Castellano's Mistress of Revenge (13 page)

Ava hovered in that dark place between uncertainty and hope. She looked into his unfathomable eyes and wondered if he was backing down because of the possibility of her being pregnant. He was an only child. He had no living heir. How convenient would it be for him to pretend to have feelings for a woman he had mistreated in the past just because she could be carrying his child? It seemed a little too coincidental that on the very day a pregnancy was suspected he came with apology in hand. ‘I need some time to process this,' she said, once again pulling out of his hold.

His jaw worked for a moment as if he was fighting to keep in control. ‘If you are pregnant I insist we marry immediately.'

Ava felt her mouth fall open. ‘Pardon?'

He gave her a trenchant look. ‘I do not want any child of mine to be called a bastard.'

‘For your information it won't make much of a difference,' she shot back.

‘I mean it, Ava,' he said. ‘I will not be shut out of my child's life.'

‘You said you never wanted a child.'

‘That was before.'

She arched her brows. ‘Oh? So what has changed?'

‘Things are different now. Everything is different.'

Ava was not ready to capitulate so readily. ‘I don't want to rush into anything. You weren't prepared to marry me before. Why should I accept a proposal that has been forced out of you by circumstances instead of out of genuine desire?'

‘I will not be shunted to one side,' he said through gritted teeth. ‘Don't mess with me, Ava. I will take the child off you if I need to. You wouldn't stand a chance in court, not with the way the Press has savaged your reputation over the years.'

Ava realised with a sickening jolt he was right. Taking on an opponent such as Marc was asking for a very public, very humiliating defeat. She had thought she still loved him, but right at that moment her hatred of him was immeasurable. It pulsed through her like a raging tide, sweeping away every poignant memory, every precious moment they had spent together.

It was war and he was determined to win, but she was not going down without a valiant fight.

She lifted her chin and aimed her knockdown punch where she knew it would hurt the most. ‘You seem pretty convinced the baby I might be expecting is yours. Isn't that a little presumptuous of you under the circumstances?'

A lightning-fast zig-zag of anger lit his gaze as her words hit their target. It was a long moment before he spoke, the stretching silence so weighted Ava felt it pressing down on her chest like a concrete hand.

‘I suppose I deserve that,' he said heavily. ‘But I will not insult you by requesting a paternity test.'

Ava's mouth fell open again. ‘You…you won't?'

He shook his head. ‘Knowing what I know about you now, I have no reason to believe the child is anyone's but mine.'

Ava narrowed her eyes. ‘Is that because you've had me tailed for weeks on end or because you genuinely believe I don't sleep around?'

His gaze remained steady on hers. ‘Ava, this is not helping anything by bringing up the mistakes of the past. If we are to make a success of our relationship we will both have to let go of bitterness and blame.'

‘I don't want to be railroaded into anything without first giving it careful thought,' she said, pulling on a wrap and tying it securely about her waist.

‘I will not settle for anything but marriage,' he said with an intransigent set to his features.

She gave him a look of defiance. ‘Then you have got a huge task ahead of you, Marc Castellano, because I am not marrying you.'

‘Damn it, Ava, if you don't marry me I will ruin your family and your friends, every single one of them,' he said through white-tipped lips. ‘Don't think I won't do it to get what I want.'

Ava felt the cold, hard determination of his words freeze her to the spot. Her heart beat sickeningly, each beat like a blow to her chest. He was ruthless enough to do anything. Hadn't he already proved it? He had forced her into his life as his mistress and now that the stakes had changed he wanted to rewrite the rules. He wanted control, absolute, total control. ‘Blackmail is
not the way to get a girl to agree to be your wife,' she said in a voice that was not quite steady. ‘Anyway, aren't you jumping ahead a little? I might not even be pregnant.'

‘It doesn't matter. We will be married regardless.'

‘Why the sudden change of heart?' she asked, unable to keep the echo of suspicion out of her tone.

His dark eyes gave her no clue as to what he was thinking, although she could see a flickering nerve at the side of his mouth. ‘There are some things I need to do in order to correct the mistakes of the past,' he said. ‘Marrying you is one of them.'

Ava let out a breath of disdain. ‘I can see why you failed the entrance exam to charm school. That has got to be the most appalling proposal I have ever heard.'

‘What do you want me to say, God damn it?' he asked. ‘I could wrap it up in flowery words and phrases but you wouldn't believe it for a second.'

‘You're damn right I wouldn't,' she shot back.

