Keira’s mouth fell open. ‘You mean it was all an act?’
He gave her a sheepish look. ‘Yep.’
She sat back in her seat. ‘Whose idea was it? Yours or his?’
‘Neither,’ he answered.
She leaned forward again. ‘Whose, then?’
His eyes moved away from hers. ‘I’m not supposed to tell. I promised.’
Keira grabbed his wrist and dug her fingers in. ‘You have to tell me, Jamie. Was it Patrizio?’
He shook his head.
She frowned. ‘Was it Mum?’
He shook his head again.
‘Dad?’
‘No, and stop asking as I’m not going to tell.’
She let his wrist go and drummed her fingers on the table. ‘I can’t think who else would set you up to do it,’ she said, still frowning. ‘It wasn’t as if anyone else had any reason to intervene. Patrizio and I were in the throes of a divorce. We were just weeks away from agreeing on a settlement date…’
‘Someone obviously didn’t want you to go through with it,’ Jamie said. ‘They thought that if you were forced to see each other to discuss what was going on between Bruno and me, you would both realise what you were throwing away.’
‘But who?’ she asked. ‘Why can’t you tell me? It’s so important, Jamie.’
‘Why is it important?’ he asked. ‘You’re back together now; that’s all that matters, surely?’
Keira decided to come clean. The boys were through their exams. Besides, she was sick to death of pretending to be so happy when she was so very miserable. ‘Jamie,’ she said, reaching for his hand again. ‘Listen to me. Bruno was right. Patrizio and I are not genuinely reconciled. Your little prank didn’t work.’
Jamie stared at her open-mouthed. ‘But…but you said you’re pregnant!’
She could feel her face heating. ‘Yes but…but it might not be Patrizio’s…’
His throat moved up and down. ‘You’re not thinking of…you know…getting rid of it, are you?’
‘I want this baby more than anything. The poor little thing is not to blame for any of this. I just want Patrizio to love me in spite of what’s happened, but he doesn’t.’
Jamie’s brows met over his eyes. ‘But that’s not true, Keira. He does love you. I’m sure of it.’
She shook her head sadly. ‘He doesn’t, Jamie. He told me. He has never forgiven me for that night. And now, with this complication, I don’t think he ever will.’
‘So what are you going to do?’
She let out a long jagged sigh. ‘I don’t know…He’s offered to stay married to me for the sake of the baby but I don’t want to live with a man who doesn’t trust me. That would be soul-destroying.’
‘Like Mum has done?’
Keira’s eyes went to her brother’s. ‘You know about what happened all those years ago?’
He nodded. ‘I overheard them arguing about it a few weeks back. It was after you’d been over for a visit during the holidays. I was going to mention it to you but you were going through a pretty rough time with the divorce and all. I didn’t want to add to your stress.’
She gave another weary sigh. ‘It all makes sense now, you know, the way Dad has always been so critical of me. I guess he’s been looking for signs that I wasn’t his. I dread the same thing happening with my baby.’
‘But it could be Patrizio’s, right?’ Jamie said.