AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He tensed, his eyes narrowing on her face.
Suki bit her lip as the powder keg of the subject of denied father threatened to blow up again. ‘I don’t believe that about everyone, Ramon, only my own. From the little I saw of him, he and my mother would never have been compatible in the long run. I think she fell in love with the idea of falling in love more than anything. And he, of course, would never have left his wife for a one-night stand.’
‘Are you saying that knowledge didn’t in any way inform your own actions?’ he pressed. His tone wasn’t as harsh and condemning as it had been on the day of the memorial. As unyielding as the question was, this time it was powered more by the subtle need for assurance and thin layer of vulnerability than anything else.
But still she drew her hand away before she answered. ‘Think about it, Ramon. We had a one-night stand too and, as you reminded me, we didn’t even like each other much. But would I be here, trying to have another child with you, if I didn’t want this? The doctors reassured me that the likelihood of the congenital heart failure reoccurring was low, but it’s still scary—’
‘Perdón? The what?’ He cut across her, his voice a deadly blade.
Her breath strangled. ‘The baby—’
‘Our baby.’
She nodded jerkily. ‘Our baby was diagnosed with congenital heart disease.’ She frowned. ‘You said you had me investigated. I thought you knew...’
Her words trailed off as his glass dropped onto the table, spreading red wine on the white cloth. ‘Dios mio,’ he muttered through lips gone ashen. He stared at her for an infinite moment, then he jerked to his feet, paced away from the table.
‘Ramon...’
He swerved back around. ‘Tell me what...how...’ He stopped, swallowed.
Pain shook her from scalp to toes. ‘We used protection so I didn’t suspect I was pregnant...for a while. I was still spotting. Anyway, when I eventually had the scan, it showed the defect, I was told the chances of her living through the very risky surgery were appallingly low. I did extensive research. No one could guarantee success.’
‘That’s why you terminated the pregnancy?’
Brokenly, she nodded.
‘So you intended to keep it all along?’ he pressed.
‘Yes. You really didn’t know?’
He exhaled loudly. Then his face contorted in a pained grimace. ‘No. After Luis told me you’d terminated the pregnancy, I didn’t have much room to hear anything else. I admit I didn’t treat the messenger very well. We didn’t speak for a few weeks, and, when we did, we chose not to discuss it further. My investigation was to verify time and dates and your finances, not why you’d terminated...’ He shut his eyes and shook his head. ‘Madre di Dios.’
‘I’m sorry.’
His eyes opened, spearing her with fierce remorse. ‘No, I am the one who is sorry. Lo siento mucho,’ he repeated solemnly in Spanish.
A stone lodged in her throat, and her eyes prickled. Muttering another curse, he came and crouched before her chair, his thumb brushing her tears. ‘This time we will succeed,’ he rasped harshly. Whether it was a command to the cosmos or a plea couched in typical Ramon arrogance, she found herself nodding, adding her own silent prayer to the statement.
He caught her hand, drew her up and walked her to the terrace. His tone subdued, he probed her gently for more information, which she freely gave, finding the sharing of the pain she’d carried for ever a little easier to bear.
An eternity later, they returned to the table. Their dinner dishes had been cleared, and the table was now set with dessert.
Ramon offered her a plate of pastelitos and yemitas. ‘Eat, they’re your favourite,’ he instructed before heaping ice cream onto the side of the dessert bowl.
She sta
red at the large, mouth-watering dish. ‘You’re trying to fatten me up.’
‘No, I’m trying to get this meal over as quickly as possible so I can drag you to the bedroom and get that damned dress off you,’ he returned gruffly, stormy eyes ablaze with lust and a large dose of regret pinning hers.
He stayed true to his word. Except the dress didn’t survive the inferno of his lust. Suki suspected he’d intended to rip the dress to shreds all along and didn’t mourn the loss for too long. They were too busy mourning, and then reaffirming life.
But as she scooped the ripped material off the floor the next day, her mind tripped back to the night before and the disturbing subject she’d left untouched.
Svetlana. And why Ramon had lied about having broken his engagement with her. Although Luis had informed her without prompting the last time she’d seen him that Ramon and Svetlana were no longer together, the thought that he’d still been with her when he’d slept with Suki had triggered a fresh bout of bitterness.
It still did. Her fingers gripped the tattered material harder as the admission lanced her.
