Italian Maverick's Collection. Кейт Хьюит
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you say?’
‘I’m pregnant. That night we were together—there was a consequence.’
He drew in a sharp breath. ‘Are you telling me that—?’
‘That I’m carrying your baby.’
‘But we used protection. How can that be? You’re sure? Quite certain?’
‘I promise I’m not trying to trick you. You’re the father. It has to be you because there’s nobody else it could be. I don’t know how but the condom must have become damaged. I swear I didn’t plan this...’
‘I wasn’t accusing you of— I only meant—are you sure you’re pregnant?’
‘There’s no doubt of it. I did a test. It was positive.’
Suddenly the tension drained from his face. Now there was only a blazing smile.
‘Yes!’ he cried. ‘Yes!’
He tightened his grip and drew her forward against him in a hug so fierce that she gasped.
‘Sorry,’ he said, loosening his clasp. ‘I must be careful of you now.’
‘It’s all right,’ she said. ‘I’m not delicate.’
‘Yes, you are. You’re frail and vulnerable and I must do everything to look after you and our child.’
He led her to the sofa and nudged her gently until she sat down.
‘How long have you been sure?’ he asked.
‘A couple of weeks.’
‘And you waited this long to tell me?’
‘I’ve been trying to get my head around it.’
‘Is that all?’ he asked quietly.
She felt she understood his true meaning and said, ‘Look, I told you, you’re the father. There are simply no other candidates. There’s nobody else. You have to believe me.’
‘I do believe you. You told me before that your relationships tended to be unsuccessful. It sounds like a lonely life.’
‘Yes,’ she said thoughtfully. ‘It has been.’
‘But not any more. When we’re married you’ll have me to care for you.’
‘Wait!’ She stopped him. ‘Did you say “married”?’
‘Of course. Why do you look so surprised? Did you think I wouldn’t want to marry you?’
‘To be honest, I never even considered it.’
‘But you must have been thinking of the future when you came here to tell me. What did you expect would happen?’
‘I thought you’d be pleased. You want a child. I can give you one.’
‘And I can give you a lot—a good life with everything you want.’
‘But I’d lose my career, which I enjoy. I’d lose my country. We barely know each other but you expect me to move into a new world with you—’
‘And our child.’
‘Our child will live with me in England. But I’ll put your name on the birth certificate and you can see him or her whenever you like.’
It was sad to see how the eagerness drained from his face, replaced by something that might have been despair. He dropped his head into his hands, staying there for a long moment while she thought she saw a tremor go through him.
‘It’s too soon to make a decision,’ he said at last.
Tact prevented her from pointing out that she’d already made her decision. Clearly he didn’t regard it as final until it suited him.
‘I’m going back to the hotel,’ she said.
‘I’ll drive you.’
‘No need. It’s only a couple of streets away. Just a short walk.’
‘But you must be careful about getting tired now. My car’s just below.’
‘Signor Fellani—’
‘Don’t you think you could call me Leonizio—under the circumstances?’
‘Yes, I suppose so.’
‘Let’s go.’
He put his arm protectively around her. She gave in, letting him take her downstairs, into the car and back to the hotel, where he escorted her up to her room.
‘I’ll collect you tomorrow morning,’ he said. ‘We have a lot to talk about.’ He grew tense suddenly. ‘You will be here, won’t you?’
‘I’ve arranged to have several days off, so I don’t have to dash back.’
‘Fine. I’ll collect you tomorrow morning.’
For a moment she thought he might kiss her, but something made him back off, bid her farewell with a nod and retreat down the corridor until he was out of sight. With any other man she would have felt that he’d fled for safety, but with Leonizio that was impossible.
Wasn’t it?
After the traumatic events of the day it was good to be alone. She needed to think. Or perhaps just to feel. She went to bed early, hoping to sleep at once, but sleep wouldn’t come.
She had a strange feeling of being transported back to the past, when she had been a child, watching the misery of her parents’ life together. They had married only because Janet, her mother, was pregnant. Ellie recalled an atmosphere of hostility between two people who didn’t belong together, even with a shared child.
‘I should have known it could never work,’ Janet had once told her bitterly. ‘But our families were thrilled at the thought of a grandchild, and determined to make sure of it. So they pressured us into marriage.’
‘Didn’t you love Dad?’ Ellie had once asked. ‘I thought that sometimes there seemed to be love—’
‘Oh, yes, sometimes. He was a handsome man and all the girls were wild for him. They envied me being his wife, but he only married me because he was backed into a corner. After a while I started to have feelings for him, and I thought I could make him return them. But it didn’t work. Why should he bother to court me when he already had me there to do his bidding? You have to keep a man wanting, and if you can’t do that he’ll take advantage of it.’
Thinking back now, Ellie remembered that the only happiness had come from her grandmother, Lelia, who was Italian. She had married an Englishman, given up her country to live with him in England, and been left stranded by his death. When her son, Ellie’s father, married she’d moved in with him and his wife.
Ellie had been close to her grandmother. Lelia had enjoyed nothing better than regaling her with tales of Italy, and teaching her some of the language. It had been a severe loss when she died.
Without her kindly presence Ellie’s parents had grown more hostile to each other, until their inevitable divorce.
‘Will you be all right on your own?’ Ellie had ventured to ask her mother.
‘I won’t be on my own. I’ve got you.’
‘But—you know what I mean.’
‘You mean without a husband? I’ll actually be better off without him. Better no man at all than the wrong man. Better no relationship than a bad one.’
Life was hard. Her father paid them as little as he could get away with, and Janet took a job with low wages. Determined to have a successful career, Ellie had buried herself in schoolwork, coming top of the class. In this she was encouraged by her mother, who told her time and again that independence was the surest road to freedom.
‘Have