Modern Romance April 2019 Books 1-4. Heidi Rice

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СКАЧАТЬ Raffaele parried. ‘Obviously we will go ahead and marry now because to do anything else would be foolish in the extreme.’

      Vivi pondered that controversial statement and shifted uncomfortably in her seat. At that moment it seemed to her that every pressure that could be brought to bear on her to marry Raffaele was weighing her down and shredding her every argument. ‘I wasn’t expecting this attitude from you,’ she admitted in a rush. ‘I thought you would be furious.’

      ‘What right would I have to be furious?’ Raffaele incised. ‘We took the same risk together. Why would we waste our time now lamenting the outcome?’

      His outlook was, as he had warned her, innately practical. Parting her lips uncertainly, Vivi said, ‘I could’ve considered a termination.’

      ‘Which I would undoubtedly never have known about. But you did not choose that path. Instead you are telling me openly and honestly and I am grateful for that,’ Raffaele intoned tautly. ‘This is something we must share.’

      ‘Yes,’ Vivi acknowledged, dropping her copper head, the slender column of her neck below her ponytail looking disconcertingly vulnerable to his wary gaze. ‘I couldn’t entertain a termination after getting to know and love my sister’s little boy, Teddy. I don’t think I could give a child up for adoption either. But I still can’t imagine becoming a mother...’

      ‘I would say the same about becoming a father, except that in many ways for the past decade I have acted as Arianna’s father,’ Raffaele admitted in a rueful undertone. ‘I was a twenty-year-old student when her mother died. Arianna was twelve and in boarding school. I’m ashamed to say that I initially tried to avoid the responsibility, leaving her to spend her holidays with schoolfriends and ignoring her need to have a settled home.’

      ‘So, what changed?’

      Raffaele looked pained. ‘She sent me a letter asking me why I didn’t like her because, according to her, if you like someone, you want to see that person. I was ashamed. I had always thought of her as my unpleasant stepmother’s child, not as my father’s daughter, not as my half-sister, and even with both our parents dead I had gone on looking at her in that light. She was lonely and unhappy at school and I was her only close relative. I had to man up fast but the lesson stayed with me. Wishing things could be different doesn’t change facts. It’s better to face trouble head-on.’

      A glimmer of rueful amusement lightened Vivi’s eyes and her head lifted. ‘Is that what I am? Trouble?’

      ‘From the very first moment I saw you and wanted you,’ Raffaele confirmed without hesitation. ‘You were my sister’s friend and that alone should’ve restrained me.’

      Faint colour warmed her pale cheeks. ‘Together we’re not very good at restraint.’

      Raffaele gazed back at her, the pulse of desire thrumming through his lean, powerful frame, tensing his muscles and accelerating his heartbeat.

      Her gaze colliding with those dark golden eyes, damp heat seemed to coat her entire skin surface, her nipples snapping taut, her mouth running dry. She tore her attention from him but still he lingered in her mind’s eye, sleek and dark and beautiful with a sensuality that burned and made her ache unbearably. She swallowed hard on that grudging acknowledgement and suppressed it even quicker because they had far more important questions to consider and she was mortified by her lack of mental discipline.

      ‘So, we let the wedding go ahead because I’m pregnant and you think it’s safer for our child to be born legitimate with regard to the law and all that sort of thing,’ she concluded in a weary surge.

      ‘And because I believe that you should have my support throughout your pregnancy.’

      Vivi’s eyes opened wide and violet disbelief darkened them as she glanced back at him again. ‘Throughout? Look, I’m prepared to go through with the wedding but I don’t want anything to do with you beyond that!’

      ‘That’s no longer an achievable objective when you’re carrying my baby,’ Raffaele spelt out with finality.

      ‘Oh, yes, it is!’ Vivi argued vehemently. ‘I don’t need you for support while I’m pregnant.’

      ‘But I want to be there for you,’ Raffaele countered levelly.

      ‘Oh, stop being so pious!’ Vivi flashed back at him as she sprang to her feet in passionate annoyance. ‘Maybe you think you’re saying what I want to hear! Or maybe you think I couldn’t cope without you! Or maybe even you simply suffer from an over-developed conscience! But you don’t ever get to attach strings to me just because you knocked me up!’

      Raffaele grimaced. ‘Don’t be crude.’

      Vivi tossed her head, copper hair glinting like polished metal in the sunshine, her triangular face flushed and glowing with resentment as she hurriedly turned away from him. What a nightmare she would be storing up for the future if she allowed herself to become dependent on a guy who had no feelings for her other than those of obligation! If she wasn’t careful, she might start getting attached to him again, she thought fearfully. Heaven knew she could already hardly keep her hands off him and what more might result from such a powerful attraction? ‘You get to attach strings to the baby after it’s born, not to me.’

      ‘While you are carrying my child I have a duty of care towards you both,’ Raffaele contradicted drily. ‘A desire to be supportive is not attaching strings. I want you to agree to stay married to me and live with me until our child is born, at least.’

      Vivi took an outraged step back from him. ‘Absolutely not! Are you crazy? Our agreement was that we go through with the ceremony and then go our separate ways!’

      Raffaele groaned out loud in frustration. ‘And now we have something much more important to factor into that calculation...our baby,’ he reminded her. ‘Nothing is the same now. Our priorities have to change.’

      ‘Well, they have changed,’ Vivi proclaimed defensively, angry that he was unappreciative of the sacrifice she was already making and indeed was now demanding even more from her. Here she was struggling to hold him at arm’s length and minimise their interaction while he was demanding that she expose herself to much more. ‘Obviously I’m willing to agree to go ahead with the wedding without any further argument but that doesn’t mean I’m willing to sacrifice my freedom for the whole of my pregnancy.’

      ‘What vital freedom will you have if you live separately from me?’ Raffaele demanded. ‘Are you planning to continue drinking and dating while pregnant? Is that the freedom that you fear losing?’

      ‘Oh, for goodness’ sake, Raffaele, I haven’t even thought about stuff like that!’ Vivi fired back at him in exasperation. ‘I won’t be doing anything against medical guidelines, and right at this minute dating has about as much appeal for me as plunging into an ice pool! But on the other hand, living with you when you’re so arrogant and judgemental and domineering has even less appeal!’

      Raffaele, unaccustomed to criticism and prepared from the teenage years to see himself as a very eligible partner, released his breath in a controlled hiss. ‘What will you do when you don’t feel well? Surely there will be such times? Who will you lean on then? Who will look after you?’

      Vivi gritted her teeth. ‘I don’t need looking after and I don’t lean on people for support!’ she fielded with distaste and a proud toss СКАЧАТЬ