“Your apology is nothing to me and it is not my place to forgive you. It is Alexis you should apologize to.”
“Please, then, let me see her. Let me talk to her.”
“No.”
Raoul felt his heart drop into his boots. “No? She won’t see me?”
“No, she’s not here—yet. If you are serious about making amends to my daughter you may wait here until she returns but you must promise me one thing.”
“Anything, what is it?”
“That if she asks you to leave that you will go. Just go, and never bother her again.”
The thought of never seeing Alexis again, never watching the way her face lit up when she was happy or never again seeing that fierce look of concentration in her eyes when she was working on her designs struck fear into Raoul. It was entirely possible that she would tell him to get lost. Hadn’t he, essentially, done as much to her? Expected her to walk away, carrying his baby, and never look back? To be satisfied with some financial arrangement brokered by a pair of lawyers in separate parts of the country? If her state of mind was anything like her father’s, she might tell him to do exactly that.
It was a risk he had to take.
“If that is what Alexis wants, then that is what I’ll do.”
Lorenzo nodded. “You may wait here,” he said, gesturing to the sagging rattan chairs on the porch. “I will not have you here in our home, until I know she welcomes you also.”
Without waiting for a response, Lorenzo closed the door in Raoul’s face. It was no less than he deserved, Raoul thought as he lowered himself into one of the chairs. Despite being sheltered against the front of the house, the cushions still felt damp. Combined with his already cold, wet clothing, it proved to be an uncomfortable wait ahead. He didn’t care. He’d do whatever it took to have his chance again with Alexis. And this time, if she was willing, he wouldn’t mess up again.
* * *
Alexis drove carefully on the rain-slicked roads. At nearly sixteen weeks pregnant she was already finding it was getting uncomfortable to spend long periods in her car. Her tummy jiggled a little as a tiny occupant moved within her. She smiled. As exhausted as she felt after today’s journey and meetings, those little movements still made her feel as if she was the luckiest woman in the world. Well, almost the luckiest.
She had a father who loved her and stood by her, no matter what. She had a half sister and foster brother who had pledged to support her in any way they could. She had new life growing inside her—a fact that never ceased to awe and amaze her. Her business was picking up again and, in reality, she lacked for nothing. Nothing except the love of the man she’d lost her heart to. Still, she consoled herself as she approached the driveway to her father’s house, she had more than many others. Far, far more.
Through the rain, she caught a glimpse of the rear end of a vehicle standing near the front of the house. She was surprised to see her father had a visitor. He hadn’t mentioned anything about expecting anyone when she’d phoned him to say she was on the road and heading home. As she drew nearer to the vehicle, though, recognition poured through her. The big black Range Rover was painfully familiar, especially with its VINTNR registration plate.
Her belly fluttered and she rested a hand on the movement. “It’s okay,” she murmured. “Looks like your daddy has come to pay a visit.”
She gathered up her things and her collapsible umbrella and prepared to get out of the car. Before she could, however, her driver’s door swung open and there he was. Alexis froze in her seat, halfway through the action of starting to put her umbrella up, torn between leaping from the car to demand an explanation for why he was there, and wanting to pull the car door closed and take a few extra minutes for herself.
“Let me take that,” Raoul said, not bothering with the niceties of “hello” or “how are you.”
He reached for her umbrella and held it above the driver’s door, then extended a hand to help her out. She really had to get something a little less low-slung, she told herself as she was forced to accept his help to get out from behind the wheel. It wasn’t as if her sedan was supersporty or anything but by the time she was full-term, getting out of here would require a crane.
“Thank you. How convenient that you were here. Just passing by, were you?” she asked as he shut the door behind her.
Her attempt at flippancy fell about as flat as her hair in this weather.
“No, I’ve been waiting for you,” he answered as they half walked, half ran to the veranda where Raoul shook out the umbrella.