Page 210 of Modern Romance Collection February 2025, 1-4

‘So,’ she said after a long moment of silence. ‘Are we going to have a discussion about the baby? Since I assume that’s why you’re here.’

Straight to business, was it? Probably a good thing, considering the attraction that he’d hoped would have eased in the week he’d been away apparently hadn’t eased at all.

It irritated him, dug beneath his facade, made him want things he shouldn’t and now he was starting to regret coming here. Why had he thought face to face was better? This could have been a phone call.

‘There will be no discussion,’ he said flatly. ‘I have made my decision. The child will come to live with me in London.’

Hot temper leapt in her gaze. ‘Absolutely not. You will not be taking my baby away from me.’

‘I’m not going to be taking the baby away from you,’ he said. ‘You’ll be coming too, naturally.’

Her arms dropped and she took a step towards him, every line of her radiating anger. ‘No,’ she snapped. ‘I’m not going anywhere. The baby should be brought up here, in Darkfell, close to the forest, not in a city. Not in London.’

‘As I said, this is not a discussion.’ He tried to keep his tone mild and his expression bored. ‘My son or daughter will be with me and since I will not be living here, neither will they.’

‘Why do you think living in London is better than living here?’

‘Why do you think living here is better than London?’

A moment of silence fell, tension seething in the room. She was breathing fast and he found his gaze drawn to the deep V of her neckline and the shadowed valley between her breasts. It wouldn’t take much to get her naked. Just a tug on the tie holding her dress together and it would fall open...

Get your head out of the gutter.

Dominic gritted his teeth. ‘You promised me you wouldn’t argue. I distinctly remember that.’

Her chin jutted. ‘That was when you said this would be a discussion and not just you telling me what to do.’

Taking a slow, even breath, Dominic gripped hard onto his temper. It was ludicrous that she should have such an effect on him and ludicrous that he should let her. He’d had decades of perfecting his control and he wasn’t going to let one young woman get under his skin so easily no matter how lovely she was.

‘Well, you can’t stay here, nymph,’ he said at length. ‘I will be selling the manor once the baby’s born, as I’ve already mentioned.’

Her eyes glittered with heat. ‘Polly said this was your childhood home.’

‘Yes,’ he bit out, even more annoyed now. Polly should never have said anything. ‘It is.’

‘Then why do you want to sell it? Don’t you want to pass it on to your child?’

‘No.’ The word was far more emphatic than he’d meant it to be. ‘My child will have nothing to do with this place.’

‘Why not? It’s their legacy.’

Why was she asking so many questions? He didn’t want to talk about Darkfell, especially not with the mouthful of angry, bitter words that had somehow gathered in response. In fact, it was surprising just how bitter and angry they were, considering all the time that had passed. His father shouldn’t still have such a hold on him, not after so many years.

‘It’s not a legacy I would wish to pass on,’ he said after a moment, choosing his words carefully.

She frowned, as if she found his response puzzling. ‘Why not?’

He forced himself to smile. ‘Let’s just say my childhood here wasn’t a happy one and leave it at that.’

She studied him for a long moment, the temper dying slowly in her eyes. ‘I...feel the same way about the city if you must know,’ she said, a little hesitatingly. ‘My mother used to live in a commune in Scotland, but my grandparents didn’t approve of me being brought up there so they came and took me away to live with them.’

He could have sworn he wasn’t curious about her, not in the slightest, and yet now he found himself studying her in much the same way as she’d studied him, as if she were something new and interesting he’d never seen before. Strange when there was nothing new and interesting about people in his experience. They all wanted the same things, which pretty much boiled down to money, power, or sex. He didn’t care to know about their motivation for pursuing one or all of those things, not unless it applied to a deal he was doing, so it was quite astonishing to find himself almost intrigued by what she’d said.

Clearly being taken away to live with her grandparents hadn’t been a good experience. Was that why she was resisting him taking their child to live in London with him?

‘I only want happiness for our child,’ he said slowly. ‘I don’t want to take them away from you. A child needs a mother.’

Something shifted in her eyes, though he couldn’t have said what. ‘But I don’t want to leave here,’ she said. ‘And I don’t want to live in the city.’

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