let’s not argue. It’s taking all my strength to get through this day already.’
Rafael nodded tersely, knowing she was right. Every instinct in him clamoured to demand why she’d hidden the pregnancy from him when he’d been as clear as he could that he’d wanted to know. But now was not the time. Still, he determined grimly, the time would come. He’d make sure of it.
He helped Allegra into the car, noting the way she sank into the seat with a relieved sigh, resting her head against the leather cushions.
‘What did you mean, you’ve been ill?’ he asked as the limo pulled away from the kerb.
‘Morning sickness,’ she murmured. ‘I’ve had it terribly. I’ve hardly been able to keep anything down.’
You should have told me. He bit back the words. ‘Isn’t there anything the doctors can do? Medication...?’
‘I was prescribed something, but it didn’t really help. It’s started to get a little bit better recently, thank goodness, and my doctors think it might go away soon if...’ She bit her lip, her eyes bright with tears.
Rafael could finish that awful sentence. If she continued with this pregnancy, if their baby was healthy. ‘We need more information,’ he said gruffly, ‘before any decisions are made.’ But already he’d made a decision. He wasn’t leaving her, and she wasn’t staying in a walk-up flat in a run-down neighbourhood. Her place, no matter what happened, was with him. He would protect her and their baby. He thought back to that terrible day, outside his father’s study door. He’d failed in protecting those he loved that day. He’d been too weak, too slow to act, too naïve. But he would not fail again. The need to protect his ill-gotten family burned within him, brighter and fiercer than anything he’d ever felt before.
* * *
Allegra could feel the tension emanating from Rafael, but she didn’t have the energy to wonder or worry about it. All her strength was taken up with preparing for what lay ahead.
She’d barely slept last night, too worried by both the procedure and its possible results. She hadn’t even had time to think about Rafael and seeing him again.
And yet now that he was here...she inhaled the saffron scent of his aftershave, felt the coiled, restless power of him, just as she had before. It made her ache. It made her remember. Even now she felt a treacherous dart of desire. How stupid, considering their situation, and the way he’d treated her.
They didn’t speak all the way to the hospital, but that was okay. Allegra didn’t think she could manage chit-chat, and talking about what mattered felt too hard. The limo pulled up to the front of the hospital, and Rafael leapt out before Allegra could so much as reach for the handle.
He opened her door and with one arm around her shepherded her into the building. She wasn’t that fragile, but she craved his protectiveness now. It felt strange, when she’d taught herself not to rely on anyone. Now she wanted to. She needed to.
Before long they were in a treatment room, with Allegra lying down on the examining table and Rafael sitting tensely on a chair next to her. A technician prepared her for the ultrasound, and the now-familiar whooshing sound of her baby’s heart filled Allegra with both relief and joy.
She glanced across at Rafael, shocked and then touched by the look of tender wonder softening his face. His surprised gaze met hers and he gave her a smile that seemed almost tremulous. Another point of connection, as sweet as any they’d ever shared, and yet... Could she trust it? Dared she think about what happened next, or in the long term?
‘Now this won’t take long,’ the doctor assured her. ‘And it shouldn’t hurt too much. I’ve given you a local anaesthetic to numb the area, but you might experience some minor discomfort and cramping.’
Allegra took in the size of the needle and instinctively reached for Rafael’s hand. He encased her hand in his larger one, and she squeezed it hard as the needle went in. It didn’t hurt, but it still scared her. Everything about this scared her.
In a few moments it was over, and the technician was wiping the gel off Allegra’s stomach.
‘Are you all right?’ Rafael asked in a low voice, and Allegra nodded.
‘Yes. I think so.’ She felt shaky and a bit tearful, and she had some mild cramps, but nothing she couldn’t deal with. She tried to shake his hand off, wanting to be strong, but he kept holding hers.
‘You need to rest.’
‘You should take the rest of the day off,’ the doctor advised. ‘Normal activity can be resumed tomorrow.’
Rafael frowned at that, but said nothing. Together they left the treatment room, and it wasn’t until they were in the limo and Rafael was telling the address to the driver that Allegra realised he wasn’t taking her home.
‘Wait—where are we going?’ she asked.
‘To my hotel near Central Park.’ Rafael sat back.
‘But I want to go home,’ Allegra said. She wanted her bed and her music and the comforts of the familiar.
Rafael glanced at her, his expression unreadable. ‘That apartment is completely inappropriate for a woman in your condition.’
‘You mean pregnant?’ Allegra stared at him, surprised by his high-handedness even as she wondered why she should be. Rafael had been completely in control of every situation she’d seen him in.
‘Climbing six sets of stairs to get to your home cannot be good for our baby,’ Rafael stated.
‘Plenty of women do that and more—’
‘Yet you are the one I care about,’ Rafael cut her off. ‘And frankly you look terrible—tired, pale, drawn. You need proper rest.’
‘Thanks very much,’ Allegra snapped. Her feminine pride was hurt by his blunt assessment, even though she knew she didn’t look good, and hadn’t for a while.
‘The reason I look tired, Rafael, is because I’ve had extreme morning sickness, not because I climb some stairs.’
‘It can’t help.’
‘So what are you suggesting? That I move house?’
‘Precisely,’ Rafael answered in a clipped voice. ‘You will live with me in my hotel suite until the results from the amniocentesis return.’
She stared at him in disbelief. She’d wanted someone to lean on, yes, for a little bit. But not someone to take over her life. Yet should she have expected anything else from this man? ‘I can’t live with you,’ she protested. ‘I don’t want to live with you. I have a job—’
‘Managing a café, on your feet all day? Take sick leave.’
‘I can’t—’
‘Then I shall arrange it.’
Allegra simply stared, too shocked by his autocratic statements to frame a suitable reply. She should have expected this, but she’d been so tired and shaky and fearful, she’d just been glad to have someone to lean on for a little while.
