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He looked at her for a long moment. ‘I’ll have to check what you say is true.’
‘Of course.’ She seized on even the slightest chance that he might do this. ‘And then will you help him?’ Rose thought she’d get down on her knees if she had to.
Zac was silent for so long that she felt the spark of hope wither inside her... Perhaps she’d misjudged him. He wouldn’t unbend. Not for her—not for anyone.
She was about to admit defeat and retreat when he nodded once, curtly. ‘If your father truly is ill and he played no part in this, then, yes, I will help him. Now, tell me. Everything.’
For a moment the relief Rose felt was almost overwhelming. And then she registered Zac’s impatience. He was waiting for her to speak.
She struggled to formulate her thoughts, aware that she was on borrowed time. ‘When I found out about my father I was upset. Your grandmother found me crying in one of the bedrooms. At first she was annoyed that I wasn’t working, but then when I explained why I was upset she seemed to get interested...’
Rose knew she didn’t have to go into the minutiae. Zac got it. His grandmother had seen an opportunity and seized it.
‘She presented me with a plan to go to a function and deliberately contrive to meet you. She spoke about seducing you...getting pregnant...but in all honesty I was so distraught that half of what she said barely made sense. And then, when it sank in, I truly believed that the chances of the plan actually working were slim to none. I have no defence for even contemplating what she proposed for me to do except to say that I was panicking and she was telling me that she would pay for my father to have the operation he needed. She had the contracts and non-disclosure agreements drawn up by the next day... Even as I signed them I knew what I was doing was wrong, but I was so scared for my father.’
Zac was still giving nothing away with his expression.
Rose forged on. ‘I spent most of that evening we met hiding in the hotel bathroom. I realised I couldn’t do it. It was crazy. I was totally out of my depth. And I was terrified of actually meeting you... I hoped you’d left, that I could tell your grandmother it hadn’t worked...’
Zac’s gaze dropped to Rose’s waist and he said, in a voice stripped bare of expression, ‘But we did meet.’
Rose put a hand over her belly. ‘Yes.’
He looked back up. ‘And then we met again—and not by chance.’
She flushed with shame. ‘No, not by chance. But not by my choice either. After I left you that first night I wrote a note to your grandmother telling her I couldn’t go through with it, including my resignation. I went home to Queens and resolved to try and look after my father myself, even if I had to work five jobs... But then she came and found me a week later... She told me you’d been looking for me—’
Rose faltered, afraid of Zac’s reaction to that, but he remained stony-faced.
She went on, ‘She reminded me that I’d signed legal documents and that if I didn’t go through with the plan she’d sue me. I was afraid she’d do even worse things, like fight me for custody.’
Zac almost exploded. ‘Anyone would know that she wouldn’t have a leg to stand on in a court of law if it came to fighting the rights of the biological mother.’
Rose went so hot with instant humiliation that she could feel sweat break out all over her body. And anger gripped her too, surging forth like water from a dam that had broken after too much pressure.
‘How on earth was I supposed to know that? I’m a maid, Zac. I left high-school at seventeen with no qualifications. When one of the world’s richest women stands in front of you with a signed document, it’s pretty hard not to believe that she has the power to annihilate you. Plus she made me sign a non-disclosure agreement—which is why I believed I couldn’t tell you anything.’
Rose was breathing hard after her outburst, and realised her hands were clenched into fists at her sides. She consciously relaxed them and tried to regain control. Zac’s slightly stunned expression was no comfort. She was shaking from the adrenaline rush of anger and of defending herself for the first time to this man.
But then the expression on his face closed again, became obdurate. As much as Rose wanted to crawl somewhere safe and lick her wounds, she knew she had to keep going—bare herself completely.
She lifted her chin. ‘The truth is that as much as she was coercing me to comply with threats of legal action... I wanted to see you again. It’s the most selfish thing I’ve ever done, going back to your apartment with you that day, but I thought...I believed that I could have that moment...that as long as I made sure you used protection...’
She fell silent under the weight of the evidence that all her good intentions hadn’t protected her—or them.
As if reading her mind, Zac said, ‘As interesting as all of this sounds, I’m inclined to see the fact that you did get pregnant as a somewhat calculated part of the plan, no matter how reluctant you say you were to go along with it.’
Rose fought down a feeling of despair. It had always been a long shot that Zac would believe her—but at least he’d listened and had agreed to take care of her father. That had to be enough for now. She didn’t see the point in telling him that she’d been face to face with his grandmother that afternoon. He would find out soon enough.
He folded his arms. ‘If I do this and help your father, how do I know you won’t turn around and fight me for custody of my child?’
She felt incredibly weary now. ‘Because I’m putting my father’s life in your hands. And I’m telling you that I want my baby to have your name. Your rightful name. I’ll sign anything you want.’
Zac’s mouth twisted. ‘I think we can safely say that you’ve proved how adept you are at that, at least.’
His phone rang in his pocket then, and he cursed as he looked at his watch and then back to her.
‘I need to go to this function. I’m giving the keynote speech.’ He reached into his inside jacket pocket and held out a card. ‘Call my assistant and give him all your father’s details. Once I’m satisfied that he’s an innocent party I’ll arrange for his care to be put in my name.’
