Scandal: Unclaimed Love-Child by Melanie Milburne

Author:Melanie Milburne [Milburne, Melanie]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Harlequin Mills and Boon Ltd.
Published: 2011-01-05T21:32:39+00:00

Chapter Seven

LUCA turned his gaze to Bronte’s, his expression rueful. ‘Something tells me I didn’t make such a great first impression.’

‘I would have liked to have warned her you were coming,’ Bronte said with a note of reproach in her voice.

‘Don’t talk to me about warnings,’ he threw back. ‘Yesterday I was a single man with no responsibilities apart from my work. Now I find I am the father of a fourteen-month-old toddler.’

Bronte worked hard at holding his accusing gaze. ‘I know this must be a shock. And I’m sorry about Mum but she’s just being a mum. She’s frightened and uncertain about what happens next.’

‘So she should be,’ he said with a brooding frown.

Bronte felt a quake of unease rumble through her stomach. ‘Wh…what do you mean?’ she asked.

His eyes held hers for a tense moment, bitterness, anger and vengefulness all reflected there. ‘Look at this place,’ he said, waving his hand to encompass the small room and simple furnishings. ‘This is not the place where I want any child of mine to be brought up. There isn’t even a front fence, for God’s sake. What if Ella was to walk out on the road? Have you thought of that?’

Bronte summoned her pride. ‘There is nothing wrong with this place,’ she said. ‘The fence is going up as soon as we can afford it. And, anyway, Ella is only just walking and she is never left alone. Not for a minute.’

‘That is not the point,’ he argued. ‘She deserves much better and I am going to make sure she gets it. Now, please lead me to her. I want to see her.’

Bronte clamped her lips down on her response and silently led him to the small bedroom next to hers. The blue angel night light was on, casting a soft luminous glow over the room. Ella was lying on her back, arms flung either side of her head, her rosebud mouth slightly open, the covers kicked off her tiny body. Bronte gently pulled the covers back up, conscious of Luca standing next to her, his eyes looking down at the sleeping infant.

The only sound in the silence was Ella’s soft snuffling breathing.

Luca looked at the angelic face of his child and felt a seismic shift inside his chest. He was totally overcome by emotion. Feelings surged through him, knocking him sideways. He swallowed against the lump in his throat, surprised to feel the burn of tears at the backs of his eyes. He blinked them back and, with a hand that was not quite steady, he reached down and brushed his fingertip across the velvet softness of Ella’s tiny cheek. She made a little noise, something between a snuffle and a murmur, as if she were dreaming, before settling back down with a little sigh.

Luca picked up one of her tiny hands. It reminded him of a starfish, the little splay of fingers with their perfect fingernails so small in comparison to his. Her fingers curled around one of

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.