‘But marrying me was easy because you hated me so much,’ Sebastien said wryly. ‘You blamed me for everything.’
‘It was the wrong thing to do,’ she groaned in mortified tones. ‘I see that now. But I was desperate for the money and I couldn’t see any other way of getting it. And I didn’t have all the facts—’ The room started to swim again and she lay back against the cushions of the sofa, her face ashen.
‘Neither of us had all the facts, agape mou,’ Sebastien said quietly, his eyes clouded with worry as he looked at her, ‘but now we do. Stop worrying. You’re making yourself ill. The doctor will be here in a minute.’
‘It’s probably nothing,’ Alesia mumbled, placing a hand on her churning stomach. ‘I just picked up a bug when I swallowed all that water.’
‘Well, whatever it is I want it sorted out,’ Sebastien growled and Alesia almost smiled at that. The doctor had better have an instant diagnosis to hand; otherwise he was going to experience Sebastien’s legendary lack of tolerance.
There was a knock on the door and one of the Fiorukis security team entered with a tall man who Alesia assumed to be the doctor. Under Sebastien’s eagle eye he asked her all sorts of detailed questions, some of them more than a little embarrassing, but Sebastien didn’t flicker an eyelid, his expression grim and expectant as he watched the doctor.
Finally the other man straightened and closed his bag. ‘How long have you been married?’
‘Six weeks.’
‘Then I think congratulations are in order,’ he said lightly. ‘You’re going to have a baby.’
There was a hideous silence and finally Alesia found her voice. ‘But that isn’t possible,’ she croaked and the doctor gave a wry smile.
‘After what you’ve told me about your medical history I can understand why you’d think that, but I can absolutely assure you that you are pregnant, Mrs Fiorukis.’
‘But—’
‘I’ve been a doctor for thirty years,’ the doctor said calmly, ‘and, although every doctor is occasionally in doubt about a diagnosis, this time I’m completely sure. The sickness you’ve been experiencing is a normal part of pregnancy. It should pass in a few weeks’ time, as will the tiredness. Hopefully then you’ll be able to enjoy the experience.’
Alesia didn’t dare breathe. She was pregnant?
Sebastien raked long fingers through his dark hair, a stunned expression in his eyes. ‘But how could the other doctors have got it so wrong?’
The doctor shrugged and walked towards the door. ‘There is much that we understand about fertility and conception but equally there is much that we don’t understand,’ he admitted. ‘Why else do desperate couples adopt, only to produce a child naturally? I have seen men with virtually no sperm count succeed in fathering a child. Although we doctors like to pretend that we have all the answers, the truth is that nature can sometimes produce miracles. You’ve just experienced that miracle, Mr Fiorukis. Be grateful.’
Sebastien closed the door behind the doctor and walked back to Alesia, who was still lying on the sofa.
‘I’m afraid to move,’ she whispered and he gave a wry smile of understanding.
‘I don’t think it will fall out,’ he said huskily, scooping her up in his arms and carrying her into the bedroom.
‘What are you doing?’
‘Getting you the rest you badly need.’
She closed her eyes. There was still so much that needed to be said. ‘Do you realize what this means?’
He tensed slightly as he lowered her gently into the middle of the bed. ‘What does this mean?’
‘We are now allowed to divorce.’
He stilled and then he stretched out a lean bronzed hand to flick off the light. ‘Go to sleep,’ he said, strain thickening his deep drawl, ‘and we’ll talk in the morning.’
Alesia closed her eyes to hold back the tears that threatened to give her away. She was pregnant. She was having a baby. She ought to be filled with joy.
So why did her life suddenly seem so empty?
When Alesia awoke it was daylight and Sebastien was sprawled in a chair in the corner of the room, watching her through veiled eyes.
‘Sebastien?’ She struggled upright. ‘What are you doing there?’
‘I didn’t trust you not to do one of your disappearing acts,’ he said gruffly, running a hand over his roughened jaw, ‘and you’re not going anywhere until we’ve had a conversation. Stay there and don’t move.’
He left the room and returned moments later carrying a plate of biscuits and a drink.