The Unwanted Wife (Unwanted #1)(64)
“She’s got a pretty healthy appetite, doesn’t she?” he muttered in fascination, his voice alive with adoration. “Does that hurt?” Theresa shook her head slightly in response and snuck a glance up at her father, who was unused to being so completely ignored and clearly did not like it.
“Jackson, we’ll discuss the details of the broken contract at a later date. You can have back the vineyard, and you’re more than welcome to keep the damned money, but your daughter’s mine, as is the beautiful baby she’s given me. Sue me for breach of contract if you must.”
“I don’t want that useless piece of land back, we could renegotiate the terms…” Her father sounded almost desperate, and Theresa suddenly lost patience with both men.
“Stop talking about me like I’m an expensive piece of meat,” she seethed. “Take your sordid business elsewhere. I want it nowhere near my baby. Father, I’ve given you my conditions.”
“You’re so brave now, aren’t you?” her father sneered. “But if push came to shove, I wonder how strong you’d be?”
“I’m stronger than you’ll ever know, father.” She smiled serenely. “Years of constant rejection from the people you love can leave you with pretty tough skin. You can’t hurt me anymore. I don’t want or need your version of love. I find that I no longer want or need you in my life.”
“Yes, so brave now that you have your loving husband’s support.” The man’s words were laced with bitterness. “But while he may love your baby, Theresa, he’ll never love you. He has Francesca Delvecchio, and, yes, he’s Italian enough to want that baby of yours, so it’s just a matter of time before he finds a way to get her away from you.” Theresa blinked, her fear showing, as her father presented a scenario she had never once considered. She couldn’t prevent herself from glancing over at Sandro, whose face was dark with fury, his entire body coiled with tension. He looked like he was about to tear her father’s throat out.
“I think it’s time you left, Father,” she whispered painfully, and her father sneered one last time before he pivoted on his heel and strode from the room.
“Don’t you dare believe what he just said, Theresa,” Sandro whispered rawly, focusing his glare on her. “Don’t you dare!”
“I know that you love her, Sandro,” she whispered. She wasn’t sure if she meant the baby or Francesca, and she could tell by the look of uncertainty on his face that he wasn’t sure either and so he was at a loss as to how to respond. “Would you try to take her from me?”
“No!” he practically shouted, and the baby startled. Theresa soothed her with slight rocking motions until she started suckling again. He reined in his temper and gentled his voice with visible effort. “I wouldn’t do that to you. I’d never hurt you like that.”
“But you want her…” Again the ambiguity and his frown deepened.
“If you mean the baby, then yes, of course I want her. But it’s a package deal for me. I want both of you. You’re my family. I don’t want a life separate from yours. I want our life. The one we’ve been building together these last few months.”
“What do you mean? All we ever talked about was divorcing,” she asked in confusion.
“I’m referring to all those nights together. The movies, the games, the great conversations…What the hell was that if not relationship building? We know that we’re great in bed. But we’d never really tried all the other stuff that couples do. The last few months, we did do those things. We may have done things a little backward, cara, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t have a solid marriage like Rick and Lisa’s. The only one of us who’d ever mentioned divorce was you. I don’t bloody want a divorce. I want us. Together.”
“I think,” she whispered so softly he could barely hear her and had to lean in closer to make out her words, “I think that you’re a wonderful man, Sandro. A decent man, and because of that, I know that you’d do anything to make things right. You’d make any sacrifice to give the baby and me a normal life. But I can’t let you do that. I can’t let you keep forfeiting the things you want just because you think it’s the right thing to do.”
“This again,” he muttered impatiently. “I went from demon to saint in pretty short order, didn’t I? I want you to listen to me very, very carefully, Theresa, because I won’t be saying this again. I’m not a saint. I’m being very selfish when I say that I want you and our baby with me and when I say that I want us to be a family. I have duties back in Italy, people I love and need to take care of. But right now I don’t give a damn about any of that because I want to spend my every waking moment with you and this baby. This life I’ve built with you, it’s the only one that matters to me anymore. So please stop telling me what you think I really want and try listening to me for a change.”
Theresa stared up at him uncertainly. Dare she believe that he meant this? That it wasn’t just a really good act? She cleared her throat, trying to formulate a response, but he leaned over and kissed her gently, stilling the words.
“Don’t say anything, Theresa. Just give me a chance.” He looked like a man perched on a ledge with her as his last chance of redemption. How did she resist that? How could she? “I know I’m asking you to make yourself vulnerable again, and I’m so sorry for that. But I want you to trust me. Just one more time…allow yourself to trust me.” She bit her lip before taking a deep breath and stepping out onto that ledge with him.