An Innocent, a Seduction, a Secret

He felt like scowling, and vowed to burn everything monochrome in her wardrobe. But first... For the first time in his life he couldn’t predict an outcome, and it made him feel uncharacteristically anxious.

And then he saw her drag a stepladder from the side and climb up it to reach something above her head. The spurt of irritation mixed with concern galvanised Sebastio across the road...

* * *

Edie was straining up to reach the hook in the ceiling through which she could feed the curtain, but it was just out of her reach. She bit back a curse and the very annoying prickle of frustrated tears. Her emotions were all over the place.

Matteo had officially marked his place as World’s Sweetest Man Ever when he’d read from the pregnancy book he’d bought her and told her, ‘It’s entirely normal to be feeling up and down at this time. Your hormones are going haywire. And also—’ he’d coughed and coloured a little ‘—your...er...breasts might be feeling a little tender.’

Edie might have laughed if she hadn’t felt like crying. Again. Her breasts were tender. Achingly so. But she had a feeling that it had more to do with the fact that she craved Sebastio’s touch than with anything to do with her pregnancy.

And he won’t be touching you again, reminded a frigid voice.

Edie made one last attempt to reach the hook, just as a deep and infinitely memorable voice came from nearby.

‘Dios, Edie. Get down from there!’

It all happened so fast it was a blur, but as she turned in shock she lost her precarious balance on the ladder and felt herself falling into thin air—only to be caught at the same moment in Sebastio’s arms.

She landed against his chest with a little oof. And then it was so delicious being held in his arms that it took her a second of staring deep into those grey eyes before she remembered what was at stake and panicked.

‘I’m fine—you can put me down.’

For a second Sebastio’s arms tightened around her, but then he let her go, setting her back on her feet. She nearly regretted it because her legs were so wobbly.

Sebastio spoke first, a frown line between his eyes. ‘What were you doing up a ladder?’ He gestured with an arm. ‘What are you even doing here? You are the mother of my child! You should be taking care of yourself.’

Shock and anger mixed together inside Edie. It was too much to see Sebastio here like this. A cruel kind of déjà-vu.

She put her hands on her hips. ‘I was doing just fine until you scared the life out of me.’ She clamped her mouth shut to stop anything else from tumbling out.

For the first time Edie noticed that he looked dishevelled and strained. He wore a suit, but no tie. The top button of his shirt was open. The suit was creased.

‘Edie, we need to talk... Can we talk somewhere?’

She shook her head. She was afraid if she went somewhere with Sebastio the frail control on her emotions would unravel altogether. ‘No, we can talk here—it’s perfectly private.’

Both of them were oblivious to the small crowd gathering outside the window. And to the fact that Jimmy had just come to the doorway, taken one look at their faces and softly closed the door.

Sebastio started to pace in the small space, which was dressed as a bedroom, complete with an artfully angled bed the better to display the luxurious linen.

He stopped and looked at her.

Edie blurted out, ‘What are you doing here?’

He came close. Close enough for Edie to see that there was a light in his eyes that she had never seen before. It made her heart beat faster. It scared her. Because she couldn’t foster any hope. He’d killed all hope.

‘Sebastio...?’

He took her hands in his.

‘When I saw the pregnancy test I felt totally betrayed. I believed the worst. I interpreted everything in the worst light. To me there wasn’t even a possibility that you hadn’t orchestrated it for your benefit. It confirmed all the tiny doubts I’d ever had about you. That you couldn’t possibly be as innocent as you seemed. That you couldn’t possibly be as open as you were. As you are.

‘My whole life has directed me to a world view that supports my cynicism. My first lover warned me that people would only ever want me for my wealth and success. My parents’ relationship was so toxic I vowed never to marry or have children, in case I inflicted the same pain on them...

‘When the car crash happened, the reason I found it so hard to let go of the guilt wasn’t just because I was driving, or because Victor blamed me. It was because I was deeply envious of what Maya and Victor had. Their love and happiness. I was so intent on reinforcing my cynicism in response to something Maya had said that I got distracted and took my eyes off the road for a split second. And in that moment we crashed.

‘My cynical comment was the last thing Victor remembered. He knew that I was envious of what they had and in the aftermath it was easy for him to blame me...to hit me where it hurt. And I let him because I thought I deserved it. I felt ashamed.’