Page 22 of Texas-Sized Scandal

But he hadn’t. That had to have been hard on everyone. The Conti family was old money and had been a part of Houston society since the early 1900s.

“What happened?”

“They got married, got a nice house in River Oaks down the street from my grandparents and until I was eight, everyone thought that Carlo had turned over a new leaf. He worked for Conti Enterprises, he went to the social engagements with my mom and he was a pretty good dad to me. But then he was arrested, and the truth started trickling out. He had never let go of his old life and had been living two lives. Getting caught and having his lawyer get him off on the charges, while theHouston Chroniclesociety pages painted it all as a misunderstanding. You see, my grandmother had a lot of influence back in those days. But Mom knew the truth and my parents separated.

“My dad said there was no way he could get out of the Bartelli family. There just wasn’t a way to separate it from the man he was. I thought that was just his weakness and told him so. But I was engaged when I was twenty-one, Melinda. And the Bartellis were at war with another gang and she... Well, she got caught in the middle and was used as a bargaining chip against me. She was okay physically but after that...she didn’t want a relationship with me. And I promised myself I’d never put a woman in that position again.”

Melinda hadn’t realized he’d been engaged but honestly, she hadn’t researched him at all. Just took him at face value. That was more her style. And her gut said that his few sentences about what happened were the cleaned-up version.

“Okay. So, we stick to our original plan?”

“Yes. I will protect you and our child forever, but I can never marry you unless I want to give my father’s enemies someone to go after. We will be engaged for three months and then reassess and keep pushing the date back until we know the scandal has passed.”

Eight

It wasn’t as if anything he said surprised her. She knew he’d come from a tough background. To be perfectly honest, that was what had drawn her to him. He was polished at times, but there was always an edginess to him that drew her like a moth to a flame.

“I didn’t know you’d been engaged,” she said at last.

“Not many people did. I wasn’t the CEO of Conti back then. I was just on the fringes of society, some punk kid that might be joining the Bartelli family business. And despite how everyone acted toward me tonight, it took a while for polite society to warm up to me being at events,” he admitted.

“I can understand that. I mean, my family is part of the Texas Cattleman’s Club in Royal and the new one opening here in Houston and it is hard to become a member. It wasn’t that long ago when it was men only.”

“I bet you didn’t stand for that,” he said with a wry smile.

“Not at all. But I was here in Houston and not really part of the group who was pushing for membership,” she admitted. “What are we going to do?”

“Well, I told you we’ll do the engagement for three months like we agreed and then hopefully media interest in you will have died down enough that you can get back to your old routine.”

She shifted in the chair, wishing she’d worn pumps instead of sandals with an ankle strap so she could just kick them off, but she hadn’t, so she crossed her legs and sat up straighter. “What about the baby?”

“I’ll provide you with everything you need. Money, furniture... I’ll even pay for the child’s tuition to the best schools in Houston.”

“Thanks, but I’m not asking about money,” she said. “What about you? Will you be a part of the child’s life?”

“No. I’m not role-model material,” he said. He took another swallow of his whiskey, finishing it and leaning forward to place the glass on the coffee table.

“Why not? Do you really not like me?”

“Hell, woman, you know I like you. You wouldn’t be pregnant if I didn’t,” he blurted.

But that bluster didn’t really bother her. She knew he was being defensive, but for the life of her, she couldn’t figure out why.

“So what is it, then?” she asked.

He tipped his head to the side, studying her for a moment. “Not even a rebuke for the way I spoke to you?”

“I know you well enough to tell when you’re lashing out to hide something,” she said.

“We do know each other fairly well now, don’t we?”

She noticed he was still not answering her question. Interesting. They did know each other well. She’d thought they were falling in love. But Slade wasn’t that kind of man, she guessed.

“I would have thought so, but then I learned tonight that we were set up by Philomena...”

Right now, she wanted to get to the bottom of why Slade didn’t want to raise a child. He wasn’t just averse to making a home and having a family, he was talking about no contact with the child at all.

Why?

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