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Raffaele frowned. ‘I can’t believe you’re being so stubborn about this. I know how close you are to your sister and it may take a long time for you to conceive again...we don’t know.’
Maya shrugged. ‘I know but I didn’t think you knew.’
‘I’ve been educating myself,’ Raffaele admitted with a hint of amused one-upmanship.
Maya paled. ‘Because you’re hoping it doesn’t take too long? Because you want your freedom back?’ she exclaimed.
‘No. I want a baby too and, I’ve got to tell you, I intend to put myallinto the enterprise,’ Raffaele announced, sliding over her, strong and graceful and very sure of himself, shifting against her to acquaint her with his renewed arousal.
Maya laughed in relief, overjoyed that he had warmed to the idea of a child as well, knowing that that would be a powerful link even after they parted.
And if he had been fire and fury the first time round, he was a slow sensual burn the second time, letting the waves of pleasure ebb and then flow and wash over her until she was reaching for the stars again in an exquisite release.
‘I’ve been thinking,’ Raffaele mused as she lay in his arms afterwards, scarcely able to credit that they were sharing the same bed. ‘We need a house here in the UK.’
‘The last thing you need is another house,’ Maya told him gently, thinking of the many properties he had inherited from his mother, few of which he used on any regular basis. ‘You already have this place—’
‘It’s not child friendly though. We have to think of that. We’ll need outside space for a child to roam. I’ll get onto the agents and you can start viewing country properties within easy reach of London,’ he completed, his decision evidently made.
‘Me?’she exclaimed.
‘You don’t like it that much here, do you?’
‘It’s OK.’ Maya cringed a little at making that understated description of her palatial opulent surroundings and wondered if just living with Raffaele had already made her insufferably spoiled. ‘It’s a bit bland but it’s central and convenient for you when you have meetings.’
‘I’m thinking of you and our child in the future. It makes sense to get the house organised now.’
And the penny of comprehension dropped with Maya then and she felt as winded as if she had been punched. Raffaele was already planning the separation to come, even though it could take months for her to conceive again. What else could he be doing? He saw a future in which they would occupy two separate households, one for him here in the penthouse and one for her and their child safely set at a distance from his. A country house, which naturally he wanted her to choose because he wasn’t expecting to be sharing it with her. She breathed in deep and slow to calm herself.
Thiswas what she had signed up for, she reminded herself fiercely as her eyes stung furiously and she blinked rapidly and forced a stiff smile. She had signed up for a marriage, a child and a divorce and, ultimately, Raffaele would stick to the rules. He was comfortable with limits and rules, particularly where relationships were involved. It was typical of Raffaele that he was already working out in advance where to rehome her like a pet he had outgrown. Why on earth had she got the impression that anything between them had essentially changed?
But in the two weeks that followed, it struck her that the ambience between themhadchanged and not for the better. The sex was off-the-charts amazing, but Raffaele was more distant with her out of bed. He was working incredibly long hours and she would see him at breakfast and occasionally for dinner but not much else. He urged her to make a checklist of requirements before she viewed any properties and she spent hours studying houses online to fill her time, discovering that it was anything but easy to find one that ticked every box. And then the inevitable happened: she fell in love with a house.
‘I don’t understand why you want me to view this place with you,’ Raffaele declared with an edge of impatience over breakfast. ‘I don’t care where I live as long as the usual facilities are available.’
‘I would still value your opinion and, as the owners are abroad, you won’t even have to make polite conversation with strangers,’ Maya pointed out persuasively, wanting him to agree to spending some actual time with her that did not entail sex, wondering if that made her just a little desperate. He was following the rules of their strange marriage and she was trying to break the rules without him noticing.
With a groan, Raffaele agreed while reminding her once again not to organise any viewings for over the weekend.
‘I haven’t forgotten,’ she told him a little tartly. ‘You still haven’t told me why—’
‘It’s a surprise. I’ll tell you later,’ Raffaele parried. ‘After you’ve done a pregnancy test.’
Maya paled at the suggestion. ‘It’s too soon.’
‘No, it’s not and you’re getting all stressed out over it, which isn’t good,’ Raffaele countered. ‘We could be doing this for months, so let’s not make a production out of a simple check. Months...Madonna mia...how will I stand all that sex?’
Maya went red as fire. ‘Raffaele...’
Raffaele dealt her a wolfish grin. ‘I can take everything you can throw at me,’ he teased. ‘Now give me the brochure for the house.’
Raffaele was picking holes in her choice even before they boarded the chopper that would ferry them to Grey Gables.
‘It’s at the very limit of a convenient distance from London,’ he warned her.
‘It’s historic,’ he pointed out. ‘You said you wanted to avoid that because it’s a protected building, which makes alterations difficult.
‘It’s also going to need more bathrooms and you said you didn’t want anywhere requiring building work,’ he reminded her annoyingly.