He let out a harsh-sounding breath and, turning away from her, shoved a hand through his hair again. When he finally spoke his voice had lowered to a deep burr. ‘I will make arrangements for us to marry in London later this month. It will save your sister from having to travel.'

‘You can make all the arrangements you like, but it's not going to make me say yes,' Ava said with a furious scowl.

His eyes met hers across the room. ‘You might want to have a rethink about that,
ma belle
,' he said. He came back to where she was standing and lifted her chin with two of his fingers, his voice lowering to a silky drawl. ‘Don't fight battles you have no hope of winning.'

‘You can't make me love you,' Ava bit out petulantly.

His gaze devoured hers as the silence lengthened, moment by moment, heartbeat by heartbeat. ‘That is not a requirement of this arrangement,' he said, dropping his hand from her face.

‘You're prepared to marry a woman who
hates
you?' she asked.

He gave her an inscrutable flicker of his lips that could have almost passed for a smile. ‘If nothing else it will be a delightful challenge to make you change your mind.'

She pulled her shoulders back and sent him a flinty glare. ‘Then you've got one hell of a task ahead of you.'

‘I know.' He bent down and planted a hot, hard kiss to her tight mouth. ‘I am looking forward to it.'

Ava watched in silence as he left the room, the soft click of the door as it closed, an ominous reminder of what he had promised and how determined he was to achieve it.

W
HEN
Ava came downstairs the next morning Marc was on his way up carrying a tray with tea and toast, and a folded newspaper under his arm.

‘Why are you out of bed?' he asked. ‘It's only just seven.'

Ava eyed him suspiciously. ‘I'm not an invalid and I always get up early.'

‘I know, but you deserve breakfast in bed, surely?' he said.

She folded her arms. ‘Why do I get the feeling this is all part of a scheme to get me to agree to your plans?'

‘Why do I get the feeling you are fighting me just to prove a point?' he returned.

Ava blew out a breath and continued on her way downstairs. ‘I'm not hungry.'

‘You have to eat, Ava,' he insisted as he followed her down. ‘You've got to think of the baby.'

She swung around at the foot of the stairs and glared at him. ‘There probably isn't a baby. Then what will you do? Retract your proposal?'

He put the tray down on the hall table and handed
her the newspaper. ‘It's a bit late for that,' he said. ‘I've already released a Press statement.'

Ava stared down at the section he had folded the paper to. Her heart knocked against her rib cage as the words leapt off the page at her:
‘Grieving widow to wed Italian construction tycoon.'

She thrust the paper to his mid-section, taking some measure of satisfaction in the little grunt he gave as her hand connected with his abdomen. ‘Then you'll have to retract it because I am not marrying you.'

‘Damn it, Ava, you have to marry me.'

‘Why?' she asked with a hand on one hip. ‘Because otherwise you're going to ruin my family and every other person I know and love? I don't think so, Marc. You might be a bastard at times, but you're not that big a bastard. In any case, I am tired of being a pawn in rich men's games. If you want me to marry you then you will have to do it the old-fashioned way.'

Marc ground his teeth together in frustration. ‘What would it take to get you to change your mind?'

She rolled her eyes at him. ‘You shouldn't have to ask!'

He thrust his hand through his hair, leaving it messier than it had been before. ‘Ava.' He cleared his throat and began again. ‘I know I should have probably told you this before, but I had a miserable childhood. I know it's more or less fashionable these days to claim you've been stuffed up by your parents' behaviour, but in this case it's true.'

Ava felt her stiff stance ease as she watched the play of emotions on his face. She could see how hard it was for him, the bitterness he felt was written all over his
face. She could see the pain in his dark eyes, the frown lines on his forehead bringing his brows almost together.

‘My parents divorced when I was seven,' he said in a voice she barely recognised as his. ‘But for the next three years I watched as my father was repeatedly and publicly humiliated by my mother's behaviour. She seemed to take some sort of perverse pleasure in dangling each of her toy-boy lovers in his face on every access pick-up. I was sickened by it. I was nothing but a pawn in her game. I don't think she had the capacity to love a child, or at least not the way a child deserves to be loved. She loved money and living in the fast lane much more. I was an inconvenience, a hindrance that she couldn't wait to get rid of.'

‘Oh, Marc…'

He held up a hand. ‘No, let me finish,' he said. He took a ragged breath and continued. ‘From the age of ten, when I saw my father drown himself in alcohol after my mother's death, I swore I would not let any woman do to me what had been done to him. In the end he lost everything he had worked so hard for. The business that had been in our family for generations went bust, he owed money everywhere. I had to work three jobs while I was still at school and then four while I was at college to pay off the debt after he died.'

