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“Some people know, don’t they?” Christos finished quietly. “They sense they might not have as long as they’d wish. They live life all the more passionately because of it.” As Luca had—loving, cheerful, generous to a fault, all the way to the end.

Rose regarded him silently for a long moment. Her expression was soft with sorrow and sympathy, but she also looked resolute. “This baby won’t bring your brother back,” she told him. “It won’t ever fill that need, that ache, in the way maybe you think it will.”

Her words stung, but only because she didn’t understand the need this baby would fill. The future of his family…and the debt he owed to his mother and father. To his whole heritage. “And yet you are having a baby,” he pointed out with a small smile. “For that very reason.”

“My parents died eight years ago,” she replied swiftly. “This is a carefully thought-out decision on my part after years of living on my own.” She drew a quick, steadying breath. “I know it might seem like a reckless thing to do, but I have thought about it. Whereas you are still in the throes of that first grief. It’s completely different.”

“Maybe,” he allowed, because he knew she had a point there, “but you still are looking for something, yes? Something we are looking for, too.” She looked torn, and he decided to press his advantage. “But please, allow me to explain further.” He gestured to the sofa. “If you will sit and stay a little longer? There is more to say, I promise you, that might help you understand why this is so important to my family and me.”

She sighed, resigned. “I really don’t think there is,” she told him. “But all right. For the sake of your brother, I’ll listen.” She returned to the sofa and sat down, back straight, hands folded in her lap. “So, what more is there?”

* * *

Rose stared at Christos Amanti, waiting for his answer. She should have kept walking out that door, she knew, but she was a sucker for a sob story. And Christos was right. They were both looking for something. Whether she could give it to him was another matter entirely. Still, she’d talked herself down from the ledge of psychological thrillers and horror movies. As intimidating as he was, Christos seemed like a reasonable man, maybe even a kind one, and if he’d been going to kidnap her, he surely would have already. And yet she knew she shouldn’t really trust him. Not yet, anyway, and maybe not ever.

“I told you our family vineyard has been run by an Amanti for over four hundred years,” he began.

“Yes,” she confirmed. And while she understood the importance of legacy, of history, she wasn’t willing to sacrifice the whole of her life to it, especially in regard to a family she’d never heard of before today. Surely Christos Amanti, reasonable man that he was, could understand that.

“What I did not tell you was that, due to my grandfather’s will, the land is entailed,” Christos continued. His expression was somber, his long, lean fingers steepled together. “He was concerned about the integrity of our family line, and he made sure through his will that the property and vineyard both have to be passed down to a blood descendant.” He paused before adding quietly, “And if that is not Luca’s child, then it will be a distant cousin, someone we barely know and have no ties with, no familial loyalty. They will get it all—the house, the full estate, the vineyards, the winery business.”

“The winery business…” Rose stared at him in astonishment. “Surely in this day and age, that’s impossible? There have to be some legal protections—”

“There are various elements that would remain under our control,” Christos allowed, “as we have put what legal safeguards we could in place. But the name, the reputation, the vineyards themselves, along with the estate where my brother and I grew up, where my mother still lives…” He shook his head. “My grandfather’s will is watertight in regard to all that. Unfortunately.”

Rose fell silent. Part of her was genuinely appalled, and part of her wanted to say this wasn’t her problem. And yet it was, because this baby nestled inside her was an Amanti, whether she liked it or not. This child had a legacy, an inheritance, even if she would rather he or she didn’t. She knew it wasn’t something she could simply dismiss out of hand.

A sigh escaped her, long and low. “I appreciate your position,” she told Christos. His mouth tightened as he gave a swift nod. “And how much is at stake,” she added for good measure. “But you’re asking a lot of me—”

“And you would get so much in return,” Christos interrupted her swiftly. “Financial security, complete stability, opportunities for your child that you cannot even imagine…”

“A life for my child I can’t even imagine,” Rose fired back. “He or she didn’t ask for this, and neither did I.” She thought of the dream she’d nurtured, of her and her baby, cozy together in her little apartment. A unit, a family, a happy little life. That was all she’d wanted. It was all she still wanted.

Except…would she even be able to keep her apartment without a job? And what about health insurance? That had been provided with her employment. Her stomach swooped as she considered just how precarious her position was. She didn’t have enough money saved to go without working for very long, and she definitely needed health insurance to have this baby. Many women in her shoes would be thanking their lucky stars for an opportunity like this…if that’s really what it was.

Christos Amanti might seem so very reasonable, but she still didn’t know him.

“How do I know you are who you say you are?” she demanded.

He looked surprised before giving a shrug and saying, “Search my name online. Go to the Nobile Wines website. Anything.” He sounded so utterly confident that it seemed petty to do as he suggested. Then another thought suddenly occurred to her, and Rose straightened where she sat.

“Wait a minute…what about you?” she demanded. “You’re the older brother, after all. You can have children. The heir you say you need. It’s not just up to Luca, or to me and this baby.” It was so obvious, she couldn’t believe she hadn’t thought about it before. “Why not you?”

Christos stared at her for a long moment, his mouth tight, the planes of his face drawn into harsh yet starkly beautiful lines. A beat went by, and then another. Rose wondered if he was going to reply at all.

Then he did.

“Because,” he told her, his voice terse and low as he continued to stare at her resolutely, his eyes dark with a pain she didn’t understand until he spoke. “I can’t have children.”

Chapter Five

Christos braced himself for the inevitable look of pity to flash across Rose’s face, and so it did. He kept his expression even, neutral, although everything in him had gone taut, resisting every aspect of this moment—the revelation, the humiliation, the awful, awful pity. He hated having to admit to such a weakness, a deficiency in his being that had led to the disappointment of his parents and their hopes of an heir from him, a future.

He’d never forget the look on his father’s face when he’d realized his oldest son and heir would never be able to continue the family line as was his indisputable duty. His father had never looked at him the same way again. As for his mother’s obsession with the baby in Rose’s womb…that was because of his failure. Because he could not provide an heir.

“I’m sorry,” Rose said at last. “How did…” She trailed off, no doubt wondering about the sensitivity of such a question, whatever it was she’d been thinking of asking. How did this happen? How did you find out? How could a man like you be infertile in the first place? He’d been asked them all, asked himself them all. And then done his best to make peace with the reality…that he would never be a father. More than that, he would never marry. He couldn’t deny a woman the right to a child of her own, and he wasn’t willing to open himself to any possible rejection, not after Tiana.

“I had mumps when I was fourteen,” he told Rose tersely. “In very rare cases, it can lead to infertility in males. Usually it is temporary. According to the consultants, mine is not.” He forced a thin, humorless smile. “As it happened, I was extremely unlucky.”