Her eyes narrowed on him. She was wide awake now. ‘How did you know where I was?’ And then she answered herself. ‘Tante Josephine.’
Alexio’s mouth quirked but the smile didn’t reach his eyes and for the first time Sidonie saw something in their depths she’d never seen before: nervousness. It made her pulse leap even more.
‘Yes.’
Sidonie shook her head and tried to stave off the emotional pain of seeing him again—especially here. ‘What do you want, Alexio?’
He shrugged minutely and looked tortured, and then he said, ‘You...and our daughter.’
Sidonie fought back the tears and bit her lip before saying, ‘I know you do. You feel a duty, a sense of responsibility...but it’s not enough. I won’t be that woman who takes from you just because you’re the father of my child. And you don’t trust me...’
Alexio’s eyes burned fiercely now. He angled his body towards Sidonie, cocooning her from the rest of the plane. He took her hand and she could feel his trembling slightly. It stopped her from pulling back.
‘I do trust you, Sid...Sidonie...’
Sidonie’s heart clenched at the way he’d corrected himself.
His grip on her hand tightened. ‘I do. I should never have said what I said earlier. It was stupid and I’m an ass. I didn’t mean it for a second. It was a reflex. I was still clinging on to the last tiny piece of my cynical soul because I was too scared to let my past go... I was nine when my mother told me not to believe in love, that it was a fairytale. I watched her and my father annihilate each other all my life... I thought that was normal. I always chose women who were emotionally aloof...who demanded nothing. Because I had nothing to give. And then I met you, and for the first time I wanted more.’
His mouth twisted with self-recrimination.
‘And yet at the first opportunity I chose to mistrust you, and then I turned my back on you...telling myself that I’d been a fool to expect anything more.’
Feeling shaky and light-headed, Sidonie said, ‘That phone call was very bad luck...’
Alexio’s mouth was still tight. ‘But I gave you no chance to defend yourself—and why would you want to after I’d had you investigated like a common criminal?’
Sidonie wanted to touch his jaw but she held back. This moment felt very fragile. ‘I can’t escape the fact that my mother was a criminal. That’s pretty damning, even if you hadn’t overheard me talking to Tante Josephine. That’s partly why I agreed with you when you asked if I’d set out to seduce you once I knew who you were... I felt it was hopeless...’
‘The last four months have felt pretty hopeless.’ Alexio’s voice was bleak.
Sidonie said quietly, ‘You were the first person I’d trusted in a really long time—if ever—and you hurt me...’
Contrition made Alexio’s face look old all of a sudden. He went grey. ‘I know. And I don’t expect you to forgive me... But I wanted to tell you something.’
Sidonie looked at him and her belly hollowed out. ‘What?’
His hand tightened on hers. His voice was so rough and his accent so strong that she almost couldn’t make out what he was saying.
‘I’ve fallen in love with you.’