doing here. You owe me that.’
‘I owe you nothing, Leah McDonald.’
Leah bit down hard on her tongue. In her book this arrogant, hateful man simmering before her owed her everything. Her life as she knew it, her aching heart—her sanity, come to that. Everything that had been destroyed when their paths had so fatefully crossed. When he had seen fit to blow her world apart.
‘So what is going to happen after this so-called two weeks, then?’ She fought to stay calm, not to rise to his bait, plumbing the depths of a composure she hadn’t known she possessed. If she wanted to find out any information she had to keep her head. ‘How do I know that you won’t keep me and Gabriel here for ever?
‘Because that would serve no useful purpose.’ Jaco’s infuriatingly penetrating gaze burned into hers. ‘And, despite what you might think, I am not doing this solely for my own entertainment.’
‘Well, what am I supposed to think?’ The tide of anger rose fast again, creeping up her neck, flushing her cheeks. She looked away, snatching in a breath to try and compose herself before returning her eyes to his again.
‘Frankly I couldn’t care less what you think. Your opinion of me is of zero interest. But you have my word that your stay here will only be for a couple of weeks.’
‘Your word?’ She gave him the full force of her contempt.
‘Yes, Leah, my word.’
Leah hesitated. ‘And then what?’
‘Then I will be putting plans in place for the future.’
‘And what does that mean?’ A curl of dread unfurled inside her.
‘You’ll find out soon enough.’
‘So I was right.’ Blood rushed to her head. ‘You are never going to let us go, are you? You are going to keep us captive for ever, move us around from place to place, keep us locked in some squalid basement so that we never see the light of day—like those horror stories you read about in the papers.’
‘For God’s sake calm down, Leah.’
Jaco closed in on her with a single step, catching her against him and restraining her hysterical rant with two hands placed firmly on her bare shoulders. Leah felt the heat of his touch sear into her skin, branding her flesh, causing her nipples to tighten.
‘I will not calm down.’ She went to twist away but Jaco held her firm, coming closer until the minuscule gap between them disappeared completely.
‘Well, get some control over your vivid imagination, then.’ He moved one arm around her shoulder in a blatant display of masculine dominance. ‘Getting yourself worked up is not going to help anyone. There will be no moving around, and no basements. Circumstances mean that unfortunately it is necessary to keep you here for a short period of time...’
‘Circumstances?’ Fighting to free herself from his arms, Leah threw back her head so that her auburn curls rippled down her back. ‘What circumstances?’
‘But while you are here,’ Jaco continued, as if she hadn’t spoken, ‘you will be offered every convenience to make your stay as pleasant as possible.’
‘Let me assure you, Jaco Valentino, there will be nothing remotely pleasant about my stay.’ Her reply whistled through the air like a bullet.
‘No?’ Jaco let his eyes slowly drift over her face, watching as she blinked to try and hide her reaction to him.
Her muscles twitched beneath her heated skin...her mouth pulled into an unconscious pout. She hated the way he could do this to her. Hated even more the way he revelled in his power.
‘You’re sure about that, are you, Leah?’
‘Yes—yes, I am.’ She stepped away from him, backwards into the room.
‘Well, I guess I will just have to take your word for that.’ His tongue pushed against the inside of his cheek. ‘Anyway...’ He turned an arrogant shoulder. ‘I just came to see if you needed anything. There is plenty of food in the kitchen if you would like to join me for breakfast.’
‘I would rather boil my head in oil.’
‘Suit yourself.’
She watched, breathless with burning impotence, as Jaco moved towards the door, deliberately rolling his shoulders as if to be rid of her, the tanned olive skin stretching over his muscled torso.
Reaching the doorway, he stopped, leaning against the doorjamb to address her again. ‘Oh, by the way...’ He feigned a casualness belied by the intensity of his stare. ‘If you are looking for your phone, I have had to requisition it. Just for the duration of your stay.’
‘You have done what?’ Speechless with anger, Leah could only gape at him. He must have come into her room and stolen it from her. This was unbelievable.
‘I can’t afford for you to give away your whereabouts and I don’t trust you to keep quiet.’
Too right she wouldn’t keep quiet. She had already planned to GPS her location and ring Harper, the police, Interpol—anyone that would listen to her. Now all those options had been snatched away from her.
As she watched Jaco stride away it hit her like a blow to the head how utterly defenceless she was. How totally she was under his command.
* * *
Jaco marched down the corridor, intent on putting as much space between him and Leah McDonald as quickly as possible. He needed to get some air into his lungs, clear his head.
His problems had started the moment he had walked into her bedroom—a big mistake, as it turned out. The sight of Leah nursing the child had broken his stride, made him falter. Something about the way her head had been bent, her auburn curls tumbling over the baby’s face as she rocked him very gently from side to side, had had a visceral effect on him, striking him like a blow to the chest.
They had looked so natural, so perfect, so innocent. The tender scene had captivated him for a split second, before quickly solidifying like cement, weighing him down with bitterness and anger. Because Leah wasn’t innocent. Far from it. She was manipulative and clever. She had used those skills to hide the fact that she was pregnant with his child. To keep him from his son.
Jaco had no idea why she would do something so cruel, so heartless. Clearly he had got her wrong.
From the short time they had spent together he would have described her as many things: funny, intelligent, strong, sexy, unpredictable. But not manipulative or underhanded. And certainly never cruel. It was true that his friend Vieri had warned him she was trouble, but Jaco had laughed it off, preferring to make up his own mind about people. But it seemed Vieri had been right. Ms McDonald was not who she appeared to be.
But she was the mother of his son. And, as such, Jaco intended to use this time to find out everything he could about her. He would be keeping a very close eye on her—both now and in the future.
Breakfast forgotten, Jaco picked up his laptop and headed for the terrace, settling himself under the shade of the
