When she’d said that she wasn’t getting married to Raf, Aaron had been furious and relieved, all at once.Marry me. We’ll do this together, just like we always said.
But there was a part of her that hadn’t been able to ignore an awful, creeping suspicion, that the only reason he was suggesting that was because he viewed her baby as some kind of gravy train. She was having a Santoro, and someone like Aaron would definitely see the financial benefits to that.
Sitting on an armchair in the lounge room, with her knees pressed to her chest, she let out a soft groan. It was dark outside now, and the only light in the room came from a lamp across the way. She had no idea what time it was, only that she was completely overwhelmed with everything that was happening.
She heard him enter the room, and she didn’t mind. She’d been alone a long time; he’d done what she asked for.
“I thought you might be hungry.” His voice, to Elodie’s now expert ears, showed strain, so she tilted her face, guilt flooding her. Because none of this was his fault. Her baggage was exactly that. Hers.
“I’m sorry,” she said, shaking her head.
“What for?” He placed a bowl of pasta on the coffee table, then crouched right in front of her.
“I just wasn’t ready for anyone else to know,” she explained. “It’s all happening so fast. I only found out myself a few days ago. Now your family knows, my parents, Aaron, his family, God knows who else. If you’re right, the whole world could find out any day. I just thought we could have a few weeks to ourselves, ignoring everyone else, you know? To see if we can make this work. I feel like I’m in a pressure cooker, with steam coming from every direction.”
“Si,” he agreed. “But we can control that.”
Her laugh was almost a sob. “How, Raf? How?”
He stood then, reaching his hands to hers. “Do you trust me?”
She blinked at Raf, shocked to discover that she did. After her experience with Aaron, she had thought she might never trust again…
“I think I do.”
His eyes shone with intensity. “Then leave it with me.” He leaned down, then pressed a kiss to her forehead, before leaving her alone again, just as she’d asked him to. Only now, it was the last thing she wanted—she just wasn’t brave enough to admit that.
CHAPTER 14
IT WAS DEFINITELY ONE solution guaranteed to give them a bit of breathing room, but it was not exactly what Elodie had imagined. Then again, floating around in the Med on a luxurious yacht was so far outside of her realm of life experience, it might as well have been a spaceship. From the minute they’d stepped onboard, she’d been absorbed into a world of absolute luxury, but in the week since, she’d almost become used to it.
So too the relaxation of this.
Out here, on the calm, crystal water, it was like they were two different people, totally removed from the pressures of their normal lives, and the decisions that awaited them.
Elodie knew that would all be waiting for them, afterwards. They’d go back to Italy, and face the music with his family, and then with hers. But for now, they could just exist.
And do exactly what she’d said she wanted: get to know each other.
In the intervening week, she felt as though she’d cracked through Raf’s shell, seeing beyond the hardened exterior, the cautious, reserved man, to the person beneath. At first, he’d tried to keep her emotionally at a distance, and she hadn’tminded. But the more they talked, the more they connected, and the more Elodie could see the sense in truly becoming friends.
Okay, sexdidcomplicate that. So too the fact they couldn’t keep their hands off each other. But when they weren’t reaching for each other, and making love like a fever had gripped them, they were sharing meals, talking, swimming, laughing. It made Elodie realise that she hadn’t laughed much with Aaron. They’d talked, sure. But not like this. They’d watched telly together, and gone to bed by nine each night, so she could get up early and get into work. It had been a long time since she’d laughed like this with him—if ever.
Again, she was hit with the strange, heavy realization of what a mistake she’d almost made, in marrying Aaron. How could she have thought that settling for him was the right decision?
After nine days on the yacht, though, Raf approached Elodie with a thoughtful expression. “I just had a call from Francesco—my brother.”
Reality.
It was still out there. If she squinted, towards the Italian landmass, she could possibly even see it, waiting for them.
“And?”
He wrapped his arms around her, staring down into her face. Here, on the yacht, they’d abandoned any pretense of not touching, of limiting the way they were with each other. Once the baby was born, they’d redraw those boundaries.
She knew that was stupid. Ill-thought-out, careless. Because there was so much that could go wrong here. So much hurt they could inflict on each other, if they weren’t careful. But somehow, Elodie just trusted him. Trusted them.
It would all work out.
