Page 38 of The Italian's Pregnant Enemy (A Diamond in the Rough)

He’s the father of your child either way. It isn’t like you’re going to get rid of your connection to him.

She gritted her teeth. Maybe. But he didn’t love her. And she was definitely not in a position where she wanted to be tied to a man who could not fall in love with her. She’d never seen Dario have a relationship that lasted longer than a photo op.

She just had sex for the first time. There had to be more out there. She didn’t know what sort of man she wanted. She didn’t...

“That’s ridiculous,” she said.

“Why? What better reason to marry than a child?”

“Love?”

“Love is a fantasy. And some people do a very admirable job of getting lost in it. But those of us who live as I did don’t have the luxury. And when you do not have that luxury you cannot buy into anything beyond what you can see and feel and touch.”

“Dario...”

“I told you I lived on the streets. Everyone knows this.”

“Yes, you did.”

“But do you know how I got there?”

She shook her head. “No. How would I know unless you told me?”

“Then now I’ll tell you. After my mother died he could no longer afford me. And he sold me. He sold me to a family who used me as manual labor, and believe me, I know that I did better than I might have. There are much worse uses people find for children. Instead, I was only expected to do hard labor. But that was how much my father loved me. I will not have any child of mine experience any potential instability.”

It was like the room had been stripped of the ceiling, like the sky above was howling like a wolf.

Sold?

That boy she’d seen in her mind, sleeping on the streets, was suddenly right there again. Suddenly with her. And it was like everything was...pain. It was difficult for her to fully wrap her mind around what he had just said. She had conflicts with her father, and she had certainly let herself wallow in this idea that he might not love her quite as much as perhaps her mother had, or as much as he did Dario. But her father had never left her unsafe. And he would never have done anything like that. She knew in that moment, that if her father had been faced with abject poverty when her mother had died he would’ve taken care of her. Without question. He would have sacrificed it all for her.

And Dario...

He’d told her it was the usual sad story and it wasn’t. There was nothing usual about this. It was barbaric and horrible and beyond imagination.

“I don’t know what to say,” she said. “It’s horrible, it’s awful, it’s...”

“You can see why I insist on marriage.”

“No. I don’t. I don’t understand why you think we need to be married in order to have these kinds of supports and stability in place. We can have a custody arrangement. We... We are in each other’s lives, Dario, it isn’t like we can’t figure out a way to share a child. Nothing bad has happened between us.”

“It isn’t acceptable,” he said. “I would give a child of mine everything.”

“I didn’t think you wanted children. Ever. As you are Dario Rivelli and if you wanted something you’d have had it by now.”

“I didn’t. But you are having one. And it is mine. There will be no other man raising my child. Did you harbor fantasies about that? Did you think perhaps you could convince golden retriever Carter to take on that role?”

“No,” she said. “No. I didn’t. I wouldn’t. Ever. I came to you as soon as I figured out what I wanted to do. I came to you as soon as I had a plan. I’m doing what you said. I’m taking control. I’m not afraid. I think that this is the best—”

“You’re wrong. The best thing for our child, the best thing for all of us would be if we were a family unit.”

“What does that look like to you?”

“We will be married. Our child will not be subjected to censure. Think about it. Think about the sorts of articles that will be written about you and I if it does not look like we are in a real relationship.”

“So that’s what you’re worried about. You know no one cares anymore if people are married.”

“It is the principle. We do not wish to invite speculation. We will marry. It certainly doesn’t matter if it’s clear you were pregnant prior to the marriage, but there is no need for people to wonder or guess at the nature of our relationship.”

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