Italian Mavericks: New Year Temptation

None of her friends or even her parents had known where she’d gone, and his search had proved fruitless. Not even the police could help him. He had immersed himself more deeply into his work, hoping that one day she would get in touch. Finally, though, he’d had to accept that their marriage was over. And he’d worked even harder.

When he’d seen her in his London store he’d been stunned, and when he had looked closely at the little girl he’d known at once that it was his child. He had an old photograph somewhere of his mother at the same age and there was a distinct likeness.

Megan had denied him his daughter and now she was trying to say that he had no rights to her. Lord, she really must hate him. What the hell had he done to her? Of one thing he was sure; he wasn’t going to let her get away with it. She was not going to walk out on him again.

‘I have no choice?’ she questioned now. ‘Believe me, no one, and that includes you, makes me do anything I don’t want to do.’

He admired the way she stood up for herself. Her bright eyes and prickly stance reminded him of an animal defending its young. And that was exactly what she was doing. But Charlotte was as much his as Megan’s.

‘Give me a reason why you don’t want to spend Christmas with me.’ He was sure she had none, except that she no longer loved him. But that was no excuse for depriving her daughter, his daughter. He’d never very much liked children, and he’d always worked over Christmas, but all of a sudden he found himself looking forward to taking a few days off and getting to know this beautiful little girl who kept peeping at him from behind her mother’s dressing gown.

He would shower her with presents, she would want for nothing, and it would be a Christmas filled with all the good things in life.

And after that? asked his conscience.

After that he would keep her with him, of course. It was her rightful place. Both Charlotte and Megan. He would accept nothing less.

‘The reason,’ she told him swiftly, ‘is that Charlotte doesn’t know you. And, to be quite honest, I don’t want her to get to know you. An absentee father is worse than not having one at all.’

‘What do you mean, absentee father?’ he asked sharply. ‘You were the one who walked out.’

‘Because I never saw you, dammit. What sort of a life was that? And I don’t want Charlotte suffering the same way.’

‘You belong with me,’ he growled fiercely. ‘Are you forgetting your wedding vows?’

‘Mummy, what’s the matter?’ Charlotte tugged at Megan’s dressing gown, forcing her to soften her face and look down at her worried daughter.

‘Nothing, sweetheart. I’m just not sure that I want to go and spend Christmas with your—father.’ It pained her to say the word.

‘I’d like to go,’ whispered her daughter, giving him a timid smile.

Luigi felt exultation. The battle was half won. All he needed now was Megan’s acceptance.

‘It looks as though you’re getting your wish,’ she finally managed to choke out. ‘You’ve always been the same, haven’t you, Luigi? Nothing ever stands in your way. How many million have you made?’

The question surprised him. ‘Enough to buy the whole Gerards Group,’ he admitted proudly.

‘What?’ she asked, her eyes narrowing, a deep, incredulous frown dragging her fine brows together. ‘I knew you had ambition but I never imagined that you’d do this well—so quickly.’ Gerards was a department store par excellence. ‘Where are you living these days?’

‘I have an apartment right here in the City where I spend most of the week, but my house is in Sussex.’

‘Did you know I lived here?’

She looked appalled at the very thought and his lips twisted bitterly. ‘Not at all. I was checking that everything was running smoothly when I overheard this little girl asking Santa Claus for a daddy. It was such an unusual request that I watched as she ran back to her mother. You can imagine my astonishment when I saw that it was you.’

‘And so you put your spies on the job and found out where I lived, is that it?’ she demanded, her grey eyes bright now with accusation.

‘Wouldn’t you have done the same if you’d found out that you had a three-year-old daughter whom you knew nothing about?’ he countered harshly. ‘I find it hard to believe that you’ve done this to me.’

Megan shrugged, as if she couldn’t care less what he thought.

‘I think,’ he said, ‘you’d better get dressed and start packing.’

‘Not on your life,’ she retorted. He thought she meant that she wasn’t going to come at all until she added, ‘There’s still a whole week before Christmas. And I have to work for a living. I don’t finish until Thursday.’

Beginning to fear that he was losing the battle, Luigi snapped his dark eyes and shot her a condemning glance. ‘You won’t need to work when you’re back with me. Give it up.’

