the way to her fur-lined boots. "I..."