Page 18 of Captive in His Castle
“No.” Dark eyes locked onto hers. There wasn’t a shred of the humour usually found dancing in them. “The wedding has to go ahead.”
“He can’t marry someone when he’s got another woman pregnant!” she protested.
His handsome face was tight. “You don’t understand the situation.”
“What’s there to understand? Niccolo’s going to be a father to my sister’s child, and he deserves to know that before he marries someone else, and his bride deserves to know it too.”
“What people deserve to know and what’s best for them to know can be two different things, and in this situation, it is not best for them to know.” He dragged his fingers through his hair and swore.
“That’s crap,” she said, her temper flaring. “If I was getting married and my fiancé had got another woman pregnant, I’d damn well want to know before –”
“The bride won’t care,” he interrupted harshly.
“You can’t know that.”
“I can know that, and in this case, Idoknow that. This marriage isn’t a love match. It’s an arrangement, a form of business contract, and if it fails to go ahead, then Niccolo stands to lose everything.”
“But –”
“No!” he snapped with such finality that Callie jolted back.
Brooding dark eyes held hers a moment longer before he sighed and tilted his head back. When he next looked at her, his expression had softened. “I’m sorry, okay? But you need to think more clearly – there is a reason your sister, the one who is actually carrying the child, has chosen not to tell him and has told lies about your reasons for coming here. Georgia knows what’s at stake, and she has chosen to protect Niccolo by not telling him, and believe it or not, she’s trying to protect you too –”
“My sister is pregnant!” Callie cut in, unable to believewhat she was hearing. “She’s carrying Niccolo’s child. You might not think that’s important, but I do, and I don’t care what your reasons are or even what her reasons for not telling him are, those reasons are wrong.”
“You have no idea what you’re dealing with here –whoyou’re dealing with. Have you heard of Lorenzo Esposito?”
Thrown at the swerve, she shook her head.
“He controls half the media in this country, and that’s just his public face. He has fingers in pies the public knows nothing about and is a monster who reacts to slights with violence. If Niccolo learns about the baby then there is no telling what he will do, and if he calls off the wedding, then God alone knows what Lorenzo and his sons will do in their vengeance. He has three sons, all as big and mean and ugly as he is. Siena is their princess. Do you understand what I am trying to tell you?”
“Yes, that the bride’s family are dangerous.”
“Esattamente.This isn’t just the bride and groom’s big day but the whole Esposito family’s big day. The whole country is counting down to it.”
“That doesn’t change the fact that Niccolo deserves to know.”
His jaw clenched with exasperation. “And he will know,afterthe wedding.”
“What, will the danger of the bride’s family magically disappear because Niccolo has a ring on his finger?”
“Once he’s married, the danger will have passed because the wedding itself will have gone ahead. None of the Espositos expect him to be faithful to Siena. He’ll be able to install Georgia as his mistress and set up a second home for them and their child, and no one will care so long as he’s publicly Siena’s husband.”
“Hismistress?” The very idea of such an antiquated set-up disgusted and horrified her, and for hersister of all people. Horrified her too in a way she couldn’t even begin to understand that the suggestion had come from Dante’s mouth. “What planet are you on? How can you thinkanywoman would agree to something so degrading?”
“There is nothing degrading about it if both parties are in agreement. It’s the way of my world, Callie.”
“Well it’s not the way of mine, and I tell you now, Georgia will never agree to that.”
“Then that will be her choice.”
“But it isn’t a choice when you’re taking the biggest choice out of their hands by keeping the truth from Niccolo until it’s too late,” she practically shouted.
But Dante was implacable. “I make no apologies for that, not when it’s for his own good. Niccolo is too impulsive to be told before the wedding. He acts first and regrets second.”
“And what about Georgia and the baby?”
“Georgia made her choice when she warned Niccolo you were coming here. You’re the one who refuses to respect the choice she made.”
