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What had happened? Had the man seduced Minerva? Had she seduced him? Was it a piece of truth buried in the outrageous story she had made up about taking advantage of Dante while he was drunk?
Minerva was twenty-one, but he couldn’t imagine that she had a very long or intense history with men. For as long as he’d known her she’d been unattached, and she had never seemed overly interested in that kind of thing.
He was basing that off her total lack of efforts when it came to making herself up. Her sister was a makeup mogul. If Min wanted to improve herself she could have easily done it.
But then, the fact that she had come back with a child, the fact that she had claimed for all the world that he was the child’s father, and the fact that he had never guessed she would do any of those things made him acutely aware of the fact that he didn’t actually know her that well at all.
“Your mother will want to speak with you,” her father said.
“I imagine Maximus will want to speak with me,” Dante said.
Robert gave him a long look. “Yes. I imagine. Though as you are marrying her...” He appraised him slowly. “You do know, I suppose, that this will put King Industries in your hands.”
“It had occurred to me.” There was no point pretending it hadn’t. Robert knew him too well.
“Had the timing been different, I would’ve suspected you of nefarious behavior, but you never inquired about the child, or made any effort to see if it was yours.”
“It didn’t occur to me the child could be mine,” Dante said. “And no, I didn’t plot this.”
“No,” Robert agreed. “A plot of yours would’ve been much neater.”
Dante grinned ruefully. “Well, at least we both agree on that.”
“I will leave you for the time being. But Dante, the wedding must be planned sooner rather than later. Now that it is revealed, you will move to make an honest woman of her. I do not want speculation to go on. Our official statement will be that fearing you wouldn’t be receptive, Minerva kept it from you, and the moment you found out...”
“It’s not a story,” Dante said. “It’s the truth.”
Then Robert turned and walked out of the study, leaving the two of them alone again.
“You’re a fool, Minerva. Did you not think that me marrying you was inevitable?”
“It never occurred to me that my father would force the issue. He was so... Lackadaisical about me being a single mother. About me returning with a stranger’s baby.”
“Yes, because he cannot force a man he’s never met to act with honor and integrity. But he would expect it for me. Surely you must have known...”
“I didn’t think about it,” she snapped. “When Carlo texted me, I panicked. I did the only thing I could think to do. I jumped in front of the cameras. I don’t regret it. Even now.”
“Good. I’m glad to hear that you have committed to lying in the bed you’ve made.”
“How long do you suppose we’ll have to stay married? It seems to me that we should be able to have Carlo dealt with in a timely fashion, and even if we don’t... Well, if we can keep up the facade for a long enough amount of time, then surely he’ll fade into the background eventually.”
He regarded her closely. “Cara, I’m Catholic. Divorce is out of the question.”
