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Marc inwardly cringed, recalling the content of that letter. His father had emailed him a copy and it had certainly not been complimentary. He could well imagine the Selbourne woman reacting to it out of revenge, particularly if what she said was true—Andre had indeed fathered her child.
He was well aware of Nadia Selbourne’s reputation, even though he hadn’t met her personally. He’d seen one or two photos, however, which had shown a beautiful woman with thick long blonde hair, eyes that were an unusual smoky grey and the sort of figure that not only turned heads but turned on other parts of the male anatomy at an astonishingly rapid rate as well. His brother had been completely besotted with her until her true character had come out. He could still recall Andre’s scathing description of how she had responded when he’d informed her that their short but passionate affair was over. She had hounded him for months, following him and harassing him relentlessly.
But somehow the thought of his dead brother’s blood flowing through the tiny veins of her child stirred him both unexpectedly and deeply.
‘Marc.’ His father’s desperate voice cut across his reflections. ‘You have to do this. It is a matter of family honour. Andre would have done the same for you if things had been the other way around.’
It was hard for Marc to imagine ever allowing himself to get into the sort of disasters his younger brother had for most of his life, but he didn’t think it worthwhile pointing that out now. His father had already suffered enough; he’d lost his beloved son.
It had been no secret in the Marcello family that Andre had always been his father’s favourite. His sunny nature and charming boisterous personality had won everyone over virtually from the day he’d been born, leaving Marc with his more serious disposition on the outside.
He frowned as he considered his father’s plan. What would it take to convince this woman to hand over the child? Would she take the money and go, or would she insist on something more formal, such as…
His stomach tightened momentarily as he recalled how his brother had told him that Nadia Selbourne was relentless in her search for a rich husband.
But surely his father wouldn’t expect him to go that far!
So far Marc had managed to ignore the pressure to marry, although he had come very close a few years ago. But it had ended rather badly and he’d actively avoided heavy emotional entanglements since then. Besides, Andre had always made it clear he was going to marry young and father all the Marcello heirs so the family dynasty would be secure. Marc had decided women were not to be trusted where money was involved. And in the Marcello family a lot of money was involved.
His heart contracted at the thought of a small dark-haired infant with black-brown eyes—eyes that would one day soon dance with mischief, as her father’s had for his too short thirty years of life.
‘So will you do it?’ Vito pressed. ‘Will you do this one thing for me and your late mother?’
Marc pinched the bridge of his Roman nose, his eyes squeezing shut. The mention of his mother always tore at him deeply, the sharp guilt cutting into him until he felt as if he was bleeding. He still remembered that last day, the way she had smiled and waved at him from the other side of the busy street in Rome. She hadn’t seen the motor scooter until it had ripped the shopping bags out of her hands, spinning her into the pathway of an oncoming car.
He couldn’t help believing that if he had been honest with her about why he was going to be late, maybe she would not have been killed. His father had begged him, and he had honoured him by doing as he’d asked, but the guilt even now was like a deep dark current that dragged at his feet, weighing him down relentlessly.
When his brother had been killed so soon after the death of his mother, Marc hadn’t been able to rid himself of the feeling that his father would have grieved a whole lot less if it had been him instead of Andre in that mangled car.
He let out his breath and, releasing his fingers, answered resignedly. ‘I will see what I can do…’
‘Thank you.’ The relief in his father’s voice was unmistakable.
Marc knew his father’s days were numbered. How much more precious would they be if he could hold his only grandchild in his arms?
‘She might refuse to even see me, you know,’ Marc warned, thinking again of that vituperative letter his father had sent. ‘Have you considered that possibility?’
‘Do whatever you have to do to make her see reason,’ Vito instructed. ‘And I mean anything. This is simply a business arrangement. Women like Nadia Selbourne expect nothing more and nothing less.’
A business arrangement.
What sort of woman was this, Marc thought, who would bargain with the life of a small child?
