“My mother is predisposed to liking you. That makes her vulnerable to being hurt.”
She frowned. “I don’t plan on hurting her. Or anyone else for that matter.”
“Don’t you?”
She slowly put the sandwich down on the plate and shot him a glare. “You know, you really are a bastard.”
All at once everything within him rose like bile. “No, my daughter was the bastard.”
She drew in a sharp breath. “I can’t believe you just said that.”
“You don’t like to hear the truth?” The air held tight with tension. “I’m suddenly married to a treacherous beauty who not only stole money from my family, but who stole almost a year of my daughter’s life from me. I think I have fifty thousand and one reasons to be pretty damn angry right now, don’t you?”
Her chin angled. “You may think that, and that’s your choice, but you’ve also got one very good reason for at least showing me some respect as your wife. And she’s in that bedroom back there.”
Megan.
Reluctant admiration fought his animosity, and lost. “Admit you stole the money. That’ll make me respect you more.”
“I can’t confess to something I didn’t do.”
Frustration clawed through him. “Stop lying, Lana. Just…stop the lying.”
She jumped off the stool. “I hope you choke on your food, Matthew Valente,” she muttered, and raced out of the room.
Matt watched her leave, his appetite deserting him. He felt bad, but dammit, he’d done the right thing.
He had to remember—and keep on remembering—that his new wife might look like an angel, but beneath that sweet facade she was as devious as they come.
Three
A fter the way Matt had verbally attacked her last night, Lana hadn’t expected to sleep soundly, but when she awoke the next morning she felt much more able to cope with being married.
And cope with Matt’s attitude toward her, she decided, determinedly propelling herself out of bed. She had to get on with what life had dished out.
Megan was still asleep when Lana opened the connecting door. Lana’s heart softened as she looked down at her child. Matt could think bad of her all he liked, and he could give her a hard time for the next year, but as long as Megan was safe, healthy and happy, she could withstand anything.
Even a charismatic womanizer like Matt Valente.
Pleased to have the time to shower without getting Megan sorted first, Lana returned ten minutes later dressed in tan slacks and a dark brown knit top, and found her daughter sitting up in her crib making noises and playing with her toys.
“There’s Mummy’s little darling.” Giving her little girl a big kiss, she changed her diaper, then carried her to the kitchen to prepare her breakfast. She wasn’t sure what was on the agenda today, if anything.
“You must be Mrs. Valente,” a middle-aged woman said, coming forward to shake her hand as soon as they stepped into the large, airy kitchen.
Lana blinked at the name, then smiled. “Please call me Lana.”
“Lana, then. I’m Ruth, your new housekeeper.” She looked at Megan. “And this must be Megan. My, isn’t she like her father?”
“I hope that’s a good thing, Ruth,” Matt said, coming into the kitchen and turning on the charm. He promptly leaned over and kissed Megan on the head.
Lana almost gasped. For a moment she thought he was going to kiss her. There was a knowing look in Matt’s eyes as he moved away.
“Of course it is, Mr. Valente,” Ruth said, pulling Lana back to the moment. “Now, breakfast will be served in the sunroom. What would the little one like?”
Lana told her, then watched in surprise as Matt took Megan from her arms and headed for the sunroom. She followed them, annoyed at his sheer arrogance.
“Excuse me,” she hissed. “But do you have to do that?”
His brow rose. “What?”
“Take Megan off me like that. She’s not a parcel, you know.”
He slipped Megan into her high chair. “I thought I was helping. She’s heavy.”
“Yes, and I’ve managed to carry her around longer than you,” she said pointedly.
His eyes hardened. “And whose fault is that?” he snapped, turning back to do up the strap. He fiddled with it, then muttered something under his breath. “How do you do this thing up?”
She shot him a look that said she was pleased he didn’t know everything. “Like this. See.”
He watched her show him. “You make it look so easy.”
“That’s because it’s childproof.”
One corner of his mouth twisted upward. “Are you trying to tell me something? No, don’t answer that,” he mocked, sitting down and reaching for the coffeepot. “So, what do you think of Ruth?”
She frowned while he poured her a coffee without asking. “She seems very pleasant and efficient.”
“She comes highly recommended. She also has a degree in first aid and child care and has agreed to look after Megan while you’re at work.”
Lana stiffened. “You mean she’d be her nanny?”
He poured himself a coffee. “Yes.”
“But Megan goes to day care already.” She’d informed them it would only be for three days a week now instead of five, and Lana planned on spending those two other days with her daughter.
“I’m afraid that’s not suitable anymore.”
This set Lana’s teeth on edge. “So I just move her because you snap your fingers?”
He put the coffeepot back, his mouth tightening. “This isn’t about me. It’s about our daughter.”
She counted to five and then expelled a slow breath. “Look, don’t you think with everything else new in her life it might be a good idea to keep some things the same?”
“Things can’t stay the same, I’m afraid. Megan’s a Valente now. Remember the press trying to take a picture of her after our wedding? Do you really want her at risk like that at the day care center? Or worse?”
Lana’s heart jumped with fright. “Don’t.”
“This is only temporary. Once things settle down we’ll try and find a day care center close by where we know she’ll be safe, okay?”
She nodded, not sure she wanted to let her baby out of her sight ever again. She was just overreacting, of course, but she wanted Megan to have a normal life. Now that her daughter was recognized as a Valente, that would be impossible.