She looked beautifully indignant. ‘I beg your pardon?’

‘I do not want my wife working, it’s as simple as that. And may I ask where you leave Charlotte while you’re doing whatever it is you do? I hope she’s safe.’

‘Of course she’s safe,’ snapped Megan. ‘We have a crèche; I can be with her at a second’s notice. And I have to work, otherwise how would I keep myself?’

‘You won’t need to; you’re going to live with me,’ he repeated impatiently. ‘It’s your rightful place.’ Now that he’d found out he had a daughter he most definitely wasn’t going to allow her to escape again.

Megan sucked in a harsh breath. ‘You can’t tell me what to do. I’m not one of your minions, Luigi; you’d best remember that. Charlotte and I will come to you on Friday, not a day before. And as soon as Christmas is over we’re back here.’

He decided not to make an issue of it in front of Charlotte, but he wasn’t happy with the situation and he intended to tell Megan so at the very first opportunity. ‘I’ll send a car for you,’ he announced stiffly.

Megan’s chin jerked. ‘There’s no need. Give me your address and we’ll make our own way.’ She held his gaze, her grey eyes, tinged with amethyst, were as cold and belligerent as his.

‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ he snapped. ‘My car will be here at ten. Make sure you’re ready. And, Megan,’ he added warningly, ‘don’t try to run away again.’

‘Mummy, I like my new daddy. I wanted to go with him,’ Charlotte said, pouting, when Luigi had gone.

Megan was peering through the window, watching as he climbed into a sleek black Mercedes. ‘I know you did, sweetheart, but Mummy has to work, I can’t take time off or I’ll lose my job.’

‘Will he come back again?’

‘I don’t think so.’ In fact she prayed he wouldn’t. ‘But it won’t be long before we go to his house.’

‘Where does he live?’

‘I don’t know.’

‘Why don’t we live with him? Laura’s daddy lives with them, and Katie’s.’

Megan turned back into the room and gathered her daughter into her arms. ‘Sometimes, sweetheart, Mummies and Daddies stop loving each other and they live in separate houses because if they didn’t they’d always be arguing.’

‘Did you used to argue with Daddy?’

‘Not really.’

‘So why don’t you live together? I want you to. I want my daddy with me all the time.’

How could she explain to a three-year-old that her father was a workaholic and couldn’t care less about his family? It wouldn’t be the heaven Charlotte thought it would be. Fortunately Jenny phoned at that moment wanting to know if Megan was doing some washing and if so would she throw in her white jeans. By the time their conversation was finished Charlotte had thankfully forgotten her question.

But as far as Megan was concerned her whole day was spoilt. Usually Jenny and her boyfriend lounged about the house and she and Charlotte never had any time to themselves. She had been so looking forward to it. And now all she could think about was Luigi and the fact that they were going to spend Christmas with him.

She ought to have been strong; she should have said no, but how could she deny her daughter what she so obviously wanted? It would be purgatory, she was sure of that. And there was no way on this earth that he could persuade her to move in permanently.

The next four days were sheer hell. She finished her Christmas shopping, not even entertaining the idea of buying Luigi a gift. Why should she? She truly and deeply resented the fact that he was forcing them to spend the festive period with him.

It looked as though another move might be in the cards because she most definitely didn’t want to live the rest of her life with a man who hadn’t an ounce of love in the whole of his body. It wouldn’t even be fair on her daughter to be thrust into such a situation.

Jenny and her fiancé were flying to Paris for Christmas, another reason why Megan had been looking forward to Christmas alone with her daughter, and on Christmas Eve morning it was chaos as they all got ready at once. Finally Jenny and Jake left but Megan had only a short period of breathing space before the car arrived.

She was expecting a polite but indifferent driver and was annoyed to discover that Luigi himself had come to pick them up. Charlotte had been looking through the window and she gave a hoot of delight, though when Megan let him into the house she became suddenly shy again.

‘Are you ready?’ he asked. He was wearing a suit this morning, an immaculate dark grey with a crisp white shirt and a patterned mustard tie. He was the epitome of the successful businessman, gorgeously handsome to boot, and Megan couldn’t stave off a brief flash of the old feelings that had once filled her with such excitement. Had he taken time off work to fetch them? Would he be shooting straight back? It would be good if that were the case because then she and Charlotte could explore his house on their own.

