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Something raw and primal shimmered over his face, sending shivers through her body. ‘I’m here because as much as I want to ignore the possibility of what may have occurred, I’ve recognised that only direct communication will serve in learning the truth. So here I am.’
Her heart dipped, pretended to fail then righted itself again. ‘I’m not a mind-reader, Mr Valente. You’re going to have to spell out what you mean.’
The smallest fraction of a smile twitched one corner of his mouth. ‘Of course. As you wish,pequeña.’ He sauntered closer, bringing his scent with him, along with proof that, in some instances, chemistry could be replicated with the same astounding results.
Because she was breathing him in, relishing the uniquely pleasing scent.
‘The last time we were together, we made love for hours in my bed. I have no reason to believe the contraception failed but the experience was more...intense than I expected. With resulting recklessness.’
Heat punched through her at his words, vivid reminders exploding across her brain like the fireworks she sometimes watched from her bedroom window on New Year’s.
‘We would’ve discussed it if you hadn’t chosen to leave without the courtesy of saying goodbye.’ He eyed her with something close to condemnation, a flicker of something almost...harrowing passing over his features before he continued. ‘Now, I’d like to believe that nothing came of it and your silence since then suggests so. But some things I’d prefer not to leave to chance. So I’m here to ask you, Genie. Is there something I need to know? Are you leaving with something that belongs to me?’
‘Everything that is exclusively yours is already signed over to you,’ she returned heatedly, well aware she was evading the question.
Seve Valente was equally astute, perhaps even more than her genius IQ since he had the backing of worldly experience she readily admitted she sorely lacked. So she wasn’t surprised when his eyes narrowed. ‘I assure you, this isn’t the time to play semantics with me. If you have something I have rights to, Genie, now’s the time to confess it. Do you?’
Seve watched nerves take hold of her for a few seconds, but as expected, and as had so intrigued him about this breathtaking creature, she didn’t back down. If anything, she stepped up, her chin angling up so she could flay him with her gaze. It was fiercely enraging—and furiously unacceptable—that the move aroused him to the point of breath-stealing intensity.
‘I have nothing to confess, since I don’t know myself.’
His eyes narrowed. ‘You don’t know? It’s been nine weeks. Which makes your ignorance deliberate. Because you’re hoping that by staying in the dark,I’llgo away?’
Her heating cheeks betrayed her.
He laughed, a low, hoarse sound that made her eyes widen. ‘You’re not that deluded, Genie, surely?’
She bit her lip and the wildness straining through his veins threatened to explode. For weeks he’d dismissed this sensation every time she crossed his mind, steeped in his unshakeable belief that it was only a matter of time before it dissipated. But here he was, confronted by the unwavering truth.
He still wanted Genie Merchant. Desperately. Ferociously.
Once hadn’t been nearly enough.
Hell, not even the prohibitive thought that she might be carrying his child, a notion he’d never wanted but could now not go more than five minutes without obsessing over, could kill his rampant lust for her.
‘I have a plane to catch, Mr Valente.’
Her glib dismissal turned his mood darker, the hollow in his gut at the thought that she mightnotbe pregnant bewildering him now as when she’d issued that absurd condition weeks ago. But she stillhadn’tdenied it. ‘You’ll do well to cooperate with me, Genie.’
‘My social cues may be lacking but that sounds like a threat.’
He smiled. ‘It’s an offer of advice I suggest you take.’
‘I told you I don’t have any news for you, and I meant it. When I learn otherwise, I’ll let you know. That’s the best I can offer. Besides, you weren’t interested in aiding me in having a baby. I’m assuming this is just a cursory interest that will wane with time.’
‘You assume wrong. Refusing to participate in creating a child is one thing. Creating one anyway regardless of circumstances is another.’ And if they had...if his child was, even at this moment, growing in her belly...
Cold sweat prickled the back of his neck as disturbing memories threatened to crowd in again. Was he resilient enough to stop past trauma from staining a new, innocent life?
The question was still quaking through him when she nodded briskly.
‘Understood. Goodbye, Mr Valente.’
For far longer than was polite, he stared at her. Genie didn’t need a string of source code to decipher that she wouldn’t like whatever was brewing in his formidable mind.
But since she didn’t intend to be around for it...
Clutching her bag to her body, she headed for the door, making sure to stay out of arm’s reach of the man who continued to dominate far too much of her thoughts. With every step, she felt his gaze boring deeper into her.
