‘Perhaps this is a good time to explain that I won’t walk away from my child.’

      ‘First things first. I need to confirm the pregnancy. Then we’ll discuss the best way to handle the situation after that.’ She rose, the dame at her most grand. ‘Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to go home.’

      He did mind. He minded more than he could express.

      Chase relaxed back against his chair and studied Emma, while making a swift analysis. She didn’t work, mainly because she didn’t have to. She’d been raised with a silver spoon in her mouth. And she was the last person he’d ever have chosen as mother to his child.

      The irony didn’t escape him. But unlike his father, Chase wouldn’t allow Emma to give birth to a bastard, to force his son or daughter to deal with the sort of snobbery he’d dealt with his entire life.

      Whether she realised it or not, he was going to take control of both her and her pregnancy.

      Starting now.

      About the Author

      USA TODAY bestselling author DAY LECLAIRE is described by Mills & Boon Books as ‘one of our most popular writers ever!’ Day’s tremendous worldwide popularity has made her a member of Mills & Boon’s ‘Five Star Club,’ with sales of well over five million books. She is a three-time winner of both a Colorado Award of Excellence and a Golden Quill Award. She’s won RT Book Reviews Career Achievement and Love and Laughter Awards, a Holt Medallion and a Booksellers’ Best Award. She has also received an impressive ten nominations for the prestigious Romance Writers of America’s RITA^® Award.

      Day’s romances touch the heart and make you care about her characters as much as she does. In Day’s own words, ‘I adore writing romances, and can’t think of a better way to spend each day.’ For more information, visit Day on her website, www.dayleclaire.com.

      Day Leclaire writes for Mills & Boon^® Desire^™.

      To Charles Griemsman, editor extraordinaire, who

      worked so long and hard on this project and added

      immensely to the concept. Thank you for everything

      you’ve done to put together such a fun and exciting

      series! It’s been a true pleasure working with you.

      Dear Reader,

      I have to say it’s been an absolute pleasure being the launch author for Modern^™ Romance’s latest continuity series, THE TAKEOVER. This particular series is overflowing with hot, sexy, amazing characters and exciting plots, and is written by some of my favourite authors. It’s been wonderful working with them on this project.

      One of my favourite parts of this story was the interaction between the various characters. I adored how the hero and heroine clashed over all that kept them apart, while moving from passion to a deep, unwavering love. I loved the way they came to terms with the heroine’s pregnancy … together. And I really loved how they dealt with the various problem people in their lives in order to resolve the differences between them.

      What could be better than reading about wonderful characters who find solutions to their problems and all the while discover something we all want in our own lives … the love of a lifetime!

      Sit back, curl up with something hot and delicious (whether a beverage or a person—it’s your choice!) and spend a few lovely hours falling in love. I thoroughly enjoyed writing this book and hope you’ll enjoy reading it.

      Warmly,

       Day Leclaire

      Claimed:

      The Pregnant

      Heiress

      Day Leclaire

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      One

      She was here.

      Chase stood in the shadows of the portico just outside the banquet room of the Vista del Mar Beach and Tennis Club. The room glittered and sparkled with both people and jewelry, the people in full cocktail-party mode, the jewelry, too, he supposed. Dead center in the middle of all that glitter and sparkle stood Emma, the woman he’d spent a single incredible night romancing, seducing … and then losing.

      While dance music played in the background, voices rose and fell, determined laughter taking the edge off the rocky undercurrents that flowed around the room. Ostensibly the cocktail party celebrated the impending sale of Worth Industries to Chase’s stepbrother and closest friend, Rafe Cameron. But old grudges and past secrets stirred restlessly beneath the surface. As his brother’s money manager and one of those involved in negotiating the purchase of Worth, tonight marked the start of a rough and treacherous passage.

      Chase studied Emma while he sipped a thirty-year-old Laphroaig that his brother had stashed for those not interested in the free-flowing champagne. The single-malt Scotch whiskey went down as smooth as silk. Almost as smooth as Emma’s skin. She had a good portion of that skin on display, the pearl-gray silk dress she wore clinging to curves he’d do just about anything to uncover once again.

      Her dress appeared vaguely Grecian in style, one shoulder bared while the silk draped from the other shoulder across her breasts. It hitched in a clever knot on her hip before flowing to just beneath the knee. Continuing with the Grecian theme, she wore toothpick-heeled sandals with straps that wrapped around narrow ankles and trim calves. With her ice-blond hair swept into an elegant chignon, she looked like a goddess. Like a player.

      His eyes narrowed. Which begged the question … what the hell was she doing here? Since the guests were all connected in one way or another to either Cameron Enterprises or Worth Industries, she was, too. Either that, or she was the “plus one” gilded on to a guest’s invitation.

      Maybe he’d wander over and find out. And maybe while he was finding out, he’d ask her why the hell she disappeared the way she had, leaving him ripping apart all of New York City in a fruitless search for the mysterious Emma With No Last Name. Before he could, Ronald Worth, soon-to-be ex-owner of Worth Industries, joined Emma and placed a proprietary hand on her bare shoulder.

      Chase straightened, his mouth settling into a grim line. No way. Surely she wasn’t the arm candy of Rafe’s nemesis. Oh, hell, no. She couldn’t possibly be sharing a bed with that sixtysomething-year-old bastard. But based on the way good ol’ Ron lowered his head and whispered a loving comment in her ear and the affectionate manner in which she leaned into him and kissed his cheek, that was precisely what she was. Son of a—

      “Don’t even think about it.”

      Chase glanced over his shoulder at the sound of Rafe’s voice, his pale blond hair giving away his location in the darkness. “What?”

      “The Princess. I see you staring at her, and I’m telling you. Don’t even think about it. That one will eat you up and spit you out just for the sheer pleasure of it.”

      Chase fell silent, a tactic he’d learned during those rough, early years when he’d gone to live with his father. He turned to face his stepbrother, careful to conceal the anger surging through him. “You know her?” he asked mildly enough.

      “Emma Worth, aka Spawn of Satan.”

      Chase lifted an eyebrow, relief replacing his anger. So she wasn’t Ronald Worth’s mistress, but his daughter. “I gather Worth is cast in the role of Satan?”

      Rafe’s grin lacked even a shred of humor. “What can I say? It comes naturally to him.”

      “And the daughter? What do you know