Chapter Six #2
‘You utter bastard!’ Jasmine pushed off the desk, her nostrils flaring. He saw her hands clench into trembling fists as she tried and failed to contain her outrage. ‘You looked into me, didn’t you?’
‘Of course I did. You have to know that a man in my position can’t operate on blind faith,’ Emilio said calmly, still seated in his chair.
But what he wouldn’t say, wouldn’t show, was that he knew a little about how Jasmine felt.
He’d never know what it was like to struggle for money, but to be raised by a single parent… That he understood.
Jasmine’s father had abandoned his family for a new life in a new town; Emilio’s father had stayed.
He had lived with them, slept in the same bed as Emilio’s mother, showered attention upon Enzo.
But he had still abandoned Emilio—just him.
His father had removed himself from Emilio’s life.
There’d been no conversations with his younger son, or concerns about his well-being. Not even a word for him at dinner.
Emilio knew exactly how it felt to sit alone and question what could be so wrong with him that he deserved to be unloved.
He didn’t want that for his child. He would give them the attention—the affection—that he’d never once received.
Emilio had infuriated her, and he was being ridiculous, and—worst of all—the maddening urge to climb him like a tree hadn’t abated.
But, despite all of that, Jasmine had to acknowledge that he was right.
If the roles had been reversed, she would likely have been suspicious too.
And she had to admit that, now the paternity had been confirmed, Emilio was here taking responsibility.
She was fully capable of providing for her child, but she knew what it was like coming from a single-parent background.
She would move heaven and earth for her baby, but it still might not be enough.
How would her child feel when she had to prioritise work over something important to them?
That would happen, inevitably, because she would need SOP to thrive more than ever: her child’s livelihood would depend on it.
And how would they feel without their father’s constant presence?
She knew how she had felt growing up: the anger and hate and questions.
What about when her child found out that they could have had a complete family, but Jasmine had been the one to say no?
Would they grow to resent her for making that choice?
She walked to the open door and scanned the floor of vacant desks.
Every one of those symbolised an employee, another responsibility.
She had worked so hard to be a success. The goal had always been financial stability, then marriage and then children, in that order.
Her father leaving was a big reason for that.
She had thought Richard was going to be her partner through that journey, but his secrets and lies had just left her with greater wounds, and wasted the years she had spent trying to make herself fit into a mould for him.
‘You’re working on a Saturday! Are you trying to prove that you’re more ambitious than me? Is that it? You need to prove you’re better?’
She’d allowed Richard into her head. Tried to work less around him, tried to make him comfortable.
Now she had replaced him entirely with SOP and was happier for it, but her lifestyle meant that both she and her child would have to make sacrifices.
On her own, there would be sacrifices, no matter which way she looked at things.
It might not be the way she would have chosen for her plan to come to fruition, but Emilio was offering her everything she had wanted, and he seemed sincere in his desire to be a father for this child.
‘You’re right,’ she said reluctantly, still not looking at him. ‘A home with two parents to love our child would be better.’
She turned round to find Emilio giving her his full attention. His face was a perfect mask of calm. That rationality would make what must come next a much easier discussion.
‘We need to set some ground rules for this marriage.’
‘I’m all ears.’ Emilio gave nothing away. There was no twinkle in his eye or smile on his lips. His leg was crossed over his knee, elbows on the arm rests, fingers knitted between each other. This was a negotiation.
‘What happened between us at Boulevard was meant to be just for a night. I don’t know you and I don’t trust you.
We will not be sharing a bed.’ It was best that she remove any temptation to grow close to Emilio.
Physical intimacy could lead her to grow feelings for him, to rely on him.
Her trust had been broken, shattered too many times to risk that again.
Last time, she’d lost her fiancé and her best friend.
It was always safest to go through life depending on no one but herself.
‘You don’t trust me yet, Jasmine, but I’m hoping that with time you will. That said, I agree with you.’
She hadn’t expected him to agree so readily. Especially when it was clear to her from that night at the club that he was someone who revelled in female company. Her doubt must have been written on her face.
‘I don’t require sex to live, Jasmine. It’s not that important in my life. What’s your next rule?’
She found that hard to believe, and not just because she was disinclined to believe anyone’s words any more. He had clearly enjoyed himself during their encounter. Despite her thoughts, she continued.
‘The second thing is that I am happy for you to be involved with the baby and provide for our child. But you will not be doing the same for me. What is our own will remain so.’
‘I will have a pre-nup drawn up immediately and sent to you for approval. You can look it over tomorrow morning. I will arrange to have the ceremony in the afternoon.’
This man was insane.
‘No.’ She moved to perch on her desk. Emilio’s unhappy gaze followed her.
‘What do you mean no ? You already agreed to be my wife. I have urgent business in Italy that I need to attend to.’
‘Then attend to it. I have a business to run. Nothing will change in the time that you’re gone.’ What was the need to marry so urgently? The baby wouldn’t be here for nearly another seven months.
‘With every day that we delay, we risk word getting out. We need to come out ahead of it, control how it gets out. You have a start-up with investors, Jasmine; you can’t risk your judgement being called into question any more than I can. We bear a lot of responsibility.’
‘Yes, I understand that, Emilio,’ she said irritably, ‘But I am not showing yet and will likely still not be by the time you get back from Italy.’
‘No,’ he refused stubbornly.
Jasmine had to take a deep breath. ‘How about a compromise?’
‘Continue.’
‘While we make the arrangements to marry, we can take our time, appear as a couple, be spotted strategically. Then it won’t matter if I start showing before the wedding.’
‘That timeline isn’t acceptable to me,’ Emilio said firmly. ‘But there is value in your suggestion. Here is my counter: we can have two weeks, during which we will be seen publicly. Then we marry. That’s all the time I’m willing to allow.’
Jasmine could sense the urgency from him, but she still had no idea why.
‘Fine.’
What was the use in arguing about timings?
It wasn’t as if she was in any danger of falling in love with the man, be it now or later.
She just had to adjust her goals somewhat: falling pregnant then marrying and then having a child.
Just because her wedding with Richard had fallen through didn’t mean the plan was lost altogether, as she had thought that night at the club when she’d been determined there would never be marriage or family.
With Emilio she would still have the stability and the family without any of the unnecessary emotional vulnerabilities that came with a traditional relationship.
It would be all her goals finally realised, just in a way she’d never imagined. With a man who made her pulse race, who held secrets and who she could never fully trust.