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Matteo wasn’t built to love. She knew that now. The newspapers that declared him heartless and ruthless were right.
What a fool she’d been to believe that their similar upbringings had destined them to be together. As though both having suffered the misfortune of being orphaned meant they would live happily ever after.
How could she explain to him that this option had been the best for everyone?
No words came to mind. Nothing. She had thought about it long and hard, though. She’d agonised over what to do. And this had made complete sense.
It still made sense.
‘I don’t want to raise a child with you,’ she said with a determination that was somewhat belied by her quivering lower lip.
‘That is not your decision.’
Skye pulled a face. ‘We’re divorced, remember? Or as good as.’
Matteo’s mouth formed a grim line. ‘There will be no divorce.’ He reached into his pocket and pulled out the papers, tearing them in half with satisfaction, along with the contract for the hotel. The whole deal was off. This baby changed everything.
Skye’s eyes followed the soft ripping of the soggy paper then flew to his face. ‘You will not be flying out of Italy, taking my child with you.’
‘You can’t stop me,’ she snapped, wrapping her arms around her slender body, holding herself tight.
‘Like hell I can’t.’ He spoke coldly. ‘If necessary I will take this matter to the family courts today.’
Skye’s mouth dropped open. ‘You...can’t stop me from leaving. No court would make a mother remain in a country that she’s not even a born citizen of.’
He lifted a hand, silencing her with the simple gesture. ‘Perhaps not. But you had better believe I will have every reporter available covering the story. Our child will know, from as soon as he can read, that I fought like a dog for him. That I wanted him—and you wanted simply to take him from me.?
? He leaned closer, his face only inches from Skye’s. ‘I will fight for him with my dying breath. You will long for the days when we were married, rather than being in constant custody disputes in court.’
She shivered, his threat making her stomach roll. ‘You wouldn’t do it. You’re too private.’
‘There is nothing I wouldn’t do for my child.’
‘Then let-let me raise him,’ Skye stammered. ‘Let me raise our baby, because that’s best for everyone. And you can be...involved,’ she conceded, because she could clearly see she had no other option.
‘How involved?’ Matteo demanded.
‘You can visit. Several times a year. I suppose I can bring him to Italy when he’s older. We’ll work out a schedule.’ She said the word as though it was the miracle cure they desperately needed. ‘Christmas, birthdays, just like every other divorced couple.’
‘Your parents weren’t together,’ Matteo said with cold disbelief. ‘You told me that you hated feeling pulled from one to the other. Yet you’d suggest it for our child?’
Skye froze. He was right, of course. Though Skye hadn’t spoken much about her upbringing, she’d obviously given enough indication for him to glean the truth of her loneliness.
‘We’ll do it better than they did,’ she said softly.
‘We won’t do it that way at all.’
Disbelief scored her heart. ‘You can’t make me stay married to you. That’s insane.’
‘Insane is what you planned to do. Insane is planning to hide your pregnancy and baby from me. Hell, Skye, I cannot believe you thought, for one moment, that I wouldn’t find out.’
‘How would you have?’ she snapped. ‘This was just bad luck. If I hadn’t passed out...’
His eyes glittered with anger. ‘Yes?’
Skye’s cheeks were pale. ‘You would never have known. Ever.’
‘Because you were going to disappear into thin air and hide from me?’ He moved closer, his expression menacing. ‘And what if you met another man? Would you have married him? Raised my child with him? Would you have let my child, the Vin Santo heir, grow up with no idea of who he is? From where he comes?’
