Billionaire's Island Bride (The BAD BOY BILLIONAIRES Series) (10 page)

“Yeah, I do, but I
thought they’d have been good enough for one night.”  He shook his head.  “And
you’re not on the pill?”

“No.”

“But what are the
odds…” he began then his voice trailed off and his eyes took on a faraway look
as if he was trying to remember something.  Then a look of realization crossed
his face.  “It must have been that third time.  When you left and I rolled over
there was some dampness on the bed but I didn’t think anything of it.  The
condom must have broken.”

“But you would
have seen that.”

“If it was a small
tear, probably not.  I don’t sit there inspecting the damn things.  Once I’m
done I just get rid of them.”

For a moment there
was silence as they both fell into deep thought.  Erin had no idea what was
going through Dare’s mind but her dilemma was coming to terms with the fact
that he hadn’t known about the baby and yet he was here.  What was the
explanation for that?  Dared she ask?

She sucked in a
deep breath.  She had to know.  Steeling herself against his anger she blurted,
“So if you didn’t come about the baby why are you here?”

“What?”  Dare
looked like she’d just pulled him out of a trance.

“Why are you here,
Dare?  Why did you come looking for me?"

His eyes honed in
on hers and for the first time since she’d met him he seemed at a loss for
words.

Then his face
darkened in a scowl.  “I came to take you back to Santa Marta.”

CHAPTER SIX

“To take me back?"
she spluttered, a look of incredulity on her face.  “Are you mad?”

“I’m quite sane, I
can assure you,” he said, the pace of his heart returning to normal.  The girl
had turned the tables on him and given him the shock of his life.

“But…why?”

Dare almost felt
sorry for her, she looked so confused.  He knew he must be driving her round
the bend but how could he help that?  He couldn’t explain it even to himself. 
One day he’d seen her then spent the following night making sweet love to her
and, like the fish in the sea, he was hooked.  The funny thing was it seemed Erin
hadn’t even realized she’d caught the biggest fish in the pond.

“Why, Dare?  You
threw me out of your bed, remember?  Out of your life.  So what’s this story
about coming back to get me?”  She threw her hands up in apparent frustration. 
“For what?  Another one night stand?”

She was glaring at
him now, her chest heaving with the intensity of her emotions.  And who could
blame her?

He’d done
everything she’d accused him of, and more.  Little did she know that he’d
seduced her expertly and deliberately into going back to his villa and making
love to him.  He’d wanted to make her pay for pursuing him so shamelessly.  He'd
wanted to take what she was offering.  And now he would pay the steepest
price.  His days of philandering were over.  He was about to become a father.

He still could not
believe it.  Dare DeSouza, family man.  When he’d left Santa Marta he’d had no
idea that the joke would be on him.

But in the end it
could all turn out in his favor.  Obsessed with the memory of Erin he’d finally
given in and come to see her with the intention of convincing her to return to
the island.  Now, with this development, there was no way she could say no.

“Erin, calm down. 
Have a seat.”  He walked over and pulled out a chair.  When she hesitated he
frowned.  “Come and sit before you keel over.” 

Thankfully, she
headed over on shaky legs and sank down on the chair.  If she hadn’t he would
have gone over and lifted her off her feet.  He could see that her emotions
coupled with her tiredness from work were beginning to take its toll.  She was
shaking.

He walked into the
kitchen and filled a glass with water then brought it to her.

She gulped it
thirstily then rested the glass on the table and looked up at him.

It was only then,
in the light cast by the chandelier above the table, that he saw how thin and
drawn she was.  Her eyes were large molten pools in her face.  They were
circled with shadows of exhaustion.

He pulled the
other chair forward and sat beside her.  “Erin,” he said, drawing her eyes back
to his face, “you look terrible.”

She looked
surprised at his outspokenness then her face broke into a tired smile. 
“Thanks.  You are so kind."

