‘I’m pregnant.’ She framed the words curtly, refusing to sound apologetic or nervous, putting it out there exactly like the fact of life it was.
‘How could you possibly be pregnant?’ Gaetano shot at her with an incredulous frown. ‘If it had only just happened, it would be too soon to know and the one and only other time...it isn’t possible...’
‘It is possible. I fell ill that same day and I missed taking my pill. Mr Abramo also believes the drugs I was given could have interfered with my birth control,’ she told him flatly.
‘You got pregnant on our wedding night?’ Gaetano queried in astonishment. ‘From one time? What are you? The fertility queen?’
‘You didn’t use a condom,’ she reminded him.
‘There shouldn’t have been a risk.’
‘If you’re having sex there’s always a risk,’ she pointed out ruefully. ‘The odds weren’t good that night because I ended up in hospital. In any other circumstances we’d probably have got away with it.’
‘Pregnant,’ Gaetano repeated, expelling his breath on a long slow hiss as he paced over to the windows, the taut muscles in his lean behind and long, powerful legs braced rigid with tension. ‘You’re pregnant.’
Although there was little expression in his dark, deep drawl Poppy took strength from his lack of anger and his ability to joke. Gaetano was dealing with it, wasn’t he? He was good in a crisis, very cool-headed and logical and what they had right now was undeniably a huge crisis. A baby nobody had counted on was on the way, a baby she would nonetheless love and protect to the best of her ability.
Gaetano was still feeling light-headed with shock. A baby! He was going to be a father? Dio mio...he was in no way prepared to be a parent. Having a child was a massive responsibility. It had proved a challenge too much for his own parents and even Rodolfo had struggled with the test of raising Gaetano’s good-for-nothing father. How the hell would he manage? What did he have to offer a child?
‘Gaetano?’ Poppy probed in the tense silence.
He swung round and raked long brown fingers through his cropped black hair in a gesture of frustration. ‘A baby... I can’t believe it. That’s some curve ball to be thrown.’
‘Yes,’ Poppy agreed stiffly. ‘For both of us.’
‘In fact it’s a nightmare,’ Gaetano framed, shocking her with that assessment, which was so much more pessimistic than her own.
Poppy stiffened but fought not to take that comment too personally. ‘Not much I can do to change your outlook if that’s how you feel.’
‘I don’t like the unexpected, the spontaneous,’ he admitted grimly. ‘A baby will turn our lives upside down.’
‘But there’s a positive side as well as a negative side,’ Poppy murmured.
‘Is there?’ Gaetano traded in stark disagreement. ‘We had a divorce planned.’
Poppy lost colour and screened her eyes. A nightmare? That had been a body blow but that his second comment on their situation should refer to their divorce was even tougher. But what had she expected from him? A bottle of champagne and whoops of satisfaction? It could have been a lot worse, she told herself urgently. Gaetano could have lost his temper. He could have tried to imply that the pregnancy was somehow more her fault than his. But then possibly he hadn’t reached that stage yet. After all, he was still pretty much stunned, studying her with brilliant dark eyes that had an unusually unfocused quality. We had a divorce planned. He had gone straight for the jugular.
‘But, obviously I couldn’t possibly leave you to raise my child alone,’ Gaetano completed without skipping a beat. ‘Looks like we’re staying together, bella mia.’
Poppy stiffened at his bleak intonation. ‘So, you’re suggesting that we should forget about getting a divorce now?’
‘What else would I suggest?’ Gaetano asked very drily. ‘You’re carrying the next generation of the Leonetti dynasty. Nobody expects you to do that alone, least of all me. Even though I had two parents they did a fairly rubbish job of raising me. To thrive, our child will need both of us and a stable home to grow up in.’
‘But it’s not what we planned,’ Poppy reminded him while anger simmered like a pot bubbling on the hob beneath her careful surface show of calm.
There was nothing to be gained from losing her temper, she told herself fiercely, but his practical approach was downright insulting. Yes, she agreed that ideally a child should have both parents and a steady home but at what cost? If the parents themselves made sacrifices that resulted in unhappiness how could that be good for anyone? Poppy did not want an unwilling husband and reluctant father by her side. That was not a cross she was prepared to bear for years knowing that it wouldn’t benefit anyone. If that was the best Gaetano had to offer, he could keep it and the wedding ring, she thought painfully. She wanted more, she needed more than a man who would only keep her as a wife because she had fallen pregnant.
‘We couldn’t possibly make a bigger mess of our marriage than my parents did,’ he pointed out wryly. ‘We can only try our best.’
‘As a goal, that just depresses me, Gaetano,’ Poppy admitted.
‘How? We’ll continue on as we are now but at least we won’t be living a lie for Rodolfo’s benefit any longer.’
‘No, you won’t need to live a lie any longer,’ Poppy agreed tightly as she walked towards the door.
‘Where are you going?’
Powered by a furious mix of anger and pain, Poppy ignored the question and stalked up the stairs to the next floor where the luggage was stored. From the room used for that purpose she grabbed up two cases.
From his stance on the landing, Gaetano stared at her in bewilderment. ‘What on earth are you doing?’
‘Your nightmare is leaving you!’ Poppy bit out squarely.
‘I did not call you a nightmare,’ Gaetano argued vehemently.
‘No, you called the baby I’m having a nightmare, which was worse,’ Poppy countered fiercely. ‘This baby may be unplanned and a big unexpected surprise but I love it already!’
‘Dio mio, Poppy!’ Gaetano exclaimed as she yanked garments out of the built-in closets in the dressing room, hangers falling in all directions. ‘Will you please calm down?’
‘Why would I calm down? I’m pregnant and my husband thinks it’s a nightmare!’
‘I didn’t mean it that way.’
‘And you seem to believe that I have no choice but to stay married to you. Well, here’s some news for you, Gaetano... I can have a baby and manage perfectly well without you!’ Poppy slung at him from between gritted teeth. ‘I don’t need you. I deserve more. I don’t intend to stay married to a guy who’s only with me because he thinks it’s his duty!’
‘That’s not what I said.’
‘That’s exactly what you said!’
