The Purest of Diamonds(38)

                Cold anger filled him. He had trusted Leila. He had confided in Leila as he had never confided in anyone before. And now this greatest truth of all and she had shut him out. How long had she known about the baby? When they’d been laughing and growing closer as they worked together, had she known then? Had she known before she came to the island? He always took precautions, and had assumed—

                Assume nothing. This was not the time to curse his uncharacteristic lack of caution. He had to know the truth. The thought that Leila might be scheming to trap him into some sort of arrangement tore him apart. Surely, she couldn’t have planned this, but could he trust his own judgement when wanting Leila was a madness he couldn’t control? He’d seduced her shamelessly, only to discover she had more passion in her than any woman he’d ever known. He’d lit that fire. And now he must live with the consequences.

                A baby. His child. Incredible. Why hadn’t she told him before now?

                He could hardly wait until he’d shut the world out of his study before rounding on her. ‘You must have known you were pregnant before you came here.’

                ‘You make it sound as if I planned this.’

                ‘Well, didn’t you?’ Crossing his arms over his chest, he leaned back against the desk to view her from his great height, but instead of shrinking from him Leila grew in stature and took him on.

                ‘There’s no plan here. I was waiting for the right time to tell you.’

                ‘The right time,’ he echoed. ‘Tell me, Leila—when is the right time?’

                ‘Don’t,’ she warned him. ‘I’m not asking for anything from you. I’m quite capable of bringing up a child by myself.’

                ‘I don’t doubt it. Wasn’t that your intention all along? Didn’t you tell me when we met at Britt’s party that you wanted children, but you didn’t want the man?’

                ‘That was just talk and you know it.’

                ‘Was it, Leila? How do I know it was just talk when I don’t know you? I thought I was coming to know you, but I was wrong. Most women are open about what they want from me—’

                ‘And I’m not?’ she cut in.

                ‘They ask—they get—they tell me what they’re prepared to give me in return.’

                A shudder ran through her. ‘I feel sorry for you, Raffa, taking part in such cold-blooded transactions.’

                ‘Grow up, Leila! We had sex. It was one night. It was never meant to be a lifetime commitment—’

                ‘But there was always that possibility—’

                ‘A possibility you hoped for.’

                ‘No!’

                ‘A possibility that could certainly have been avoided if you’d kept your legs closed—’

                ‘And you’d kept your pants on,’ she fired back. Launching herself at him, she tried to wrestle the bags from his hand. ‘Give them to me and I’ll happily go—’

                ‘Go where?’ he derided, holding them out of her reach. ‘Are you going to swim home?’

                ‘I’ll find some way to leave your island,’ she assured him, face tense, jaw clenched, her lips white with rage.