‘I did—I tried to get in touch with you, but you wouldn’t take my calls.’
‘You should have come to Rome.’
She laughed. ‘That’s easy for you to say with a private jet at your disposal.’
‘You shouldn’t have left Rome in the first place,’ he argued. ‘But you could have texted me, written to me.’
‘How cold do you think I am, Marco? I’m not like you. I had to see you face to face and hear your voice before I could tell you about the baby. I couldn’t just type out the news that we were having a child like an invoice and submit it to you.’
He ground his jaw, knowing she was right. ‘How are you getting on?’ He could see for himself, but for once he couldn’t find the right words to say.
She shrugged.
‘You don’t look well. You look exhausted.’ She’d lost far too much weight.
‘I’m pregnant, Marco. Would you like to sit down?’ She remained standing stiffly and as far away from him as she could.
‘Thank you, but I’ll stand. I’ve been sitting down long enough in the jet coming over, and again in the car that brought me from the airport.’
‘I’m sorry if I’ve interrupted your busy schedule.’
‘Stop it,’ he warned softly.
‘Why are you here, Marco? What do you want?’
‘To see you. To see how you are.’
‘You won’t speak to me on the phone and now you’re here?’ She shook her head. ‘What you do never makes any sense to me. How did you find me?’
‘The village you live in isn’t exactly a big place.’
‘And you had me watched,’ she guessed. ‘How dare you?’
‘You walked out without a word. Is that acceptable behaviour?’
‘You paid me off. You only wanted me for sex.’
‘I did not,’ he said quietly. This wasn’t the time to examine his motives, but he had not wanted her just for sex. Cassandra had made him laugh. She had made him relax. She had made him feel young again when he couldn’t ever remember feeling young.
‘What, then?’ she demanded, rallying herself to stand up to him. ‘Take that occasion at your charity function in Rome when you barely spoke to me. And then, as soon as everyone left—’
‘You leapt on me,’ he remembered, finding it hard to suppress a grin as he thought back.
‘I did not leap on you.’
‘You did,’ he argued with a shrug. ‘We leapt on each other.’
She tightened her mouth and her face went red, but she didn’t deny it.
‘Can I get you something to drink?’ she asked, avoiding his gaze.
‘Why don’t I get you a glass of water while you sit down?’
‘I should get you a drink,’ she insisted. ‘Your journey—’ She stopped when she saw the expression on his face.
‘Sit.’
Reluctantly, she did so. She had no option. She was swaying and looked on the point of collapse. This was so much worse than he had imagined. Turning to the sink, he ran the tap and filled a glass with cold water. ‘This isn’t a social call, Cassandra. I’ve come to take you home with me, back to Rome.’
‘I beg your pardon?’ she demanded.
‘You can’t stay here.’ He glanced around, and by the time his assessing stare had returned to her face it was to see her cheeks flaming with the knowledge that he was right. She wasn’t finding this pregnancy easy. She was sick and weak, and he doubted she could work in her current condition. How was she supposed to support herself, let alone a baby? A baby that might be his child. If there was even the smallest chance of that he couldn’t leave her here— Dio! He couldn’t leave her here anyway. With her godmother away, Cassandra had no one else but him to turn to.
‘Pack a small case,’ he said. ‘We can buy anything else you need in Rome. We’ll leave as soon as you’re ready.’
‘I haven’t agreed to go with you yet,’ she pointed out, raising her chin to stare at him with defiance.
‘But you will,’ he said. ‘If you care for your baby at all, you will.’
She followed Marco’s glance to her wilting plants and wondered if he could be right. She felt just like them, but it wasn’t in her to give up without a fight. She was carrying his child—a child he didn’t want—but she had to give her baby every chance. Should she go with Marco for the sake of their child, as he suggested? Was she being selfish, staying here?