He paced away from the bed, away from her intent gaze. He was the one in control, not her. He wasn’t falling prey to her sweetness, or to the way she made him feel guilty. He controlled everyone in his world. He didn’t need others. They needed him. She wasn’t going to turn the tables on him by looking into his soul and seeing something he kept hidden from the world.

Vulnerable. For a moment she made him feel that way, as if she could hurt him, as if she had some power over him he didn’t understand. Jake rejected the feeling immediately. He would never be vulnerable again. And neither would his son. He glanced at the baby in her arms. He didn’t want or love the kid, but he was going to do right by him. He would see to it that Kyle had every advantage, and just looking at the baby in Emma’s arms, he knew this woman was the one he wanted for his son.

The hell with it all. He had a plan and he was going to carry it out. Emma would benefit and so would her child. Jake would be fair about it. Eventually she would grow to love him, even if he couldn’t love her back. Hell, he could even be faithful if he had to. He would give her a home, Kyle would have someone who would be good to him, and she would be well cared for. He had no doubt that he could satisfy her in bed and teach her to satisfy his every need. It would work out for both of them—for all of them. He shoved down whatever humanity still lay within him and hardened his heart.

He was taking her over. One small piece at a time, starting here, starting now, just the way he went after the companies he wanted. He studied his prey, assessed the weaknesses and vulnerabilities. Emma needed a home and money while she was pregnant. His lawyers would be the ones working for a settlement, and just like contracts for businesses could be misplaced, “lost,” or bought off, his lawyers could delay every procedure to ensure she needed him. Yeah, he was a bastard, cold and cruel and calculating, but he let himself off the hook by reminding himself he would take good care of her as he did all his possessions.

And make no mistake, Emma Reynolds. You will be my possession.

Emma would be no different from Kyle. He would see to everything for them and just keep emotionally distant. No one ever took what he owned.

As she fed the baby, Emma watched Jake pace the length of her room. His eyes shone with a power that both terrified and intrigued her. His body moved with a fluid grace that suggested danger. She knew she was mesmerized by his strength and confidence, by his very arrogance, yet there was something eluding her, something about him that was so familiar to her that drew her more than her need for someone to take charge. And right now she didn’t care all that much about living, other than to save her baby. If Jake Bannaconni wanted to take charge, she was going to let him—at least for a while.

He didn’t know her, only that she was young and lost and helpless right now. Once she could think without hurting, without being so afraid of taking a breath, she would be all right. At the moment, she couldn’t make decisions and be certain of what she was doing. Jake seemed to know exactly what he was doing. And whether he thought of himself as a good man or not, a part of her reached for him, wanted—no, even needed—to do as he asked her. Wanted to reach beyond the emptiness in his eyes and the blankness of his expression and see who he really was. And that had never happened before, not even with her beloved Andrew.

She kissed Kyle’s forehead and leaned down to whisper in his ear. “It will be all right. You’ll see. Don’t be afraid.” Because she was there and she needed the baby to focus her attention on, to give her something to cling to. She looked up at Jake’s face and caught a hint of satisfaction there. She filed it away. He wanted her attached to his son. Maybe he feared bringing the child home on his own, and she couldn’t blame him, although it was rumored he had enough money to hire an army of nurses. Whatever his reason, it didn’t really matter to her, not right then.

“How long before Kyle can go home with you?” Emma asked, nuzzling the baby’s head.

“A few more days, the doctors are saying. They want his weight up a little bit. What are they saying about you?”

She shrugged. “Pretty much the same thing.”

“Do you have any family?”

Emma instinctively knew he already had the answer, but for some reason he wanted to force her to admit the truth out loud. “No.” The moment she told him, she understood. It left her with nothing—and no one—and that shook her even more. She looked up at him, trying to see beyond her grief to care that she was putting herself in the hands of a complete stranger.

“Are you all right with Kyle? I’ll put a call in to my lawyers and get them started again on the settlement for you with the insurance company. And I need to make certain I have doctors lined up to care for you and Kyle once we’re home. You are coming with us, aren’t you, Emma? Because honestly, I really need your help.”

“What’s home?” Her voice shook a little.

“I have a ranch in Texas. I own property in quite a few places, but the ranch is my primary home and where I’d like you to stay. I can hire help while you’re on bed rest to take care of Kyle.”

She shook her head. “I don’t want you spending money on me.”

He shrugged his broad shoulders. “I think I have enough to take care of you without worrying too much about going hungry.”

She knew the name Bannaconni. She’d heard the whispers around the hospital. Private jets, exotic cars, men rushing to bring him papers to sign and rumors of a new wing for the hospital and lots of very up-to-date equipment. “Just because you have money doesn’t mean people should take advantage of you.” She shook her head. “I don’t want that.”