by Lynne Graham
At the other end of the line, Alissandru had tensed. ‘You want more money for the house?’ he assumed, stepping away from the conference table he had been seated at, jerking his head in dismissal at his staff as he stalked into his office next door, tension stamped in every angular line and hollow of his darkly handsome features.
‘It’s nothing to do with the house,’ Isla admitted. ‘I haven’t made a decision about that yet.’
‘Why not?’ Alissandru cut in edgily.
‘Because I’ve just found out that I’m pregnant and right now that is all I can think about,’ Isla confided reluctantly.
A freezing little silence fell at the other end of the line. Alissandru was reeling in silent shock because he had not once considered that possibility and when it came at him out of nowhere, he froze, stunned by her announcement. How could she be pregnant? Was it even his? What were the odds?
‘I don’t understand how this has happened,’ Alissandru murmured flatly.
‘Well, I’ve done my duty by telling you and for the moment we can leave it there,’ Isla told him, eager to conclude the call. ‘We’ve got nothing to discuss.’
‘If what you claim is true we have a great deal to discuss,’ Alissandru contradicted harshly.
‘Why on earth would I lie about being pregnant?’ Isla snapped.
‘I don’t know, but your sister did,’ Alissandru told her with ruthless emphasis. ‘But be assured that even if you turn out to be having triplets, I’m unlikely to offer a wedding ring.’
Isla sucked in a deep steadying breath. ‘Since I’m well aware of your habit of saying exactly what enters your mind and because I have better manners than you have, I will just ignore those comments,’ she responded tartly. ‘But allow me to assure you that I am pregnant, you are the father and I wouldn’t marry you if you were the last man alive!’
‘I will arrange for you to see a doctor first and we will move on from there.’
‘I’m ready to move on past you right now, Alissandru!’ Isla flashed back, so angry she could barely vocalise.
‘I will call you back once I’ve made arrangements,’ Alissandru countered grimly and finished the call.
Isla was pregnant? How could that be? Why hadn’t the contraceptive pill worked? And why would she have waited weeks to tell him? It seemed like a long time since that night they had spent together. In a rage, Alissandru slammed his phone down on his desk. What an idiot he had been that night to fall into the trap of having unprotected sex! He had run an insane risk and incredibly he had done it with Tania Stewart’s sister. Of all the worst possible women to have got entangled with, why had he succumbed to her?
Over the past two months, Alissandru had repeatedly relived that night. Waking or sleeping, he just couldn’t seem to shake free of those memories of Isla. The sex had been phenomenal. That was why he couldn’t get that night with her out of his head. Clearly, he was more driven by his libido than he had ever appreciated and the knowledge that he was guilty of that fatal flaw, that demeaning weakness, had turned him off casual sex and other women. He had not been with a woman since that night, which was probably even unhealthier, he reasoned rawly.
Pregnant! Was it possible? Of course it was possible, but it was equally possible after several weeks that even if Isla was pregnant the child would ultimately turn out not to be his child. Dragging in a shuddering breath of restraint, Alissandru called his lawyer to ask for advice and only after that enlightening discussion, and in a much cooler frame of mind, did he organise a medical appointment. He requested Isla’s address by text and informed her that he would pick her up the next morning at nine and accompany her to the examination.
Isla gritted her teeth and told him that he would be waiting outside the door if there was to be any medical examination. She gave him the address, though, reasoning that once he was satisfied that she was telling him the truth they could move on and she would need to have nothing more to do with him. After all, she didn’t need his financial help, did she? Paulu had left her comfortably off, giving her the means to raise a child as a single parent. While she was pregnant, she would attend classes and study, she decided, making the most of that time before she sought employment again. Many women were successful working mothers and so would she be.
Another worry now clawed at her, though. Was it true that Tania had claimed to be pregnant at some stage of her relationship with Paulu? Was that, in fact, why she and Paulu had married as Alissandru seemed to think? And even if it was true and Tania had made an understandable mistake in assuming that she was pregnant when she was not, why was Isla’s word now being doubted and why was she expected to hang her head in shame for her sibling’s error?
