The Italian's Love-Child

‘It’s regional, Luca—not national—not the whole country at all!’

‘You are deliberately missing the point,’ he said furiously.

Their meals were put down in front of them.

‘The point being, what?’

He sighed. To have to admit to feelings he would prefer not to have was something he had never had to do. But Eve was a strong woman, he recognised that. As well as fiercely proud and independent. And stubborn, too. It came as a bolt out of the blue to realise that she did not need him!

‘Who knows that I am the father?’ he asked suddenly.

Eve didn’t answer for a moment.

‘Eve?’

Their eyes met. ‘I have told only Lizzy,’ she admitted. ‘Not even Michael—though I expect Lizzy will have done by now.’

She remembered Lizzy’s reaction. Her friend had been shocked, but not surprised. ‘Can’t say I blame you,’ she murmured, and then looked at Eve expectantly. ‘And?’

Pointless to pretend that she didn’t know what that simple one-word question meant. ‘It’s over,’ she said quietly.

Lizzy wasn’t able to hide her disappointment. ‘And you’re happy with that?’

Happy? ‘Perfectly happy,’ she said brightly.

‘Oh, well, that’s nice. Very modern!’ Then Lizzy leaned forward slightly. ‘It’s probably all for the best, isn’t it? I mean, Michael says that he’s well known in the Italian press. Quite a reputation. Though that’s hardly surprising, is it? Bad type of man to lose your heart to, Eve!’

‘Very bad,’ agreed Eve gravely. Please keep telling me these things, Lizzy, she remembered thinking to herself. For these are the things I need to hear.

Luca was staring at her. So she had not announced who the father was! He had expected it to be common knowledge, by now. ‘You mean you are ashamed of the child’s parentage?’ he growled.

‘Don’t be ridiculous!’

‘Then what?’

She put her fork down with a clang. ‘Because I wasn’t sure if you were going to be around or not and I thought that if you weren’t then it would be better for everyone not to know, especially those who didn’t need to. I didn’t want everyone to be pointing the finger and making value judgements about me.’

He thought how a marriage would have easily solved all such problems, but she had steadfastly refused that.

‘You should tell them,’ he said. ‘Tell everyone or no one, but evade the issue no longer. The child will know, so best that everyone else does.’

‘It isn’t as easy as that,’ she said quietly and met the question in his eyes. ‘Because of the job I do, everything in my personal life is considered relevant. That’s why I’ve just said a terse “no comment” when people have asked who the father is.’

He swore quietly beneath his breath. ‘And you are happy with this?’

Eve shrugged. ‘It’s the way things are.’

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nbsp; But surely he had the power to change them? He saw the faint lines of strain around her eyes and decided that now was not the time. ‘Eat your lunch!’ he instructed gently, and then frowned. ‘Have you been eating well, Eve? Properly?’

‘Why?’

He frowned. ‘You do not look very…pregnant.’

‘No. Some women don’t—it’s the way I carry, apparently.’ She thought how seasoned she sounded, as if she had done this a million times before instead of for the first time. And she also thought how comforting it was to be able to discuss this kind of thing with someone who cared—and if Luca didn’t particularly care for her, he certainly seemed to be making up for it where the baby was concerned.

‘So you are eating?’ he persisted.