‘We’ve got a few things to sort out first, Leila—’
‘There’s nothing for you to sort out. I wanted to tell you. I wanted to explain gently—’
He laughed in her face. ‘What? So you could help me to get over the shock? I don’t even know if it’s my child!’
‘Of course it’s your child! I was a virgin—’
‘What?’
Raffa’s reaction stunned her. Hand over his face as if he couldn’t bear to look at her, he was clearly appalled.
‘What did you say?’ Lowering his hand, he stared at her in disbelief.
‘I was a virgin when I met you, and there’s never been anyone else.’
She’d never known Raffa lost for words, but the way he looked now, bemused and drained of all emotion, was more frightening to see than any anger or derision of his could ever be.
‘You lost your virginity with me,’ he said, staring at her intently as if he had to get this fact set absolutely firm in his mind.
‘Yes.’ Her voice wavered. Her eyes filled with tears. The air around them was like a void, a black hole in space. And there was no way across that void, no way at all.
This was his worst nightmare come true. He had stolen the most precious gift Leila had to give without even knowing it. And now a child would be born as a consequence of his actions. Parents at war on opposites sides of an unbridgeable divide was his worst nightmare.
Consequences were a daily concern for him in business. He never made a move without planning forward first, but he had never had to factor such an almighty screw-up into his thinking before.
‘Don’t look at me like that,’ Leila begged him. ‘This isn’t what you think, Raffa.’
‘What do I think?’
‘I don’t know.’ Leila searched for the right words to say. ‘Maybe you think I planned this? With your wealth and title I can understand—’
‘I thought that would raise its head at some point,’ he said angrily, though deep down he knew Leila cared nothing for his wealth and title, but he was too shaken up to stop. Nothing rocked him, nothing touched him, but this had. She had.
Pressing her lips together in despair, she shook her head. ‘That’s just it, Raffa. Your status doesn’t mean anything to me. I care about you, Raffa. I care about you—Raffa—the man. I even fooled myself into thinking we were growing close, could become friends—’
‘How convenient!’ He wanted to slam his hands over his ears so he didn’t have to listen to any more of this. ‘What form would this friendship take, Leila? Was it designed to butter me up before you told me you were expecting my child?’
‘I haven’t engineered any of this, Raffa—’
‘So you say.’ Leila’s voice had deepened with emotion and the expression on her face shamed him, but his circuit board was overloaded and what he needed most of all now was time and space away from her to think.
‘I can’t make you believe me, Raffa. I know the truth, and that will have to be enough for me. I must focus on my child. And right now?’ Heaving a sigh, she shook her head. ‘I’m not sure I want you to be part of my child’s life.’