Captive in His Castle(31)

But Drago sensed she was keeping something from him, and once again frustration surged through him that she did not feel able to reveal the secrets that he could tell haunted her.

‘The weather is too nice for us to stay indoors. Let’s go for a walk higher in the mountains.’

Beneath the request Drago caught an almost desperate plea in her voice. He was tempted to shake her, to force her to open up to him and explain the cause of the tears that she sought to hide from him. It was not surprising that Jess had trust issues after the diabolical way she had been treated by the lowlife scum who had seduced her when she had been a vulnerable teenager, he reminded himself, but surely she knew he was nothing like Sebastian Loxley?

Her lack of trust in him was tearing him apart, and with a savage oath he caught hold of her shoulder and spun her round to face him. ‘Who is Katie?’ he demanded urgently.

His instincts told him that the name Jess cried out in her sleep, a person she denied she knew, was the cause of the raw anguish in her eyes. He glanced at the wooden figurine he was still holding and somehow knew it had a connection to Katie. The little wooden child had been carved with such infinite care, such love.

He stared at Jess, and his gut clenched when he saw her fearful expression. ‘Tesoro,’ he said thickly, ‘do you really think I could ever hurt you?’

She swallowed and shook her head. ‘No,’ she whispered.

Drago released his breath slowly. ‘Tell me about Katie, cara. Who is she?’

In the silent room the ticking of the cuckoo clock on the mantelpiece echoed the painful thud of Jess’s heart. She felt as though she was standing on the edge of a precipice, but when she looked into Drago’s dark eyes she knew suddenly that he would catch her if she fell, that she would always be safe with him. She thought of their wedding the previous day. He had gone to so much effort to make the day special for her, and when he had looked into her eyes while they had made their vows his tender expression had reassured her that she could have faith in him.

‘You’re holding her,’ she said huskily. She gazed at the wooden figurine in his hand. ‘Katie is my daughter.’

More shocked than he had ever been in his life, Drago forced himself to speak calmly. ‘You have a child? Where is she? And who is her father?’ His eyes narrowed on Jess’s white face and the truth hit him as if he had been punched in the stomach. ‘It’s Loxley, isn’t it?’

‘He didn’t want to know when I told him I was pregnant.’ Jess’s voice was a thread of sound. ‘I was seventeen, alone, and terrified about the court case I was facing for the fraud charge. My social worker suggested that it might be best for the baby to be adopted and…and I agreed, because I didn’t know how I would cope.’

Jess closed her eyes and so did not see the conflicting emotions that crossed Drago’s face: anger at the man who had hurt her so badly, and a depth of compassion for Jess that made him pull her into his arms and simply hold her tight.

He stroked her hair, and the gentle caress calmed Jess a little. ‘The baby was born on the fifth of April,’ she said quietly, wanting to tell him everything now—needing to let out the pain she had lived with for so long. ‘She was such a pretty thing. I’d never seen anything so perfect. I called her Katie because it was the prettiest name I could think of, and I took her home because I loved her more than anything in the world and I wanted to keep her.’

Tears slipped down her cheeks. ‘I was living with Ted and Margaret by then, and they were so supportive. But I had no job or money. I loved my beautiful baby, but I knew that she needed more than I could give her. The couple who wanted to adopt her had tried for a baby for ten years and they were desperate to have Katie. They promised they would love her and give her the happy and safe childhood that I hadn’t had. When she was three weeks old I cuddled her and kissed her one last time, and told her that I would never, ever forget her.’

The tears were falling harder now, and as Drago pulled her close she clung to him and her shoulders shook. ‘And then I gave her to the social worker and that was the last time I saw my baby.’

‘It’s all right, tesoro, it’s all right. Let the tears fall.’ Drago did not know what to say. There were no words that would help. So he simply held Jess tight and laid a cheek that was wet with his own tears against her hair.

