His hands framed her face. “I’m sorry if I frightened you.”
“You don’t have to explain.”
He shook his head, lay a finger lightly over her mouth.
“I was angry. At you. At your grandfather.” He took a breath. “At myself, for wanting you so badly that night.”
“Please—”
“I never wanted a woman as I wanted you.” His voice roughened. “I think I might have died if you had turned me away.”
What did a woman say to such an admission? That she’d have died, too, if he hadn’t made love to her? That he’d made her feel things she’d never imagined? That she’d never forget that night in his arms?
All true—and now she carried his baby. For one moment, she’d forgotten that.
Aimee took a quick step back.
“The kettle’s on the stove. The tea’s in the cupboard over the sink. I’ll—I’ll just—I’ll just go and wash my face…”
“Damn it, we have to talk about that night! You can’t keep pretending it didn’t happen.”
Aimee shook her head, turned and fled. Just as she had that night, Nicolo thought, and thought, too, of what had happened when he caught her.
It would be the same now. All he had to was go after her…
“Damn it!”
He swung away, marched into the kitchen and grabbed the kettle. She had fainted. She was ill. What kind of animal was he to think of sex now?
Besides, he wasn’t interested in getting involved with Aimee Black. As beautiful as she was, as much as he might want to make love to her, he’d never fully trust her.
No matter what she claimed, he would always see James Black’s hand in all that had—
The telephone rang.
Nicolo glanced toward the bathroom. The door was still closed; he could hear the sound of water running.
The phone rang again. Should he take the call? No. Surely she had voice mail…
Click.
Hi. You’ve reached 555-6145. Please leave a message after the tone.
A short metallic ring. Then a voice.
Hi, Ms. Black, this is Sarah from Dr. Glassman’s office.
Nicolo put down the kettle. He knew he shouldn’t listen to a private message but what was he supposed to do? Put his hands over his ears? Besides, this was from a physician.
Now, perhaps, he’d know why Aimee had fainted.
…vitamins. And iron. I meant to tell you that when we spoke earlier. Also, the doctor thought you might want a recommendation for an OB-GYN…
An OB-GYN? What in hell was that?
…absolutely fine, but it’s always a good idea to start with an obstetrician early in your pregnancy and, of course, you’re already in your third month…
The floor tilted under Nicolo’s feet. Pregnant? Three months pregnant? What did it mean? What in hell did it mean that a woman he’d had sex with three months ago was—
Aimee flew past him and slapped the machine to silence. Her face had gone from white to red.
“Get out,” she said. Her voice trembled as she pointed her finger at the door. “Damn it, Barbieri, do you hear me? Get out! Get out! Get—”
And with cold, relentless clarity, Nicolo knew. He knew exactly what it meant.
He had put a child in Aimee Black’s belly.
Chapter Seven
AIMEE TRIED to tell herself this was all a bad dream.
Any second, she’d wake up, safe and in bed.
No phone messages from a receptionist who didn’t understand the meaning of privacy. No Nicolo Barbieri staring at her like a man who’d just seen his life flash before his eyes.
Most of all, God, most of all, no baby growing inside her belly.
But it wasn’t a dream.
Everything that was happening was hideously real, from the red light blinking with impersonal determination on her answering machine to the man standing in her tiny kitchen, dwarfing it with his size.
With his fury.
As if he had anything to be furious about.
It was she who was pregnant, she who would agonize over the life-changing decisions ahead, she who would pay the price for one night’s madness.
Male and female. Yin and yang. Poets made the balance sound romantic but it wasn’t. Men led. Women followed. That was what the world expected, and what too many women accepted.
She’d always known that. She’d watched her father treat her mother like an amusing, if sometimes trying, possession.
Her grandfather had done his best to deal with her the same way but she hadn’t permitted it. She’d never permitted it…
Until the night she fell into the arms of this stranger who stood watching her through accusing eyes.
At least she had herself under better control now. She took a steadying breath—there was no point in letting him see how upset she was—and looked straight back at him.
“Goodbye, Prince Barbieri.”
It was like speaking to a statue. “Explain yourself,” he growled.
Explain herself? The cold demand chased away whatever remained of her nerves.
She didn’t need to explain herself to anyone.
“It’s a small apartment,” she said evenly. “Do you really need me to explain how to get to the front door?”
Her attempt at sarcasm backfired. The look on his face grew even colder.
“That call.”
“That private call, you mean.”
That, too, got her nowhere. “You are pregnant,” he said flatly.
Aimee said nothing. Nicolo took a step toward her.
“Answer me!”
“You didn’t ask a question.”
His eyes narrowed. “I warn you, this is not a time for games.” He jerked his head toward the telephone.