He put the phone down a few minutes later and turned once more to the sweeping view outside. His dark eyes narrowed against the angle of the sun as he considered what he’d just agreed to do.
He was going to visit the one person he hated more than any other in the world—the woman he believed responsible for his brother’s untimely death.
CHAPTER TWO
NINA had not long fed and settled Georgia on Monday morning when the doorbell rang. Giving the small neat room a quick glance, she made her way across the threadbare carpet, wondering what it was that her elderly neighbour wanted now. Ellice Tippen had already borrowed a carton of milk and half a packet of plain biscuits and it wasn’t even lunch time.
She opened the door as she plastered a welcoming smile on her face but it instantly faded as her gaze shifted a long way upwards to meet a pair of dark, almost black, eyes.
‘Miss Selbourne?’
‘I…yes,’ she answered, unconsciously putting a hand up to her throat.
The tall figure standing before her was even more arresting in the flesh than the grainy newspaper photo had portrayed. He was taller than average, well over six feet, his shoulders broad and his overall stance nothing short of commanding. The hard angle of his lean clean-shaven jaw hinted at a streak of intractability in his personality, and his eyes held no trace of friendliness. His perfectly tailored business suit superbly highlighted his strong lean body, suggesting he was a man used to a great deal of punishing physical activity.
‘I am assuming you know who I am.’ His voice was deep and had a hard edge to it as if he wasn’t the type to block his punches.
‘I…er…yes.’
What else could she say? The weekend paper was still open at his photo on the coffee table behind her. Every time she’d walked past she’d told herself to screw it up and throw it out, but somehow she hadn’t. She wasn’t entirely sure why.
‘I understand you have my brother’s child,’ he said into the stiff silence.
‘I…yes, that’s correct.’ A vision of Georgia’s dark bruises flashed into Nina’s mind and her rising panic increased her heart rate to an almost intolerable level. She had to keep him away from her niece!
‘I would like to see her.’
‘I’m afraid she’s sleeping just now, so…’ She let the sentence trail away, hoping he’d take the hint.
He didn’t.
He held her gaze for a lengthy moment and just when she began to close the door he put his foot out to block it.
‘Perhaps you did not hear me, Miss Selbourne.’ His tone hardened even further as his diamond-hard eyes lasered hers. ‘I am here to see my brother’s child and I will not be leaving until I do so.’
Nina knew he meant every hard-bitten word and, stepping back from the door, sent him a chilling glance. ‘If you wake her I’ll be extremely angry.’ Please stay asleep, Georgia, she silently pleaded as he moved through the doorway, coming to stand right in front of her as the door clicked shut behind him.
He gave her a sweeping up and down look and when his eyes met hers they were full of contempt. ‘Andre told me all about you.’
Nina frowned in confusion. She’d never once met her sister’s lover. Nadia’s affair with him had been brief but explosive, just like all her others.
Surely he didn’t think…
‘He told me you were trouble, but little did I realise how much,’ he continued when she didn’t respond.
She stared at him for a moment, wondering if she should disabuse him of his error in thinking she was her sister, but in the end decided to let him go on, to see what his intentions were with regard to Georgia. After all, what harm could it do? All she needed to do was pretend to be Nadia for a few minutes to tell him that she had changed her mind about the letter that had been sent to his father. Once she had convinced him she had no intention of giving up ‘her’ daughter, hopefully he would go away.
It wasn’t as if she hadn’t done this type of thing before. So many times in the past Nina had stepped into Nadia’s place to take the brunt of whatever punishment their dysfunctional mother had dished out. Surely if she’d been able to hoodwink her own mother, Marc Marcello would be an absolute pushover.
‘Your brother’s criticism is ironic considering his own behaviour,’ she put in crisply.
A menacing glare came into his dark-as-night eyes. ‘You dare to malign my dead brother?’
She lifted her chin. ‘He was a cheat. While he was fathering Georgia, he was committed elsewhere.’
