‘But I thought you didn’t want babies.’ His dark brows shot up. ‘How could you possibly want them when your damned career was always so important to you and took precedence over everything else? You told me that there wasn’t enough time in your life for children—and I can’t see that having changed.’

Frustratedly, she shook her head. Hadn’t he realised that at the time she’d said that it had been fear which had motivated her—as well as ambition? Her career had mattered to her because it had been a symbol of her own survival, as well as her success. She’d still been on the way up, and it had meant too much to her to simply let it slide just because that was what he wanted. But Dante had also wanted her pregnant as soon as they were married, and that had scared the hell out of her—and not just because she’d been so young. She had tried to explain that it was partly down to the awful experience she’d had with her own mother, which made her want to wait, but he had been immovable. Women married and then they became pregnant—it was as primitive as that to Dante.

‘You don’t understand, Dante.’

He shook his dark head and gave a cynical laugh. ‘Oh, but I do, Justina. I understand only too well. You had sex with me—what? Five years after we’d last seen one another? Most women would have slapped my face for even trying it on. But not you. Oh, no. You wanted me from the moment that you saw me in the cathedral—I could read it in your eyes as clearly as if you’d come straight out and propositioned me.’

‘I’m sorry if I don’t match up to the saintlike status of your other lovers!’

‘We didn’t even use any protection!’

‘I didn’t realise that was solely the woman’s responsibility.’

‘I assumed you were still on the pill,’ he snapped, knowing that he should have stopped to find out. But he hadn’t. He hadn’t cared about anything other than finding himself in the tight, molten slickness of her body again after so long. And hadn’t it felt good? Hadn’t it felt like heaven? He swallowed as he tried to force the erotic memory to the back of his mind—but he couldn’t. It had been haunting him ever since—so how could he expect it to disappear when the woman who had so lured him was standing right in front of him? ‘Why would you take such a risk with a man you were never likely to see again after that night?’

Justina stared into the cold condemnation on his face. Because she hadn’t been thinking straight, that was why. So blinded by passion that common sense hadn’t got a look-in. Oh, why did it have to be him who’d made her feel all these things? Why did he still make her feel them even now? If he walked across the room and started to kiss her, she honestly didn’t know how she’d respond.

‘You tell me,’ she said tonelessly.

‘Okay. I will.’ His eyes grew hard and his voice was calculating—like a detective who was poised on the brink of a breakthrough. ‘I’ll tell you exactly how I think it was. Maybe you wanted a baby. You’d reached a time in your life where you realised you’d better get a move on if you wanted to be a mother. Only maybe you wanted a baby without all the added trouble of an accompanying man. Isn’t that what every successful career woman craves these days, Justina? The designer baby to go with her designer life?’

Justina flinched. Did he really believe her capable of doing such a cold-blooded thing? ‘That’s the most absurd thing I’ve ever heard.’

‘And what better candidate for her baby’s father than me?’ he continued, as if she hadn’t spoken.

‘You?’

‘Yes, me.’ Automatically he pulled his powerful shoulders back as his proud words hissed into the air. ‘Strong and virile. The alpha of the pack. Women are programmed to want a man like me to father their child. That’s why they thrust themselves on me at every opportunity.’

For a moment she was tempted to point out that he had been the one doing the thrusting, but she recognised that this was no time to attempt humour. Not when he was essentially accusing her of having used him as some sort of unknowing sperm donor.

‘I’m not continuing with this ridiculous discussion any longer,’ she said. ‘Go and mull over your crazy conspiracy theories somewhere else. I’m tired and I need to pack. I have a plane to catch.’

He watched as she rubbed two fingers tiredly across her forehead. ‘You’re going home?’

‘Yes, Dante—I’m going home. I’m only just within the legal requirement for flying, if you must know.’

‘Why the hell are you flying? Why aren’t you doing what most women would do in your position—lying on a sofa with your feet up instead of trekking halfway across the globe?’

‘I’ve been working.’

‘Of course. I should have guessed.’

‘I know that for you it’s a dirty word when it comes from a woman’s lips—but that’s just the way it is. I was working—and now I need to pack. So if you wouldn’t mind leaving me to get on with it, I’d appreciate it.’

‘As it happens, I would. I’d mind very much.’ For the first time he saw the faint shadows which darkened her eyes. ‘I presume you’re booked on to a scheduled flight?’

‘I wasn’t planning on flapping my arms and flying to England, if that’s what you mean.’

He let out a low breath of irritation. ‘That is a completely unsatisfactory state of affairs. You will travel with me instead. On the D’Arezzo jet.’

For a moment she hesitated. ‘You’ve got your own plane now?’

‘Yes, I’ve got my own plane,’ he snapped. ‘I told you at the wedding that the company was doing well—you didn’t bother to ask how well. But I don’t know why that should come as a surprise, when my career never made you sit up and take notice. It was always about you—wasn’t it, Justina?’

He said it in a way which filled Justina with rebellion. Already he was trying to take over. To use his power and his wealth to control her movements. Earlier in the day she’d been feeling lonely—but now she could see that there were worse things than having to deal with an unplanned pregnancy on her own. Like having Dante call the shots and expect her to fall in with his wishes.

‘I will not travel on your plane,’ she said quietly. ‘I already have my ticket and I’m intending to use it. Before you ask, I will be travelling in first class and I will be perfectly comfortable. I don’t need your money and what it can buy. That’s why I’ve always made my own. Why I’ve always been so protective of my career and my independence. Don’t you realise that I’m not impressed by your wealth, Dante? I never was.’

There was a pause while their eyes clashed in a silent battle of wills. Yes, he thought bitterly, she had always made it perfectly clear that she didn’t need him.

‘But I’m not trying to impress you,’ he said quietly. ‘On the contrary, I am merely trying to make you see sense. Because this is no longer just about you and what makes you happy—although God knows that’s been your main consideration for so long that it’s difficult to see how you could ever change your behaviour. You seem to forget that you carry my child within you, and I have a responsibility towards that unborn life.’

She felt her heart contract. ‘But you don’t—’

‘Now, we can do this one of two ways.’ His unequivocal words cut through her protest. ‘You can force me to carry you kicking and screaming through the foyer of this beautiful hotel—with all the attendant embarrassment and publicity that will cause. Publicity which will be abhorrent to me and to the D’Arezzo corporation. But if I have to do it, then I will. Be under no illusion about that.’ There was a pause as his dark gaze scorched through her. ‘Or we can do this the easy way. You can go and do your packing and let me fly you back to England and all you have to do is sit back and let it happen. Which is far better for you—and for the baby. Surely even you can see that?’