AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Nico.
Louanna put the children to bed, and when she came down she gave Aurora a gentle talking-to.
‘Do you know who the father is?’
She had asked before and Aurora had been evasive.
‘Yes.’ She was too tired to lie, but she would not name him. ‘And I believe he would support me and would insist that we marry.’ She looked over to Louanna. ‘But I would rather be alone than live in an unhappy marriage.’
Louanna started to cry.
They spoke for a long while, and then Aurora headed down to her little summerhouse.
Deep in the night she lay restless and unable to sleep. She tossed and turned, and then got up and paced when it dawned on her that the ache in her back was not perhaps just from being heavily pregnant.
Aurora headed into the main house and made a drink. She looked out at the cold, pink morning sky and admitted to herself the very real reason she had not contacted Nico.
He might marry her, but he would never love her.
She would be his Silibri wife.
His mountain wife.
Living in the hills and tucked away.
Made love to when he returned to survey his grand hotel and then put on hold when he returned to Rome.
Or Florence.
Or England or France.
She wasn’t sophisticated enough to hold his arm and smile serenely as he conversed. Neither was she calm enough to stand holding the baby and wave him off with a smile. Nor was she discreet enough to turn a blind eye to his philandering ways.
And therewouldbe philandering ways, Aurora was quite sure of that.
She had no experience, save for Nico. No tricks to keep him amused. Just her.
And being almost nine months pregnant, and already rejected as his bride, wasn’t a brilliant combination to inspire confidence.
Aurora would not be able to stand being a small part of his life—to live in the background. She was pure Sicilian and lava ran in her veins. She burnt at the thought of Nico with someone else—and, no, she wouldnotstand back in dignified silence.
She moaned in horror at the thought of it.
‘Aurora?’ Louanna stood at the kitchen door. ‘Are you okay?’
‘No…’
She was scared and she was pregnant and she loved Nico so much that it hurt.
It hurt.
‘I can’t do this,’ she admitted.
‘Youaredoing this, Aurora,’ Louanna said. ‘Your baby is on its way.’
Aurora had changed her mind. ‘I’m not ready.’
But the baby was.
