Bridal Bargains

‘You are driving me out of my mind!’ he growled, coming down on his haunches in front of her. ‘I cannot get close to you unless I use sex as a damned weapon!’ he ranted. ‘I cannot talk to you without feeling as if I am walking through a minefield of mistrust! And if I actually do manage to get through to you, you do this!’

‘I’m not doing anything,’ she whispered.

‘You are trembling all over!’ He harshly discarded her assurance.

‘That’s because you’re shouting.’

‘I’m not—Damn,’ he grunted, as he caught himself shouting out a denial.

He sighed, lowered his head to run impatient fingers through his silky black hair, then sprang abruptly to his feet and moved right away from her over to one of the windows. He stood there with his hands thrust into his trouser pockets while he stared grimly outside, as if he needed time to recover his unexpected loss of composure.

‘I want you to understand,’ he muttered suddenly, ‘that I have done what I have done because I needed to be sure that you and Suzanna were safe before I made a move on your father.’

‘But why bother going to all this trouble at all?’ she asked, still none the wiser as to why this had all been necessary.

‘In a couple of months we could have had everything! You—your island, me—Suzanna, and my father his precious grandson!’

‘No.’ He refuted her words.

‘Yes!’ she insisted, coming to her feet on shaky legs that did not want to support her. ‘Deciding to renege on your side of the deal now is not going to change the fact that I am pregnant with your son, Alex—which is all my father ever wanted anyway!’

‘No, you’re not.’

Mia blinked. ‘I’m not what?’ she demanded, her bewildered eyes fixing on the bunched muscles of his back.

The big shoulders flexed, his expression when he slowly turned to face her so sombre that she was arming herself for a really bad shock even before she knew she was doing it.

‘You are not carrying my son.’ He spelled it out more clearly.

‘I beg your pardon?’ Mia choked, then released a shaky laugh. ‘What do you think this is, Alex?’ she said mockingly, indicating her swollen abdomen. ‘A mirage?’

‘It’s my daughter,’ he replied.

‘What?’

‘Sit down again!’ he barked at her when the colour drained out of her face, his long legs bringing him back to her side so he could push her back on the bed. ‘My God,’ he breathed harshly, ‘I never would have thought such a strong-willed and fiery woman could be this physically frail!’

‘I’m not frail,’ she said in a broken whisper. ‘I’m just shocked that you could say such a thing!’

‘It is the truth.’ He sighed. ‘The scan you had last week shows no male genitalia—’

‘But …’ She was frowning in utter bemusement. ‘Your family only makes male babies!’

‘Not this time, it seems.’ He grimaced.

‘No.’ She shook her head. ‘I d-don’t believe you. You weren’t even there to see the scan!’

‘Your doctor faxed a photocopy to me.’

He did? She blinked up at him, surprised to learn that Alex had taken that much interest in her pregnancy. Then she remembered that she had her own copy of that scan, and she was as sure as she could be that it had not given any indication what sex their baby was!

She began glancing around her urgently, looking for her bag so she could check for herself what Alex was claiming.

He beat her to it, by gently placing his own small black and white print into her shaking fingers. After that she didn’t move—not a muscle or even an eyelash. This photocopy of her scan was different from her own copy. Her baby had moved—and was showing clearly that Alex was telling the truth.

‘Oh, heavens,’ she gasped. ‘How did that happen?’

It was a stupid question in anyone’s books, and he said sardonically, ‘By the usual methods, I should imagine.’ The comment was probably well deserved—except Mia was in no fit state to appreciate it.