She couldn’t help being curious as to where he now lived. Had he sold the house in Derbyshire or did he still own that as well? He had always said how much he loved the Peak District with its beautiful countryside and interesting little villages.

‘I’m as ready as I’ll ever be,’ she admitted.

‘So you’re still not happy about spending Christmas with me?’ he asked, his eyes hard and enquiring on hers.

‘No, I’m not.’

‘Perhaps I should take Charlotte on her own? Leave you here to—’

‘Not on your life!’

He gave a faint smile of satisfaction. Not the sort that reached his eyes and made them crinkle at the corners, not the sort that had once made her reach out to him and kiss him soundly. Nothing like that. It was a getting-his-own-way kind of smile.

‘Good, then let’s go. Are these your things?’

There wasn’t much, two small suitcases. One with their clothes and one with the presents she had bought for her daughter, already wrapped and hidden away from her prying eyes. She saw him look at them doubtfully. ‘We’ll be coming back for the rest of your stuff after Christmas, I take it?’

‘We won’t be staying,’ she answered evenly. ‘Didn’t I make myself clear?’

‘Perfectly, but I thought you might have changed your mind.’

‘I never will,’ Megan muttered, keeping her tone low for Charlotte’s sake. She didn’t want her daughter to hear her sniping at her new-found daddy. But Luigi heard the determination in her tone and his mouth compressed grimly.

He picked up the two cases and headed out to the car. They looked ridiculously small in his hands and as he tossed them into the boot Megan wanted to cry out that she had changed her mind. She had the strongest feeling that if she went with Luigi now it would change her life for ever.

CHAPTER TWO

MEGAN gasped when she saw Luigi’s house. They’d left the city behind and headed into the Sussex countryside. He had paused at a set of heavy iron security gates to press a remote control and then driven up a winding drive before coming to a halt in front of a mansion that was perched imposingly at the top of a hill. It was a huge grey stone building with massive Ionic columns forming the front portico, and generous wings flanking the main house on either side.

‘This is where you live?’ she asked incredulously. Charlotte was awestruck too, sitting on the edge of her seat and gazing at the building with wide blue eyes.

‘Impressed?’ he asked, a dark eyebrow rising expectantly.

‘It’s not what I imagined,’ Megan admitted, but if he thought she was impressed enough to want to move back in with him he was wide of the mark. ‘And a little bit grand for one man on his own, wouldn’t you say? Unless of course you don’t live here alone?’

Her thoughts immediately turned to his very beautiful PA. Was Serena still with him? Was she a permanent part of his life now? When she had first started working for Luigi he had almost constantly sung her praises. So much so that Megan had begun to get suspicious, especially when his long working hours went on late into the night. He had denied it, of course, but her fears had never gone away and it had been part of the reason she had left him.

‘I’m alone,’ he admitted, much to her relief, because if Serena had been here she would have insisted he take her straight back home. ‘For the moment,’ he added ominously, looking deeply into her troubled eyes.

Megan ignored it and as they approached the house one of the pair of carved oak doors opened and a dark-suited, white-haired man appeared.

‘William, meet my wife, Megan,’ said Luigi with a smile. ‘And Charlotte, my daughter.’

The man inclined his head. ‘Megan, Charlotte,’ he acknowledged gravely. ‘Shall I show them to their rooms, sir?’

‘I’ll do it,’ said Luigi. ‘Tell Cook we’re here and we’d like tea in the drawing room.’

Megan was dumbstruck. This was a rags to riches tale in one giant leap. She’d always known he had excellent entrepreneurial skills, but for him to be able to buy Gerards, as well as a house like this in such a short space of time was beyond her comprehension. How had he done it?

And she couldn’t help wondering what else he had in mind. A top ranking football club? A luxurious yacht? Exotic holiday homes? It seemed as though the world was his oyster these days. Perhaps he even had these things. But she wasn’t disgruntled that she’d missed out because she knew that he would have worked all the hours God gave to get where he was, and that wasn’t the sort of lifestyle she wanted.

