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‘I meant it,’ Lorenzo said, looking straight into her cloudy green eyes so that she would know he was sincere. ‘I expect us to remain married.’
‘I can’t do that,’ Chloe said. ‘I can’t stay in a loveless marriage, and I won’t bring Emma up in an environment like that.’
‘How will you care for her?’ Lorenzo asked. ‘Yesterday you pointed out that you have no job. Your savings are gone and your credit card is at its limit.’
‘I’ll manage,’ Chloe said hotly, flashing an annoyed look in his direction. She’d known the day before that it was a mistake to let him know about her precarious financial situation—and here he was, less than twenty-four hours later, throwing it in her face.
‘How?’ Lorenzo pressed. ‘It doesn’t sound like an ideal starting point.’
‘It’s really none of your business,’ Chloe said, but suddenly she knew that he wouldn’t care about that. As far as he was concerned he had a right to know everything—and he would keep digging until he found out. ‘The rent on Liz’s cottage is paid till the end of next month, and I’ll get a job at a temping agency in a nearby town,’ she said. ‘Gladys, Liz’s neighbour, will watch Emma till I can afford proper childcare. It won’t be long until I’m up on my feet again.’
‘It hardly sounds ideal,’ Lorenzo said. ‘Wouldn’t you rather Emma grew up as part of a family, with you to look after her, and other children to play with?’
‘Other children?’ Chloe repeated, appalled by his assumption and the added barb of emotional blackmail. ‘I haven’t agreed to stay in this marriage, and already you have me producing children like a brood mare. Is that all I ever was to you? A convenient baby-making machine?’
‘A baby-making machine is not a mother,’ Lorenzo said harshly. ‘I chose you because I knew you would be an excellent mother. You care deeply about family and about commitment. You have values that are important to me, which I consider paramount in the mother of my children. And the fact that you are willing to fight so hard for your friend’s baby proves that fact.’
‘How can you talk about values, when you don’t even believe in love?’ Chloe gasped. ‘Do you expect me to give up my values? Give up on my right to be loved?’
‘Are you going to give up on your chance for a family—on Emma’s future happiness and security—to chase an illusion that doesn’t exist?’ he demanded.
‘It does exist!’ Chloe exclaimed, springing to her feet and glaring down at him.
‘Really? I’ve never seen proof,’ he said, standing up so that once again he towered over her. ‘You said you loved me—then just minutes later you ran out on me. Somehow giving up on our marriage so easily doesn’t seem like an expression of love.’
She stared up at him, suddenly realising that she didn’t have the heart to continue arguing. She’d tried to offer him an olive branch, but all he could do was throw her love for him back in her face.
‘I want a genuine commitment from you,’ he said, already pushing her into a decision she wasn’t ready to make. ‘An absolute assurance to pledge yourself to this marriage and the family we will have together.’
Chloe blinked in surprise, almost unable to believe what she was hearing. But deep down she knew Lorenzo was serious—that he was making her a genuine proposition. It fitted completely with everything he had ever said since their terrible argument at the palazzo when the truth about his feelings had come out.
There was so much to think about. In her heart she longed to remain Lorenzo’s wife—but at what cost? And at what cost to Emma and their future children? Both she and Lorenzo had grown up in broken homes and she knew first-hand how devastating that could be. But would a loveless marriage be better than that—even if the parents stayed together?
Chloe did not know the answer. And she would not give in to emotional blackmail. She couldn’t let Lorenzo strong-arm her into a decision that would affect the rest of her life.
‘I need your answer,’ he pressed, looming over her.
‘Well, you can’t have it,’ she replied, with a voice that sounded calmer than she felt. Then she turned and headed back to the house.
Lorenzo thrust his hands into his pockets and watched Chloe walking away, feeling the muscles across his shoulders pull even tighter.
He wanted Chloe to remain his wife. Just how much he wanted it shocked him.
CHAPTER FIVE
‘TAKE as much time as you need,’ Mrs Guest said as she ushered Chloe out into the garden. ‘It’s a lovely afternoon and a bit of fresh air might make you feel more like yourself. Emma will be fine with me—she’s a pleasure to look after.’
‘Thank you.’ Chloe smiled reassuringly at the housekeeper. She knew that she’d worried the older lady by getting so upset earlier in the day. ‘I really am feeling better now. I just need a little bit of time alone, and I’d like to have a look around the garden. It truly is lovely.’
‘I’ll be here if you need anything
,’ Mrs Guest said.
The sunshine was warm as Chloe walked away from the house across the main lawn. She’d taken another shower, but when she came to get dressed again she just hadn’t had the energy to be creative, so she’d simply slipped her old jeans back on with a fresh T-shirt.
Her main reason for accepting Mrs Guest’s kind offer to watch Emma was that she desperately needed time alone to think. Lorenzo had given her an ultimatum: she must decide whether to stay married to him and make a true commitment to their future together—or leave him, and be left all alone with Emma.
He had been right when he’d said that Chloe was not in an ideal situation to bring up a baby on her own, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t do it. At least she had the type of office skills that were always in demand—and as long as she could earn sufficient money to pay the rent by the end of the month, she would have somewhere to live.
