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He hated that in front of him was a woman in quite obvious emotional turmoil and all he could feel was panic. He looked away as Amelia pulled herself up straight and felt her gaze on him, even though he wished for the world to be anywhere but here in that moment.
‘I can’t...imagine what you must think of me.’
‘I’m trying very hard not to form an opinion right now, because I don’t have all the facts and I don’t like jumping to conclusions,’ he announced while his molars groaned under the intense pressure of his tightened jaw. It wasn’t a lie; he was very close to an edge she had driven him to.
‘This... I...’ She shook her head, words coming hard for both of them, clearly. She took a deep breath, as if she knew that this was important. To him, to her, he didn’t know any more, but he couldn’t help but admire the strength she drew on to stand before him under the weight of his scrutiny—a scrutiny that had buckled many a lesser person.
‘This wasn’t part of the plan. Sleeping with you, or the baby.’
His heart pounded in his chest. Her declaration tapped into a question he’d struggled with from the very first moment Gianni had called him. Did he believe her? He studied her, head held high, back straight, shoulders drawn down. She looked like a soldier facing a firing squad, who had spoken her final words. She met and held his gaze, the pale green orbs so open it was as if she’d flung back the shutters and was asking him to look deep within her. Instead, he looked away and missed the slash of hurt that nearly rocked her on her feet.
‘It’s yours.’
Cristo.That he hadn’t even considered any other possibility showed just how powerful a spell she had cast on him. He nodded to convey his understanding but still couldn’t look at her. He went to pull at his collar, to relieve the tightness around his throat, only to find that it was already open. Intensely disliking that she might have caught the sign of his discomfort, he moved his hand to the back of his neck, his fingers brushing against the cold sweat that was gathering there with alarming frequency whenever Amelia was near.
Think it through. Be rational, he ordered himself. He had used a condom and even if she had lied about being on contraception, the chances were slim that pregnancy could have been a secured outcome. And after two years at his company, he might not know her—therealher—but she couldn’t hide the way she thought. He’d seen it in the choices she made, how she approached and assessed a project, the solutions she offered to problems. And at the very least he knew that she would never have created a plan around a possible pregnancy resulting from one single night with him, that couldn’t have been guaranteed in itself.
‘So Hong Kong was...’ he asked, wanting to know.
She shook her head and looked away, a blush rising to her cheeks and the gentle shrug of her shoulder, the fine bones there marked by his oversized T-shirt. It appeared she was as unable to explain that night as he was.
When she looked back at him, she was squinting up at him, the early morning Tuscan sun turning her brown hair into burnished gold, her pale skin into a sunburst as if even the morning were conspiring against him.
‘What now?’ she asked.
That was a very good question.
CHAPTER SIX
AMELIAFOUNDTHEKITCHEN. It was bigger than her flat in Brockley and it made her heart thud. The countertops looked like—and most probably were—marble. She and Issy had money growing up.Before.But nothing like this. This was...unfathomable.
She ran her fingers across the cool slabs of white, shot through with grey. It would have looked clinical had it not been for the deep brown wooden floorboards and the copper fixtures. There was a large twenty-seater table between the counter and the floor-to-ceiling windows that wrapped around the entire ground floor of the villa’s main building. Having worked out the coffee machine and made herself a decaffeinated espresso, she had been too uncomfortable to sit at the table. The thought of Alessandro sitting here to eat, all by himself, it just...it had made her heart ache in a way she tried to ignore.
He had retired to finally get some sleep, but the warning he’d left her with still sounded in her ears.
Do not think of trying to leave, Amelia.
Oh, she wanted to. She wanted to run. Wished she could click her fingers and be back in Brockley with her sister. Which had just made her worry about Issy. What was she doing now? Was she with Gianni? Was she okay?
Feeling a little unbalanced, she made her way to the sunken seating area facing a fireplace—the mixture of modern and new creating a sense of old comfort that was so lovely she couldn’t help but sink into the lush leather. Leaning back, she felt something poke into her hip. Turning, she saw her handbag, and inside she found her phone.
It had signal! Alessandro must have forgotten to turn the signal jammer back on. Without thinking, her fingers had hit call on Issy’s number. And then she hung up before it could connect.
What would she tell her sister about her pregnancy? How would she explain herself? How could she ever apologise enough for lying to her and setting them on a path of revenge that was so wholly misdirected?
The questions piled up one after the other, making her head swim. It was her fault they were in this mess, but she couldn’t afford to wallow in self-pity. She needed to know if Issy was okay, so she hit the call button again. Her heart dropped when an automated response told her the phone was not in use. Unease swept through her, but she reminded herself that Alessandro and Gianni were not the monsters they had thought they were. And while Issy was impulsive and chaotic in the most adorable way, there was only so much trouble she could get herself into.
No. At this point, Amelia really needed to think about the troubleshewas in. But trouble felt like the wrong word. Because she couldn’t use that word and think of the child growing within her.
It had surprised her, really. It had been like the swell of a wave, starting slowly at first but growing larger and larger until it became an unstoppable feeling, gathering momentum and washing aside everything in its path. This immoveable force had whispered into her heart and soul and she had felt utterly and irrevocably changed by it.
She wanted this baby.
It was a knowing, settling deep into her very being—standing out in stark contrast to Alessandro’s feelings.
Because she hadn’t missed the way he had looked at her. Hadn’t missed the accusation in his gaze, or the sense of something deeper, swelling beneath it all like a monster from the deep. He didn’t want this, but for some reason she was sure that it had nothing to do with her attempts to sabotage Rossi Industries. And an ache began to form in her chest. She rubbed at her sternum, wondering whether the decaf coffee was to blame, but really she knew. She knew that it was because of what she had seen in Alessandro’s gaze. Fear and alarm.
And on some level, she could understand. A child was a huge responsibility. One that would not only change her life but connect her to Alessandro for ever. It would be all consuming with, or without, his help and it would change the very essence of who she was.
