A Facade to Shatter by Lynn Raye Harris Page A

tucked into her purse and pictured him in a flight suit, standing tall and proud beside a sleek fighter jet.
    “Better?” he asked shortly.
    She nodded. “Somewhat, yes.”
    “Good.” His eyes narrowed. “Why should I believe this baby is mine, Lia?”
    Her heart thudded. There was no reason she could actually give him.
Because I was a virgin. Because you are the only man I’ve ever been with.
“A paternity test should clear it up,” she said coolly, though inside she was anything but cool. “I will submit the first moment it is safe to do so.”
    He turned his head and stared off into space. His profile was sharp, handsome. His hair was still cut in that military style, short and cropped close. On him, it was perfect. Not for the first time, she wonderedwhat he’d seen in her. No doubt he was wondering the same thing.
    “You seem to have it all thought out,” he said evenly. Coldly.
    Lia clutched the glass in her hands. “Not really. All I know is we created a baby together. And our baby deserves to have both parents in his or her life.”
    It was the one thought that had sustained her on the long trip from Sicily. The one thing she’d had to cling to when everything else was falling apart.
    Zach would want his child. She’d told herself that over and over.
    But she didn’t really know if it was true.
    What if he was exactly like her father and just didn’t care about the life he’d helped to create? Despair rose up inside her soul. How could this be the same man she’d lain in bed with? That man had been warm, mysterious, considerate. He wouldn’t abandon a helpless baby.
    But this man …
    She shivered. This one was cold and hard and mean.
    He looked at her evenly. Across the room, a few people sat at tables or lounged at the bar. One woman leaned in toward the man across from her and said something that made him laugh. How Lia envied that woman. She was with a man who wanted her, a man who was happy she was there.
    “I don’t know what you expect, Lia, but I’m not the father type. Or the husband type.” His voice was low and icy, his emotions so carefully controlled she had no idea if he felt anything at all.
    “You don’t have a choice about being a father,” she said, her throat aching.
    His dark eyes glittered. And then he smiled. A cruel smile. “There is always a choice. This is the twenty-first century, not the dark ages. You don’t have to have this child. You don’t have to keep this child.”
    His words seared into her. Lia shot to her feet and clutched her tiny purse to her like a shield. Her hands were trembling. Her body was trembling.
    “I want this baby, Zach. I intend to give my child the best life possible. With or without you,” she added, her throat tightening over the words. Though she didn’t know how she was going to do that. She had nothing. The money she had from her mother wasn’t in her control. She didn’t even know how much there was; her grandfather had always managed it. Now, she supposed, Alessandro was managing it.
    She didn’t really know Alessandro, but he was her grandfather’s handpicked successor. And if he was anything like Salvatore had been, then he was not a man you demanded anything from.
    When she walked out of here, she had nothing more than she’d walked in with. The bit of cash she’d savedfrom her allowance and the credit card on her grandmother’s account. She kept hoping her grandmother wouldn’t notice the charges, though she had no idea how much longer that could last. She’d fled while her grandmother was out of town, but Teresa would return any day and find Lia gone.
    Then what? The family would shut down her ability to spend a dime other than her cash. Then someone would come for her. Lia shuddered.
    Her heart thundered while Zach stared her down.
Please
, she silently begged.
Please don’t reject us. Please don’t send us back there.
    His eyes did not change. There was no warmth, no sympathy. No feeling at all. She’d been