Captive in His Castle(28)
‘Where the hell have you been?’ he demanded, his voice taut with fury. ‘Why did you go out without Fico when I expressly forbade you to? Why did you disobey me?’
Several hours of walking about in the hot sunshine had left Jess feeling exhausted, but as she was subjected to Drago’s verbal attack she forgot her tiredness and her temper simmered.
‘You forbade me! I disobeyed you! Listen to yourself, Drago. They are not the words of a husband to his wife—at least not in any marriage I want to be part of. Why shouldn’t I go out on my own? I only went to Murano to visit the glassblowers’ workshops. What harm is there in that?’
She suddenly became aware that they were not alone. Several of the staff had been drawn to the hall by the sound of raised voices, and Fico was shifting from foot to foot, looking as though he would rather be anywhere but witnessing her argument with Drago.
‘I am not going to stand here and allow you to harangue me in front of the staff,’ she muttered, and she raced towards the staircase.
‘Come back here.’ Drago was beside her in an instant, and kept pace with her as she marched up the stairs.
When they reached the landing he scooped her into his arms and, ignoring her furious protest, strode into the suite of rooms they had shared since she had arrived at the palazzo.
‘I’ll tell you what harm there is in you jaunting off alone,’ he growled, as he carried her through to the bedroom and dropped her onto the bed so hard that she bounced on the mattress. Before she could even think of trying to get up he leaned over her, imprisoning her against the satin bed cover. ‘I am one of the wealthiest men in Italy. I attract a lot of media attention. And now that you are my fiancée, so do you,’ he told her bitingly. ‘Ever since a photo of us leaving Trattoria Marisa was published on the front page of several newspapers you have been at risk of being kidnapped by criminal gangs who would demand a huge ransom for your release. That is why Fico sticks to your side like glue.’
Jess swallowed, shaken not just by his words but by the intensity in his black eyes that told her the threat of kidnap was a very real and frightening possibility. ‘I didn’t think,’ she whispered.
‘It seems to be a persistent theme with you,’ he said sardonically. He jerked away from her as if he could not bear to be near her. ‘And I see you’re not wearing your engagement ring again.’
Anger burned like acid in Drago’s gut as he stared at her, sprawled on the bed, with her glorious hair spread across the satin bedspread. Wearing a simple white sundress that had rucked up to reveal her slim thighs, she was a beguiling mixture of innocence and earthy sensuality, and the idea that she would have attracted much male interest while she wandered around Venice filled him with rage.
‘Did you go out without your ring so that you could flirt with other men?’ he demanded savagely. ‘Do I need to remind you that you are carrying my child?’
Stunned to see streaks of colour run along Drago’s cheekbones, Jess shook her head. That could not be jealousy she had heard in his voice, she told herself. ‘Of course I didn’t go out to meet other men. And being sick constantly is enough of a reminder that I’m pregnant,’ she said drily. ‘I’m not used to wearing jewellery, and I find my ring a bit cumbersome for everyday wear, so I thought I would just put it on for social events.’
Realising the effort Jess was making to be tactful about the engagement ring that he had already guessed she did not like, Drago felt his anger fade. Most women he knew would love to own a diamond the size of a rock, but Jess was different from any other woman he’d ever met, he acknowledged wryly.
‘Have you any idea how worried I was when Fico told me you had disappeared?’ he asked raggedly. ‘Dio, I was scared. you had had an accident, or been taken ill.’ He closed his eyes as memories of rushing to the hospital with Vittoria flooded his mind. ‘Why did you go off like that?’
Jess bit her lip, overcome with guilt that her irresponsible behaviour had caused Drago to look so haggard. She knew how concerned he was for the baby.
‘I needed some space. I’m used to being independent,’ she mumbled. ‘It has struck me in the last couple of days that Italy is going to be my home once we are married. I love Venice, but I miss London,’ she admitted. ‘You probably find it hard to understand, but I like running T&J Decorators, and I miss Mike and Gaz and the other guys I used to work with. I don’t have a life of my own or friends in Venice. I especially miss my workshop and being able to do my wood-carving. You’re smothering me,’ she said in low tone. ‘I understand that your interest—obsession, even—with my pregnancy is because you are concerned for the baby. But I’m not an invalid. Pregnancy is a perfectly natural state.’
