LITMIR.BIZ

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the following evening—when the gaping chasm between them had been all too apparent.

      Cruz had welcomed a tall and stunningly beautiful brunette, kissing her warmly on both cheeks. As the woman had passed her fur coat to Trinity, not even glancing in her direction, Trinity had caught an expressive look from Cruz that had spoken volumes—telling her to forget what had happened. Telling her that this woman was the kind of woman he consorted with, and whatever had happened between them must be consigned to some sordid memory box, never to be taken out and examined again.

      That was when she’d been unable to hold her emotions in, utterly ashamed that she’d let her crush grow to such gargantuan proportions that she’d let him actually hurt her. And that was when Rio, Cruz’s half-brother, who had also been a guest that night, had found her outside, in a hidden corner of the garden, weeping pathetically.

      He’d come outside to smoke and had sat down beside her, telling her to relax when she’d tried to rush back inside, mortified. And somehow...she still wasn’t sure how...he’d managed to get her to open up, to reveal what had happened. She hadn’t told him of her burgeoning feelings for Cruz, but she probably hadn’t had to. It must have been emblazoned all over her tearstained face.

      ‘Tell me what your price is for signing away your guardianship of my nephews?’

      Trinity blinked and the painful memory faded.

      As she focused on his words she went cold all over. ‘What did you just say?’

      Cruz snapped his fingers, displeasure oozing from his tall, hard body. ‘You heard me—how much will it take, Trinity, for you to get out of my nephews’ lives, because I don’t doubt you have a price.’

      Horror curdled her insides at the thought of being removed from Mateo and Sancho. Only that morning Sancho had thrown his arms around her and said, ‘I love you, Mummy...’

      She shook her head now, something much hotter replacing the horror. ‘There is no price you could pay me to leave the boys.’

      ‘I am their blood relation.’

      ‘You’ve only met them a handful of times!’

      Cruz snorted. ‘Are you trying to tell me that you could care for them more than their own flesh and blood? You’ve just been using them as a meal ticket. And now that Rio’s left nothing behind they’re your only hope of keeping your nest feathered—presumably by extorting money out of me.’

      Trinity gasped. ‘I would never—’

      Cruz lifted a hand. ‘Spare me.’

      Trinity’s mouth closed as she struggled to process this. All her protective hackles were raised high now, at the suggestion that she would use her stepchildren for her own ends. She would never leave them at the mercy of a cold-hearted billionaire who didn’t even really know them, in spite of that flesh and blood relationship.

      Impulsively she asked, ‘What qualifications could you possibly have for taking on two toddlers? Have you ever even held a baby? Changed a nappy?’

      Cruz’s jaw clenched. ‘I do not need qualifications. I’m their uncle. I will hire the best possible staff to attend to their every need.’

      His gaze narrowed on her so intently she fought against squirming under it.

      ‘What possible qualifications could you have? When you came to work for me you’d left school after your A-levels with not much work experience.’

      His remark went right to the heart of her and stung—badly. It stung because of the way she’d longed to impress this man at one time, and had yearned to catch his attention. It stung because of the very private dreams she’d harboured to further her education. And it stung because in all the foster homes where she’d lived through her formative years she’d instinctively found herself mothering any younger foster children, as if drawn to create what she didn’t have: a family.

      She pushed down the hurt at Cruz’s sneering disdain now, cursing her naivety, and lifted her chin. ‘I’ve been caring for them since they were a year old. No one is qualified to be a parent until they become one. From the moment I married Rio I became their step-parent, and I would never turn my back on them.’

      ‘Very noble indeed. But forgive me if I don’t believe you. Now, we can continue to go around in these tiresome circles, or you can just tell me how much it’ll take.’

      He gestured to the table and she looked down to see a chequebook.

      ‘I will write a cheque for whatever you want, Trinity, so let’s stop playing games. You’ve done it. Your impressive act of caring for children that aren’t your own is over. You can get on with your life.’

      The sheer ease with which Cruz revealed his astounding cynicism angered Trinity as much as it shocked her.

      She balled her hands into fists by her sides. ‘I am not playing games. And those boys are as much mine as if I’d given birth to them myself.’ It hit her then—the enormity of the love she felt for them. She’d always known she loved them, but right now she’d lay her life down for them.

      The thought of Cruz taking the boys and washing his hands of them the way Rio had done—abdicating all responsibility to some faceless nanny—made her feel desperate. She had to try and make him believe her.

      She took a deep breath. ‘Please listen to me, Cruz. The marriage wasn’t what you think... The truth is that it was a marriage of convenience. The twins were primarily the reason I agreed to it. I wanted to protect them.’

      Trinity could feel her heart thumping. Tension snapped between them.

      Then, showing not a hint of expression, Cruz said, ‘Oh, I can imagine that it was very convenient. For you. And I have no doubt that my nephews were front and centre of your machinations. I know my brother was no saint—believe me, I’m under no illusions about that. But, based on his first choice of wife, it stretches the bounds of my credulity that he would turn around and marry a mere nanny, for convenience’s sake. He was a passionate man, Trinity. You are a beautiful woman. I can only imagine that you used every trick in the book to take it beyond an affair between boss and employee. After all, I have personal experience of your methods. But, believe me, the only “convenience” I see here is the way you so conveniently seduced your way into his bed and then into a registry office, making sure you’d be set for life.’

      Trinity ignored Cruz’s ‘you’re a beautiful woman’ because it hadn’t sounded remotely complimentary. She longed to reveal that no such affair had taken place, but she felt suddenly vulnerable under that blistering gaze, all her anger draining away to be replaced with the humiliation she’d felt after that ‘personal experience’ he’d spoken of.

      She found the words to inform him that Rio hadn’t been remotely interested in her lodging in her throat. The reality was that one brother had rejected her and another had used her for his own ends. And the fact that she was letting this get to her now was even more galling. She should be thinking of Mateo and Sancho, not her own deep insecurities.

      She stood tall against the biggest threat she’d ever faced. ‘I’m not going anywhere. I am their legal guardian.’

      Cruz folded his arms. ‘I won’t hesitate to take you to court to fight for their custody if I have to. Do you really want that to happen? Who do you think the courts will favour? Their flesh-and-blood uncle, who has nothing but their best interests at heart and the means to set them up for life, or their opportunistic stepmother who systematically spent her way through her husband’s wealth? Needless to say if you force this route then you will receive nothing.’

      Trinity felt her blood rush south so quickly that she swayed on her feet, but she sucked in a quick breath to regain her composure before he could see it. ‘You can’t threaten me like this,’ she said, as firmly as she could. ‘I’m their legal guardian, as per Rio’s wishes.’

      Cruz bit out, ‘I told you before—I’m not interested in playing games.’

      ‘Neither

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