The Virgin's Secret

Angel smiled at Mary, the woman she worked with in the little tourist café in the grounds of the abbey of her old school in the west of Ireland. ‘I’m not about to go into labour because of a little lower back pain.’

The older woman, whom Angel had known since she’d started at the school all those years before, when Mary had been the cook there, smiled fondly. ‘No. Maybe not. Well, in that case you can see to the latest arrival—some man on his own. I’d say that’s it for the day, then. The last tour are pulling out of the car park now.’

Angel picked up her notepad, and a tray to clear off any dirty tables while she was out. She was looking forward to getting back to the tiny house she shared with a niece of Mary’s and having a long hot bath. As she walked out into the dining area the evening sun glinted for a moment, so she couldn’t see anything.

When she emerged more fully she had the impression of someone tall and dark standing up, a chair scraping back on the floor just before she saw him properly. But she didn’t have to see him. She knew.

Leo. Tall and imposing and dark and gorgeus. Leo.

Angel felt faint. Her blood was draining downwards in a rush and everything tilted alarmingly.

In a second she was in a chair. Leo was crouching down, looking up at her, and Mary was there too, fussing. ‘Are you all right, Angela? I knew you shouldn’t be on your feet for all that time. Honestly, you’re so stubborn.’

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.