LITMIR.BIZ

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here you are, having pushed your way in.”

      “I didn’t push my way in. Luciana was more than happy to let me in.”

      He would never fire his housekeeper. And the unfortunate thing was, the older woman knew it. So when she had let a hysterical girl into his home, he had a feeling she considered it punishment for his notorious behavior with the opposite sex.

      Which was not fair. This little creature—who looked as though she would be most at home sitting on a sidewalk in the vicinity of Haight-Ashbury, playing an acoustic guitar for coins—might well be some man’s unholy punishment. But she wasn’t his.

      “Regardless, you’re not drawing this out and making a show, and I have no patience for either.”

      “It’s your baby.”

      He laughed. There was absolutely no other response for such an outrageous statement. And there was no other way to remove the strange weight, the strange tension that gripped him when she spoke the words.

      He knew why it affected him. But it should not.

      He could imagine no circumstance under which he would touch such a ridiculous little hippie. And even so, he had just spent the past six months devoted to the world’s most obscene farce of a marriage.

      And though Ashley had been devoted to the pleasure of both herself—and other men—during their union, he had been faithful.

      A woman with a small baby bump, barely showing beneath that skin-tight top, claiming to be carrying his child could be absolutely nothing but ridiculous to him.

      He’d had nothing at all but six months of fights, dodging vases flung in a rage by his crazy wife—who seemed to do her best to demolish the stereotype that Canadians were a nice and polite people—and then days on end of ridiculous cooing like he was some kind of pet she was trying to tame again after a sound beating.

      Little realizing that he was not a man to be tamed, and never had been. He had married Ashley to make a point to his parents, and for no other reason. As of yesterday, he was divorced and free again.

      Free to take this little backpacker in any way he wanted to, if he so chose.

      Though, she would find the only place he wanted to take her was out the front door, and back onto the streets she had come from.

      “That, you will find, is impossible, cara mia.” Her eyes went round, liquid, shock and pain visible. What had she imagined would happen? That he would fall for this ruse? That she would find her salvation in him? “I can see how you would build some strange fantasy around the idea I might be your best bet for help,” he said, attempting to keep his tone calm. “I have a reputation with women. But I have also been married for the past six months. So whatever man is responsible for knocking you up in a bar crawling with tourists and never calling again? He is not me, nor will you ever con me into believing it is. I am divorced now, but in the time I was married I was faithful to my wife.”

      “Ashley,” she said, blinking rapidly. “Ashley Bettencourt.”

      He was stunned, but only momentarily, by her usage of his wife’s name. It was common knowledge, so of course if she knew about him, she would know about Ashley. But if she knew he was married, why not choose an easier target?

      “Yes. Very good,” he said. “You’re up on your tabloid reading, I see.”

      “No, I know Ashley. She’s actually the person I met in a bar crawling with tourists. She’s the one who knocked me up.”

      Renzo felt like he’d been punched in the chest. “Excuse me? None of what you’re saying makes sense.”

      The little woman growled, lifting her hands and gripping her head for a moment before throwing them back down at her sides, curling her fingers into fists. “I am... I am trying. But I thought you would know who I was!”

      “Why would I know who you are?” he asked, feeling at a loss.

      “I just... Oh, I should never have listened to her. But I was... I am just as stupid as my dad thinks I am!” She was practically wailing now, and he had to admit, this farce was inventive even if it was damned disruptive to his day.

      “Right at this moment I’m on your father’s side, cara, and I will remain so until you have offered me an explanation that falls somewhere short of being as stupid as my ex-wife getting you pregnant.”

      “Ashley hired me. I was working at a bar down by the Colosseum, and she and I started talking. She was telling me about the issues in your marriage and the trouble you were having conceiving...”

      The words made his gut twist. He and Ashley had never attempted to conceive. By the time they’d gotten to a place where they might discuss giving him an heir to his empire, he’d already decided that no amount of shock value made her worth it as a wife.

      “I thought it was weird, her talking to me like that. But she came back the next night, and the next. We talked about how I ended up in Italy and how I had no money...” She blinked. “And then she asked me if I would consider being her surrogate.”

      Pressure built in Renzo’s chest until it exploded. English deserted him entirely, a string of vulgar Italian flowing from his lips like a foul river. “I don’t believe it. This is some trick that bitch has put you up to.”

      “It’s not. I promise you it isn’t. I had no idea that you didn’t know. No idea at all. It was all very... What she said... It made sense. And...and she said it would be easy. Just a quick trip to Santa Firenze, where the procedure is legal, and then I just have to...be the oven. I was supposed to get paid to make the bread, so to speak, and then...well, give it to the person I...baked it for. Someone who wanted the baby desperately enough to ask for help from a stranger.”

      Panic tore through Renzo like a wild beast, savaging his chest, his throat. Making it impossible to breathe. What she was saying was impossible. It had to be. Mostly.

      Ashley was...unpredictable. And God knew how that might manifest. Especially since she’d been enraged by the divorce—made simple because of their marriage in Canada, which she had felt was calculated on his part. It was, of course.

      But she wouldn’t have done this. She couldn’t have. Still, he pressed.

      “It made sense to you that a woman pursued surrogacy, and claimed to have a husband whom you never saw?”

      “She said that it would be impossible for you to come to the clinic. She could only do it because she wore large sunglasses and a hat. She said that you were far too recognizable. She said you were very tall.” She swept her hand up and down. “You are. Obviously. You don’t blend. Not even sunglasses would disguise... You know what I mean.”

      “I know nothing. It has become apparent to me over the past few minutes that I know less than I thought. That snake talked you into this. How much did she pay you?”

      “Well, she hasn’t given me everything yet.”

      He laughed, the sound bitter. “Is that so? I hope that final price is a high one.”

      “Well, the problem is that Ashley said she doesn’t want the baby anymore. Because of the problems that you’re having.”

      “Problems?” The question was incredulous. “Does she mean our divorce?”

      “I...I guess.”

      “So, you did some cursory research on us, and then no more?”

      “I don’t have internet at the hostel,” she said flatly.

      “You live in a hostel?”

      “Yes,” she said, her cheeks turning a darker shade of pink. “I was just passing through. And I ran out of money. Took a job at a bar, and I’ve been here longer than I anticipated. Then I met Ashley about three months ago.”

      “How far along are you?”

      “Only about eight weeks.

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