Suddenly, Isla knew exactly what she would be saying to Alissandru in the morning and none of it would be polite, she thought furiously. How could she have slept with a man like that? He was horribly suspicious and distrustful of women. Not to mention unreasonably biased against Isla because of the blood in her veins. She would be the mother of Alissandru’s child. How the heck could they ever establish a civilised relationship as parents on that basis? The guy was a living nightmare! Nobody halfway normal could handle him! Her poor sister was dead and he was still holding Tania’s past actions against her.
Lindsay, a pretty blonde with tough views on men, had an entirely different take on Isla’s situation. ‘Of course, you need Alissandru’s financial help.’
‘I don’t,’ Isla protested.
‘Paulu left you a lovely nest egg but it’s not going to keep you or a child for the rest of your days. Not unless you flog that house in Sicily as well and invest the proceeds,’ Lindsay pronounced. ‘And the child is his child, as well...why shouldn’t he pay towards his child’s upkeep? That’s his duty.’
‘He assumed I was on the pill.’
‘But he didn’t ask you if you were, did he? You both took the risk and it didn’t pay off, so you’re not any more responsible for this development than he is,’ Lindsay completed roundly. ‘Stop beating yourself up about it.’
But Isla was tormenting herself because she felt very guilty that on a secret level she was pleased to be pregnant and already excitedly looking forward to becoming a first-time mum. Family was what she cared about most and finally she was going to have a family again. At the same time, even the sound of Alissandru’s voice on the phone had warned her that he was angry, bitter and unhappy about the prospect of her being pregnant with his child. How could she feel anything other than guilty in the circumstances? Another woman might have been willing to consider a termination or adoption but Isla wasn’t prepared to consider either of those options.
* * *
In the morning, she got up early, ate a good breakfast and donned a winter-weight jersey dress, teaming it with knee-high boots, items recently purchased with her newly affluent bank account. She questioned why she was making that much effort for Alissandru and decided that pure pride was motivating her, because Alissandru had rejected her on every possible level after the night they had spent together. She needed the comfort of knowing she looked her best in Alissandru’s radius.
The bell buzzed through the empty flat, Lindsay having long since left for work. Isla used the peephole and undid the chain, standing back as she opened the door. Alissandru stood there, six-feet-plus inches of volatile brooding male.
‘Will you come in for a moment?’ Isla asked politely.
‘The traffic’s bad and we don’t want to be late.’
‘If you want me to go anywhere with you, you have to come in first,’ Isla delivered without hesitation, wondering how he could look so gorgeous early in the morning and yet be a total irredeemable toad beneath the surface sophistication.
Wide sensual mouth flattening with annoyance, Alissandru skimmed grim dark golden eyes over the flushed triangle of her face. Sì, he reasoned angrily, already he could feel the dangerous pull of sexual
attraction. The dress cupped the full swell of her magnificent breasts to perfection and hinted at her gloriously curvaceous hips while the boots accentuated legs that were surprisingly long despite her diminutive height. Isla could cover herself from head to toe and screen every atom of bare flesh and still look like a total temptress with her pink sultry mouth, sexy curves and sparkling violet-blue eyes. She didn’t look remotely pregnant to him but then she wouldn’t be showing yet, would she? Alissandru knew virtually nothing about pregnancy and at that moment, his ignorance galled him.
‘Why do you want me to come in?’
‘I want your full attention and I don’t want to stage an argument with you while you’re trying to drive,’ she confided.
‘I have a driver,’ Alissandru slotted in icily. ‘And I do not see what we have to argue about.’
Isla raised a dubious coppery brow. ‘Your attitude? It stinks. I’m not my sister. I don’t look like her and I don’t think I behave like her but you can’t seem to see that. Getting pregnant after a one-night stand is worrying enough without me feeling that I’m constantly up against your irrational prejudice against me.’