‘He was formally engaged to Daniela Verdacci,’ he said bitterly. ‘They had been together since they were teenagers. You set your sights on him, no doubt lured by the prospect of his money, but he only ever had eyes for Daniela. Did you really think he would stoop so low as to tie himself permanently to an unprincipled opportunistic little tramp who has slept her way around most of Sydney?’
Nina tensed in anger. She knew her sister had been a little promiscuous at times, but the way Marc Marcello phrased it made it sound as if she had been a call girl instead of the insecure and emotionally unstable person she really was.
‘How absolutely typical!’ she spat back. ‘Why is it men such as yourself and your brother can sow several continents with wild oats but women must not? Get in the real world, Mr Marcello. Women own their sexuality these days and have the same right to express it as you.’
His dark unreadable eyes raked her from head to foot again. ‘While we are speaking of rights, the little matter of Andre’s child needs to be addressed. As much as I lament and abhor the fact that the child is a Marcello, the fact remains that she is entitled to see her paternal relatives.’
‘Surely that decision is up to me?’
‘No, I am afraid not, Miss Selbourne.’ His voice lowered threateningly. ‘Perhaps you do not realise quite who you are dealing with here. The Marcello family will not stand back and watch a street whore raise a blood relative. Unless you do as I say I will do everything in my power to remove her from you so you cannot taint her with your lack of morality.’
Nina’s eyes widened in alarm. She was in no doubt of his ability to do as he threatened. There could be few people in Australia who weren’t aware of the monumental wealth of the Marcello family. Their influence and control stretched far and wide across the world. With the best legal defence and with a total lack of scruples, she knew it wouldn’t be long before Marc Marcello did exactly as he had promised.
Oh, what had Nadia done?
Nina did her best not to appear intimidated, but never had she been more terrified. If he were to find out that she wasn’t actually the child’s mother, he could remove Georgia right here and now and there would be nothing she could do to stop him.
But he was not going to find out. Not if she could help it.
Garnering what courage she could, she stood rigidly before him, her grey eyes issuing a challenge.
‘I might appear to be a woman of few morals, but let me assure you I love that child and will not stand back while some overrated playboy sweeps her away. She’s a baby and babies need their mothers.’
Marc’s gaze swept over her rigid form, noting the tightened line of her full mouth and the stubborn set of her chin. Her startling eyes flashed with venom and, for the first time, he realised just how severely tempted his brother must have been. That pint-sized frame was incredibly alluring, so too the lustrous blonde hair that perfectly offset the creamy quality of her skin. Her figure had snapped back into place rather quickly, he thought, considering she’d not long been delivered of a child. Her air of innocence, however, he knew was the façade of a money-hungry whore who had already demonstrated her intentions by trying to trap his brother with the oldest trick in the book—pregnancy.
‘Under normal circumstances I would agree with you,’ he said in an even tone. ‘Having had the benefit of a wonderful mother, I would be the last person to suggest a child should be raised by anyone else. However, your track record does not inspire the greatest confidence in me that you will be able to support and nurture Andre’s child. After all, who was it that sent a missive to my family in Italy stating your intentions to have the child adopted?’
‘I…It was a knee-jerk reaction. I was upset and not thinking straight,’ she said quickly. ‘I have no intention of giving her up. Georgia is mine and no one—and I mean no one—is going to remove her from my custody.’
Without warning he stepped towards her, his formidable height casting a dark shadow over her slim form. Nina fought with herself not to shrink away, but it took everything in her to hold herself steady under his threatening presence.
‘How remiss of me,’ he drawled as he reached inside his suit jacket pocket for his wallet. ‘I should have known you would want to twist the screws a bit. How much?’
She looked at him blankly.
One dark aristocratic brow lifted. ‘I assume this is what this holding pattern is all about?’
‘I have no idea what you’re talking about,’ she said, her throat suddenly bone-dry.
