Page 46 of The Boss's Forbidden Assistant

‘Like you, she had no idea he was married. He didn’t choose to enlighten her, and was gone before she realised she was pregnant.’

‘Awful.’ Harper shook her head sadly.

‘She was able to get his number through the hotel records.’

‘And?’

Salvador ran a finger down the side of his beer glass, eyes fixed on the drink rather than Harper. ‘When she told him about me, he denied that I could possibly be his. He accused her of trying to ruin his life, his marriage, and in order to ensure her silence he offered her a reasonably obscene amount of money in exchange for the signing of a non-disclosure.’

Harper gaped. ‘You’re kidding! And she loved him?’

‘Up until that moment, she thought she did. She hadn’t seen what he was truly like. He was a spoiled, entitled son of a very successful Sydney real-estate mogul. He grew up with money at his fingertips and thought he could use it to pay people off.’ Salvador shook his head angrily.

‘What did your mother do?’

‘Took his money.’ Salvador’s expression showed pride. ‘She grew up tough. She knew he’d never change his mind—he’d never be a father to me, and besides she didn’t want him in my life after that. She took the money, signed the damned agreement and she worked her fingers to the bone to make a success of her life. She continued to work as a housekeeper until I was born, by which point she’d bought a couple of apartments that earned her a rental income so she could stay home with me. It snowballed from there.’

‘She sounds like an amazing woman.’

‘She was.’

‘She’s gone?’

He sipped his drink. ‘She died when I was in my early twenties.’

She reached out and put her hand over his, feeling the reliable hum of connection that came whenever they touched. ‘Did you ever reach out to your father?’

‘He’s not my father.’

She dipped her head in silent concession to that.

‘I had no interest in knowing him. Any man who can treat a woman like that...’ He shook his head. ‘What could I possibly want from him?’

Harper agreed completely, but still she marvelled at Salvador’s restraint. ‘You must have wanted to...’

‘He was never a part of my life. Besides a little DNA, I am nothing to do with him. It is because of his choices, though, that I married.’

Harper’s heart stitched painfully. ‘Oh?’ It was the best she could manage. The existence of his late wife was a matter of fact, and Harper knew it wasn’t right to feel jealous of Anna-Maria—but how could she not?

‘When Anna-Maria fell pregnant, I had only one choice: to offer to marry her. Unlike the man my mother loved, I wanted to be an active father. To know and love my child every day of their life. I also wanted to support my baby’s mother.’

She stared at him as if from a thousand miles away. ‘I’m sorry. Did you just say...?’

‘Anna-Maria was pregnant.’ He spoke quietly, as if repeating words learned by rote. ‘We only slept together that once. The pregnancy was a complete surprise.’

Harper could hardly breathe. She’d been so curious about his wife, his marriage, his life before she’d known him, but she hadn’t expected any of this. They’d only slept together once...even after they’d married? Her heart rabbited into her chest and she leaned forward unconsciously.

‘I offered to marry her immediately. I wanted to raise my child. It was important to me—more important than to most, I suspect—because of the abandonment of the man my mother had dated. But it was more than that. Anna-Maria and I had grown up together. Wekneweach other, loved each other as old, close friends. Marriage made sense.’

Harper nodded sympathetically, her throat too thick to allow the formation of words. He’d loved her... as a friend. She was trying to put the pieces together, to understand.

‘She agreed, obviously?’

‘Not at first. She hated the idea of feeling that she’d “trapped” me. She knew about my dad, knew why I reacted as I did.’

‘I can understand that.’ Harper sipped her wine. ‘So what happened?’

‘I convinced her,’ he said. ‘Quite quickly. We married a few months later—before Sofia was born.’

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