Boss Meets Baby(87)

‘It was a practical solution,’ Vito said coldly. ‘And now you’ll finally understand that it is pointless for you to continually try to persuade me of your innocence. Or to build a relationship with my grandfather. Or to put down roots in Venice. As soon as his time comes, you’ll be history.’

Lily stared at him in horror as the cold brutality of his words sunk in.

‘You are a despicable human being!’ she cried, suddenly— flying to her feet and squaring up to him. ‘You don’t deserve a grandfather who loves you so much!’

‘I didn’t deserve a lover who cheated on me.’ The angry blue fire sparking in his eyes was the only sign of emotion on his face.

Lily glared at him, struggling for words. She couldn’t believe Vito would really do something like this.

All the time she’d lived with him she’d thought him to be a fair and generous man. That had changed the day he’d thrown her out for getting pregnant. Then, when he’d asked her to marry him, she’d been forced to rethink her opinion for a second time.

She knew he was angry and upset because he believed— she had betrayed him but after this latest, awful revelation her opinion of him had sunk to the lowest depths—into a confusing emotional mass of disbelief and disillusionment.

‘Give that to me,’ Vito said, lifting the antiquenecklace— box from her hands. ‘You can’t wear that.’

Lily stared at the box as he carried it away, her temper suddenly sparking again.

‘No wonder you didn’t want Giovanni to give it to me,’ she said bitterly. ‘Don’t worry. I’m not going to steal a priceless family heirloom from you.’

‘It’s very old and fragile,’ Vito said curtly. ‘The high humidity in Venice makes things deteriorate quickly. It needs expert attention to ensure it won’t fall apart when you wear it.’

‘I won’t be wearing it,’ Lily said. ‘It was a wonderful— gift—but you’ve tainted it.’

She looked up at Vito, and she could see his shoulders were rigid with tension, and a muscle was throbbing insistently on his angular jawbone. Although his eyes were cast into shadow by black brows that were drawn heavily downwards, she could see that powerful emotion glittered within them.

Perhaps he wasn’t as cold and unmoved by this discussion— as he would like her to think, but that didn’t change his intentions.

‘Once and for all, it’s time to make things crystal clear between us.’ His voice cut through her shattered nerves like steel wire. ‘Nothing you have discovered today makes any difference to our arrangement. You did very well with my grandfather this morning—and now you will continue to play your part as my adoring wife. Until I am finished with you.’

Lily glared at him angrily, unable to find words to express the horror she was feeling.

Was he really saying that she must put up with whatever unjust accusations and hostility he chose to throw her way? That she wasn’t allowed to speak up in her own defence, or express her opinion about anything?

And then, when he was done with her, that he would toss her out as callously as he’d done before—except this time she’d have a baby with her?

‘You lied to me,’ Lily said. ‘You lied to me about making a future for our baby.’

‘You lied to me first,’ Vito fired back at her. ‘When you tried to pass that baby off as mine.’

‘You really don’t care at all,’ Lily said hollowly. ‘You said it would be better for my baby. But how can this be better? You deceived me and manipulated me into marrying you—when all the time you were planning to dump us like last week’s trash.’

‘I’m not lying now,’ Vito said. ‘And I will not go over this again. I have made the situation plain, and I will not tolerate your defiance, or your continued assertions that I am the father of your baby.’

With that he turned and walked out of the bedroom, taking the necklace with him.





CHAPTER EIGHT


LILY stared after him in stunned silence.

All she could think was how foolish she’d been to trust Vito. She’d seen his true nature the night he’d heartlessly thrown her out onto the streets of Venice. Why, even after he’d treated her so appallingly, had she let him drag her back into his life?

Because she had once thought she was falling in love with him. And then he had lied to her. And manipulated her. He’d made her believe it was the best thing for her and her baby, when all along he couldn’t have cared less about them. All he cared about was taking revenge against her for something she’d never even done. And at the same time finding a way to please his grandfather.