A Ring For Vincenzo's Heir. Jennie Lucas
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Plus, Switzerland was the perfect place to raise a baby. Scarlett tucked her hands in her jacket pockets as she walked along the slender road. Gravel crunched beneath her soft boots as she took a deep breath of crisp mountain air smelling of sunlight and pine trees. For a brief moment, she closed her eyes, turning her face to the sun. Her heart was full of gratitude.
Then she heard a snap in the forest ahead of her.
She opened her eyes, and the smile dropped from her face.
“Scarlett,” Vin greeted her coldly.
He stood ahead of her, wearing a long black coat, a sleek dark suit and a glower. She saw a sleek sports car and a black SUV parked on the road behind him. Three bodyguards lined the vehicle, an impenetrable wall of money and power.
She stumbled back from him. He was on her in seconds, grabbing her wrist.
“Don’t touch me!” she cried.
His grip tightened, his eyes like black fire. “You stole from me.”
“I paid all your money back—with interest!” She glanced back desperately toward the guarded gate, but it was too far. Johan would never see her. And how could one security guard take on Vin Borgia and at least three of his men?
“I wasn’t just talking about the money.”
She put her free hand protectively over her belly. “You’re not my baby’s father. I—I lied!”
“I think you’re lying now.”
Scarlett tried to pull her wrist from his grip. “Leave me alone!”
“I do not understand your behavior.” He wrenched her closer. “Most women would find it fortunate to be pregnant by a billionaire.”
“A billionaire who destroys people?” She shook her head. “You don’t just take companies—you ruthlessly crush and annihilate your rivals. Their marriages, their families, their very lives!”
Silence fell in the Swiss forest. The only sound was the call of birds.
Then he spoke, his voice low and flat. “So you did some digging on the internet, did you?”
“Why do you think I never tried to contact you after our night together?” She took a deep breath. “I had a good reason to leave you that first morning. A nurse called and I was needed at the Falkner mansion. I hoped to see you again. Until I looked you up online.” She glared at him. “If you think I’m going to let my precious baby be raised by a man who takes pleasure in other people’s pain—”
His lip twisted contemptuously. “If you think I’m such a bastard, why did you ask for my help?”
“I was terrified of Blaise.”
“And now you’re terrified of me?”
“After I interrupted your wedding, I thought maybe I should give you a chance. My own father wasn’t perfect, but I loved him.” She narrowed her eyes. “Then you made your intentions clear.”
“What are you talking about? My intention to take responsibility, marry you and be a good father?”
“If I honestly believed we could be a family, and love and trust each other, I’d marry you in a second. But I’d rather raise my baby alone than with a man who might hurt me!”
“Hurt you?” he said incredulously. “I’ve never hurt a woman in my life!”
“With your cold heart? I bet you’ve hurt plenty.”
He relaxed. “Oh. You mean emotionally.”
“Yes, emotionally,” she retorted. “You don’t think that counts?”
“Not really, no.”
“And that’s why I don’t want to marry you.”
He abruptly released her wrist, his eyes strangely alight. “I’ve never killed anyone, no matter what the rumors say. I never poisoned someone or sabotaged an engine. Nor did I hire someone else to do it. A reporter just happened to notice that during some points in my business career, some men have coincidentally had problems.”
“You expect me to believe that? It was pure coincidence?”
“It’s the truth. A man was discovered in an affair while doing business with me. It was hardly my fault his wife took offense and dumped poison in his morning whiskey. Another man had a heart attack from stress during my hostile takeover. He could have walked away at any time but chose to fight and take the risk. Another man chose to start a feud with his sister when she sold her shares to me. Their family was ripped apart, yes—but again, not my fault.”
“Then why was Blaise so afraid of you? And you expected him to be!”
“I know the rumors about me. They’re not true, but people believe them. I’d be a fool not to take advantage of it.”
“And you’re no fool.”
“No.” His jaw tightened. “So I don’t appreciate that you’ve made me look like one. Twice.”
She turned her head back again toward the distant gate of the chalet. She wished she could run. But she’d become so heavily pregnant and slow—
“I want a paternity test,” Vin said coldly. “You have an appointment today with a doctor in Geneva.”
“I’ve got my own doctor in the village, thank you.”
“Dr. Schauss has a world-renowned clinic. She was obstetrician to a princess of Sweden and has delivered half the babies of the royal houses of the Persian Gulf. She’s well qualified.”
“I’m not gallivanting off to Geneva just because you want some extra-fancy doctor.”
“The choice isn’t yours to make.”
“And if I refuse?”
Vin’s eyes flickered. “I am acquainted with Kassius Black, the owner of this chalet.” He looked up at the imposing roofline over the trees. “What would he say if I told him that your friend, his trusted housekeeper, had knowingly hired a fugitive and thief to live here, and you were both conspiring to steal from his houseguests this coming ski season?”
“You wouldn’t,” she gasped. “It’s not true!”
He shrugged. “You are a proven thief and liar. It could be true. But the point is, are you willing to repay your friend’s kindness in giving you a job by causing her to lose hers?”
“You are despicable.”
His face hardened. “No, cara. You are despicable. I have done nothing but seek to fulfill my responsibility. I am trying to do the right thing, the honorable thing. It is you who are the thief.”
“I repaid every penny!”
“Yes, with interest. At an annualized interest rate of thirty percent. The money you repaid yielded a better return than many of my other investments. So it was profitable.” He gave a slight, ironic bow. “Thank you for stealing my wallet.”
“Oh?” she said hopefully. “So you’re not—”
“Stealing my child is something else.”
Scarlett’s brief hope faded. What could she do? She couldn’t let Wilhelmina be hurt for her loyalty and kindness.
The clinic in Geneva. That could be her escape route. Clinics had back doors. She could sneak out before her blood was even drawn.
Scarlett let her shoulders sag, scuffling her feet in the gravel, hoping she looked suitably downhearted. Her heart was beating fast. “You win.”
“I always do.” He gave a quick motion to the bodyguards waiting outside the black SUV with dark tinted windows, then turned back, his voice brisk. “The trip to Geneva will take two hours by car, and