February Harlequin Presents by Penny Jordan

Author:Penny Jordan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2007-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWO

HE HADno intention of divorcing her?

Chessie sat in frozen silence, wondering if she’d misunderstood him. Hoping. She’d always known that one day she’d come face to face with Rocco again, but she’d consoled herself with the knowledge that, however bad the confrontation, ultimately he’d agree to a divorce. His behaviour at their wedding had proved that he had absolutely no thought or care for her. That their wedding meant nothing to him in emotional terms.

He had the business now. Her father was dead.

Why would he possibly want to stay married to her?

‘We can have a quick, quiet divorce,’ she said quickly. ‘I don’t want any money or anything, and I won’t make a fuss.’

‘You can forget it,’ he drawled, his eyes hard. ‘There’s no way I’m giving you a divorce. So if your lover is waiting in the wings to marry you then I hope he’s a patient man.’

She opened her mouth to deny that Carlo was her lover, and then closed it again, her brain sprinting into overdrive.

Rocco was pure-bred Sicilian, driven by macho tendencies and a possessive nature designed to control and dominate.

Surely the one thing that would eventually push him towards divorce was confirmation that she’d been with another man?

It was a high-risk strategy, but…

‘Carlo and I don’t care about marriage,’ she said quietly, carefully watching his reaction. ‘We just want to be together.’

Something hard and dangerous glinted in his black eyes, but when he spoke his voice was steady. ‘Then you can resign yourself to misery, because as far as I’m concerned marriage is for life.’

‘Why, when you say it, does that prospect sound so completely unromantic?’ She gave a humourless laugh and shook her head slightly. ‘I get a prison sentence while you go off and enjoy yourself. My father married my mother for “life”, so I understand exactly what that means to a Sicilian man. Forget it, Rocco. Once, maybe, there was a chance for us. But you blew it when you invited that girl to our wedding. If you couldn’t even manage to stay faithful on your wedding day, then what chance is there for us?’

‘I don’t think you’re in a position to lecture me about morals,’ he observed in a silky tone, and she closed her eyes briefly, aware that she’d fallen into a trap of her own making.

All she could do now was play on his possessive streak.

‘I’m not a virgin. I’ve had sex, Rocco. Lots of it. Do you really want a woman who is thinking of another man?’

His powerful body stilled, and for a brief moment she wondered if she’d gone too far. ‘That’s in the past. It will take less than fifteen seconds in my bed for you to forget you ever knew anyone else,’ he predicted with characteristic arrogance. ‘By the time I’ve finished with you the only name you’ll be crying out is mine.’

She blushed hotly, unutterably shocked by the vivid image created in her mind. ‘I can’t believe you just said that.’

‘Try and be consistent, cara mia,’ he advised in a silky tone.

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