The comment stung. “My intelligence isn’t at stake here.”
“No, my future is, and that of my daughter’s.”
He hardened his heart. “It’s only your daughter’s future I’m concerned with.”
“Thanks very much. Perhaps I should just hand her over and leave you to it?” she choked out.
Anger filled him. “You would do that?”
“Of course not!”
His heart settled, and then he recognized it was a real possibility. “How about a cool million for her?”
“Don’t insult me, Dominic.”
“Too low?”
She looked wounded but recovered. “This is my daughter, and I intend to keep her. Nicole comes first. She needs her mother. And I need her.”
Relief filled him. He could handle knowing this woman was a gold digger and an adulterer, but the possibility of a child finding out her mother had given her away was something else.
“Then it’s marriage or nothing,” he stated firmly.
She looked down at the letter in her hand and swallowed. “I—”
“Yes or no, Cassandra?”
Seconds lapsed.
She took a ragged breath and lifted her head. “It looks like I don’t have a choice.”
“Neither do I, but this isn’t about us.”
“No, it’s about my daughter, and she’s the only reason I’ll marry you, Dominic.”
He smiled cynically. “Are you trying to dent my ego?”
“I haven’t got a big enough jackhammer for that.”
His lips twitched despite himself, and her mouth curved a hint and suddenly he was aware it wasn’t the jackhammer he had to worry about. It was that wispy little smile he’d seen on those soft lips. Lips he intended to kiss one day soon.
“I’ll make the arrangements,” he said brusquely and strode from the house without another word. He had to remember that his younger brother had been sucker punched by this woman’s beauty. Liam had given her the Roth name, a luxurious town house, furs, expensive jewelry, and she’d taken it all without a qualm.
Sure, she had come through for Liam and had proceeded with giving him the one thing he’d desperately wanted before he died—a child with whom to leave something of himself behind. But had it really been such a sacrifice? She would have known she was set for life by having a Roth child.
Of course, what she didn’t know was that Liam’s blood ties to his oldest brother had won out over conscience in the end. Blood ties through Nicole.
And one day Cassandra would have to know the truth. That the daughter she thought was her late husband’s was actually his.
Cassandra stayed sitting long after her brother-in-law left, thankful Nicole was taking her afternoon nap.
The letter in her hand said it all.
Oh, God, how could Liam have done this to her? Liam, the man who’d totally swept her off her feet three years ago. A dashing young man who’d declared he’d fallen in love with her from the moment he’d seen her working behind the cosmetics counter at the Roth’s flagship store in the city. He hadn’t taken no for an answer. She wished he had.
Cassandra, forgive me for doing this, but I have no choice. I want Nicole to be raised a Roth.
Their marriage had been a sham almost from the start. She’d loved him, but Liam had wanted only a trophy wife and hadn’t really loved her beyond her looks. He’d showered her with presents, but it had all been about putting her on display.
And then he’d accused her of having an affair with his friend Keith. He’d arrived at their house one day when she’d been home alone. She disliked Keith intensely, but she’d let him come in when he’d said he needed to talk to her. Once inside he’d followed her into the kitchen, where she’d gone to make coffee, and kissed her. Then Liam had come home unexpectedly and no amount of explaining that the kiss had been against her will had changed her husband’s mind. Certainly Keith had played the innocent, even going so far as to say that she’d seduced him months ago and that he’d been trying to end their affair, no doubt covering himself in case his wife was ever to find out.
The day after all this, Liam’s test results had come back with the worst kind of news and she hadn’t the heart to leave him then. In sickness and in health… It had been their first anniversary.
It’s not just for Nicole’s sake. I want my parents to be involved in their granddaughter’s life.
She hadn’t been prepared for his next shock a few months later. Out of the blue he’d wanted to father a child so that a part of him would live on after he’d gone. Weakened from his condition’s aggressive treatment, and no longer feeling attractive as a man, he’d then begged her to have his child by artificial insemination.
Nicole will be of great comfort to them in their grief. And that comforts me.
She’d said an adamant no at first, not wanting to bring a child into the world for the wrong reasons. But he’d known she’d badly wanted a baby when they’d first married, and he’d assured her their child would be well looked after by his family if anything ever happened to her.
Still she’d hesitated.
And in the midst of this her beloved adoptive father had needed full-time care after a stroke, and there was no way her adoptive sister could help financially. Liam—always one to grasp an opportunity—had dangled another carrot in front of her by promising to place Joe in an expensive nursing home and pay all costs if she had his baby.
She’d finally agreed.
I want you to marry Dominic. It’s the only way I can be sure Nicole stays a Roth. He will take care of her.