‘I do not suffer from irrational prejudice,’ Alissandru declared in a stubborn tone of denial.
‘Sorry to be the one to tell you but you do,’ Isla replied quietly. ‘I can accept that you didn’t like my sister and that it’s too late now for you to change your mind about her, but you have to accept that I’m a different person. Stop comparing us and being suspicious of my every move because this baby I’m carrying doesn’t need that tension in the air between us.’
‘Mr Welch will tell us if you are carrying a baby but we won’t know if it’s mine until the child is born. DNA testing can be done while you are pregnant but it could compromise your pregnancy, so I’m prepared to wait for that confirmation until after the birth,’ Alissandru informed her, looking very much as if he was expecting a lofty round of applause for that consideration. ‘May we leave now?’
‘You didn’t listen to a word I said, did you?’ Isla exclaimed angrily. ‘Well, maybe you didn’t listen but you can sit down and think about your prejudice later, can’t you? I’m tired of dealing with it.’
‘The car’s waiting,’ Alissandru murmured, standing back for her to precede him, careful to be courteous as advised by his lawyer. Arguing with Isla, who was potentially the mother of his child, would be unwise. He needed a plan and then he would deal with the whole situation. Irrational prejudice? What was she talking about? She was Tania’s sister and naturally he distrusted her. That was not unreasonable, he told himself squarely.
The limousine impressed Isla to death but she refused to reveal the fact, sinking into the opulent cream padded upholstery and looking out at the traffic as if she travelled in such style every day. Not a word passed either of their lips until they entered an elegant waiting room to await the appointment he had arranged. When Isla’s name was called, an argument broke out when Alissandru stood up, as well.
‘No, you can’t come in with me. This is private. You can speak to the doctor afterwards with my permission, but you are not coming in with me!’ Isla warned him furiously, her cheeks infusing with hot colour as the other couple waiting across the room stared at them as though they had escaped from a zoo.
Impervious to such self-consciousness, Alissandru settled glittering dark golden eyes on her. ‘I wish to accompany you.’
‘I said no, Alissandru, and no means no!’ Isla bit out angrily as she stalked off and left him behind.
Fizzing with pent-up energy and frustration, Alissandru paced the floor. Of course, her pregnancy would be confirmed. He wasn’t expecting to discover that she had lied about that, but the real question was whether or not it was his child she carried and he wouldn’t have the answer to that question for months to come.
Isla found Mr Welch friendly and professional. He confirmed that she was pregnant and seemed a little surprised that she had not experienced any textbook signs of pregnancy like dizziness or nausea. ‘Of course, it’s very early days,’ he added comfortably. ‘Now that you know for sure, you’ll probably start feeling small effects very soon.’
It was a little embarrassing having to ask the doctor to speak to Alissandru separately, but Isla kept a smile on her face and did so, returning to the waiting room just as Alissandru was called. He was gone for longer than she expected and returned, looking taut and serious, to usher her back out to the limousine.
‘So, not a false alarm,’ he remarked as the limo moved back into the traffic.
‘I’m to come back for a scan in a couple of weeks,’ Isla told him brightly, determined not to be affected by Alissandru’s mood.
‘Do you have any idea why the pills you were on failed?’ he asked flatly.
‘I wasn’t taking any pills,’ Isla admitted baldly, keen to get that misunderstanding out of the way. ‘You assumed that I was, but I wasn’t.’
Alissandru shot her a startled glance. ‘In other words, we were entirely unprotected that night.’
Isla nodded stiffly. ‘Yes, and I’m as much to blame as you are for not appreciating the risk that we were taking.’
Faint dark colour edged Alissandru’s sculpted cheekbones, accentuating the bronzed hollows beneath and the perfect bone structure that gave his face such masculine strength. He was a twin but he and Paulu had not looked much alike, Isla acknowledged. Paulu had been slighter in build and much more boyish in his looks.
