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She turned from the wall to find him watching her. ‘What is it?’
‘I need to call my mother, let her know what’s happening.’
He weighed the request for a moment before he nodded. ‘There’s a phone in your suite you can use. Come.’
He led her through two more hallways, passing an inner courtyard complete with iron trellis, balconies and mosaic fountain before they reached a grand central staircase leading to the upper floors. Ramon turned right at the top of the stairs, past several doors to the last but one set of double doors at the end of the corridor.
Throwing it open, he took a few steps in and stopped. ‘You should find everything you need in here. Teresa doesn’t speak much English but the younger members of staff do. Dial zero on the phone if you require anything else. I’ll ensure one of them is on hand to answer your call.’
‘Are you...will you not be around?’ she asked.
‘I have a few things to attend to in Havana. I’ll be back tonight.’
The part of her that had conjured him up as her permanent shadow until she was successfully impregnated didn’t know what to do with the fact that he was leaving, albeit only for a few hours.
‘Right...okay.’
They stared at one another for an age, the silence between them still fully charged. But after the torrent of words they’d exchanged, there seemed to be nothing more to say. Except there was something else that needed to be answered.
‘Umm, what happens after...after I get pregnant?’
‘You mean, will I still want to share your bed?’
She jerked out a nod.
His gaze swept down for a spell before it reconnected with hers. ‘Once you’re pregnant, there won’t be any need to have sex.’
A sensation rolled through her she had a hard time defining. But she nodded briskly. ‘Good. Great.’
His gaze eventually swung past her, looked around the room, his thoughts completely turned off to her. But Suki caught that look of bleakness she’d spotted intermittently through the day. As he turned towards the door, his profile highlighted that expression even further.
‘Wait,’ she said before she could stop herself.
He stopped, looked over his shoulder. ‘What is it?’ There was a hint of weariness. And a lot of wariness.
Her fingers twisted the strap of her handbag. ‘You never answered my emails. I guess I know why now. But in case you didn’t get round to reading them, I think you need to know what I said in all of them. I’m very sorry for your loss. Luis was a very special person. I’m sure your parents were too.’
He stood stock-still, his face tightening for an infinitesimal second. Then he gave a curt nod. ‘Muchas gracias,’ he murmured softly.
A second later he was gone. And she was left in the middle of the most incredible suite she’d ever seen.
The small living room was decorated in tones of cream and burgundy. Heavy drapes were counterbalanced with white muslin curtains that fluttered in the light breeze from the open shuttered windows. Beneath her feet, luxurious cream carpeting muffled her footsteps as she walked to the light-coloured sofas facing each other in front of a small stone fireplace.
The fireplace itself was an exquisitely carved masterpiece, another testament to the skill and dedication that had gone into the villa’s design. Setting her bag down on the low wooden coffee table, she walked through another set of doors.
The four-poste
r queen-sized bed was an eye-catching work of art of wood and iron and expensive linens that made the interior designer in her stop and stare and sigh with pleasure. Kicking off her heels, she padded over and ran her hand over the cream coverlet. At the foot of the bed, a cream-and-burgundy-striped scroll-lipped chaise followed the colour scheme of the room. A theme that was repeated in the adjoining dressing room and bathroom, right down to the burgundy-coloured tubs and bottles holding some of the most exclusive beauty products on the market.
A quick look in the dressing room confirmed the presence of her clothes. Deciding to take a shower before making the phone call, she slid out of her dress and returned to the bathroom. The urge to linger, foolishly hoping that the comforting water would wash away her troubles, was entertained for a single minute before she turned off the shower.
This wasn’t the path she would have chosen for herself. For as long as she could remember, she’d relied on herself. Even her mother had warned her never to rely fully on her. The one time she’d pushed aside that warning, and thought to seek out emotional support elsewhere, namely through her absentee father, the situation had backfired spectacularly. What Ramon was demanding of her pushed all of her control-freak buttons. But she truly had no choice. Not with so much on the line.
Towelling herself dry, her hand lingered over her stomach, the constant ache in her heart still very much present, but it held one less layer of the dark despair that had triggered tears a handful of days ago. She didn’t want to give in to hope. Mother Nature had dealt her the worst blow she could suffer, so hope was still a scarce commodity to her. But if nothing else, she was glad her ache was less tormenting.
Returning to the dressing room, she retrieved the nightshirt, tucked it over her head and stopped to survey the meagre contents of her wardrobe. Yet another thing she needed to deal with. Besides the light blue sundress and sweater she’d worn to travel, she’d only packed a further two dresses, her nightshirt, a handful of underwear and sandals for her three-day stay. Even she couldn’t make that last for nine months.
The hysterical bubble nestling just beneath the surface of her emotions threatened to expand again.
