Page 26 of Italian Baby Shock

‘May I hold her?’ Cesare asked unexpectedly, his voice hoarse, still not taking his eyes off Maya.

Lark’s first instinct was to refuse. Then again, he’d asked her politely enough and she knew he wouldn’t hurt Maya. He’d promised he wouldn’t take her away either, and while she didn’t trust him, she was starting to think he might actually be a manof his word. He’d had that agreement drawn up, after all, and given his power, he didn’t have to do that.

She glanced down at Maya. She wasn’t a clingy child, though she had a certain reserve, and usually it took a little while for her to warm to someone. ‘If she wants to go,’ Lark said.

But it seemed that Maya didn’t mind, going to him without a protest, seemingly as fascinated by Cesare as he was by her. In fact, she stared up at him as if she’d never seen anything so incredible in her life.

Then Lark saw the look on Cesare’s face as he stared down at the child in his arms. Undisguised awe. Wonder. Amazement. He murmured something in Italian, not making a single protest as the little girl clutched at his suit with a hand covered in mashed banana.

And Lark’s heart ached in response. Because she knew how he felt. She’d felt all those emotions too, the moment she’d first cradled her daughter in her arms.

Cesare settled Maya on his hip as if he’d been carrying babies all his life and glanced at Lark. ‘Shall we go?’

Lark’s stomach clenched. ‘Go? Go where?’

‘I thought it would better if we conducted this at my residence here in London. I want to spend a little more time with her and there is more privacy from the press there.’

A thread of panic wound through her and she took a half step towards him. ‘No, what? Wait, I didn’t agree to you taking her anywhere.’

He frowned, his blue gaze searching hers. ‘I told you I would never take her from you and I meant it,’ he said quietly. ‘You will be coming with me. We’ll go to my residence where some of Maya’s genetic material will be taken and there we’ll wait for the results. If the result is negative then you’ll take her home. If the result is positive, we’ll talk.’

He sounded so reasonable and yet the panic inside her refused to ease. All she could think about was how difficult would it be to run with her daughter, to go somewhere he couldn’t find them, to hide Maya from him.

Do you really want your daughter to have the same upbringing you did?

Lark swallowed. Her childhood hadn’t been the best, but Grace had done what she could. Yet Lark didn’t want Maya growing up with the same fear. Growing up without friends or a safe space. Of never being able to put down roots because you never knew when you’d have to move on.

Maya reached up to Cesare’s tie with one grubby hand and pulled on it. He paid absolutely zero notice, letting her ruin the silk as if it didn’t matter. ‘Come with me, Lark,’ he said. ‘Please. It’ll be all right, I promise.’

Please...

He meant it, she heard the promise in his voice. And there it was again, the understanding in his eyes. The understanding she’d seen on the plane when she’d told him why she couldn’t sleep with him again and how he affected her.

He knew her history, because she’d told him, and he knew why she was afraid. And for some reason he was trying to ease her fears.

‘Okay,’ she said, her jangling nerves settling, soothed by the quiet honesty in his voice, and then before she knew what was happening, she found herself walking down the path after him, to the limo that waited in the street.

His driver had already opened the door and Lark could see a child’s car seat already in place. The driver said something to Cesare but Cesare shook his head, placing Maya in the car seat himself. Then he glanced back at Lark. ‘Will you check she’s secure, please? I think it was installed correctly, but I’d like to have you look at it just in case.’

She wasn’t sure how he did that. He said he was a selfish man and yet here he was, finding those little threads of panic inside her and easing them with a please and some genuine reassurance, and by asking her opinion on the safety of her child, something that mattered a great deal to her.

A selfish man wouldn’t have cared about her feelings. A selfish man wouldn’t have even known she was afraid.

‘You mean you don’t automatically know everything?’ she muttered as she leaned in, checking that Maya was belted in properly.

Cesare was standing beside her, his delicious cedar scent and the heat of his body winding around her, clouding her senses. Making her pulse race and her heart beat loud in her ears.

‘...if you change your mind, you only have to ask...’

His words from the plane the night before drifted through her head, taunting her, her body’s response to him making a mockery of her insistence that she wasn’t going to sleep with him again.

But she couldn’t give in to her desire, not when there were so many good reasons why she shouldn’t, Maya and her future being the most important ones.

Annoyingly, Maya’s seat was all good and he’d buckled her in correctly too. Though, being annoyed by that was stupid. She should be pleased, especially where her daughter’s safety was concerned.

With an effort, she shoved her anger away and straightened, glancing at him. ‘She’s secure,’ she forced out. ‘Thank you for remembering the seat.’

He lifted one powerful shoulder. ‘I consulted the nanny from the night before about what Maya might need. She’s going to come here to collect some of Maya’s important things if you’ll allow it. That way we can get to my residence and take the test as soon as possible.’

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