Page 35 of Legacy of His Revenge
‘I’ve taken the afternoon off,querida, because I have a surprise for you.’
‘I hate surprises,’ Sophie confessed.
‘I know. I’m not a big fan of them myself but I am hoping you’ll like this one. It’s a house.’
‘A house?’
‘For you,’ he said bluntly and her eyes widened in surprise.
‘You’ve gone and bought a housefor me?’ She bristled. ‘Why would you do that?’
Matias sat back, taking his own sweet time, and looked at her evenly. ‘Because,’ he said calmly, ‘you won’t be bringing up our child in that tiny box of yours with its converted kitchen.’
‘There’s nothing wrong withthat box,’ Sophie cried hotly as pride kicked in and lodged inside her.
‘Don’t argue with me on this.’ Matias’s voice was forbidding. ‘You’ve turned down my marriage proposal, in defiance of common sense. You’ve dug your heels in and dismissed all financial help I’ve offered as unnecessary handouts. You’ve insisted on working long hours even though you’re unnecessarily putting our child at risk. You arenotgoing to wage war with me on this.’
‘How have I been putting the baby at risk?’ Sophie asked furiously.
‘You don’t have to work until midnight baking cakes for anyone’s anniversary party.’
‘Once.I’ve done thatonce!’
‘Or,’ Matias ploughed on remorselessly, ‘waste three hours in traffic delivering a four-course meal for a dinner party.’
‘That’s my job!’
‘You’re overexerting yourself. You need to take it easy.’
Sophie released a long sigh but...Had anyone ever really looked out for her? Ever really cared whether she was taking on too much or not?Of course, this wasn’t abouther, but about the precious cargo in her stomach, and it would be downright foolhardy to start thinking otherwisebut still...
‘I know you’re not a gold-digger, Sophie. You don’t have to keep trying to prove it to me over and over again.’
‘That’s not what I’m doing.’
‘No? Then what is it?’
‘I won’t rely on you financially. I can’t. I need to have my own financial independence.’ Suddenly she felt small and helpless. She wished she were able to lean on him and just accept what was on offer. He made it sound so easy. Clean break from what had happened between them in the past and onward bound to the future he wanted her and his child to have, but there was so much more to the story than he knew.
‘Well, you’re going to have to compromise on this, whether you like it or not,cara.’ His voice was cool and unyielding.
Their eyes tangled. He reached out and brushed a speck of something from the side of her mouth, then left his finger there for a few seconds to stroke it over her lips. ‘A little bread,’ he said roughly, his big body firing up immediately because it was the first time he’d touched her in weeks.
Sophie’s eyes widened. For a minute there she had leaned towards him and her whole body had burned from the inside out, as though molten lava were running through her veins.The way he was looking at her, with those deep, dark, sexy eyes...
Yearning made her weak and it was a struggle to pull away from the magnetic drag on her senses.
‘You have no idea what my taste is like. In houses.’ Which was as good as accepting whatever over-the-top house he had flung money at, in defiance of the fact that he must have known that she would have kicked up a fuss about it. Her heart was still hammering and she lowered her eyes and took a few deep breaths before looking at him once again. She could still feel the burning of her skin where he had touched her. ‘Don’t get me wrong, Matias.’ Her tone crisped up but her body, awakened by his touch,wanted more. ‘You have a lovely place in the Lake District but I couldn’t imagine living in a massive greenhouse like that. I don’t know what your apartment’s like but I’m guessing it’s along the same lines...’
‘Damned by faint praise,’ Matias murmured, wanting her more than he had ever wanted anything or anyone in his life before and damn well determined to have her because he couldsmellthe same want radiating from her in waves.
‘What I’m saying is you and I obviously don’t have the same taste in houses so it’s unlikely I’m going to like whatever it is you’ve bought.’
‘I haven’t bought it yet,’ he drawled. ‘I may be arrogant but I thought you might actually like to have a say in the house you want to live in.’ Eyes on her, he signalled for the bill and then stood up.
He dominated the space around him and she was helplessly drawn towards him, like a moth to a bright light. She couldn’t quite understand how it was that he could continue to exercise this powerful effect on her after what he had done, or how common sense and logic hadn’t prevailed when it came to stepping back from him. She wondered whether pregnancy hormones had taken over and were controlling all her responses, heightening her emotional state and making her vulnerable to him when she should have been as detached from him as he was from her and getting down to the business of building a friendship for the sake of the child she was carrying.
Outside, his chauffeur was waiting for them, but instead of accompanying them he drove them to his office where they switched cars, and Matias took the wheel.
