Baby Mine (2 page)

Jada spun on her heel and started
away, but Renzo caught her and drug her into his embrace. She crashed
into his chest hard enough to knock the wind from her lungs and
parted her lips. The bastard took advantage of her disorientation,
slanting his mouth over hers. She raised her hands to ward him off,
but instead her stupid fingers curled into the material of his shirt
to hang onto him. Renzo’s tongue burrowed between her lips and
swept the moist interior. Her knees buckled, but he drew her closer.
The world and every person in it ceased to exist from the first taste
of him, with his deep, sexy moans as he kissed her, and the strength
in his arms.

Her nipples pebbled, making it
seem like she didn’t wear a bra. All she could think about was
pleading for him to rip them off and take her on his desk.
Get
a grip,
Jada.
He doesn’t even
respect the woman he’s with not to maul you in his office with
her a couple rooms away.

When sanity returned, she
wrenched free of his hold and stepped back. Her palm stung from the
smack across his cheek. Renzo didn’t flinch, although red
stained his handsome face.

“
You don’t get to
touch me anymore. What we had in Venice is over. Now, I’ve told
you about the baby. I’m leaving.”

Again he folded his arms and
settled on his desk. The man seemed quite satisfied that he’d
rattled her. Peering closely at him, she wondered if he even heard
her about the pregnancy.

Renzo lowered his gaze as if deep
in thought and then looked at her again. “No. You can’t
drop a bomb like that and walk out.”

“
Excuse me?” She put
a hand on her hip. This wasn’t going the way she’d
planned. Truth be told, she’d never thought it through. She’d
considered ways he might react, but this wasn’t one. “I
don’t expect anything from you.”

“
Jada, do you know what
kind of family I am from?”

She frowned. “I don’t
follow.”

He moved from the edge of the
desk, walked around it and dropped into his chair. “We are all
about family. Nothing is more important—not business, not
anyone else. You’ve just told me you’re having my son or
daughter, and then you say I don’t need to be involved. Do you
understand the insult that is? It’s impossible for me not to be
in my child’s life. In fact, I have every intention of being
involved one hundred percent. That means I will be forever connected
to you. What we need to discuss now is your moving here.”

“
Whoa. What?” She
shook her head. “I’m not moving here, Renzo. I realize
you have a lot going on…” She glanced around to the
floor-to-ceiling bookshelves and the expensive furniture that
occupied his office. “But I have a life back in Charlotte. I’m
not going to up and leave it just because you want involvement in my
baby’s life, and like I said, you should worry more about how
you’ll tell your wife!”

His slow grin made her grit her
teeth. “I do not have a wife, Jada.”

“
Well—”

“
Nicoletta is a family
friend, nothing more.”

Jada didn’t bother
informing him Nicoletta had designs on him, since she’d thought
she was his wife when she first saw the woman. If she had her way,
she would be more than a family friend by tomorrow. Jada tried not to
care one way or the other. She chose another tactic. “Listen,
for a while it got hot and heavy in Venice. We couldn’t keep
our hands off each other, and that one night we didn’t use
protection. I’ve decided I can handle things. I don’t
want you to feel obligated. With my job, I even have great health
benefits.”

“
So in other words, you
will suffer the consequences of our actions, but I get off free.”

She glared at him. “I don’t
consider it suffering. I’m happy about the baby.”

“
Then so am I. Stay. We
have much to discuss.”

“
Renzo—”

A knock sounded on the door, and
then it opened. An older man with deep wrinkles around his eyes,
furrows in his forehead and salt and pepper hair stepped into the
room. Jada recognized only a slight resemblance to Renzo, but it
could be just that he was dark with an olive skin tone.

“
Uncle Gianni, I didn’t
know you were back.” Renzo stood, and the two men hugged,
patting each other’s backs.

“
Yes, I just got in. With
my flight so late, I thought it might disturb dinner if I called for
a pickup. I know how your mother hates disruptions to mealtime.”

“
Then I could have arranged
for a car,” Renzo insisted.

“
Never mind.” His
uncle waved a large hand. “I heard we have an unexpected
visitor. Ettore said you were particularly excited about seeing this
young woman.” Dark eyes swung in her direction, and Jada caught
the open assessment. Something told her Gianni had already jumped to
conclusions about why she’d shown up. Apparently, the way he
waited for an explanation, he expected he had a right to get into
Renzo’s affairs. She resisted the urge to tell him to mind his
business.

“
Forgive me.” Renzo
reached out a hand and grasped Jada’s wrist in a light but firm
touch to draw her closer to his side. “This is Jada Thompson,
and she is having my baby.”

Jada didn’t have to run
through a range of possible reactions from Gianni. She had his number
from the second he walked through the door. Red tinged his face, and
his eyebrows crashed low over his eyes. The sneer he directed at her
would have cowed a lesser woman. She had never allowed any man to
bully her, and she didn’t intend to start with this one.

“
How do you know it’s
yours?” he demanded of Renzo. “For that matter, how do
you know she’s really pregnant? We’ve been through this
scenario a hundred times. Women find out your net worth and see their
ticket out of poverty.”

“
Uncle, you’re
insulting! You owe Jada an apology.”

Jada held up a finger. “No,
don’t worry about it, Renzo. He’s a pompous asshole who
thinks the world is like
him
.
If you need to see the doctor report that shows my positive results,
I’ll be happy to show you. In fact, if you want to hold the
stick I peed on at home, you can have that too!”

She faced off with Gianni and
almost laughed when his color rose from his neckline to his forehead.
Something told her he wasn’t used to women getting in his face,
and she was happy to be the first one.

