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Flora refused to let them turn her into an emotional wreck. She wouldn’t revert to doing the right thing.Sayingthe right thing.
‘You thought I was going to do what? Stand outside with a metal stick and wait for lightning to strike? You thought I might compromise my safety—the baby’s?’
He reached for her. ‘Flora—’
‘Don’t you dare tell me I’m wrong.’ She stepped back until the backs of her legs touched the sofa.
‘Youarewrong.’
She pointed a trembling finger at the centre of his chest. ‘Don’t you dare contradict yourself. Your boat is an explorer—you told me—and it’s built for extreme weather. Because this is your home—where you come back to after every renovation...every job. It’s safe because you made it to be safe. Built it—designed it,’ she corrected breathlessly.
‘Nothing is completely storm-proof,’ he explained, but she shook her head.
‘You feared for me, Raffaele,’ she said.
Old hurts bloomed fast. The barn—the fall—her night in London. Was everybody right not to trust her?
‘How can we get married?’ she asked.
‘You’re pregnant—’
‘Yes. I’m pregnant. But how can I marry you when you don’t trust me?’
CHAPTER NINE
‘IT’SNOTYOU,’he confessed. ‘It’s the—’
Every instinct told Raffaele to hold his tongue. Not to speak out loud. Not to bring back to life the memory he’d buried deep, so very long ago.
He knew why he was overreacting. Knew why he’d put all his regressed pain into her and turned it into something ugly.Angry.
And then she’d pushed against his rage. It had replaced his rage with guilt. Regret. He’d hurt her. And the only way he could fix this...
He didn’t want to remember—didn’t want to share it with Flora. But it pushed at the edges of his mind...pushed itself inside. Uninvited. The memory of being lost—misplaced in plain sight.
No one had noticed for three days. No one had reported him missing. Raised the alarm. No one had checked in on his mother...
Words wouldn’t come.
He couldn’t speak.
‘How could you think I’d put myself in danger?’ she asked.
‘No, I didn’t.’ He rejected her assertion and curled his fingers into his palms to resist pulling her into him. Holding her shivering body against him to infuse her with any warmth he had left in his skin...give it to her.
His friend? His companion? His lover?
He squashed the thoughts down. He didn’t need friends. He couldn’t allow her to be his lover. And he didn’t deserve companionship. But she’d offered all of them freely since her arrival. Talking about the future. About the past.Herpast. Full of love and devotion for her family.
Nowhisfamily.
People he hadn’t met—didn’t want to meet.
So what had he done? He’d squashed all those hopeful words from Flora’s mouth under his big foot because of his past. His neglectful family. His mother.
No. This isn’t about your mother. It’s about you.
A gush of air escaped his mouth.