‘Unless something goes wrong,’ Drago said harshly. ‘I have witnessed how devastating the consequences can be if there is a problem during pregnancy. If I have been obsessive, it is because I want to do everything possible to take care of you and the baby.’
His jaw clenched and his voice roughened with emotion as he stated flatly, ‘It is something that I bitterly regret I did not do for my first child.’
CHAPTER ELEVEN
SHOCK RAN THROUGH Jess as she absorbed Drago’s statement. ‘What do you mean?’ she said unsteadily. ‘What child?’
He exhaled slowly. ‘While I was engaged to Vittoria she fell pregnant, but she did not tell anyone—including me.’ Noticing Jess’s confused expression, he said heavily, ‘I’d better start from the beginning. I first met Vittoria when we were children. Our families were friends, and as we grew up we often used to meet at social events. My ill-fated love affair with Natalia, the exotic Russian woman who conned me and Cassa di Cassari out of a fortune, was humiliating, and I vowed that in future I would use my head and not my heart in relationships,’ he explained grimly. ‘I felt it was my duty to marry and produce an heir. Vittoria was beautiful and charming, and her family connections to Italian nobility made me decide that she would be the perfect wife.’
‘It sounds a coldly clinical way to choose a wife,’ Jess said, taken aback by his lack of emotion. ‘Didn’t you love her?’
‘I cared for her and respected her.’ Drago hesitated. ‘But I did not love her as I should have done. A few years before I had been crazily in love with Natalia,’ he admitted roughly. ‘I met her while I was still grieving for my father, and I completely lost my heart to her.’
Jess nodded. ‘I can understand that. I fell desperately in love with Seb when I was very vulnerable after my friend Daniel died.’
‘Discovering how Natalia had betrayed me hurt like hell,’ Drago continued. ‘I never wanted to feel pain like that again. So it seemed eminently sensible to marry a woman I liked who shared my goals. Vittoria seemed to accept that I needed to devote time to running Cassa di Cassari.’ He grimaced. ‘It shames me to say that I did not devote the same amount of time to my relationship with her. I was unaware that she suffered badly from nerves and illogical fears and had, among other things, a phobia of hospitals.’
Drago strode restlessly around the room, his mind bombarded by memories that still haunted him. ‘I had no idea that Vittoria had conceived my child. She showed no signs, and she said nothing until she started to bleed heavily. Only then did she admit that she was four months pregnant. Poor Vittoria was petrified,’ he said raggedly. ‘Initially it was thought that she was suffering a miscarriage, but she haemorrhaged severely and was rushed to hospital—where she was found to have a condition called placenta preavia. It is a complication during pregnancy, but in extreme cases it can lead to the death of the mother and the baby. Because Vittoria had not been for any prenatal checks her condition went undetected until she started to bleed. She almost lost her life.’ His throat moved as he swallowed hard. ‘And tragically she lost the baby.’
‘I’m sorry,’ Jess whispered, her heart aching for him and his ex-fiancée. ‘To lose a child during pregnancy must be agonising.’
‘I blamed myself.’
She shook her head. ‘You could not have prevented what happened to Vittoria. You said yourself she suffered a rare complication with her pregnancy.’
‘If I had paid her more attention she might have told me sooner that she was pregnant and I would have persuaded her to see a doctor,’ Drago said, his voice raw with guilt. ‘If I had taken better care of her then her condition would have been detected and her pregnancy would have been closely monitored. I did not realise how much I wanted a child until my baby died,’ he confessed huskily. ‘Vittoria was heartbroken, and I certainly did not blame her when she decided that she no longer wished to marry me. I felt I had failed her and our unborn child.’
He looked at Jess, his eyes blazing with emotion. ‘That is why I am determined to do everything I can to ensure that the child you are carrying is born safely. I want this baby very much, but I don’t know how you feel, Jess.’ He frowned. ‘You seem…distant. I get the feeling that you are unhappy about being pregnant and that maybe you do not want our baby.’