The Sicilian's Unexpected Duty(11)

                ‘That’s a relief,’ he drawled, heading back to his bar to pour himself another glass of his concoction. ‘But in case you’re only saying what you think I want to hear, know marriage will never be on the cards, whatever the outcome of the paternity test.’

                Had he drugged her? For a moment she actually considered the possibility. She could hardly credit she had allowed him to seduce her so thoroughly.

                She looked back on their weekend together. It was as if she had been under some kind of drug that allowed the hormones so prevalent in the rest of society to actually work in her. For the first time in her life she had experienced desire. It had been the headiest feeling imaginable.

                She had wanted to believe he was serious about her.

                She had wanted to believe they could have a future together.

                An image of her parents flashed in her head. Was this what it had been like for them? Especially her father, who’d hooked up with a new woman on a seemingly weekly basis. With all the affairs he’d had and all her parents’ fights and making up, had they constantly experienced that same headiness? Was that what had caused their monstrous selfishness?

                She blinked the image away. She would not be like her mother and think only of her own needs. Her unborn child’s needs would always take priority, whatever the personal sacrifice.

                ‘I’m glad you think that way because, believe me, I have no intention of marrying you.’ She’d rather marry an orang-utan.

                ‘Good. People who marry for the sake of the baby are fools. And I am not a fool.’

                She glared at him. ‘I can think of many a choice word to describe you but fool isn’t one of them.’

                ‘Then we are on the same page,’ he mocked.

                ‘About marriage, then yes, but, Pepe, I need help. Financially, I am in no position to support a child.’

                ‘So you thought you would come to me.’ He tipped his drink down his neck in one swallow.

                ‘If you think for a second I like the idea of having to beg you for money then you have a very twisted view of me. I’ve come to you for help because this is your responsibility...’

                ‘You’re going to pin the blame for this on me?’

                ‘I’m not the one who got carried away,’ she countered pointedly. Warmth spread inside her as she recalled lying in his arms after they’d made love for the first time. Pepe’s usual languidness had gone. A more serious, reflective side of his nature had come to the fore, a side she’d never seen before. As they’d talked and his face had come closer to hers, she’d found herself staring at his lips. And he’d been staring at hers. And even though they had made love barely ten minutes before, the heat he had created inside her and she in him had flared back to life, and he’d rolled on top of her and kissed her—devoured her—and before either of them had been fully aware of it, he’d been inside her. If she’d thought having him inside her the first time had been something special...this had been indescribable. For what had felt an age, they had simply lain there, gazing into each other’s eyes, before he had reluctantly withdrawn to get a condom.

                That one stolen moment had been enough to create a life.

                ‘I hardly think that was enough to make a baby,’ he said, his tone becoming grim.

                ‘Well, it was. You used me, Pepe. Whether you like it or not, you are responsible.’