His mouth twisted into a cynical smile as he fanned open his wallet, ‘Come now, Nadia. I am a rich man; I think I can just about afford to pay you off. Name your price.’
Marc was surprised by how much he was enjoying playing with her, seeing her struggle to hold on to her temper, knowing that any minute now she’d cave in to the temptation he was dangling before her beautiful come-to-bed-eyes.
‘My real name is Nina and I don’t want your stupid money.’
This time both his eyebrows lifted. He paused strategically, wondering what game she was playing now.
‘I thought your name was Nadia? I am sure Andre told me it was—or was that a lie too?’
Nina schooled her features into exactly the sort of expression her twin sister was famous for. ‘Nina is my real name but I thought Nadia sounded a little more sophisticated. I’ve since changed my mind.’ She inspected her hands in another imitation of her sister before raising her eyes back to his. ‘How did you know where to find me?’
‘There is only one Miss N Selbourne listed in the phone book in this suburb.’
Since Nadia had moved in with her after the birth of Georgia, her sister’s erratic approach to paying bills meant that Nina had left the telephone in her name alone, which had obviously made it even easier for Marc to assume she was her twin.
She allowed one tiny inaudible breath of relief to escape the tight frame of her lips.
So far so good.
‘Well, then…Nina.’ He drew her name out suggestively. ‘If you are not after money, what do you want?’
‘Nothing.’
The cynical smile was back. ‘It has been my experience that women like you are always after money even when they insist to the contrary.’
‘Your experience must be terribly limited, for I can assure you I have no need of your money.’
‘Not mine, perhaps, but you must be aware that my dead brother has left a considerable estate. You have given birth to his child, which means she has a legal right to claim some, if not all, of that estate when she comes of age.’
Nina swallowed. This was getting more and more complicated by the minute.
‘I’m not interested in Andre’s estate.’
‘You expect me to believe that?’ he growled. ‘Behind those eyes of yours I can see the dollar signs already rolling in anticipation.’ His dark gaze left hers to sweep the room before coming back to glare down at her. ‘Look at this place! It reeks of poverty and neglect. Do you think I will allow my niece to live in such a hovel?’
Nina felt pride straighten her spine. ‘It’s all I can afford at present.’
He gave a harsh laugh. ‘At present is right. No doubt you have already got some other poor unsuspecting man in your sights for your next free ride.’ He gave her a look of undiluted disgust and continued. ‘You must be offering something pretty special underneath that “butter would not melt in your mouth” pose for anyone to take you on with another man’s baby in tow.’
Nina had never considered herself a volatile person; Nadia had been the firebrand, her unpredictable mood swings causing many an unpleasant scene. But somehow, hearing Marc’s disdain, even though it was directed at her twin, bit her deeply and on her sister’s behalf she fought back.
‘Are you offering to take up where Andre left off?’ she asked in a tone dripping with sultry provocation.
His dark eyes glittered with hatred so intense it secretly unnerved her.
‘I can see how you want to play this,’ he said after another nerve-tightening pause.
‘On the contrary, I want nothing other than for you to leave my home immediately. You’re not the least bit interested in my n…er…daughter.’ She took a quick breath to disguise her vocal stumble. ‘If you don’t leave then I will have no other choice than to call the police and have you thrown out.’
Black eyes clashed with grey for endless seconds but finally Nina was the first to lower her gaze.
‘Please leave, Mr Marcello. I have nothing else I wish to say to you.’
‘I want to see my niece.’ His adamant tone brought her eyes back to his. ‘I want to see the child my brother fathered.’
Nina pressed her lips together as she saw the struggle he made to keep his emotions under control. She heard it in his voice and saw it in his rigid stance as he faced her, his dark eyes shining with sudden moisture.
She hadn’t expected him to have such depth of human feeling and it shamed her to realise how seriously she’d misjudged him. After all, she reminded herself, he had not long buried his only sibling under tragic circumstances. Even with all Nadia’s distressing foibles, she knew that in the same situation she would be little less than devastated.
