Exotic Nights

Angel had a moment of panic, afraid Mary would say too much, and put out a hand. ‘Mary, I’m fine, honestly. I just got a shock, that’s all. I know this man … he’s an old friend of mine.’

The astute Irishwoman looked from Angel to Leo and summed the whole thing up in an instant. Angel saw the cogs whirring behind the bright blue eyes.

Mary directed her questions at Angel. ‘Are you sure you’re okay? Do you want me to leave you alone?’

Angel nodded, even though she felt like clinging onto Mary and begging her to stay. She couldn’t. She had to face the father of her child.

‘I’m fine, Mary, really. You should get home.’

‘But what will you do? You’ve no car, and your bike is at home.’

‘I’ll take care of her getting home.’

Leo spoke for the first time, and the effect on Angel was nothing short of cataclysmic. Mary left with much huffing and dark looks directed at Leo, but finally they were alone. Leo stood up. He was dressed in jeans and a dark top, dark coat.

Every part of her tingled, as if she’d been frozen numb for a long time and was being brought slowly back to life. She was glad of the voluminous apron, which covered her tiny bump and her secret.

He whirled around then, and those dark flashing golden eyes that haunted her dreams made her breath catch.

‘Angela?’

Angel explained, because it was easier than letting her mind implode. ‘When I came here to school the nuns didn’t think Angel was a suitable name, so they insisted on calling me Angela. Mary worked there, at the abbey, so she calls me Angela too.’

‘You have a bike? You cycle to work here on those roads?’

Angel nodded again, noticing that there were lines of strain around Leo’s mouth. That couldn’t possibly be—

She answered quickly, to stop her mind going down dangerous avenues. Indulgent avenues. ‘Yes. I know they’re a bit intimidating, but once you’re used to them—’

‘Intimidating? Those roads are downright suicidal!’

The look on his face, all at once censorious and something else, made Angel stand up. The shock of seeing him here was finally beginning to wear off. How could he come in here and talk about banal things, as if nothing had happened?

‘Leo, you’re hardly here to discuss the Irish roads. How did you find me?’ Why did you come looking for me?

He raked a hand through his hair, and Angel noticed that it had grown longer. In fact he looked altogether more dishevelled. He swung away and then back, his eyes intense on hers. ‘It took nearly a month of constant badgering to persuade your sister to tell me where you were.’

Angel sat down again, her legs turning to jelly. She’d stayed in Athens for about a month after leaving the villa, and when Leo had made no effort to come after her it had killed something inside her, despite all her best intentions. Despite knowing it was completely irrational to have hoped for that, because she’d left, basically telling him she wasn’t interested.

She bit her lip and looked up. ‘I … hadn’t planned on coming here, but once I found out—’ She stopped. It was too bald to just come out with the most monumental thing that had happened to her. She’d always planned on telling Leo she was pregnant with his baby, but once she’d got some distance, got her wits together, and had decided the best way forward. She hadn’t expected to face him so soon. But how would he take the news when she’d heard him say what he had to Ari? That conversation was still etched into her brain.

She turned her head away. It hurt to look at him and acknowledge him being here.

Leo came down in front of her and turned her face back to him. There was a tortured expression in his eyes. It made Angel’s insides quiver dangerously.

With a sinking feeling Angel knew that now was the time. Distance hadn’t healed her hurt or clarified things; it had made it worse.

‘Found out what, Angel?’

She felt a delicate fluttering, as if their baby was already siding with its father, demanding she tell the truth.

‘I’m pregnant, Leo.’

For a long moment nothing happened. Neither one of them moved. And then Leo did the last thing Angel had expected. She wasn’t sure what she’d expected, but it had something to do with a horrorstruck expression or disbelief.

He reached around behind her neck and pulled the apron over her head. Then he pulled her forward and opened the apron at the back. His big hands on her made Angel’s pulse quicken, her breathing catch.

‘Leo, what are you—?’