My lips parted in a silent gasp. Then snapped shut.
How dare he act like this—look at me as if he loved me—when he’d been with another woman last night? And Victoria, of all the women on earth! Did he truly have no soul? I couldn’t bear to even look him in the face.
Reaching down, I pulled off the enormous diamond ring. My fingers were swollen, so I had to yank hard. I held it out to him coldly.
“I’ve changed my mind,” I said. “I can’t marry you.”
His broad shoulders seemed to flinch. There was a small sound from the back of his throat. He took a single step forward. I heard his low demand of a single word.
“Why.”
He was looking at me as if I’d betrayed him. As if I’d broken his heart. My throat hurt. How could Edward look at me like that, when he was the one who had never loved me?
Lifting my chin, I looked at him, my fists clenched almost violently. “I thought I could marry you without love,” I whispered. Shuddering, I shook my head. “I can’t.” It was tantamount to admitting my own love for him. I felt like a pathetic fool. “I want the real thing.”
My arm shook as I continued to hold out the ring.
He stared down at the twenty-carat diamond ring as if it were poison. He seemed to shudder. “Keep it.”
“I can’t.” I pushed the ring into his hands. My heart hurt so much I could hardly keep from crying. “It’s better this way. You can go back to London, and I’ll be going to Romania to star in a movie....” The movie? Who cared about that? What was I even saying? I shook my head desperately. “We’ll work out custody. You can visit our baby whenever you want.”
He looked down at the enormous diamond ring, gleaming in his hand.
“Visit?” he said dully.
“Yes, of course, you...” My throat constricted. “I just want you to be free.”
“Free.” He lifted expressionless eyes to mine.
Unable to speak, I nodded.
“I thought I could make you happy.” His voice was like a sigh, the last breath of a dying man. He tried to smile even as I saw a suspicious sheen in his eyes. “But I can’t force you to marry me. Of course you deserve love. You deserve everything.”
My heart twisted. I felt as if I were drowning in the haunted sea of his eyes, seeing right through his armor to the anguished soul within. Was it possible I was wrong? Was there any other explanation for what I’d seen?
“What did you do last night?” I cried out.
Staring down at me, he sucked in his breath. Then he grimly shook his head. “It doesn’t matter.”
“Tell me,” I begged. I knew I was making a fool of myself, but I couldn’t stop. If there was any chance, any chance at all that I was wrong... “What did you do when I left you last night?”
He stared down at me for a moment in the kitchen. Then he slowly shook his head.
“It’s better you don’t know,” he said quietly. Leaning forward, he cupped my cheek. “I will always provide for you and the baby, Diana.” Leaning down, he kissed me softly, one last time. “Take care of her. Be happy.”
And he was gone.
I stared after him, gazing at the empty doorway, standing on the cold tile floor wearing a robe, a tank top that didn’t quite cover my belly, skimpy sleep shorts and a dumb expression.
My stepfather’s lavish, enormous kitchen turned blurry around me and I realized I was crying. I couldn’t even feel the tears. All I could think was that I’d been so stupid. I’d let Edward St. Cyr break my heart not once, but twice....
“You are so stupid,” Madison said aloud, as if she’d read my mind and agreed wholeheartedly. Wiping my cheeks, I looked down at her sitting at the table. I’d forgotten she was there.