The Purest of Diamonds(46)

                ‘Nothing’s going to go wrong, Raffa.’

                As far as she knew. He was prepared to cut Leila all the slack in the world after what she’d told him, and he would try his best to calm his raging concern where the actual birth of the baby was concerned, but, where Leila’s life and the life of their unborn child was concerned, he refused to take any chances.

                ‘So what’s your solution, Raffa?’

                ‘We take things one step at a time. I’ll have my doctors check you over and then we can move forward with more confidence to the next stage.’

                She flashed him a reproachful glance. ‘You mean you want your doctor to make sure it’s your baby?’

                ‘No. My only concern is that you and the baby are healthy, Leila. I’m suggesting you have a scan, to establish how far the pregnancy has progressed, so you know that everything’s progressing normally.’

                ‘You should be there for the first scan. A friend showed me a picture once. It’s...’ She stopped and smiled at him. ‘There are no words.’ Leila’s face was rapt.

                ‘That may not be possible. I have...commitments.’ Commitments he couldn’t discuss with Tyr’s sister.

                ‘Oh,’ she said softly, masking her bitter disappointment behind a brave face and a determined chin.

                ‘And we have to decide where you’ll live,’ he said, moving on.

                ‘In Skavanga, of course.’ She frowned.

                ‘With my child? So I can look forward to seeing my son or daughter—what? Every six weeks or so?’

                She couldn’t meet his gaze.

                ‘I don’t think so, Leila. When we have a clearer picture of when the baby’s due, I’ll draw up a visitation plan—’

                ‘You’ll draw it up?’

                ‘In consultation with you.’

                ‘You make it sound so cold. You can’t just drive through what suits you best, Raffa. I’ll take care of our child, and not with you looking over my shoulder to see if you approve.’

                ‘And how will you do that on the salary you currently earn?’

                ‘I have shares in the mine and, when your consortium has completed its investment and everything is running at full capacity, I’ve been led to believe I should be paid a healthy dividend.’

                ‘You will benefit,’ he agreed, ‘but not enough. You’re a very small shareholder, and my child—’

                ‘Ah,’ she interrupted. ‘So now we come to it. Any child of yours will have different needs from every other child in the world. If it’s a boy it will inherit a dukedom, and either sex will inherit a fortune. Where I come from, love and food and warmth and safety are the primary requirements for a child.’

                ‘That’s where we differ, Leila, because I don’t see any separation between me and the rest of the world.’

                ‘Just a few billion.’

                ‘That doesn’t make me special. I got lucky, that’s all.’

                ‘And you work hard,’ Leila remarked in her equal-handed way.