Never in a million years could Lucy have imagined her home as a newly-wed being decided by something as businesslike as a pre-nuptial agreement. ‘I don’t want to live in New York.’
‘Any reason why?’
‘I don’t think your apartment is suitable for a baby.’
‘Then we’ll move somewhere that is.’
She shook her head. New York was his city. She had tried to imagine his life going on, and hers at home with the baby, and the idea petrified her. He wasn’t going to take her out and introduce her to all his friends and play cosy-cosy, was he? Not when it would be a façade he might have difficulty maintaining.
And besides, New York was jam-packed full of temptation…
‘No,’ she said quietly.
‘So just where do you want to live?’
What would he say if she suggested England? But deep down, Lucy knew that was a non-starter—and it had nothing to do with the fact that England almost seemed too small to contain him. No. Her mother would take one look at her face and would guess at her daughter’s unhappiness. She couldn’t do that to her.
Which left only one place—the only place where she felt safe and grounded…
‘I’d like to live on Mardivino.’
Guido nodded. He should have seen this coming. He had flexed his muscles over the marriage and now she was showing that she could do the same. She knew how he felt about Royal life. Was she perhaps hoping that by incarcerating him here he would yield to her? Grant her a divorce and custody and a settlement? He gave a tight smile. She would soon learn that he could not be manipulated.
‘As you wish,’ he said coolly.
Lucy frowned. She had expected more reaction than that. Her explanation had been rehearsed; she was just waiting for his terse interrogation. But it seemed he had no interest in hearing it. Just what did she have to do to get a reaction from him?
Talk about the things that counted, that was what. ‘You know,’ she said softly, ‘there’s something which we’ve avoided talking about altogether.’
‘I can hardly wait,’ he drawled sardonically. ‘Do enlighten me.’
Was he being deliberately unperceptive? Or was he just in denial? ‘The baby, of course!’ The tiny creature which was growing in her belly even now. Growing, but almost unacknowledged—certainly up until now. But maybe they were all in denial.
Even her mother had only fleetingly referred to it. Was it delicacy which had prevented her—an old-fashioned idea that a shotgun marriage should not be seen as that? As if the honeymoon was going to wipe the slate clean so they could come back, the bad start would be forgotten and only then could they begin to discuss the forthcoming child?
‘Our baby,’ she added softly.
He stared hard and unseeingly a
t the sea. ‘There is nothing to discuss.’
‘Of course there is!’ But she was unprepared for the look on his face when he turned it back to her. She had always thought of Guido as cold and remote, but now it was as if someone had chiselled his features from some dark, icy rock. She drew back from the look, startled. ‘What is it?’ she whispered.
He banished the nebulous fears which swirled like dark clouds around his mind and recovered himself. ‘I thought that everything had been decided. You will be cared for by the finest obstetricians, and the baby will be born here on Mardivino.’
How cold-blooded he sounded! But he is cold-blooded, she reminded herself. ‘And then?’
‘Who knows what then? There are a million things which could happen between now and then. The most important thing,’ he added savagely, ‘is to ensure the baby’s safety. And your own,’ he finished, on a harsh note.
A forgotten memory flew into her mind. Was he thinking about his own mother and her confinement with Nico? For hadn’t it been his birth which had heralded her death, resulting in the fracturing of the family? A Royal family, yes—with all the back-up and support that their wealth and position could provide—but no less vulnerable than any other young family.
She wanted to reach her hand out to touch him—not in a sexual way, more a comforting and reassuring one—to tell him that there was no reason that history should repeat itself. But his frozen and forbidden stance stopped her.
And, God forgive her, something terrible had occurred to her. If she died then she might briefly be grieved for by him as the baby’s mother, but nothing else. She would be out of the way. No obstacle to his wishes or desires any more.
He felt rather than saw her shiver, and slowly turned his head to find a look of indescribable pain lurking in the back of her eyes. And this he found he could not ignore.
‘What is wrong?’ he questioned softly.