Italian Mavericks: New Year Temptation. Robyn Grady
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into her chair.
Charlotte chatted away to her father and Megan was able to take a firm hold of her dithering emotions. This was ridiculous. How could she live with Luigi and follow her own self-imposed rules feeling as she did? Why not share his bed? Because, came the severe answer, you’ll be doubly hurt if it doesn’t work. And that had to be the truth.
Not until Edwina had brought in their breakfast did Megan question Luigi. ‘I thought you’d be at work. It’s a quarter past eight. If I remember rightly you’re normally at your desk by seven-thirty.’
‘So you didn’t believe me when I said I was going to change?’ he asked with a mocking lift to an eyebrow.
His hair was neatly combed, his jaw clean-shaven and he smelt heavenly. For the life of her she couldn’t remember the name of his cologne, but he had always used the same one for as long as she’d known him. To her it was an aphrodisiac and as she inhaled it she closed her eyes and dreamt of him making love to her.
‘Is something wrong?’ asked Luigi sharply.
‘What? I’m sorry. No! Nothing! And, no, I didn’t believe you. But I’m glad to see that you’ve kept your word.’ He was wearing a white silk shirt, open at the throat, and she had an insane urge to touch his chest with her fingertips, to feel the strength of that muscular body, to—
‘Megan?’
Again he brought her back to the present.
‘Are you sure you’ve had enough sleep? You look as though you’re in a trance. Shall I take the day off and look after Charlotte while—?’
‘No!’ she exclaimed strongly. ‘There’s nothing wrong with me. I was thinking about something, that’s all. Mmm, this bacon smells good.’
As they ate she was aware of him watching her, and when Charlotte had finished and run away into the kitchen to ‘help ‘Wina’ he said, ‘Something’s wrong, isn’t it? I hope you’re not having second thoughts, or should I say third? Because, make no bones about it, this is now your home.’
‘I know,’ Megan said quietly. ‘You don’t have to rub it in. I have no intention of leaving, not yet anyway.’
‘By the way,’ he said, as he poured himself yet another cup of coffee, Megan shaking her head when he offered her one, ‘I’ve employed a nanny for Charlotte.’
‘You’ve done what?’ That really did wake her up and Megan bounced her hands off the table, her eyes flashing furiously. ‘What have you done that for? I’m perfectly capable of looking after my own daughter.’
‘Of course you are,’ he said evenly. ‘You’ve proved that, but wouldn’t it be nice to have more time to yourself?’
‘No, it wouldn’t,’ she slammed. ‘You’d better ring her right now and tell her she’s not wanted. You have no idea what a child needs. It’s certainly not a stranger looking after her; her parents’ time and love is far more important.’ She was beside herself with rage. How could he do this without consulting her? Quite easily, came the answer. He was used to giving orders, used to organising. But she was not one of his employees and he wasn’t going to tell her what to do.
‘I happen to think that it’s important for us to spend more time together,’ he said, visibly containing his patience. ‘We have a lot of catching up to do, Megan.’
‘And how can we do that when you work all the hours God gave?’ she snapped.
‘Because I shall make time,’ he retorted harshly, pushing himself to his feet and glaring down at her.
‘Ha! That will be a first,’ she thrust back. ‘How long will it last, I wonder? One day? Two? A whole week at the most?’ And she too sprang up from her chair.
‘Things are different now I have a daughter,’ he rasped, dark eyes glittering. ‘I’m a family man now and I intend to take care of my family.’
‘And hiring a nanny is part of that care?’ she yelled. ‘What if Charlotte doesn’t like her? What if—?’
‘We’ll give it a try,’ he interjected tersely, his fingers clenching as he fought for control. ‘And that’s the end of it.’
Megan flounced out of the room. Arguing with Luigi when he was in this mood got her nowhere, but she was fiercely determined not to give in. When the nanny arrived she would tell her in no uncertain terms that she wasn’t needed. Luigi could say what he liked; Charlotte did not need a nanny. Not when she was at home all day to look after her. If Luigi wanted to spend more time at home he would have to put up with Charlotte as well, he wasn’t getting rid of her that easily.
Was that it, she wondered, for all his fine words he found an excitable, energetic daughter too daunting? He didn’t like his routine upset. A nanny would solve the problem. Another case of using the power of his money to get what he wanted. Megan spat fire as she sought her daughter in the kitchen. How dared he dictate? How dared he try to take over her life?
It was evening before she saw him again and her anger hadn’t subsided. As soon as Charlotte was in bed she began her attack. ‘I hope you’ve cancelled the nanny?’
‘Why would I do that?’ A harsh frown dragged his thick brows together.
‘You mean you didn’t listen to a word I said?’ Megan’s eyes flashed her fury. In fact her whole body grew stiff with rage and she battered her fists against his chest. ‘Just because you can’t handle Charlotte it doesn’t mean I need help.’
In response he pulled her hard against him, his arms binding her so that she could no longer fight. ‘I am doing this for us, not Charlotte.’ His dark eyes pierced her own, sending a frisson of awareness through her despite the anger that she felt—or perhaps because of it! ‘We are the ones who need time,’ he asserted strongly. ‘We have a whole four years to catch up.’
‘And you think that handing over our daughter to a complete stranger will help?’ she questioned hotly. ‘As far as I’m concerned there’s nothing to talk about. I’m still convinced that I did the right thing.’
Luigi snorted his annoyance. ‘If it were just you and me then I could perhaps understand. But I’ll never be able to forgive you for depriving me of my daughter’s first years.’
‘I doubt you’d have seen much of her,’ she scorned, struggling in vain to free herself. ‘In case you’ve forgotten, your continual absence was the reason I walked out.’
‘Dammit, Megan, why do you keep throwing that at me?’ he charged, tightening his hold. ‘What I want to know is why you never made me aware of it?’
‘Oh, I did, believe me, many times,’ she yelled into his face, her eyes flashing dramatically. ‘You wouldn’t listen, that was the problem. You were so wrapped up in your entrepreneurial world that nothing I said sank in. You assumed that making money was high on my list of priorities too. Well, let me tell you—’ Her words were cut off by Luigi’s mouth closing over hers. And in that moment Megan knew that she had lost.
LUIGI found it hard to accept that Megan was against him employing someone to look after Charlotte. It was the perfect solution. They needed to spend more time together, they needed to iron out the problems that had sent her fleeing; how could they do that with a three-year-old constantly demanding their attention?
He’d thought hard about their situation and had made up his mind that he would delegate more in order to give Megan his undivided attention. Admittedly he would like to be involved with the problems with the new software, and he’d like to keep his eye on the running of Gerards. But in truth he had staff who were more than capable of dealing with any situation.
He didn’t pay good wages for nothing.