High-Society Secret Baby - Maxine Sullivan Page 0,2
morals, don’t you think?”
“But I wasn’t unfaithful,” she said, turning pale.
“Save it for the judge, Cassandra.”
She winced. He could see her balancing it all up. Then, “This is absurd,” she burst out.
“I agree, but it’s what Liam wanted, and as far as I’m concerned, I’m going to make sure my brother’s dying wish is fulfilled.”
His words hung in the air.
Then she shot him a penetrating look, bouncing back, like he knew she would. “Tell me, Dominic. What do you get out of all this if I marry you, besides a wife who doesn’t love you or a child that isn’t yours?”
His heart lurched. “I’ll get the satisfaction of knowing my niece has a father.”
“Why you? Why not Adam?”
Thoughts of her and Adam together were not pleasant. He loved his other brother, but Adam wasn’t planning on getting married again, not after his wife died a few years ago in a car accident. Besides, he wasn’t willing to share. It had been hard enough ignoring his lust for Cassandra as Liam’s wife. He wouldn’t go through that again. If marriage was the only option—and it was—then it would be with him.
“I’m the oldest. I’ll do what’s necessary.”
Her cheeks took on some color, though whether through anger or embarrassment he couldn’t tell. “There’s something you’ve forgotten, Dominic. What about your parents?”
“They’ve lost a precious son, and now they’ll have the chance to keep their grandchild in their lives. I think they’ll understand, don’t you?”
She blanched. “But they don’t even like me.”
“You did the wrong thing by their son. You expect they would?”
Her chin went up. “I married your brother for love, Dominic. Nothing else.”
“Sure,” he mocked.
She gave him one of her cool looks. “You’ve always thought I married him for his money, haven’t you?”
“Not merely his money. There are a lot more things that go with being a Roth.”
Her mouth took on a cynical twist. “Oh, I see. I was fostered, then adopted as a child, so automatically that makes me want what you have?” Her eyes held steady. “I thought you were more intelligent than that.”
The comment stung. “My intelligence isn’t at stake here.”
“No, my future is, and that of my daughter’s.”
He hardened his heart. “It’s only your daughter’s future I’m concerned with.”
“Thanks very much. Perhaps I should just hand her over and leave you to it?” she choked out.
Anger filled him. “You would do that?”
“Of course not!”
His heart settled, and then he recognized it was a real possibility. “How about a cool million for her?”
“Don’t insult me, Dominic.”
“Too low?”
She looked wounded but recovered. “This is my daughter, and I intend to keep her. Nicole comes first. She needs her mother. And I need her.”
Relief filled him. He could handle knowing this woman was a gold digger and an adulterer, but the possibility of a child finding out her mother had given her away was something else.
“Then it’s marriage or nothing,” he stated firmly.
She looked down at the letter in her hand and swallowed. “I—”
“Yes or no, Cassandra?”
Seconds lapsed.
She took a ragged breath and lifted her head. “It looks like I don’t have a choice.”
“Neither do I, but this isn’t about us.”
“No, it’s about my daughter, and she’s the only reason I’ll marry you, Dominic.”
He smiled cynically. “Are you trying to dent my ego?”
“I haven’t got a big enough jackhammer for that.”
His lips twitched despite himself, and her mouth curved a hint and suddenly he was aware it wasn’t the jackhammer he had to worry about. It was that wispy little smile he’d seen on those soft lips. Lips he intended to kiss one day soon.
“I’ll make the arrangements,” he said brusquely and strode from the house without another word. He had to remember that his younger brother had been sucker punched by this woman’s beauty. Liam had given her the Roth name, a luxurious town house, furs, expensive jewelry, and she’d taken it all without a qualm.
Sure, she had come through for Liam and had proceeded with giving him the one thing he’d desperately wanted before he died—a child with whom to leave something of himself behind. But had it really been such a sacrifice? She would have known she was set for life by having a Roth child.
Of course, what she didn’t know was that Liam’s blood ties to his oldest brother had won out over conscience in the end. Blood ties through Nicole.
And one day Cassandra would have to know the truth. That the daughter she thought was her late husband’s was actually his.
Cassandra stayed sitting long after