But Neo’s face was turning even more ashen, his chest rising and falling in rapid shudders as he remained frozen in place.
‘Why?’ The question was ragged, torn from his soul.
‘Excuse me?’
He prowled forward several steps, granting me a better look at his face. And there it was. That look of desolation.
‘Why would you do this? Did someone put you up to it? As a joke, perhaps?’ he asked from between whitened lips. ‘Or a bet?’
‘We don’t move in the same circles, Mr Xenakis. Nor am I friendly with anyone who would deliberately cause someone distress with such a prank.’
‘Then tell me why?’
There was a tinge of desperation in his question. Of bewilderment.
‘Because it’s the truth!’
He jerked forward again, his throat moving as his eyes drilled into me. ‘No, it’s not. As I told you in London, I’m incapable of fathering children. Three years ago the best doctors in the world delivered that staggering news. And do you know what I did?’
Numb, I shook my head, my anger at his lies dissipating in the face of the searing emotion in his eyes.
‘I found a set of doctors with better credentials than the original set. Guess what? They arrived at the same conclusion. So now do you see how what you’re saying is impossible?’
Why?
Where?
How?
Questions flashed through my brain even while I accepted that this wasn’t the time or place.
I licked lips gone dry with growing anxiety. ‘I can’t speak to your experience. All I can tell you is my truth.’
If anything, his fury grew. ‘Does this truth involve a lapsed memory on your part?’
I shook my head. ‘I’m sorry—you’ve lost me.’
His jaw turned to steel. ‘You wouldn’t be the first woman to find herself in this situation and devise a plan to pass another man’s child off as—’
‘Don’t you dare finish that sentence!’
‘Because it’s much closer to this “truth” you seek to ram down my throat?’
‘Because it’s most definitely guaranteed to get you slapped! And while we’re throwing accusations around, what about what you said to me?’
‘I beg your pardon?’
‘You assured me I had nothing to worry about. You said I couldn’t get pregnant! That it was impossible.’
‘And I have a file of medical reports to back that up. What do you have?’ he snarled.
‘I have that immaculate conception you wished for, apparently. Because three pregnancy tests last week and a trip to the doctor confirms that I’m carrying a baby. Your baby!’
He shook his head, started to speak.
I held up my hand. ‘It’s fine if you don’t want to believe me. I don’t care.’
‘You do care or you wouldn’t be here. Or be crying,’ he grated.