“
It’s not necessary
to be so—”

“
Get out of my business,”
she snapped and turned on her heel to stomp from the room. As she
pulled the door closed behind her, she caught Renzo’s words as
he laid into his uncle. She had to give him credit. At least he
believed her. A few steps from the office door, she stopped. Did he
believe her? Renzo had stood up for her, but was it to save face or
because he trusted she wasn’t the kind of person to try and
swindle him out of money? Renzo had been right there with her all
hungry for sex, ripping clothes off to get into her panties. Neither
of them had thought about a condom that one night until much later,
after a marathon of sex. Just thinking about it had her pussy
clenching, and she hurried down the hall.

* * * *

Much later, Jada settled into a
spare bedroom and wondered for the millionth time why she just didn’t
go find a hotel. Why had she stayed when she told Renzo what she came
to say? He couldn’t make her stay in California, nor could he
force her to let him into her baby’s life.

She started a bath, and while the
water ran into the oversize tub, she added bubble bath. The gentle
scent of lavender permeated the air, easing some of the stress from
the flight here and her interaction with Renzo and his uncle. After
stripping her clothes off, she tested the heat of the water and then
slipped into the luxurious depths. A sigh escaped her, and she
settled with her head resting on the back of the tub.

If she were honest with herself,
she would admit she’d stayed for the same reason she came in
the first place. Six weeks had not been enough time with Renzo—not
nearly enough.

“
You left without a word.”

She squeaked in alarm and sat up,
then hunched beneath the surface to hide her bare breasts. “What
are you doing in here, Renzo?”

He glanced around. “My
house.”

Jada rolled her eyes. “In
my bathroom. It’s mine as long as I’m assigned to it.”

He shifted with languid movements
from the doorway and shut the door behind him. From the first moment
she met him, he’d done that—moved without sound, graceful
like a jungle cat and stealthy like one too. He’d show up from
nowhere and turn her emotional balance all awry. How could a man have
such power?

“
You left that last day
without a word,” he repeated.

Jada lowered her gaze to the
bubbles, hoping they wouldn’t dissipate, putting her naked body
on display. Bad enough was the fact that she was on fire with him so
close and nothing more than warm liquid a barrier between them. “We
agreed from the beginning that my trip was only a few weeks, and
you…you said you were local.”

“
I never said such a
thing.” He sat on the side of the tub, oblivious to his slacks
growing damp. “I said my family owns a house in Venice.”

“
Let me guess, a mansion?
One of several locations, I bet.” The snarky attitude didn’t
appear to be lost on him.

“
Yes.” His gaze
dropped from her face to the beginning swell of her breasts. Jada
fought between scrunching lower and holding her position. She didn’t
want to give him the satisfaction of knowing how he affected her.

“
I didn’t know you
were rich, let alone owned one of the biggest wineries in
existence—here and in Italy. I…you’re a
billionaire, aren’t you?”

“
I am.”

She swore. “That’s
all the more reason I made the right decision.”

He frowned. “I don’t
usually get that reaction from women.”

“
From what your uncle said,
I don’t doubt it, but let me make something real clear, Renzo
Mariani. I don’t want you or your money.”

His eyes narrowed, and a curious
expression came over his handsome features. When he slid closer, her
mouth went dry. He skimmed fingers over the surface of the water,
separating the bubbles. She imagined he could see a lot more than she
wanted him to, and he might as well caress her with his light touch.

“
That’s funny,”
Renzo began, “because I know when a woman burns for me,
cara
mia
, and you are on
fire.”

“
Whether I am or I’m
not is irrelevant,” she snapped.

Renzo grinned. “I beg to
differ.”

He bent down without warning and
kissed her for the second time. Jada mentally demanded she push him
away and turn her head, but instead, she arched her back and opened
her mouth in invitation. Their tongues touched, and heat scorched her
from head to toe. Her nipples pebbled into stiff peaks and grazed his
chest. The dampness of her skin ruined his shirt, but Renzo didn’t
appear to care. He dipped a hand beneath the surface of the water to
thread between her legs. A cry of pleasure wrenched from her throat
when the tips of his fingers teased her clit. Still, Renzo took the
kiss deeper, forcing her head back and devouring her mouth. She gave
it up in a heartbeat, desperate for more. Her decision to end their
affair when she did had been made to keep control, but one touch from
this man made it plain who held all the power.

When he raised his head at last,
she lowered hers to keep him from seeing the raw lust that must light
her eyes. She felt him stand and heard the rustle of clothing. Her
heart hammered in her throat when he stepped over the edge of the
tub, naked, to sit in front of her. She could yell, pretend outrage,
and demand he leave, but the reality was she already knew what she
wanted. Beneath the bubbles, he would be erect and hard. His cock was
thick, and he’d stretched her so good in Venice. The day she
checked out of her hotel early and flew back home, her pussy had
craved to be filled with him a million more times.

Jada caught her bottom lip
between her teeth and busied herself squeezing gel into her sponge,
but Renzo leaned over and took the pink ball from her hands. He
worked the gel into foam and then ran the sponge over her bare
breasts. He didn’t even have to touch her nipples to drive up
her desire. Just the act of washing her with tender movements and
gentle care was enough.

He dipped his hand beneath the
water and found his way between her legs. He stroked the ball across
her pussy, and she had to clamp her teeth together to keep from
crying out in pleasure.

“
Come here,” he
commanded and tossed the ball aside.

She widened her eyes. “You
haven’t washed my back yet.”

“
You and I both know I’m
not interested in washing you right now. I want to get you dirty from
head to toe. Now, come here.”

Jada shivered. She rolled forward
to her knees, and Renzo reached out to help her. He grasped her hips
and lifted her with strength that made her head spin. When he brought
her down on his lap, facing him, she gripped his shoulders and sucked
in a breath. His cock pressed into her belly. She felt his shaft
extended, thick and erect. The tool twitched under her, and in
response her pussy throbbed.