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She slid her hand into his, secretly grateful for the support when she rose on shaky legs.
For a moment, they faced each other, saying nothing as hardly a breath passed between them. Then he was leading her away from the pool, through the salon and down the endless hallways to the grand staircase.
His fingers tightened around hers for a second before he made an impatient sound. The next instant, he swept her into his arms. Her already non-existent breath completely evaporated at the sizzling skin-to-skin contact. But while her senses went into free fall, he was taking the stairs with quick, purposeful strides, barely exerting himself as he carried her into his suite.
In his large, luxuriously appointed bathroom, he set her down on the cushioned vanity seat, pulled open a drawer and scooped out the long, rectangular boxes. With uncharacteristically unsteady movements, he started to rip open the boxes.
Suki stopped him when he reached for the fifth one.
‘I think we have enough.’
He paused, looked as if he wanted to disagree, then gave a tight nod. ‘Do you need anything else?’ he rasped, casting a searching look around the bathroom.
‘N-no. I’m fine.’
Still he hesitated. Finally, he nodded again, and left the bathroom.
Heart in her throat, Suki reached for the first white and blue stick. The handful of kits he’d bought were far superior quality to the ones she’d used previously, but the basics were the same.
An excruciating three minutes later, she had her answer.
She emerged to find him pacing the bedroom in tight circles, one hand clamped on his nape. He spun around immediately.
A vein throbbed at his temple. Eyes ablaze with rabid, expectant light fixed on her. His mouth worked, but no sound emerged.
The equally soul-shaking cocktail of emotions rampaging through her weakened her limbs. Leaning against the door frame, she slowly held up the sticks. ‘I’m... I’m pregnant.’
His hand dropped from his neck, his eyes turning a dark, dark green she was associating with deep emotional upheaval. When after a full minute he said nothing, she nervously licked her lips. ‘Did you hear—?’
‘Sí, querida. I heard you,’ he croaked.
‘And?’ The blend of joy, hope and naked fear in her voice was very easy to discern.
Coming to life again, he ate up the distance between them and cupped her face in his hands. She’d seen a ruthlessly determined Ramon more times than she cared for. The expression that crossed his face was nothing short of a man on a crusade.
‘And this time things will be different. We will succeed this time.’ He repeated the words he’d said last night.
And because she needed that assurance more than she would’ve thought possible, because she wanted to hold on to something...anything that affirmed the belief that things would be different this time, she took a deep breath, and, just like last time, she nodded. ‘Yes.’
CHAPTER TEN
RAMON ENTERED THE sunlit space that was his studio one week later and drew to a stop.
The temperature was the same as it had been yesterday, the blue sky visible through his glass roof just as cloudless. The floor bore evidence of his deep frustrations. And yet, the light was almost blinding. And he felt more invigorated than he had in...hell, he couldn’t remember.
Sure, there were a million other emotions bubbling beneath the surface of his skin that he didn’t want to name, never mind examine, but the energy surging through him was so overwhelming, he experienced its sizzle to the very tips of his fingers.
A father. He was going to become a father.
He’d plotted, planned and executed it. But he h
adn’t allowed himself to fully embrace its possibilities. Same as he had never thought himself particularly invested in evolution or been hell-bent on leaving his mark on the Earth the way some men were obsessed with. Not until Luis had dropped the news of his lost unborn child in his lap. Not until precarious conditions on a rainy night in Mexico had caused a lorry to smash into his parents’ car, ending the lives of the three people who meant the world to him.
The dark gloom and relentless anguish that dogged his days hadn’t suddenly lifted, but for the first time in a long time Ramon was able to take a breath that wasn’t drawn from a place of complete despair.
He knew part of that stemmed from what Suki had told him. She’d wanted their child. Fate had forced her to make a different, harrowing decision. One he couldn’t fault her for. Absurdly, mourning for his lost child too now felt a little easier.
He took another deep, soul-restoring breath. He wasn’t naive to the risks involved in every pregnancy, had probably over-educated himself on the subject. But the unfamiliar sentiment he first witnessed in Suki’s face and was beginning to entertain himself—hope—had been bolstered by the requisite doctors’ tests and reassurance.
