Boss Meets Baby(56)

She turned away and stared out of the window, but instead she saw her reflection staring back—wide eyed and lost, wearing a crumpled linen suit. Her hair was escaping in wild curls from the tightly pulled-back style she’d tried to impose on it that morning, when she hadn’t had time to do it properly—but there was nothing she could do to fix that now. She smoothed her hands automatically over her creased jacket, then took a deep, steadying breath before turning back to face him.

‘I’m leaving now.’ She was proud at how level her voice sounded, despite the turmoil she was feeling inside.

‘No. You’re not leaving.’ Vito’s voice was cold as stone. ‘You haven’t thought this through yet.’

‘There’s nothing to think about,’ Lily said. ‘You’ve made it very clear what your opinion of me is. Why would I marry you?’

‘For your child’s sake,’ he said. ‘Do you want your child to grow up illegitimate? Without a father?’ He walked forward and put his hands on her upper arms, holding her in place to emphasise the importance of his words. ‘Do you want your baby to be somebody’s dirty little secret?’

Lily stood stock-still and stared up at Vito. A horrible feeling of nausea was rising up through her, and his hands felt like cold inhuman restraints.

‘Why would you say such a horrible thing?’ Her voice trembled with emotion as she spoke. Vito’s words were too close to the bone. Too close to her own insecurities about her childhood.

‘Because you know what that would be like for your child,’ he said. ‘All your life, you’ve known what it’s like to be Reggie Morton’s dirty little secret.’

She stared at Vito in horror.

For a moment she forgot to breathe. Her heart forgot to beat.

Then all at once she had to escape—get out of there as fast as she could. She whirled away from Vito automatically,— her hands flying up in alarm as she swayed against the window.

Her mind was spinning as her gaze plummeted dizzyingly— down into the street far below. They were so high up that nothing looked real—tiny stick-figures, toy cars and model trees were hazy images that were almost out of sight. It was like she was in some kind of awful nightmare.

Then suddenly her vision blurred and she felt herself start to fall into blackness.

‘Lily!’

Vito’s voice cut through the haze, dragging her back to the harsh reality of her situation. Hands like steel gripped her arms to prevent her from falling, then virtually— lifted her away to the huge leather chair by the desk.

‘Lily.’ Vito dropped down onto one knee in front of her. For a moment she almost made the mistake of thinking he was concerned about her—then as her eyes came into focus she saw that his expression was just as cold as before. He had simply adopted the best position to get a good look at her. And probably to make sure she was looking at him, paying proper attention to what he had to say.

‘You’re extremely pale,’ he said. ‘Have you eaten today?’

‘Of course I’m pale.’ Lily spoke through gritted teeth. Her stomach was churning horribly, and she really thought there was a danger that she might be sick. ‘I’ve had a lot of nasty shocks this morning.’

‘Have you eaten?’ he insisted. ‘What would make you feel better?’

‘Getting away from you.’ She stood up so quickly that Vito rocked back on his heels, but the rapid movement was a mistake. A wave of nausea rolled through her again, and she clung to the desk for support, feeling her head start to spin.

‘Sit down,’ Vito barked. ‘I’m not letting you leave so that you can faint in the street—if you even get that far.’

One hand was on her shoulder, pressing her back into the chair, and the other snatched up the phone on his desk. Lily only half listened as he reeled off a list of instructions—but— she understood that he was ordering food and drink.

She closed her eyes, breathing deeply. As much as she thought she hated Vito right then, she couldn’t bear to disgrace herself by being sick in front of him. She already felt vulnerable enough, and that would just be the final humiliation on what was already turning out to be the worst day of her life so far.

Only a few minutes seemed to pass before she heard the elevator doors open, followed by Vito’s quiet footfall on the thick grey carpet as he returned across the room. She opened her eyes to see him setting a tray down on the desk.

‘Drink this,’ he instructed, holding out a large glass of iced water.

She took the water silently, unable to speak for a moment, as the memory of him preparing iced water for her on her last day in Venice flashed through her mind. He might not be the tender, concerned lover she had believed him to be—but he still knew what she liked.

In fact, apparently he knew more about her than she had realised, as she thought about the heartless way he had thrown her troubled childhood in her face.

‘You snooped into my background.’ She looked at him accusingly, expecting to see at least a hint of embarrassment— pass across his shuttered features. But there was nothing. He appeared as unmoved as ever.

‘Of course I did. You were living with me—a thorough background-check was mandatory.’ His voice was matter-of-fact. ‘You had potential access to all kinds of sensitive material.’