‘Why weren’t you taking any contraceptive precautions?’ Alissandru prompted, his wide sensual mouth taking on a sardonic slant.
‘I wasn’t having sex so there was no need for me to consider precautions,’ Isla revealed, lifting her chin, refusing to succumb to her embarrassment. She had had sex with Alissandru, she reminded herself in exasperation. There was no excuse for such prudishness now that she had conceived.
A frown line indented his brow. ‘You weren’t?’
Isla jerked a slight shoulder in a dismissive shrug. ‘You were the first...and you didn’t notice, but that’s all right. To be fair, at the time I didn’t want to draw your attention to my lack of experience.’
Alissandru had lost colour below his Mediterranean tan and his stunning dark eyes had narrowed, his black lacelike lashes almost tangling. ‘You’re telling me that you were a virgin?’ he pressed in disbelief.
‘Yes, and the sooner you accept that and that this child can only be yours, the happier we will both be,’ Isla responded doggedly. ‘Telling yourself that this child may be someone else’s is simply wishful thinking—’
‘I refuse to accept that you were a virgin,’ Alissandru interrupted in a raw undertone.
Tranquil in that moment as a garden pond, Isla gazed steadily back at him. ‘I expected that reaction. You learn everything the hard way. However, I’ve done what I had to do. I’ve told you. But I can’t change the way you think. You can drop me home now and we can talk again after the baby’s born.’
Her tone of careless dismissal set Alissandru’s perfect teeth on edge. ‘Whether the child is mine or not, I will be much more involved before the birth than you seem to expect.’
‘I don’t think so...not without my agreement. And you won’t be getting that. I don’t need the aggravation. I want to make plans and look forward to my baby.’
‘Look forward?’ Alissandru incised thunderously.
Isla gave him a sunny smile, refusing to conceal her feelings. ‘Yes, I’m very excited about this baby and I won’t pretend otherwise.’
Mindful of his temper, Alissandru breathed in deep and slow. She was delighted to be pregnant, openly admitting it. Was she one of those women he had read about who just decided to have a child and went out and picked a man to do the deed? He gritted his even white teeth. Even if she was, what could he do about it? He was in a situation in which he couldn’t win. An unwed pregnant mother held all the aces.
He would be damned if he did help her because the child might not be his, and damned if he didn’t because if he didn’t help her now, he could be denied access after the child was born because his child’s mother would hate him.
The child. He remembered how much Paulu had longed for a child, and his heart clenched painfully. Paulu would’ve celebrated such news and their mother would’ve been ecstatic at the prospect of a grandchild. Alissandru didn’t know how he felt beyond shocked, frustrated and bewildered. He studied Isla from below his lashes, recalling that night in astonishing detail for a person claiming concussion as an excuse for mental confusion. A virgin? He had never been with one. It was true that she had done nothing that implied a higher level of sexual skill. It was also true that he had had to utilise more power than usual to gain access to her squirming little body.
Feeling strangely breathless and hot, Alissandru dragged his smouldering gaze from her and focussed on a leather-clad leg instead. He had parted those knees. Hard as a rock and uncomfortable, he shifted position, angling his long, lean, powerful body back into a corner. Yes, it was possible she had been a virgin. Tania’s sister a virgin at twenty-two years of age? Surprising but not impossible, he reasoned doggedly, battling his arousal with all his strength.
Isla watched Alissandru, wondering what he was thinking about, wondering if she should even want to know. She was on edge in his radius, unable to relax while recalling everything she had worked hard at trying to forget. His touch, the feel of him over her, inside her, the seething, storming excitement of his every movement. He had made her ignite in a blaze of elation and pleasure that still haunted her at weak moments. An ache stirred at the heart of her, warning her that even remembering that night was dangerous. But there he sprawled, effortlessly elegant and infuriating and still breathtakingly beautiful, from the blue-black fall of hair he wore rather longer than was fashionable to the broad shoulders and powerful muscular torso that even the fanciest suit couldn’t conceal.