‘Thank you.’
But suddenly he was too close. Emotions were threatening to crack her open from the inside out—emotions she’d been clamping down on for fear of what would be unleashed. Like that day in the hospital, when the storm of grief had left her weak and spent.
She stood up and went to take his place at the terrace wall. She looked out at the view for a long moment, as if hoping it might give her strength, and then she turned, wrapping her arms around her midriff.
‘This changes everything, Gabriel. I’m not the woman you married. I can’t give you what you need. The sooner we file for divorce, the sooner you’ll be free to move on.’
Gabriel stood up. ‘Divorce?’
Leonora’s arms tightened around herself, as if that might help her contain the rising emotion. ‘Yes. Of course.’
He shook his head and came over to where she was standing. ‘We don’t need to divorce.’
‘I can’t give you what you need. An heir. Heirs. You’re the last in your line and I’m infertile.’
He looked at her for a long moment as the word infertile hung starkly in the air between them. Then abruptly he turned away to look out over the gardens.
Eventually he said, ‘The doctor assured us that all was not lost. We have options—IVF, adoption...’
‘An adopted child wouldn’t be of your blood. And IVF is a long and arduous process that may never work. I worked with an IVF charity for a while and I saw the devastation it can wreak on couples, families. Even when it works it takes a toll on the strongest of relationships.’
Gabriel’s jaw clenched. ‘You don’t think we have a strong relationship?’
Leonora swallowed, thinking of how rocked she’d been by the revelation that Gabriel knew Lazaro. How hurt.
‘I think, like you said, we have a lot going for us... But this was one of the fundamental requirements, and I can’t deliver.’
He looked at her. ‘Do you want to divorce?’
Leonora couldn’t escape that dark gaze. No. The word beat through her blood. She’d imagined a life with this man; a life beyond anything she had believed she could have with someone like him. But those fragile dreams had died two weeks ago.
‘I think it’s the only option.’ They’d been married for almost three months, the legal requirement for granting divorce.
Gabriel looked away. His jaw was tight. Leonora knew that for a man like him it was difficult to admit defeat. As he’d said himself, he hadn’t liked feeling helpless. But they were both helpless here.
He said, ‘I have a full social schedule coming up. Now would not be a good time to draw adverse press attention. We will discuss this again when you are feeling stronger. A lot has happened in the past two weeks.’
Leonora desperately wanted to say, What is there to discuss? But she knew she didn’t have the energy to deal with that conversation. So maybe he was right.
‘Of course. Goodnight, Gabriel.’
Gabriel watched as Leonora walked back into the castillo, effortlessly graceful in a long flowing maxi-dress, her hair loose and slightly more unruly than its usual sleek perfection. Her face was bare of make-up but no less hauntingly beautiful.
‘Do you want to divorce?’
‘I think it’s the only option.’
He still felt slightly winded by the punch to his gut at her suggestion of divorce. Not once since her diagnosis had that possibility even entered his head. But evidently it was the first thing she’d thought of.
He had thought they were building a solid basis for a long and enduring marriage. Solid enough to weather this storm.
Gabriel felt disorientated as he took in the full meaning of the fact that Leonora’s diagnosis of infertility hadn’t impinged upon him in the same way it had her. She’d been looking for the first opportunity to leave this marriage. And he hadn’t.
Fool.
All sorts of insidious suspicions came into his mind. Maybe she’d played him from the start? Just looking for a way to save her family and ensure their security before seeking her freedom via divorce? Even if they’d had children? Maybe she’d just told him what he wanted to hear?
He cursed himself. He more than anyone knew they hadn’t married for love. They’d married for myriad reasons—one of which, as she’d pointed out, was to procreate. Have heirs. Continue the line. The legacy.