“I mean it,” he
said, his voice low and grave.  “You need to stop this work you’re doing.  It’s
too much.”

At that she
laughed but there was no mirth to the sound.  “Stop this work, he says.  And
then eat what?  Air?  And how would I pay my rent and my bills?”

“I have the
solution for that,” he said.  “I want you to-”

“Oh yes, come back
to Santa Marta,” she said, her tone sarcastic.  “You forgot.  When you came
here you expected to take a slender, sexy thing back with you.  I’m not any of
that.  Not anymore.”

“Erin,” Dare said,
trying to keep his voice calm, “listen to me.  I want you-”

“No, you don’t,”
she snapped.  “Not anymore.  Not when I’m going to look like a pumpkin in
three-”

Dare had reached
his limit.  “Woman, will you be quiet and let me speak?"  he bellowed.  “I
want you to marry me.”

Erin recoiled as
if he’d slapped her.  Then her face flushed red and her eyes flashed.  “I don’t
appreciate you laughing at me, Dare.  If this is all a joke to you I think
you’d better leave.”

“It’s not a joke,”
he said quietly.  “I’m serious.  I want you as my wife.”

“But…why?”  Her
voice was a mere whisper and she looked back at him with huge eyes.

“I would think
that’s quite obvious.  You’re the mother of my child.”

“Not yet, I’m
not.”

“Oh, but you are. 
The youngest of the DeSouza line is now growing inside you.”

“DeSouza.”  She
said the name, a look of wonder on her face.  “Can you believe I never even
knew your last name?”  Her cheeks grew red and she dropped her eyes as if in
shame.

“There’s no need
to feel bad, Erin.  Just forget the past and look toward the future as my
wife.”

“As your wife.” 
She repeated the words but there was no enthusiasm there.  Then she looked over
at him.  “You never even asked me the question.”

“Of course I did.”

“No, you said you
want me to marry you.  You never asked me.”  Her mouth was set in a cute pout.

Dare laughed.  If
a question was what she wanted then a question she would get.  He would not be
accused of not being romantic.

Just to make it more
touching and more likely to be in keeping with her romantic notions Dare slid
off the chair and went down on one knee.  He took her slim hand in his then
looked deep into her eyes.  “Erin Samuels,” he said, his voice firm and full of
meaning, “will you marry me?”  Then he lifted her hand to his lips and kissed
the back of it.

For a moment she
only stared at him then her hazel eyes flashed and she snatched her hand from
his grasp.  “No,” she said, her voice vehement and hard.  “Never in a million
years.”

What the hell? 
Taken aback, Dare remained on his knees.  Then, never taking his eyes off her
flushed face he rose to his feet.  Only then did he speak.  “What the blazes
was that all about?”

She lifted her
face and gave him a look of defiance.  “I said I’d never marry you.”

“Then why did you
make me ask you?”  He could feel the anger rise in him.  Did she think she was
playing with a damn puppy?

“I wanted you to
ask me so I could give you my answer,” she said, her tone smug.  “And the
answer is no.”

“Why?”

She gave a toss of
her head and one of her brown curls fell across her face.  She lifted a
delicate hand and brushed it away.  “You rejected me so now it’s my turn to
reject you.”

“Oh, being petty
are we?  So you would reject my offer knowing that you can't support yourself
and the child.  You would do this just to prove a point.”

“I can support my
baby and me.”  She had the audacity to look offended.  “We don’t need you.”

He folded his arms
across his chest and glared down at her.  “If you think I’m going to let you
raise my child in this dump you’re out of your mind.”

“Dump? You're
calling my home a dump?”

“Forgive me.  Your
humble abode.”  His voice dripped with sarcasm.  “My child will not be living
here nor growing up here.  My child will be with me in Santa Marta.”

She gave a harsh
laugh.  “I want to see how you’re going to accomplish that when I’m not going
anywhere.”

“You are.”

“I’m not.”