At Liam’s suggestion, the half-million-dollar-bond for the nursing home had been placed in her account, and Liam’s accountant had been putting a certain amount into her bank account each month, along with her monthly allowance. She’d been happy with that. It suited her to keep an eye on things herself.
Today she’d discovered that all money had been stopped. Now she knew why, God rest Liam’s soul. Had he planned this all along? Or was this something that had occurred to him near the end? She’d probably never know the answer.
If you refuse, then I’ve left a letter with my lawyer to give to Dominic. It contains the truth.
She’d never wanted to get involved with another Roth again, but it seemed her hands were tied. She now had to marry Dominic. Her brother-in-law.
Her soon-to-be husband.
On the surface Dominic Roth was cool and arrogant toward her, but deep down there was a sexual fuse between them waiting to be lit. It had always been there, only she hadn’t let herself think about it previously. She’d been a married woman, and it wasn’t something she’d wanted to acknowledge. Despite Liam’s accusations, she would never be unfaithful to her husband. Not with his brother and not with Keith.
She still didn’t want to acknowledge any sexual desire for a man she disliked. Call her naive, but she wanted to believe that love and lust went hand in hand. With Dominic she knew they wouldn’t. It would be lust, lust and more lust. There would be no love between them.
I forgive you for your affair with Keith; I blame myself for that. And I forgive you for forcing me to pay you to have my baby, darling. I know you didn’t want a child at first and that you did it for me, despite taking the money. And I know the truth, if it all comes out, will hurt you.
She swallowed hard as she looked down at the letter and let the words sink in. The truth? There was no truth in his words, not about the affair and not about Nicole. How could Liam lie like that? He was virtually saying she was an adulterer who’d “sold” her body to have the baby of a dying man. It hadn’t been like that at all. She had wanted a baby, but had hesitated for various reasons. Saying yes hadn’t been about the money. It had not been for herself.
Marry Dominic and raise Nicole together as a family. He’ll be a wonderful father. And she’s a beautiful little girl who deserves to be loved for herself.
If you refuse, Dominic already has my full blessing to fight for custody of Nicole. The letter with my lawyer detailing everything will be used against you in court.
The threat sent chills down her spine. Dominic could easily have the family lawyers paint her in a bad light for custody of Nicole. They’d have no hesitation in twisting things, especially if they dragged Keith into court. She was certain he would perjure himself to protect his marriage.
And after proving her a liar, the lawyers would simply have to point out that her monthly allowance had been increased at the same time her father had been put in the nursing home, not to mention that the five hundred thousand dollars for the bond had been given to her at the same time she’d been artificially inseminated. They’d only have to search her records, going back a few years, to discover that. And then it would “prove” she’d blackmailed her husband.
The letter will be destroyed six months after you marry Dominic. Look on this as my legacy to you all.
She could fight Dominic, of course, but what chance would an adopted kid from a low-income family have at winning against a wealthy, upstanding family like the Roths? Her parents-in-law would dislike her even more once they learned the so-called “truth.” They would want revenge, too.
So marry Dominic she would.
And let him think the worst of her she would.
She didn’t want him to know anything he could use in court against her. An unfaithful wife “paid” to have a baby wasn’t something an unsympathetic judge could choose to look kindly on, no matter the circumstances or what good she’d done with the money.
She wouldn’t risk being labeled an unfit wife and mother.
She would risk nothing where her daughter was concerned.
Two
The wedding ceremony was held in the plush surroundings of Dominic’s office in the city a few days later, in what had to be one of the quickest services on record. Even the hasty ceremony for her and Liam had been longer than this.
She wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. Dominic had juggled his schedule to fit this in, and it somehow seemed appropriate. This wasn’t a love match between them. His fleeting kiss on the side of her mouth sealing their marriage a few minutes ago was testament to that.
Fleeting but potent.
“I’m glad you dressed appropriately for your wedding,” he murmured sardonically as his personal assistant, Janice, hurried the marriage celebrant out the door.
Cassandra casually patted the jeweled hair stick in her French twist. She thought the short satin dress with the chic bolero jacket was a nice touch, especially in black. “I’m a widow, remember?”
“Not any longer.”
She winced inwardly, but wouldn’t let him know it. “Next time I marry, I’ll wear gray then.”
His brows flattened. “There won’t be a next time,” he all but snapped.
She held his gaze, then looked away to where the other witness to their marriage—his brother Adam—was opening a bottle of champagne. Oh, God, she didn’t feel in the least like celebrating being married again. There was absolutely nothing to celebrate in this travesty of a ceremony. It was the reason she hadn’t brought Nicole today or told her sister, and Dominic hadn’t pressed her about it, either.