One Night Of Consequences Collection. Annie West
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a deep breath and rushed on before he could interject. ‘There’s also the issue of how to split the time and it seems that the most popular is for the father to visit the child every second weekend and on public holidays. Unless you want to go the virtual route, of course.’
‘Of course.’
Imogen waited for him to say more. When he just smiled and curved his hands behind his head she suspected he was toying with her. ‘Well?’ she prompted stiffly.
‘I can see you’ve put quite a bit of effort into this.’
Imogen sucked in a litre of air and released it slowly. Perhaps she’d been wrong and he wasn’t toying with her. Perhaps he was going to be cooperative and let her go. ‘Not really.’ She gave him a small smile that seemed to stretch her dry lips to the point of cracking. ‘But it’s a start.’
And, perversely, the possibility that he might agree with her didn’t thrill her the way she had imagined it would. Instead, she felt unaccountably disappointed and realised just how much she still wished that their relationship in Paris could have progressed like so many other happy couples did. Couples like Minh and David, who loved each other so much they would do anything for the other person.
She sighed. What had her mother always said? If wishes were horses, beggars would ride. Such an old-fashioned saying, passed down through the generations. Would she pass it on to Nadeena with that same air of inevitability?
‘Tell me,’ he began conversationally, ‘did the Internet mention the custody arrangements for a woman who kept her child’s birth a secret from its father?’
No, he was not going to be cooperative and icy shivers tripped down her spine as she saw that she had angered him again ‘No,’ she bit out tersely.
‘Then you’re right—’ his smile was even tighter than hers ‘—when you say that your analysis isn’t very complete. And furthermore,’ he drawled with icy control, ‘while you might be happy sharing custody of our daughter, I am not.’
‘I’m not either,’ she replied hotly. ‘But you’re not giving me any other choice.’
‘On the contrary; I’ve given you the best choice there is,’ he drawled arrogantly.
‘Marrying you?’
She could see instantly that he’d taken offence to her contemptuous tone from the stillness of his big body but dammit, he didn’t love her. If he did...if he did then things might be different...
‘This is all something you should have thought about before you ran away,’ he bit out contemptuously.
‘I did not run away,’ she retorted. ‘I left.’
He made a low noise in the base of his throat that startled her. ‘I told you I would return and we’d talk about options.’ His eyes glittered dangerously. ‘You weren’t there.’
‘Like abortion?’ she spat, remembering how cold she had felt reading his missive. How icy she had felt in his apartment when he had confirmed that yes, he’d have preferred not to be an expectant father.
‘No, not that.’
He lost colour and tugged a hand through his hair as if the thought truly horrified him.
‘Well, it probably would have happened if you had pushed for that horrible paternity test you told me I had to take.’
His brows drew together. ‘A paternity test made sense.’
‘Do you have any idea how dangerous those tests are?’
‘No, I—’
‘About one in three hundred amniocenteses end in miscarriage and I would have needed the earlier test. With the CVS you can double the chance of a miscarriage. But then that would have worked a lot better for you than this, wouldn’t it?’
Nadir jumped to his feet, his movements lacking their usual grace. ‘For the love of all things holy, Imogen, I would never have put you or our baby’s life at risk. You must know that.’
Imogen wrapped her arms around her stomach, all the anger leaching out of her as he stood before her all ferocious and earnest as if he meant what he was saying.
Did he?
She didn’t know. What she did know was that she didn’t want to be forced to do something stupid that they would both later regret because Nadeena would be the one to pay the ultimate price when things turned bad. Still, a twinge of regret spiked inside her chest. The way he’d said ‘our baby’, as if he really felt something for Nadeena already. ‘And you would have just accepted that I not take the test, I suppose,’ she scoffed.
‘Of course I would have accepted it.’ He settled his hands on his hips. ‘At what stage in our relationship did I ever show you that I was unreasonable?’
Imogen tapped her foot and wanted to say all the time. But the truth was that he had never been unreasonable towards her. Ever. He had always been thoughtful and kind. Loving. A lie she couldn’t afford to be swayed by again. ‘Now. You’re being unreasonable now.’
‘That’s a matter of opinion.’
‘Damn it, Nadir.’ A flash of renewed irritation surged inside her. ‘You can’t keep me here against my will.’
‘Actually, I can,’ he said with all the arrogance of a man born to privilege. ‘But I won’t.’ He paused, ran his hand across his stubbled jaw. ‘I will, however, stop you from taking Nadeena away from me again.’
Imogen’s insides seized and she knew her face went pale, her breathing laboured. ‘I hate you.’ Because he’d just effectively narrowed her choices down to marriage to him or give up her child.
He nodded as if this was normal. As if she hadn’t dreamt of him and wished in her darkest moments that he wouldn’t come for her. Tell her that he missed her. Tell her that he loved her. Tell her that he couldn’t live without her. Dreams not worth the sleep they had interrupted.
‘A child deserves to be raised by both parents.’ He regarded her steadily. ‘Or are you going to argue with me about that too?’
‘Only if both parents love and want her.’
‘I agree.’
Imogen clamped her mouth mutinously closed and turned her attention to the intricate patterns on the Persian rug at her feet before she said something she’d truly regret.
Nadir sighed. ‘Believe it or not, Imogen, I only have Nadeena’s best interests at heart.’
‘Do you?’
‘Yes.’ She heard a hardness enter his voice at her scepticism.
She looked at him and all the fight left her and a great sense of doom pervaded her limbs. ‘And what if a marriage between us is the worst thing for her?’
He looked genuinely perplexed by her question. ‘I don’t see how it could be.’
‘Because it would be nothing but a marriage of convenience.’
‘I don’t see it that way.’
She blew out a frustrated breath. ‘How can you not?’
He stepped in front of her, breathing as hard as she was. ‘Because there’s nothing remotely convenient about marriage and ours will be real.’
Real? Imogen swallowed heavily and lost her breath. ‘I hope you don’t mean what I think you mean.’
‘We will be man and wife in every sense of the word, habibi,’ he said softly with the same confidence she had once loved.
Imogen’s chin jutted forward. ‘I didn’t think you were into force.’
She knew that if she revealed just how badly he affected her it would be akin to lying down and waving a white flag. So