He stared, astonished to see her so angry. Hana never showed anger. She was always patient, kind, understanding. She was the kindest person he knew. “Why are you upset?”
“Because it’s you, you idiot! You’re the father!”
Antonio’s body felt the impact of the words before his mind comprehended them. He felt them like a blow. “What?”
“Of course it’s you!”
Stumbling a step, he instinctively reached a hand out against the column of the building. He had to. His legs were shaking.
“Do you really think I would sleep with someone else, after we were together?” she demanded. “I can’t jump in and out of affairs so quickly. Even if you can!”
If only. If only he’d been able to forget her. If only she meant nothing to him now. As the first raindrops fell from the gray sky, one fell against his cheek. Antonio stared at her, feeling sick and betrayed.
“I’ve been feeling out of sorts for the last month. I thought my cycle was messed up by too much work and stress and not enough sleep but...” She hesitated. “I bought a pregnancy test in Madrid. I took it on the plane, right before we landed. I’m pregnant.”
When Antonio still didn’t respond, Hana’s forehead furrowed. Her expression became almost bewildered.
“Look,” she said finally, “I know you’ve never been interested in anything like marriage or children. This was a surprise for me, too. We used a condom. It shouldn’t have been possible. But I thought you at least had the right to—”
“Enough,” he ground out. “Not another word.”
“Was I wrong to tell you?” Her eyes were luminous with unshed tears that seemed utterly genuine. He despised them. And her. Most of all, he despised himself for ever letting his guard down. For thinking she was different. For believing he could trust her, as he’d trusted no one else on earth. For resisting his desire for her, day after day, so they could maintain that precious working relationship, the closest relationship of his life.
And all along, she’d been sleeping with another man. And now lying about it.
Assuming she was even pregnant at all. It was possible that, too, was a bald-faced lie.
But either way, she must have planned this all along, from the moment she’d started working for him. She’d set him up, hoping to take a nice juicy portion of his fortune. And Hana likely would have succeeded in her goal, except for a vital fact that she didn’t know.
He couldn’t have gotten her pregnant. It was physically impossible.
Antonio’s body shook as he reached out to take the briefcase and files from her hands. He said abruptly, “Your services are no longer required, Miss Everly.”
Her luscious pink lips fell open. “You’re—you’re firing me?”
“You’ll get severance pay as your contract dictates. But I want you gone.”
“But—but why?”
“You know why.”
“Because I’m pregnant with your baby?” she cried.
“Because you lied to me,” he said harshly. “You tried to trap me. Tried, and failed.” He narrowed his eyes. “Goodbye, Miss Everly.”
Turning on his heel, Antonio went into the building, followed by his glowering bodyguard. He went through the swiveling door into the lobby where his team waited to help negotiate the Iyokan Airways deal. He left her standing alone on the sidewalk, shivering in the cold Tokyo morning. And he didn’t look back.
CHAPTER TWO
SHOCKED, HANA WATCHED the father of her baby turn scornfully and leave her abandoned and alone on the Tokyo sidewalk.
Except Antonio hadn’t just left her.
He’d fired her.
He’d taken her innocence. He’d changed her life forever. And now, to add insult to injury, he’d kicked her out of a job she loved.
Shivering, she heard another low rumble of thunder, rolling above the city, making the glass and steel and neon tremble. She felt a cool breeze against her overheated skin, and looked up at the lowering gray sky as the drizzle turned to rain.