Castellano's Mistress of Revenge by Melanie Milburne

before,’ he said. ‘I know of several men who’ve suddenly had their lives turned upside down by a paternity case thrown at them by an ex-lover.’
    Ava clutched at the knot of her towel. ‘This is a totally hypothetical question, but if—and it’s a big and very unlikely if— if I was to fall pregnant, what would you expect me to do?’
    He finished retying the cord of his bathers before he answered. ‘First of all I would expect to be told about it as soon as possible.’
    â€˜Why?’ Ava shot back. ‘So you could make the decision for me?’
    â€˜Don’t put words in my mouth, Ava,’ he said, frowning down at her. ‘I merely said I would like to know as soon as it is humanly possible. As to what you decide…well, I have always believed it is a woman’s choice, since ultimately it is her body that is involved.’
    Ava met his gaze, her chin at a combative height. ‘I wouldn’t dream of having an abortion. I think you need to know that right from the start.’
    â€˜I would not ask it of you,’ he returned. ‘Especially given the trouble your sister is experiencing.’
    Ava was surprised by the empathy in his voice as he spoke of her sister. She bit her lip and sank down to sit on the end of the sun lounger behind her. ‘At least Serena has Richard by her side,’ she said to fill the stretching silence.
    â€˜How many IVF attempts have they made?’ Marc asked.
    She shrugged. ‘I’ve kind of lost count…six…maybe seven.’ She looked at her hands resting on her thighs. ‘The last miscarriage…the one she’s just had has been the worst for her. Everything was going so well and then…’ She bit down on her lip again, her eyes misting over.
    Marc put a hand on her shoulder, his palm tingling at the contact with her soft, silky skin. ‘It is not your fault your sister cannot have children. It seems to me you are going out of your way to see that she gets every chance to have a family.’
    She looked up at him. ‘Why have you always been so against having children?’
    He dropped his hand from her shoulder and moved to the other side of the terrace, his gaze taking in the view without really seeing it. ‘I have seen what happens when children are shunted back and forth between warring parents. I don’t want to be responsible for that sort of emotional damage.’
    After a lengthy silence he heard her rise from the sun lounger behind him. ‘The sun is starting to burn me,’ she said. ‘Do you mind if I go inside and take a shower?’
    Marc turned and looked at her. ‘Ava, you don’t have to ask my permission over every little thing.’
    Her slim brows rose in twin arcs of cynicism. ‘Don’t I?’
    He held her challenging gaze. ‘You are not my slave, you are my current lover.’
    â€˜Is there a difference I should be made aware of?’ she asked with that haughty look she had perfected that made Marc’s hands itch to reach for her and kiss her senseless.
    â€˜What happened here a few minutes ago is not over,’ he said. ‘Rather it is just beginning. If you are not careful, ma petite , I will demonstrate it right here and now.’
    She turned and stalked across the terrace and back into the villa, leaving Marc with nothing but the afternoon breeze to tease him with her lingering fragrance.

CHAPTER FIVE
    A VA was surprised when she came downstairs for dinner to find Celeste had set the large formal dining table for only one. ‘Is—er—Signor Castellano not here for dinner this evening?’ she asked the housekeeper.
    Celeste smoothed a tiny crease out of the starched white tablecloth. ‘He said he had some business to attend to at his office,’ she said.
    â€˜I didn’t realise he had an office in Monte Carlo,’ Ava said, frowning as she took her seat.
    Celeste gave