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‘You’ve taken the fall?’ Maya repeated blankly. ‘What on earth are you saying?’

‘That with Rafiq’s agreement, he will inform Izzy that you’ve been avoiding her because our new marriage has been rocky and you didn’t want her to see us together and notice anything wrong and start worrying about you,’ he extended curtly. ‘It’s a good cover story and you can see her tomorrow evening.’

‘Tomorrow?’ Maya gasped in disbelief. ‘Izzy’s arrivingtomorrow?’

Raffaele nodded confirmation. ‘In advance of your grandparents. They’re arriving the following day. And you can rubbish me in the husband stakes to your heart’s content with Izzy. I’m not that sensitive,’ he declared curtly.

‘I’m not going to be rubbishing anyone!’ Maya protested, moving restively off one foot onto another, shaken at the knowledge that she would be with her twin again after months of being deprived of her company. She was torn between joy at the prospect and rage with Raffaele for intruding. ‘You shouldn’t have interfered.’

‘You were making a mistake and you didn’t give me a choice.’

‘I’m notstillhurting!’ Maya proclaimed hoarsely, her green eyes flashing a defiant challenge.

‘Yes, you are,bellezza mia, and so am I. That’s completely normal,’ Raffaele murmured sibilantly, curving an arm to her rigid spine and urging her out of the room.

Her clear eyes prickled. ‘You—?’

‘Sì.I may have got with the programme when it was a little too late but...’ Raffaele shrugged a shoulder wordlessly. ‘Let’s walk through the grounds now.’

Consternation gripped Maya as it occurred to her that her refusal to talk about the miscarriage had also denied Raffaele any way of expressing his feelings,hisgrief. She had hugged her sadness to herself, excluding him, and that knowledge filled her with regret.

‘Ican’ttell Izzy,’ she whispered apologetically. ‘She would be so hurt for me and I’m used to protecting her. I’m used to being the strong one.’

‘It’s your decision, but she’s got Rafiq now and I have the feeling he would stand in the path of a tornado to protect her. You need your family, Maya. You’ll need them in the future when we’re no longer together,’ he bit out in a harsh undertone.

And at those words, Maya broke out in a cold sweat all over her body. She felt sick and dizzy and she pulled away from him to hurry into the cloakroom off the main hall before she disgraced herself. Her head was pounding fiercely, her stomach heaving but, luckily for her, she made it in time and for long moments afterwards, having bathed her clammy face and freshened up as best she could, she rested her brow against the cold tiled wall and breathed in slow and deep in an effort to calm herself down.

When we’re no longer together.

He had said it, he had put it into words that could not be unsaid, words that cut through her like slashing knives. He had said out loud what she could not even bear to think about.

How very considerate of Raffaele to ensure that she had her family behind her for support when he walked away! She supposed that set-up would make his life easier, lightening up his conscience, if he would even have an attack of guilt at ditching her. And why would he? Why would he feel guilty when she hadaskedhim for another baby? She had made that choice, that plea, thatdemand. Thinking about how she had approached him in the club that night, Maya shuddered with shame and comprehension. She had used sex to hold onto him, hadn’t she?

Yes, Raffaele might have stated that he also wanted a child now more than he had at the outset of their marriage, but she had been the one to fling herself brazenly at him in public, spelling out that he could have anything he wanted if he would only stay with her long enough to grant her that one burning wish. The heat in her face climbed even higher as she looked back over the past weeks.

Sex was the lowest common denominator in a relationship, and she had certainly made use of it, she acknowledged in growing mortification. She had spent those weeks engaged in frantically, feverishly swarming over Raffaele every chance she got, like some sort of sex fiend on a roll. And Raffaele had liked that, had revelled in that, of course he had. But at the end of the day, it didn’t make her one bit more special than any other casual lover he had taken to his bed. And he would have been downright shocked, she suspected, had he realised that she hadliedwhen she’d approached him in that club.

She had said she wanted only a baby, but that was the biggest, most barefaced lie she had ever told. In truth, she wanted him because she loved him, and she wanted himfor ever. So, she had only herself to blame for the consequences of her behaviour. Raffaele was already envisaging their separation, putting into place the supportive family framework he believed she needed for that future event, not seeming to realise that absolutely nobody in her family was likely to have the power to glue back together the pieces of her broken heart and fix her...

CHAPTER TEN

‘CONGRATULATIONS,’THEURBANEprivate obstetrician told Raffaele and Maya the next morning, when the nurse reappeared with the result and a smile of confirmation.

Maya shivered, suddenly chilled, as Raffaele’s hand on her shoulder urged her down into the seat awaiting her. As she had performed a test for herself before leaving the apartment, they had already known that she had conceived again. It had taken all of Raffaele’s considerable argumentative skill to persuade her that she also needed to speak to a consultant to deal with the secret fears she had not shared with anyone. Only her fears were apparently not as secret as she had assumed when Raffaele was so readily aware of their existence. It was true, sadly, this time around she was not as innocent, and she couldn’t feel joy as yet and couldn’t luxuriate in the result as she had before because she was far too afraid that something might go wrong again.

Dr Carruthers spoke at length with ease, determined to allay her very real concerns. A very early miscarriage, such as she had experienced, was extremely common. Indeed, he told her, it often happened before women even realised that they had conceived, so any statistics he quoted her were almost certainly inaccurate. She had no grounds to suspect that there was anything else amiss with her and should approach this new pregnancy without undue concern or stress. At present, he saw no reason for her to take any additional precautions. He was very reassuring and Maya left his smart consulting rooms on Harley Street with a renewed sense of confidence.

‘Are you planning to tell your twin?’ Raffaele pressed.

‘Yes. Not about before but about this, yes.’ Maya’s glorious smile lit her beautiful face to radiance. ‘I can share this.’

Raffaele slotted her back into the limousine and, without even thinking about the intimacy of the gesture, she reached for his hand. ‘We’re pregnant!’ she said foolishly and then flushed with embarrassment.

‘Guess that means I’m unlikely to get lucky tonight,’ Raffaele teased, dark golden eyes gleaming with amusement.

‘Oh, don’t you believe that you get off that easily.’ Maya laughed. ‘My hormones are going crazy right now!’

‘I bet you anything that tonight you’ll sit up gossiping with Izzy until the early hours of tomorrow morning and forget that I exist. You have so much to catch up on and once your parents and grandparents get together with you tomorrow, you won’t have much privacy,’ he pointed out.

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