‘Maria, I’m not sure about this. I really think I need to tell Antonio,’ Ivy wavered.
‘Please don’t,’ Maria begged. ‘Please. I just… I just need a little more time. And if Antonio found out, all hell would break loose.’
‘Perhaps itshouldbreak loose.’
‘Ivy!’
‘Sorry. I just think that this is too much for you to be dealing with on your own.’
‘It’s a lot, I know, believe me. But I just need some time. I need a plan. I need…’ Oh, she didn’t really know what she needed.
Maria walked, unsettled, back through the house to the room where she’d been packing up her things. Her heart was still racing from having Micha here, in her home. He’d looked so…good. And so tired.
A part of her had felt victorious about the Peterson account. That Micha was struggling to hold Gallo Group together. And that was a mean part of her. But honestly, it had been a dream of hers for him to come begging at her door, to tell her that he needed her. To beg for her help. For weeks, months even, she’d fantasised about him doing just that.
So, how ironic was it that she’d had to say no? That she’d not even been able to take up his offer and prove just how vital she was to Gallo Group? Because she couldn’t. Negotiations would take at least two months, and by then…by then she’d be showing. And she wasn’t sure that even then she’d be ready…
She swept a protective hand over her abdomen. Very few people could have guessed that she was pregnant at this moment. Would the father of her child have been one of them?
‘Ivy, if he finds out…’ Maria shuddered at the thought, unable to even finish the sentence. ‘I just need some time. And then, when I’m ready, I’ll tell Micha.’
‘Tell me what,cara?’
Maria spun round in shock, coming face to face with Micha.
‘I saw you leave,’ she whispered in horror.
‘Well, I came back,’ he said, grim faced and hard eyed. ‘And now, I think it’s time that you tell me exactly what’s going on, whether you’re ready or not.’
His gaze bored into hers, flicked down to where her hand was on her abdomen, and rose back up to hers, eyes widening, lips parting in shock.
‘You’re pregnant.’
CHAPTER FIVE
It was thenightmare that had haunted her for the last two months, come to life. Micha stood there, eyes wide, knowing, accusing, confusion, anger, and something she couldn’t quite name, swirling in the rich gaze boring into her.
‘Maria? Are you okay? Maria?’
Ivy’s voice sounded so very distant.
‘I have to go,’ Maria whispered into the phone.
‘If I don’t hear from you in twenty minutes I’m telling Antonio,’ Ivy warned.
Maria ended the call without taking her eyes off Micha.
‘You’re pregnant,’ he said again. ‘You’re… We’re…’
He looked as if he’d been sucker-punched.
‘We used protection. We…’ he trailed off again.
He looked, Maria thought, the way she probably had looked when she’d found out too. Shock, confusion, denial,fear. His eyes dropped again to her stomach and she wanted to put her hands there, to protect their child, not fromhim, but from what would now happen.
She braced herself for the question. For the hurt that would wash over her. For the accusations and denials. For the shouts and the recriminations. But instead, he turned on his heel and left.
What?
