Innocent Wife, Baby of Shame

Patrizio leaned forward but Keira put a restraining hand on his arm. ‘No, darling,’ she said. ‘Let me deal with this. I am to blame for what happened and I need to take responsibility for it.’

‘I do not want to see you upset,’ Patrizio said. ‘You have not been well lately. You have suffered enough.’

Oh, how I wish you really meant those tender words, Keira thought in anguish as his fingers curled around hers.

She turned back to Bruno, her hand still enclosed in the strength and warmth of Patrizio’s. ‘Bruno, I’m not expecting you to forgive me for what I did, but I am asking you to please keep Jamie out of it. Any animosity you feel should be directed towards me, not him.’

‘He thinks you’re innocent,’ Bruno said with a disdainful glance in Jamie’s direction.

‘She is innocent,’ Jamie said. ‘If she says she can’t remember what happened that’s because nothing happened. It’s her word against Garth Merrick’s—for all you know, he could be lying.’

If only I were innocent, Keira thought. ‘Well, I’m not innocent,’ she said on the tail-end of a sigh. ‘I acted impulsively and wrecked several lives in the process.’

Patrizio gave her hand a gentle squeeze. ‘You are forgiven, cara, I have told you this many times,’ he said. ‘Let us not waste time on rehashing the past when we have our whole future to look forward to.’

Bruno rolled his eyes. ‘I still think it’s all an act to get us through the last weeks of school. I bet in six weeks’ time you’ll be at each other’s throats again.’

‘In six weeks’ time Keira and I will be going on a second honeymoon,’ Patrizio said.

Keira only just managed to control her shock in time. She stretched her mouth into a blissful smile. ‘That’s right,’ she said. ‘I can’t leave until my exhibition opens but after that we’re going away together.’

‘Where are you going?’ Jamie asked.

‘Um…’

‘Paris,’ Patrizio said. ‘It is Keira’s favourite city, isn’t it, cara?’

‘Yes,’ she said, returning his smile even though it made her jaw ache. ‘We had such a wonderful week there when we were first married.’

Jamie glanced at his watch and diplomatically cleared his throat. ‘I hate to break things up here, but we’d better get cracking,’ he said. ‘I have a couple of mock exam papers to read through before lights out.’

Keira inwardly sighed as Patrizio signalled for the bill. Their act in front of the boys was coming to an end but that didn’t mean the night was over.

Not by a long shot.

CHAPTER TEN

‘HOW do you think that went?’ Patrizio asked as they were driving back to South Yarra after returning the boys to the boarding house.

Keira sank her teeth into her bottom lip. ‘I think Jamie believes it because he wants to,’ she said. ‘But your nephew is another story entirely.’

‘Yes, I agree,’ he said, frowning slightly as he braked at the traffic lights. ‘I am not sure how to convince him.’

‘Yeah, well, the second honeymoon in Paris was a stroke of genius,’ she said with a hint of sarcasm. ‘I certainly hope you didn’t mean it.’

There was a pulsing silence, broken only by the sound of his fingers drumming on the steering wheel.

Keira swung her gaze to look at him. ‘You didn’t mean it…did you?’

His dark eyes met hers. ‘I have been thinking about the time frame on our reconciliation.’

Keira felt her heart give a little jerky jump in her chest. ‘You’re not thinking of extending it, are you?’

He turned back to the lights. ‘No, but I am concerned about what happens after the exams.’

She moistened her suddenly dry lips. ‘What do you mean?’

His gaze was fixed on the road ahead. ‘There will be speech night and the leavers’ dinner, big events that will be rather spoilt for the boys if we go ahead with our divorce as planned.’