‘Let’s get you back to bed,’ he said, helping her to rise on unsteady legs and steering her from the room. She went with him, the fight gone from her, her strength drained, her mind numb with it.
‘I’m sorry,’ she said, as he eased her down on the bed, knowing that a terrible wrong had been done, knowing she was at least partly responsible, not having a clue what to say. Having even less idea of how to fix it. ‘I realize this is inconvenient. I’ll go. I won’t tell anyone, I promise.’
And the band that had bound his gut ever since he had heard she was pregnant grew even tighter, until even his lungs felt squeezed with the pressure. Better than any test result, it was the final confirmation he needed, banishing any lingering doubts in an instant. ‘So it is mine!’
Her eyes looked up at him, pained and dull. ‘Nobody will ever know. I promise.’
‘Merda! I will know! Or are you already planning on disposing of the “inconvenience”, as you so clinically put it, in order to assure that outcome?’
Her eyes sparked with indignation, their hazel lights suddenly flashing gold as if someone had thrown a switch, though her skin was still deathly pale and her voice was still rough and raw. ‘As it happens I haven’t had a chance to consider my options, but just what kind of person do you think I am?’
‘It doesn’t matter what type of person I think you are. What matters is what you plan on doing with my child.’
‘And I’m supposed to believe you care? Don’t bother. I promise not to go to the papers or get in the way of your precious princess hunt.’
‘No.’
‘What do you mean, “no”?’
‘It means that’s not good enough. I will not allow another generation of Lombardi bastard children to be cast aside as if they are not family. There is only one solution.’
She rolled her head from side to side against the pillow. ‘You can share access, if that’s what you want. I can hardly deny a child access to its father.’
‘I’m glad you understand that. And there is no better way to share access …’ he smiled, amazed at how neatly the whole thing fitted together—a woman he had no trouble desiring, already pregnant with his child, and an end to Sebastiano’s endless round of prospective wife interviews, all rolled into one neat solution ‘ … than to make you my wife.’
CHAPTER SIX
IF SIENNA hadn’t been lying down, her knees would have given way beneath her. As it was, the breath was punched from her lungs. He couldn’t be serious!
‘You have to be joking. There’s no reason on earth why I should marry you.’
‘It is the only solution. I need a wife and an heir.’
‘You need a princess, not a pilot. You need someone off that list of titled wannabes.’
‘But you have something they can only promise. You have conveniently proven your ability to conceive.’
‘Forget it. There’s no way I’m marrying you just because I’m pregnant. No way in the world.’
‘You need not be frightened of the royalty angle. You will be coached in our language and history.’
‘I wouldn’t say yes even if you weren’t a prince! A baby is no basis for a marriage. I would never do that to a child.’
‘And yet you would be happy to let that child grow up without its father. How is that fairer?’
‘You can’t force me to do this. Your father never married your mother simply because she was pregnant.’
‘He didn’t think he needed to. He already had his heir and a spare. My sister and I were surplus to requirements.’
‘But your mother—’
‘Had no choice! She received a substantial settlement and an annual pension on the condition she never returned to Montvelatte, and she never told anyone who her children’s father was.’
Sienna threw back her chin. ‘I would be more than happy to comply with the same conditions. For nothing. It wouldn’t cost you a thing.’
He shook his head. ‘You are kidding yourself. There is no way I would allow you to bring up our child in near poverty.’
‘I have a job!’
‘For how long? How can you fly in the condition you found yourself this morning? How long do you think anyone will employ a pilot who could faint at any minute? Who in their right mind would want to fly with you?’
‘I have some savings. I’ll take time off. Morning sickness doesn’t last forever.’
‘And after the baby comes, how do you expect to keep working when you have a child to care for?’
‘Like plenty of other woman in my situation do. I’ll cope.’