“This was clearly not planned,” he repeated.
Gianni’s voice chimed in. “I presume you are being careful.”
“It’s a little late for that,” Raf muttered, dragging a hand through his hair. Then, with a flush of guilt, and concern thatElodie might have heard, he glanced around, expelling a breath of relief to see he was alone, save for the staff lighting candles and arranging flowers.
“I mean financially.”
Raf’s spine straightened.
“A woman has appeared, out of the blue, claiming to be pregnant with your child?—,”
“It is my child,” Raf interjected. “I have made sure of it.”
“Results can be faked, darling,” Maria said gently.
“Believe me, if you knew her, you’d know that’s the last thing Elodie would do.” He was surprised by the tone of his conviction, by the passion of his defense. And how firmly it resonated with him. A little over twenty-four hours earlier, he’d been the one accusing her of not knowing the paternity of their baby. And now? He believed her unfailingly.
Which made him a first-rate fool, he thought. Because he’d believed Marcia, too, and she’d lied to him again and again.
“Nonetheless, your fortune is vulnerable.”
“You know as well as I do I have a series of trusts in place to protect my assets. Elodie will not receive a single cent that I do not offer.”
Again, guilt and disgust curdled through him, but he looked around, sure he couldn’t be so unlucky as to have had her overhear him twice. He glanced around the terrace and felt his heart fall to the ground at the sight of Elodie, just ten feet or so away, wearing a dress that clung to her curves like a second skin and made his entire body leap with blatant, undeniable desire.
But the stricken look on her face showed she had indeed heard his impatient declaration. What were the goddamn chances?
“I’ll call you tomorrow,” he said, disconnecting the call before either his aunt or uncle could say anything.
She looked so damn beautiful, with her hair loose around her face and her body supple and smooth. He reached her before she could hide the hurt from her eyes, before she could arrange her features into a mask of impartial disinterest.
“You weren’t supposed to hear that.”
Her smile didn’t reach her eyes; his gut twisted.
“I’m starting to think I should wear a cow bell around this place,” she muttered. “So, you know when I’m approaching and cannotsay this kind of thing in my earshot.”
It was a good-natured comment—an attempt at a joke. He supposed he should be grateful for it. But all he could think was that he’d hurt her, and she didn’t deserve that. In every single way, Elodie’s behaviour had been beyond reproach. From deciding to tell him about the baby from the moment she’d found out, to not leading with a request for money, to agreeing to come to Italy to get to know him better. She had been mature, reasonable, and responsible, and yet his entire family was seeing her as Marcia version two-point-oh. He couldn’t blame them. He knew they were just looking out for him. Butshedidn’t know that, and that was the most important detail.
“Listen, Elodie,” he said, but she shook her head quickly, holding up a slightly trembling hand to forestall whatever he was about to say.
“It’s fine.” Her voice was brittle, sounding anything but. “We just met, Raf. You don’t have to like me, and nor does your family. I get how it must seem. You’re worth a fortune; I guess being tricked into parenthood for money is plausible.”
But her quick acceptance of that, the hurt in her voice, made a thousand emotions riot inside of him. For the first time in a long time, he felt likehimself.The man he’d been before Marcia. He felt a strong connection to the past, to the core of his being, and he did not want to be the reason she was upset. It made sense. She was pregnant with his baby—and thatwasn’t her fault. It wasn’t, he supposed, strictly speaking his fault either. Yet he was the one who’d invited her home. He was the one who slept around like it meant nothing. Despite taking the precautions he took, for Raf, this was a somewhat plausible consequence of how he lived, whereas for Elodie, this was totally unexpected.
“Elodie, listen to me,” he said again, this time, with more urgency. “You need to understand something…”
She shook her head though. “Please, don’t,” she groaned. “I have spent the better part of a decade being lied to, being manipulated, having my instincts overridden. Don’t ask me to be that person again. I’ve heard what I’ve heard, and it’s okay. I’d always prefer honesty to whatever this is,” she gestured to the table, that suddenly seemed like an exercise in ridiculousness. What had he thought? That she’d see a candlelit table, a pool area flooded with white roses, and let her guard down completely? Agree to step into the future as co-parents, because he’d asked his housekeeper to make the night special?
Anger flicked through him, completely self-directed.
“I know we have to get to know each other,” she said, stiffly. “But I think we should stick to something more formal. Like business meetings, or whatever. Maybe even with a mediator.”
He balked at that. She was describing the absolute opposite of what he wanted. For this to work, it had to be real—whatever that looked like for them. And that meanthehad to be real. He’d avoided talking about Marcia with Elodie, even after she’d opened up to him. She’d seemed to let it go, and he’d been glad. But there was no way she’d ever accept the opinion his family held of her, and the things he said to reassure them, if she didn’t know the full story.
“Give me ten minutes,” he said, his voice deep and husky. “After that, if you want to stick to a more formal arrangement, I won’t object.”
He could see her wavering, and something shifted inside of him. Even then, when she was clearly upset, she was reasonable and decent. Even then, she was committed to doing what was right, and kind. That bastard of an ex-fiancé of hers really had won the lottery and not realized it.