‘Once a year Katie’s adoptive parents send me a photo of her,’ Jess continued after a moment in a choked voice. ‘They moved to Canada when she was a year old, and they live in a beautiful house in the mountains where Katie is learning to ski. She has a pony, and for her seventh birthday her parents gave her a puppy. They adore Katie, and I can see from the photos that she is happy. She knows she is adopted, and when she is eighteen she can decide if she wants to meet me. Every year I carve a new figure of her in the hope that if we do ever meet I will be able to show her that even though we were apart she was always in my heart.’

‘Why didn’t you tell me about her before?’ Drago said quietly.

‘I was afraid to,’ she admitted. ‘I was scared you would think badly of me because I gave my baby away, and maybe you would think I wouldn’t be a good mother to our child.’

He shook his head. ‘How could I think badly of you? I think you are incredible. Your decision to allow Katie to be adopted was utterly selfless. You put her best interests before your own happiness.’

He dropped his arms to his sides as an agonising realisation became clear to him. ‘That is the reason you agreed to marry me, isn’t it?’ Drago said hoarsely. His throat felt as if he had swallowed broken glass. ‘You chose what you believed to be best for our child over what you wanted—which was the freedom to return to your friends in London.’

‘That’s not true,’ Jess said shakily, stunned by the raw emotion in his voice.

‘It is true. You admitted the day you went on your own to Murano that you felt smothered and missed your independence. You didn’t tell me about Katie because you didn’t trust me—and I understand, cara, I understand why you find it hard to trust, but I hoped I had shown that you could trust me.’

He brushed a hand across his eyes and grimaced when he felt his wet lashes. His heart was being shredded and he was in agony. ‘After what happened with Loxley it’s not surprising that you felt you had no option but to accept my proposal rather than struggle to bring up a child on your own. And so you chose to sacrifice your personal happiness and marry me.’

His voice deepened. ‘You once accused me of keeping you a prisoner, but now I am offering you your freedom. If you want to go back to England, you and the baby, I won’t stop you. All I insist is that you will allow me to support you both financially. And of course I will want to visit our child often. But I have to tell you…’ He took a harsh breath and felt his lungs burn. ‘I have to tell you that the thought of living without you kills me.’

Drago looked into Jess’s eyes, uncaring that there were tears on his face, unable to hide any longer how he felt for her.

‘I love you, Jess. I didn’t ask you to marry me just because of the baby. The truth is I want you in my life, always and for ever. But I was a coward and I didn’t want to admit how I felt, so I used your pregnancy as an excuse to force you to marry me.’

He swallowed as he saw a tear slide down her cheek. ‘Say something,’ he pleaded.

‘You really love me?’ Jess was afraid to believe him—afraid to believe in the happiness that was slowly unfurling inside her.

‘I adore you. I desired you the second I laid eyes on you, and I think I fell in love with you when I caught you trying to escape from the palazzo by climbing down from a second-floor balcony.’ Drago’s patience snapped, and with a groan he pulled her into his arms and threaded his hands through her vibrant hair. ‘Jess, ti amo! Please say you’ll stay with me and let me love you and take care of you and our baby.’

Jess looked into his eyes and saw the intensity of his emotions, and she finally believed.

‘I will,’ she said softly. ‘I love you with all my heart. You stormed into my life, and from that day I knew that you were the only man I would ever love.’ She heard him catch his breath when he saw her love for him blaze in her green eyes. ‘I would trust you with my life.’

‘Tesoro…’ Drago’s voice cracked, but there was no need for words when he kissed her with such tender passion, such love, that Jess felt her heart would burst with happiness.

‘My heart is your willing prisoner,’ she whispered against his lips, ‘and I never want you to set it free.’

‘I’ve thrown away the key,’ he promised as he swept her up and carried her to the bedroom, where he undressed them both and worshipped her body with loving caresses until she gasped his name.

He made love to her with exquisite care, and afterwards, as they lay content in each other’s arms, he pressed his lips to her stomach, where his child lay, and told her that he was the happiest man in the world.