Ava bit her lip until she tasted blood. Her heart ached for the little boy he had been, for the pain and rejection he must have felt, for all he had suffered. How he must have hated her for marrying Douglas. It all made such perfect sense now. She had ruined him just as his mother had done to his father. No wonder
he had come looking for revenge. ‘Oh, Marc…' she said again.

‘I know I should have told you this before,' he said. ‘I should have told you before I set you up in that apartment in London. I know you wanted more and God knows you certainly deserved more. If I could rewrite the past I would do it, but I can't.'

‘It's all right,' she said softly. ‘I understand.'

He gave her a weary look. ‘I'm not a good bet, Ava, but I can promise to take care of you and the baby. You have my word on that. You will not want for anything as long as I am alive.'

Ava didn't like to tell him that what she wanted most could not be bought with money. It was enough that he had shared this small part of his heart with her. He had revealed his past in a way he had never done before.

She stepped back to him and placed her arms around his waist. ‘Thank you for telling me,' she said, looking up into his eyes. ‘I am so sorry you had such a hard time as a child. No child deserves that sort of pain. No ex should hate their partner more than they love their child.'

His hands slipped around her back and pressed her closer. ‘Are you still dead set against breakfast in bed?' he asked with a hint of a smile.

‘I hope the toast hasn't gone soggy.'

He scooped her up in his arms. ‘Let's go see, shall we?'

 

Ava woke from a blissful sleep an hour or so later. Marc was lying on his side, watching her. She reached out and touched him to make sure she wasn't dreaming. His
flesh was warm and hard and her heart squeezed as she thought of how he had pleasured her earlier.

He touched her face lightly. ‘You have a linen crease, right there,' he said.

Ava felt it with her fingers and grimaced. ‘I must look a fright. I need a shower.'

His eyes darkened as he held her gaze. ‘Why not join me?'

Ava felt the delicious thrill of anticipation trickle through her as he led her into the
en suite
. He set the water temperature and stepped in, taking her with him. His arms went around her, holding her against his growing erection. She relished the surge of his blood against her, her body quivering as he bent his head to hers.

The cascading water added a sensual element to the kiss. He cupped her face in his hands, his mouth exploring hers in exquisite detail, his tongue playing with hers, making it dance around his with excitement as her passion rose.

His hands moved down from her face to cup her breasts, his thumbs teasing each of her nipples before he bent his mouth to each one in turn. Ava leaned back against the marble wall, a river of delight running through her body as his lips and tongue worked on her sensitive flesh. Her feminine core pulsed with longing, her legs barely able to keep her upright as Marc's mouth slowly but surely travelled via her shoulders and neck before taking her mouth under his again. This time the kiss had more urgency in it. She felt the hard probe of his body nudging her and she opened her thighs, sighing with bliss as he teased her at her moist entrance.
She became brazen with him, reaching down and touching him, circling him with her hand, rubbing and stroking while she was swallowing each of his groans.

He pulled away from her mouth, looking down at her with glittering eyes so black with desire her insides twitched with heady excitement. ‘Turn around,' he commanded.

Ava felt another thrilling wave of anticipation course through her as she turned her back to him. She shuddered when his hands gripped her by the waist, the feel of him behind her, so hard, so engorged, so powerful and so ready, made her shiver all over.

The difference in their heights was no barrier. Ava lifted herself on tiptoe as he bent his long strong legs, thrusting into her with such slick force she gasped out loud. ‘Tell me if I'm going too fast for you,' he said in a gruff, passion-filled voice.

‘You feel amazing,' she breathed.

‘God, so do you,' he said, nuzzling at her neck. ‘I love feeling you like this. I can feel every part of you holding on to me.'

Ava rocked back against him, anchoring herself against the marble wall of the shower, giving herself up to the powerful sensation of having him move within her. He upped his pace, the deep, thrusting motion making her flesh tingle all over. Her breathing became ragged as the tension grew inside her, her heart beating faster and faster. It was so incredibly intimate feeling him like this, her bottom pressed up against his lower abdomen, her feminine folds swollen and super-sensitive as he drove into her, time and time again. Every nerve-ending was screaming for release, every part of
her seemed to be marshalling for that final plunge into paradise.