She and Charlotte were content in their little house, there was always a sense of satisfaction when she paid her bills and cooked and cleaned and provided a happy, carefree environment for her daughter. She wouldn’t like to live here, not permanently. It wasn’t a home; it was a showpiece.

There wasn’t a speck of dust anywhere in the enormous entrance hall, or the shallow, wide staircase they were now ascending. Nothing was out of place. Urns of flowers spilled their heady perfume into the air, while marble statues stood in alcoves and paintings by old masters adorned the walls.

They followed Luigi through long corridors, finally coming to a halt at a suite of rooms, which she presumed to be in one of the wings. He pushed the door open and Megan walked into a blue carpeted room with a four-poster bed draped in matching blue and two armchairs near the window upholstered in cream damask. The curtains at the tall windows were in a cream and blue fabric. It was all very elegant but not her style and Megan felt a faint shudder run through her.

Luigi appeared to be waiting for her to say something, but when she didn’t he opened an adjoining door, revealing a further bedroom filled with every imaginable toy possible. Charlotte’s eyes widened and she ran inside. ‘Are these for me?’ she asked in wonderment.

‘It’s your room,’ he told her, ‘for as long as you want it.’

‘How dare you do this to her,’ hissed Megan accusingly as soon as Charlotte had disappeared inside. ‘It’s nothing short of blackmail. I’ve not changed my mind. When Christmas is over we’re out of here.’

Luigi’s lips curved upwards in a knowing smile. ‘We’ll see about that.’

Meaning over his dead body. Well, that was what she’d do, kill him if necessary. Actually she wouldn’t do anything so drastic, but there had to be a way to make him change his mind.

‘I’m serious, Luigi,’ she told him coldly.

‘And I’m serious about you moving back in with me. There’s nothing to stop you.’

‘Except that I don’t love you any more.’

His eyes narrowed suspiciously. ‘Is there someone else?’

‘There could be.’ Why should she tell him that there’d been no one since the day she’d walked out on him? He didn’t deserve to know anything.

‘Tell me, is there?’ he demanded angrily, and he took her by the shoulders and almost shook her. ‘Because if there is,’ he warned, ‘I’m taking Charlotte from you. I won’t allow another man to bring up my child.’

Megan was shocked by the ferocity of his tone. ‘You’re in no position to do anything, so take your hands off me. What I do with my private life is no longer any concern of yours. Charlotte is being well looked after and that’s all that need concern you.’

He let out a whoosh of angry air. ‘Charlotte needs her father, her biological father. If you’re not happy with that then get out. But Charlotte stays.’

Megan couldn’t believe he was saying this. A flash of red fury filled her eyes and she lashed out with both fists, raining them on his chest, battering him until she ran out of energy. In response he wrapped his strong arms about her and held her close.

Amazingly Megan felt a stirring of her senses. Lord, this was the last thing she wanted. It had to be anger, a turbulent rage flooding every nerve and tissue. It couldn’t be anything else. Could it?

She wrenched away and glared furiously. ‘You’re a swine, Luigi Costanzo. I can’t believe I let myself be bullied into coming here.’

‘Bullied?’ he challenged. ‘Ask your daughter if she was bullied. She’s been deprived, that’s what. Why else would she ask for a daddy for Christmas? It’s appalling what you’ve done to her, and I intend to make up for the missing years, have no fear about that.’

A cold chill stole through Megan’s veins. ‘Is that a threat?’ she demanded, standing very straight and rigid and glaring at him through stony eyes.

‘If you care to take it that way.’

‘What exactly are you saying?’

‘That even if you don’t want to stay I’m keeping Charlotte.’

This was what she had feared, and the very thought filled her with a dread so deep that the air around her thickened until she found it difficult to breathe. She dragged in huge painful gulps of air. He was serious, and he had the clout to do it. And, unfortunately, it left her with no alternative but to move in with him herself.

But she wouldn’t let him know yet that he had her over a barrel. She would fight him every inch of the way. Once Christmas was over, when he’d discovered how much of his time a young child demanded, he might change his mind. Megan felt sure that he had no real comprehension of what it was like to bring up a young, extremely active daughter.

‘Bold words, Luigi.’

‘I mean them.’

