AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Her heart spun. “No,” she said softly. “But I thought we’d stay here for a while,” she said gently. “So that you can spend some time with… my friend.”
“Xavier,” Josh said with a nod, but the foreign name on his lips sounded more like “thayva”.
Ellie’s smile was distracted. “Yes.”
“Where is he?”
In bed. She pictured him, naked, broad strong, warm, and her pulse speeded up. “You’ll see him soon, darling. Let’s get you dressed, hmm?”
She’d brought only minimal clothes with her – the angry security man had followed her around the house and she hadn’t liked the sense of invasion, so she’d been as quick as possible, simply to get rid of him. She helped Josh dress in a pair of jeans, a long sleeved shirt and then a soft, fluffy pullover with a tyrannosaurus rex on the front. Fuzzy black socks completed the ensemble and she finger-combed his hair from his face, and then felt a pang of pride when she stood back to observe this beautiful, kind child.
He might look like Xavier, but his heart was all Ellie’s. His goodness, his kindness, his tolerance. These weren’t qualities Xavier seemed to have at all, so she was certain their son had gained them from her side of the family.
Family.
Her chest panged.
Who was their family? Her parents, who didn’t want them. Nell, who was a Godsend. And then Xavier’s parents…
At the thought of Maria and Roberto she stammered to a stop, so that Josh looked up at her, his little face watchful. “Okay, mama?”
“Fine, darling,” she lied, walking once more, holding his hand as they made their way slowly down the stairs. She headed to the kitchen on instinct, but her brain was ticking over the fact that sooner or later, Roberto and Maria would become a part of this mess.
Maria would have to face the fact she’d lied to Ellie, and that her lie had been one of the deciding factors for the young, devastated, pregnant Ellie.
Ellie wouldn’t share her secret though. She wouldn’t tell Xavier that his parents played any part in her decisions. It was Xavier who’d cheated. Xavier who’d broken Ellie’s heart. Maria had acted out of love for her son, Xavier had acted out of love of himself and his damned libido. And Ellie? Well, she’d done what she’d believed best at the time.
Would she make the same decision now?
She couldn’t say with any certainty. But she’d been young and alone and terrified and the idea of moving into Xavier’s orbit had filled her with a dread she couldn’t make her peace with. And so she’d stayed away and she’d fallen in love with their son.
And now Maria and Roberto would want to meet him. Had Xavier already told them about Ellie and Josh?
She stopped walking again, her face frowned in consternation.
How was she going to navigate all this?
He strode into the kitchen minutes after they did. Josh was sitting on the bench, watching as Ellie opened doors in search of pots and pans, finally pulling out a saucepan and filling it with water. She removed a carton of eggs from the fridge and gently placed three into it, then put the saucepan on to the stovetop. She’d just lit the ignition when Xavier arrived, and Josh said his name in that sweet, lispy way he had.
Ellie kept her back to the man. She didn’t want to see him in the light of day. She didn’t want to see how handsome he was, to have her traitorous body respond with desire. Nor could she handle the sight of him being so lovely to her son, when contrasted with how he was with her.
As though she were simply a means to an end. She’d thought it before and she thought it again now, as flashes of the way he’d come to bed and made short work of all her defenses, seared her mind.
“Buenos días, niño,” he spoke in his native Spanish and the words threw more pleasurable memories before her. Memories of the way it had been before, when he’d made love to her, holding her whole body tight to his, and he’d whispered in her ear, again and again, foreign, mysterious, spiced words that had rolled off his tongue and into her heart.
“I have to go home today,” she said jerkily, without turning around.
She didn’t see the severe frown that etched his face, nor the way his body tensed. “You are home,” he purred instead, the words deceptively calm for their son’s sake, but she caught the underlying danger.
She didn’t rise to the bait. “I only brought a few things yesterday. I’ll need to collect some more clothes.”
“I have arranged a removalist to box your things. They will be here by evening.”
That caught her attention. She whirled around, holding a slotted spoon out as though it were a knife. “You’ve what?”
His eyes narrowed, warning in every line of his body. “You’re welcome,” he said, the word zipping with tension.
“I don’t want strangers going through my house, packing my things.” She tried to speak softly, conscious of the way Joshua was looking from one to the other. A frown creased her brow and she put the spoon down and scooped Josh up, carrying him from the room. She deposited him in the adjacent morning room and put the television on. Cartoons were running and one of his favourites came on. She knew he wouldn’t move from his position until she came to fetch him. She returned to the kitchen with the appearance of calm, moving to the stove and turning off the water, sucking in a deep breath to steady her frayed nerves.