Marc seemed to be fighting his own battle to maintain control. Ava knew he was close to bursting, she could hear it in his breathing and she could feel it in the urgency of his thrusts as the water poured down over their rocking bodies.

Ava suddenly felt the trigger go on her control. It caught her by surprise, sending her into a cataclysmic roller-coaster ride of sensation. Her nerves felt as if they had exploded with feeling, each and every one of them vibrating like the strings of a violin played by a master. It went on and on, making her feel as if she had shattered into a thousand pieces and would never be the same again.

She was still breathless in the aftermath when she felt Marc prepare to come. He thrust harder and harder, his deep groans sounding so sexy she knew she would live with this erotic fantasy in her head for the rest of her life. She felt him burst with release, the pumping action of his body sending her flesh into a shiver of rapturous delight.

He held her against him as his breathing steadied, the water washing away his seed from her body. Ava wondered if he realised he hadn't used a condom, but thought against mentioning it. She didn't want to spoil the intimacy of the moment. She had never felt so close to him and yet he had still not mentioned anything about his feelings for her. She didn't want to repeat the mistakes of the past and hound him for assurances, even though she desperately wanted them.

He turned her around and kissed her mouth, softly
and lingeringly, his hands moving up and down her body in a caress that was as fluid as the water coursing down upon them.

After a while he reached past her and turned off the shower. He didn't speak; he just picked up a towel and began to dry her as one would do to a small child. Ava gave herself up to his ministrations, enjoying the tenderness after the mind-blowing passion they had shared.

Their eyes met.

Ava tried to keep her emotions in check. She didn't want to appear needy or clingy. That would be the ultimate turn-off for him. She affected a casual demeanour, keeping her voice light and carefree. ‘What are your plans for the day? I thought I might go to the gym and then do some reading for the course I'm planning to do.'

He reached for another towel and roughly dried himself before tying it around his hips. ‘I have some book-work to pore over,' he said, watching her closely. ‘And I have a wedding to plan. Why don't you give your sister a call and tell her the news before she reads about it in the papers?'

Ava kept her face impassive. ‘I thought I'd wait until we hear from the doctor. No point rushing into things.'

He held her gaze for a throbbing pause. ‘You are determined to make me beg, aren't you?'

‘You don't strike me as the type to beg for anything, Marc,' she said, reaching for a bathrobe.

He blew out a breath as he followed her into the bedroom. ‘What do you want from me? I've offered to marry you. That's what you always wanted, wasn't it?'

Ava rolled her eyes before she faced him. ‘I am not
going to be browbeaten into a loveless marriage. I've already had one of those, remember?'

The phone rang at the bedside and Marc snatched it up impatiently. ‘Marc Castellano,' he clipped out.

‘It's your sister,' he said, handing it over.

Ava took the phone, watching as Marc grabbed at some clothes before he left. ‘Serena…' she said. ‘I…I was going to call you.'

‘It's OK,' Serena said. ‘I know things must be a little crazy for you right now. Marc sounded a bit curt just then. Is everything all right?'

Ava felt tears sting at her eyes, but valiantly fought them back. ‘I suppose you read the news. He wants us to get married.'

‘That's a good thing, isn't it?' Serena asked. ‘I mean, you still love him, don't you?'

Ava bit her lip and took a deep breath before she answered. ‘That's the problem. I love him but he doesn't love me.'

‘How do you know he doesn't?' Serena asked. ‘Has he said something to the contrary?'

‘No, it's just our relationship has always been about…about other things,' Ava said, trying not to think about what had just happened in the shower. ‘He's only offering to marry me now because…' She stopped, wondering how she could frame it to somehow lessen the blow.

‘Is there a possibility you could be pregnant?' Serena got in first.

Ava let out a sigh that shook its way through her chest. ‘I'm not sure… I've had a blood test…. I'm waiting for the doctor to call with the results.'

There was a little silence.

Ava could imagine how her sister was feeling. She could imagine the ambiguity of feeling joy and envy for someone you loved, wanting something so much that it hurt to hear of others succeeding where you had failed.

‘Ava, I am so excited for you,' Serena said.

‘You are?'

‘But of course, silly,' Serena assured her. ‘What, did you think that I would be upset or jealous or something?'

‘Well, the thought had crossed my mind…'

‘Ava, you've done so much for me, it's about time something went right for you for a change,' Serena said. She waited a beat before adding, ‘Richard and I have decided to have a break from IVF. We are so grateful for all you've done to help us financially, but Richard feels uncomfortable taking any more money off you.'