Page 47 of His Housekeeper's Twin Baby Confession
He said, ‘Where are you going?’
Carrie looked down at her compact suitcase. And then up to him. ‘I’m going back to London.’
‘And what’s your plan when you get there?’
Fear and not a little panic gripped Carrie. ‘To find a place to live and a job.’
Massimo shook his head. ‘That’s not how this is going to play out.’
‘It isn’t?’
‘No.’ He looked at her, eyes narrowed. ‘We are going to get married.’
Carrie might have fallen backwards if the couch hadn’t been behind her legs. She saw something in his eyes—determination.
She shook her head and moved away from the couch. ‘No way. That is not the solution.’
‘Do I need to remind you of who I am? Once this gets out it’ll make headlines.’
Carrie’s level of panic rose by several notches. ‘Well, it’s not going to get out unless you tell anyone. There is no way I would agree to marry you, because you’ve made it quite clear that you never want to marry, and also, as I told you, I vowed never to marry again. I will never allow myself to be made vulnerable again—and marriage makes you vulnerable.’
‘I can’t dispute that,’ Massimo said grudgingly.
‘Good, then you agree.’
‘No, I don’t agree. It just means we’re both on the same page. We’ll know that we’re only doing this for the sake of our child.’
‘A marriage based on duty is no place for a child to be brought up. Children need love and security. Happy parents.’
‘We survived in less than ideal circumstances.’
‘I wouldn’t be so sure about that,’ Carrie commented.
Massimo couldn’t seem to answer that. He said, ‘And where would I be in this non-marriage scenario?’
‘You would be part of our child’s life. I would never deny you that—especially not after my own father rejected me.’
‘So how will this work, exactly, with me in the child’s life but not really part of it? Do we live near one another? How does access work?’
Carrie’s head started to hurt. ‘We can work all that out.’
‘And how are you going to cope with your pregnancy? How will you survive when you become too pregnant to work?’
Carrie lifted her chin. ‘I will manage. My mother coped just fine with a lot less. I won’t expect anything from you until the baby is born. Anything could happen—as I know.’
‘That is not a viable plan, Carrie. Marrying me would give us control of the situation in case the news leaks out, and also give you security and protection while you’re pregnant.’
The thought of being wedded to this man who clearly despised her now sent bile through Carrie’s guts. She already knew what it was like to be rejected by one man—her father—and then used as a thing to dominate by another man—her husband.
She lifted her chin. ‘You couldn’t pay me to marry you.’
Massimo’s face darkened. ‘Not even...?’
He named an astronomical amount of money. A life-changing amount of money.
Carrie felt sick. ‘You know, up until this moment I actually believed you had integrity, but you’re really not so different to your family, are you?’
Massimo’s face was like stone. ‘If you’re saying you can’t be bought, then you might as well admit to being a mythical unicorn. Everyone has a price.’
