called your mother?’
‘Yes.’ Allegra paused, wondering how much she wanted to probe the past. ‘She mentioned that your father did business with mine, and that it didn’t work out.’
A lightning flash of emotion sliced across Rafael’s face, too quickly for her to discern what it was, and then he carefully closed his laptop. ‘Yes, that is true. They worked together on a mobile phone technology that would now be considered laughably obsolete, and they fell out over it.’
‘Fell out?’ Allegra regarded him uneasily, sensing something dark flowing beneath his calm surface, and nervous to dip a toe into it. ‘Is that why you decided to take over my father’s company? Some kind of revenge for what happened before?’
‘Justice,’ Rafael corrected swiftly. His face remained bland, but Allegra saw that his eyes were watchful and hard.
‘What do you mean, justice? What are you not telling me? And why... why did you make that comment about blood on your hands?’
Rafael’s jaw tightened, his eyes like chips of amber. ‘Now is not the time to delve into the past.’
‘But it’s obviously important—’
‘What is important is your health and well-being.’ He rose from the desk. ‘I have booked some spa treatments for you this afternoon to help you relax. They are aimed specifically at pregnant women.’
‘Oh...’ Allegra blinked, startled all over again. ‘Thank you.’ She felt as if her head was spinning. One moment Rafael seemed as hard and unyielding as granite, and the next he was all softness and solicitude. Which was the real man? Who did she dare trust...if either?
* * *
Rafael paced the living room of the hotel suite, waiting for Allegra to return from her afternoon of spa treatments. He felt anxious, and he didn’t even know why. At least, not exactly why. Since Allegra had catapulted back into his life he’d been struggling with a tidal wave of fury that she’d attempted to hide her pregnancy from him, and a stronger surge of both protectiveness and fear to keep both her and their child safe.
The memory of when he’d failed his family, his fists beating on his father’s study door, his useless words. And then the aftermath. His mother’s wan face, his sister’s desperate defiance...their whole family falling to pieces, disintegrating before his eyes. It tormented him, when he allowed himself to think of it. The thought of failing Allegra and their child in a similar way or even at all was appalling. Unacceptable. And he wouldn’t let it happen. He would do everything in his power to keep Allegra and their baby safe and well. Everything...for her well-being as well as his own.
He knew Allegra had questions about his father. His past. The deception and death that still haunted his nightmares and could ruin things between them. She still loved her father—that much was obvious—even though the man had abandoned her. He couldn’t tell her the truth about him, not without jeopardising their own situation and Allegra’s barely-there trust in him. The past, he determined, would have to stay buried.
* * *
The door to the suite opened and Allegra stepped inside, and the clear purity of her smile, the ivory blush of her skin made something twist hard inside Rafael’s gut. He suddenly felt breathless, which was entirely a new feeling and made him feel poleaxed, reeling from the strength of his own reaction. He forced a smile.
‘How was it?’
‘Wonderful. I feel more relaxed than I have...well, ever.’ She let out a little laugh, her grey eyes sparkling like silver. ‘I’ve never even had a massage before. And look at my nails!’ She held out her hands to him, her nails painted pale pink, and as a matter of course Rafael caught them up in his, drew her to him.
Allegra came easily, caught up in the moment, and he wasn’t even thinking as he bent his head to kiss her, already anticipating the sweet, soft taste of her. Her lips parted soundlessly, her eyes fluttering closed, her golden-red lashes fanning onto her porcelain cheeks.
His lips brushed hers and Allegra let out a little sigh. Rafael pulled her closer and then he felt her stiffen in his arms. Her eyes flew open, filled with confusion. She shook her head and then drew away.
‘No, I’m sorry...we can’t...’
Of course they couldn’t. The last thing they needed was this kind of complication...except he wanted it so badly. Rafael raked a hand through his hair, desire surging through his body. He was shocked by his instantaneous and overwhelming response, his heart thudding.
Allegra was still looking at him in dazed confusion, her pupils dilated with desire even as her mouth twisted with uncertainty.
The time would come, Rafael decided. Maybe not yet, not when everything was so uncertain, when their child’s future hung in the balance. But the time would come. It had to.
‘I HAVE A surprise for you.’
Allegra looked up from the book she was reading with a cautious smile. Rafael stood in the living-room doorway, the slight curve of his mouth softening his harsh features.
It had been a strange and unsettling ten days, living in the hotel with Rafael, finding a new and tentative normalcy. It had taken a little while, but eventually she’d been able to relax into a routine. Rafael had spent most of his time working in the hotel’s business centre so Allegra hadn’t seen him nearly as much as she’d expected to, which was, to her irritation, both a disappointment and a relief. He was often out in the evenings, although they’d shared a few rather tense meals together, neither of them completely comfortable co-existing in this weird limbo.
Rafael seemed as closed off as ever, his inscrutable manner giving nothing away, although towards her he was all solicitous concern, arranging for private museum tours, taxis and, recalling her shelf of cookbooks in her apartment, baking.
Rafael had insisted she order whatever ingredient or implement she wanted, and with a fully stocked, gourmet kitchen at her disposal Allegra was soon enjoying experimenting with new recipes. Her morning sickness was easing and she was actually starting to enjoy food again.
And then, of course, there was the almost-kiss they’d shared. She’d come back from the spa both buzzing and relaxed, and for a moment, with Rafael’s warm gaze on her, it had felt so natural, so easy to fall into his arms. To tilt her head and wait for his kiss, that connection.
The shock she’d felt when his lips had barely brushed hers, the deep desire that had blazed a streak of lightning need straight through her, had thankfully made her take a step back. Getting involved with Rafael that way was far too dangerous. She was already well out of her comfort zone, simply being here with him, seeing him in passing in the hotel suite. She couldn’t stand an even deeper intimacy, as much as her body craved it.
‘A surprise,’ she repeated now, her eyebrows raised. ‘What kind of surprise?’
Rafael drew two tickets from the inside pocket of his suit jacket. ‘Box seats to the New York Philharmonic playing Bach’s cello suites at the Lincoln Center.’
‘Oh!’ She stared at him in unabashed delight—those were the kind of tickets