Dare could feel
his nostrils flare in annoyance.  Not a good sign.  Erin was intent on pushing
him to breaking point.  He was going to end this before things went too far.

“Now you listen to
me.  You will come back to Santa Marta with me and you will marry me.  If you
don’t then be prepared to be cut off from the child altogether.”

“What do you mean,
cut off from the child?  You can’t do that.”  Her voice had risen and he heard
the fear registered there.

He pressed home
his advantage.  “Oh, can’t I?  There’s something to be said about having money,
Erin.  With money comes power.  I have a lot of it and you don’t.”

Erin stared up at
him, eyes wide and uncertain.  He could see that she was vulnerable now.

“I can hire the
best lawyers to present a case that it would be in the best interest of the
child to be with me.  I can provide everything that he or she would need unlike
you who can barely manage to sustain yourself.” 

She was pale now,
and silent.  His words were having the impact he’d intended.  He decided to
drive another nail into the coffin.  “There’s a good chance you’ll lose
custody, Erin.  Do you want to take that risk?”

“You…wouldn’t.” 
Her voice was a broken whisper.

“I would.”  He
would not yield.  Not now.  He was too close to victory.  “Marry me, Erin, and
all your problems will be solved.  You won’t have to worry about money, the
care of the baby, anything.  But if you choose the other path, know that I will
do everything in my power to claim my heir.”

For a long time Erin
did not respond.  Then her lower lip began to tremble and she turned her face
away.  “You’re such a bastard,” she said with a sob and covered her face with
her hands.

Dare said
nothing.  He might be a bastard but he was a bastard determined to get what he
wanted.  He’d come all this way to get Erin Samuels and he was not going home
without her.

He could see she
was defeated.  He softened his stance and went over to take her in his arms,
comfort her and let her see she was in good hands.

As soon as his
hand touched her shoulder she wrenched away and when she looked up at him her
eyes spat fire.  “Don’t touch me,” she said through clenched teeth.  “I may
have to marry you but I will never be your wife.”

Dare sucked in his
breath and scowled.  So that was the way it was, was it?  A marriage in name
only.

Well, he’d already
won the first battle.  She would marry him.  Once he got her back to the island
he would take on this second hurdle.  He was looking forward to the challenge. 
He smiled to himself.  There were ways to make a woman yield and he was an
expert at every one of them.

“Get some rest,”
he said calmly.  “I’ll be back in the morning to work out the details.  Let
your boss know you won’t be coming back.”

He didn’t bother
to wait for a reply.  He knew she was numb from shock and exhaustion.  He let
himself out of the apartment and headed for the elevator where he gave a
satisfied sigh.  Erin Samuels was his at last.

***

Within a week of
Dare’s arrival Erin was in a private jet on the way back to the island of Santa
Marta but this time as the wife of one of the richest and most powerful men in
that land.  So why wasn’t she over the moon with joy?

Instead, she felt
sick inside.  Had she sold her soul to this devil, Dare DeSouza?  He’d given
her an ultimatum and she’d cracked under the pressure, scared out of her mind
that he would follow through on his threat.  He could be a ruthless man.  She
had no doubt about that and she wasn’t taking any chances where her child was
concerned.

A limousine met
them at the airport and they traveled in silence, Erin flipping through a
magazine or at least pretending to, and Dare engrossed in whatever it was he
was reading on his iPad.

About twenty
minutes into their journey the limousine turned off the main road and drove
through the stately gates of what looked like a resort.  As Erin glanced up she
frowned.  This was not how she remembered the entrance to Sunsational Resort. 
She sat up and looked out the window.  They were traveling up a palm-lined
driveway that climbed a gentle hill and then the limousine turned and there she
saw on the crest of the hill a majestic mansion that made her eyes widen.  Huge
palms graced its courtyard and framed the gleaming ivory walls and red and gold
flowers were sprinkled amongst the rich green leaves that formed a soft carpet
along its base.  It had the look of an opulent tropical paradise.