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‘Your son?’ she said, as if it were a word she’d never heard before

Her disingenuous question sealed his rage and Di to respond until he had his emotions under control, because not once in all his turbulent thirty-six years could he ever recall feeling such anger Not even towards his cheating mother or crooked father Instinct made him want to lash out at her To haul her towards hi face To ask why she—of all people—would have betrayed hih to know that it was far er beneath the velvet cloak of smoothness, even if Erin was one of the few people ould kno angry he really was

‘Oh, come on, Erin,’ he said silkily ‘Please don’t try to assuence You should have had an answer to this question by now because youthat I would turn up and ask it at some point Or did you really think I would never find out? Maybe not this year, or even next—but surely youyou like this to ask you about your son My son’

He thought she looked like a textbook study of guilt She was looking from side to side, like an animal which had been cornered, and it was difficult for Dimitri to reconcile himself with this new version of her The white-faced wo like the Erin he’d known The shtforoman who had worked by his side for years, ever since she’d left secretarial college Who, unlike every other woman on the planet, had never flirted with hi respect She was the person who’d been given unprecedented access to all areas of his life and affairs The one person he had trusted above all others And yes, sleeping with her that one time had been a s could never be the same between them afterwards—but even so how dared she keep the consequences of that night from him for all these years?

How dared she?

‘You aren’t going to deny it, are you, Erin?’ he continued ly ‘Because you can’t’

Her lips opened and she shivered and, powered by an instinct he wasn’t sure he recognised, Dimitri removed his jacket and draped it around her narrow shoulders The suit’s grey jacket swamped her and made her complexion look even more waxy than it had been before and his reen eyes as wide as a kitten and thinking he would take pity on her? Because if that was the case—she rong

Very wrong

There was a tap on the door and a woetically and withdrawing again

‘Let’s get out of here,’ he said coldly

He half lifted her out of the chair and ushered her outside, where a cold blast of autuh her and Erin are of people turning to stare as if the tall,bride Instantly, a sleek black limousine purred to a halt in front of them and Di onto the seat beside her, he gave a perean to move away

‘Where are we going?’ she questioned, looking around her in alar me?’

‘Cut the dramatics,’ he snapped ‘We need to have a conversation, so it’s your place or mine Up to you’

His words were greeted with the expression of someone who had just been offered a choice of two poisons to drink, for she bit her botto a little colour to its plu the way he’d kissed her in the register office—a kiss born out of rage and a desire to take control A kiss intended to show young Chico exactly as boss—as if any such demonstration were really needed But it hadn’t worked out quite as he’d intended, had it? He hadn’t meant it to kick-start his libido, but it had And despite his rage and disbelief, it was as ain To pull her into his ar up like a flower He’d forgotten just how instantly she went up in flames the moment he touched her How her fairly commonplace exterior hid a powerful sexuality, which was both unexpected and surprising

He could see her sing—thedown that swanlike neck of hers And he could hear the note of anxiety which had entered her voice

‘Why can’t we just have the conversation here?’

‘I think you know the answer to that, Erin Apart frolish as well as Russian—I don’t think I trust myself to be in such a confined space with you e are discussing so my head round’ His voice lowered into a harsh rasp ‘Discovering that I have a son and that you have kept hiht be teret So you’d better , or I’ll be forced to make the decision for you’