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Squashing it back down, she climbed into her sumptuous bed, picked up the bedside phone and punched the familiar number.
It was answered on the third ring. Taking a deep breath, Suki said, ‘Mum, I have something to tell you.’
CHAPTER SEVEN
AS POTENTIALLY LIFE-CHANGING phone calls went, her mother took the news that there could be hope health-wise for her with quiet but flat acceptance, although Suki suspected the secret fondness her mother held for Luis played a part in her accepting his offer.
Suki had deliberately left her return date vague, not wanting to overly distress her mother.
‘Did you speak to your mother?’
Ramon’s voice and question dragged her back to the present, to the immense dining room and the highly polished teak banquet table and high-backed chairs that could easily seat an entire state cabinet. Here too, soaring ceilings held magnificent arches and stained glass.
Before her an exquisite setting of multiple plates, glasses and silverware had been laid out for their meal, making her once again feel out of her depth.
Unbidden, Luis’s face rose up before her. He would’ve had a laughing fit at her expense by now. Struggling to contain her sadness, she nodded at Ramon.
He’d changed out of his suit into more casual clothes, his slicked-back hair still damp from a recent shower. Although his attire was still funeral black, the long-sleeved T-shirt, pulled up to exhibit brawny arms, gave him a slightly more approachable air. Although that air was put in serious jeopardy each time she looked into his stormy eyes.
‘Yes. I couldn’t really tell her too much because I don’t know all the details.’
‘I spoke with the specialists this afternoon. They will be in touch with her doctors tomorrow and arrange to fly her to Miami in the next three days.’
Surprise spiked through her. ‘That soon?’
‘I’m sure you’ll agree that the sooner things get moving, the better?’
He wasn’t just referring to her mother.
‘Yes.’
‘Good. Then you’ll be pleased to know I’ve made an appointment for us to visit a doctor in Havana tomorrow,’ he said calmly as he draped his napkin over his lap. ‘After that we’ll fly to Miami for the day.’
Suki paused in the act of picking up her spoon to taste the heavenly smelling beef and garbanzo bean soup Teresa had served them. ‘Why? My mother wouldn’t have arrived by then.’
‘Since we won’t be busy making a baby first thing in the morning, I scheduled a meeting for the morning, while you take the necessary time to replenish your wardrobe. Unless you intend to recycle the clothes in that weekender you brought for the next year?’
The fact that she’d pondered the same problem didn’t stop her lips from pursing. ‘I was going to sort something small here in Havana and organise some clothes when I returned to England.’
He put the fork in his hand down carefully, his jaw set. ‘You won’t be returning to England until you’re pregnant and since the child is to be born here, it makes sense for you to remain here. Besides, your mother will be in Miami—you can visit her any time you want.’
Suki wasn’t sure whether it was his complete certainty in his own virility or the high-handed way he’d taken over her life that stuck in her craw. ‘Do you intend to dictate every single second of my life from now on? Because if that’s the case you and I will have a big problem.’
‘Accept that I will be taking a huge part in making sure this pregnancy goes smoothly and we won’t have one.’
Her fingers tightened around the spoon. ‘I’m not even pregnant yet!’
‘You could be by now if you weren’t so touchy about having sex in broad daylight.’
She cursed her flaming face almost as much as she silently cursed him. ‘Oh, my God, you really think you’re a stud, don’t you?’
His shrug was pure male arrogance. ‘I got you pregnant the first time despite using contraceptives. I choose to believe we’ll be equally lucky in conception this time round.’
‘And if I don’t get pregnant immediately?’ she challenged.
His teeth bared in a smug smile. ‘That’s the great thing about sex. As long as we have the necessary functioning equipment, we can keep trying. Again and again. Now eat your soup before it goes cold.’
‘I think I’ve lost my appetite,’ she returned.
