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“And had I known about him I would have been been there for him! I would have been there from day one.”
“And your wife?” She asked coldly. “Would Arabella have been with me while I delivered the physical proof of your infidelity? Would you have wanted to raise our son with your bride? A woman who would surely never welcome him, would always hate him? How could I expose him to that uncertainty?”
“You think I would ever do anything to harm my son?”
“You’re threatening to take him from his own mother!” She said. “That would be devastating to Joshua!”
“I am giving you an option,” he corrected. “Marry me, be my wife, and the mother of our child.”
“And if I don’t, I’ll lose him,” she concluded the ultimatum.
His eyes narrowed and then he nodded.
“How can you think that’s even an option?” She asked, and the same thoughts that had been chasing her around all day were at her heels. She could ask Apollo for help. Money would be no issue – they’d fight hard for custody. But she doubted even Apollo would be a match for Xavier Salbatore – not when the latter’s son was at stake.
“I told you this morning, this is your choice. So?”
Her hands were sore from hitting him and when she looked down, she saw knuckles that were red, skin that was white from being clenched so tightly.
“You don’t want to marry me,” she said in an effort to stall for time.
“I will do whatever is necessary for our son.”
“So? Then live in London and spend time with him.”
His expression was flint hard. “You seem to be under the mistaken impression this is a negotiation.”
He was implacable; unyielding.
“You’re saying you refuse to listen to reason?”
“I’m saying I refuse to compromise.” He was unapologetic about the fact.
“How would it work?” She heard herself ask and immediately regretted that weakness for how it sounded like acceptance.
“The license will take thirty days to obtain. My assistant will organize the details. You and Joshua will move in with me tomorrow, so that by the time we wed, we have the act of tolerating one another perfected.”
“Not bloody likely,” she refuted, needing to cling onto some form of defiance. “No way am I moving in with you so soon! Josh will need time to adjust to all of this.”
His eyes narrowed. “You will do whatever is best for our son, as will I.”
“I am talking about what’s best for him!” She insisted. “He doesn’t even know who you are! You think it’s fair to upend his entire life just because you’re angry?”
“I am beyond angry,” he assured her with ice-cold determination. “He will adapt; he is a child.”
“You don’t know anything about him!”
“And whose fault is that?”
She glared at him.
“We are the adults in this situation. Our job is to do what is right by our son. That means putting on a united front in his presence.”
She swallowed. “And beyond that?” her cheeks were pale, her eyes huge, her lips swollen from the way she’d been biting down on them.
“Ask what you really mean,” he suggested, moving closer, so she caught a hint of his alpine, woody fragrance and almost buckled in two.
“You can’t seriously expect me to be your wife in every way…” she said, wishing she’d sounded cold at the thought.