‘And have you perhaps thought about Charlotte? She might not want to stay here. It’s not exactly what I’d call a homely place.’

He frowned. ‘You don’t like it?’

Megan shrugged. ‘It’s imposing, I’ll admit that. But it’s a statement. It says, look at my lifestyle, look how wealthy I am. It doesn’t say that you’re happy or comfortable.’

‘I don’t have time to be comfortable.’

‘Precisely. And that is what your daughter would require. Time. Your time! How would you give her that when you’re busy making your millions?’

‘It could be arranged.’

‘Arranged,’ sneered Megan. ‘You make it sound like a business proposition. It wouldn’t work, Luigi, and you know it. When Charlotte said she wanted a daddy she meant a full-time one, not someone who would try to fit her in when he could.’

Dark eyes flashed hotly in her direction but he was prevented from saying anything else by Charlotte running back into the room. ‘Mummy, come and look what I’ve got.’

It was sheer madness on Luigi’s part, decided Megan, as she studied the mounds of toys stacked in Charlotte’s room. Did he think that going over the top like this would make up for the missing years? He really had no idea what a child needed. And the more she thought about his intention to claim Charlotte the angrier she became.

‘Didn’t you say something about tea?’ she asked him sharply, wanting to get out of this room and the obscene number of gifts he had loaded on his daughter.

‘Wouldn’t you like to unpack first? Or shall I ask—’

‘I’ll do it,’ she snapped, wondering whom he was going to suggest do the job for her. It sounded as though he had a whole army of servants at his beck and call. Was he really happy with this kind of lifestyle?

She backed out of the room and snapped open the locks on her case. It took less than two minutes to hang up their few clothes. The other suitcase with the presents in she left safely fastened. And when she presented herself in Charlotte’s bedroom again he was still standing where she had left him. A real father would have got down on his knees and played with his daughter, but not Luigi. He was content to watch; he didn’t know how to play. Lord, it made her so mad that he’d cocooned himself in a world where money was the prime factor.

They made their way back downstairs to the drawing room. Again it was carpeted in blue, with display cabinets filled with fine pieces of porcelain. There were two very uncomfortable looking, square-armed chairs and a matching sofa, and on a rosewood tea table in front of them was the tea he had ordered.

The china was delicate, the pot covered by a cosy, and tiny biscuits were arranged on a plate. Hardly the sort of refreshment one would offer a three-year-old, thought Megan, but there were three cups and three small plates, so it looked as though she was expected to join them.

Charlotte ate most of the biscuits but she refused the tea. ‘Can I have Coke?’ she asked politely.

Megan felt quite amused when Luigi was forced to confess that he didn’t have any and Charlotte settled for milk instead.

‘We could go shopping,’ said Charlotte innocently. ‘Me and Mummy always go when we run out of anything.’

‘I have to go back to work in a minute,’ confessed her father.

Typical, thought Megan. Nothing had changed. But actually it was a relief when he’d gone and she and Charlotte could explore the house together. Her daughter ran from room to room, visibly impressed by the size of the place, but it made Megan angry. Was this what success meant to him? Was he trying to buy happiness? If so he was failing dismally.

As far as she was concerned it was a loveless place and he must rattle round in it. It wasn’t a home and she couldn’t imagine Charlotte being happy here either. And what annoyed her even more, there wasn’t a single Christmas decoration in sight. Why the hell had he invited them for Christmas if he wasn’t going to celebrate it?

Megan didn’t expect Luigi home for several hours and was surprised when he turned up in the middle of the afternoon with a huge Christmas tree tied on top of his car. Charlotte whooped with delight and all three of them spent the next couple of hours adorning it with the garlands and baubles and strings of flashing lights that he had also brought home.

It reminded Megan of the first Christmas they’d spent together as a married couple. She’d been deliriously happy. They had a home of their own by then and Luigi had walked in on Christmas Eve with a tree, much as he had now. It had taken a long time to dress it because each time she stretched up to hang a bauble he had slid his arms around her and kissed her.

They had called it their loving tree, but as each consecutive Christmas came he worked harder and harder, often not coming home until late on Christmas Eve, and by then Megan had dressed their tree herself. And slowly the magic had gone out of it.