Revelations of the Night Before by Lynn Raye Harris Page A

contrary. Renzo will come looking for me. You can’t prevent that.”
    Nico took a leisurely sip of wine, studying her through lowered lids. She endured the scrutiny, though he reminded her once more of a cat singling out prey. She sat very still, waiting for him to spring, knowing she was caught even before he did so.
    All she could do was wait and see what manner the attack took.
    “No,” he finally said, “I can’t stop Renzo from looking for you. But even he cannot separate a man and his wife.”

CHAPTER FIVE
    T INA’S breath was a solid ball in her chest. It sat heavy and thick and she couldn’t force it in or out for a long moment.
    “You look surprised,” Nico said mildly.
    Surprised?
It was too mild a word for what she was feeling right now.
    “ I can’t marry you, Nico,” she choked out.
    “Why? Because your brother won’t approve?” He made a sound of disgust. “He won’t approve of you being pregnant, either. If you cared about his approval, you would not have slept with a strange man that night.”
    It was too close to the truth, but it angered her nevertheless. “ I suppose I deserve that, but it doesn’t change the fact that you don’t love me. I won’t marry a man who doesn’t love me.”
    She didn’t know quite where that had come from, but the moment she said it, she knew it was what she felt.
    His eyes glittered in the candlelight flickering brighter now that dusk was deepening. “Then you should have thought of that before you spread your legs for me.”
    Tina gasped, stung by his cruel words. “That’s not fair. Women are allowed to take lovers without wanting to marry or have babies with the men they choose.”
    “Yes, but they are typically more prepared than you were that night.”
    Her cheeks were aflame. “Oh, yes, it’s all
my
fault, right? But I’m not the one who used a faulty condom.”
    “And I’m not the one who chose a random stranger for my first sexual experience. You were lucky you got me, and not someone who might have treated you with less delicacy than the situation required.”
    “Well, bravo to you then,” she snapped. “But I’m still not marrying you. There is no reason for it.”
    “I can think of a few reasons, not the least of which is that I’m not giving you—or your brother—a chance to change your mind about letting me be a part of the child’s life.”
    She bowed her head demurely, though her heart was racing a million miles a minute. “I understand why you’d think that, but we can have papers drawn up. I’ll sign anything reasonable. We’ll make sure everything is spelled out.”
    He threw his head back and laughed, and a feeling of foreboding ricocheted through her. “How perfectly civil of you,
cara
. But this is not a negotiation. I don’t trust you or Renzo. There’s nothing you can say, nothing you can promise, that I will believe.”
    “I give you my word,” she said.
    “Your word means nothing to me.” He shook his head, leaned toward her and trapped her hand in his. “No, you
will
marry me, and just as soon as possible.”
    Tina thrust her chin out defiantly, though her heart hammered and her insides churned. “Even you cannot compel a woman to marry you because you decree it,” she said sharply. “I won’t do it.”
    His eyes narrowed. “How selfish you are,
cara
. You would deprive this child of my name? Of my status? Youwould allow him to grow up without a legal right to my legacy? Do you think he will thank you for it someday?”
    Her heartbeat slowed as his words twisted in her brain. God, she hadn’t thought of that. She’d grown up with her mother’s name, just as Renzo had, and they’d been just fine in the end—though it hadn’t always been easy. There’d been no estate to inherit, no vast sums of money to distribute among heirs. There’d been nothing at all, until Renzo made his fortune.
    “It’s not about money,” she said with certainty. “I have money, and our child will want for