‘And what happens if you don’t marry? I doubt you’ll stay single for ever, so how will that work? Are you going to live with a man? Is he just going to spend the occasional night in your bed?’
She felt her face drain of colour.
‘I don’t know. And you can’t expect me to be able to answer all those questions now. That’s not fair—’
His eyes were locked on hers.
‘I don’t know is not a good enough answer,’ he said coldly. ‘And the life you’re planning for our child sounds anything but fair.’
‘I’m not planning anything.’ She stared at him helplessly.
‘Well, at least we can agree on that,’ he snarled. ‘Believe me, Nola, when I tell you that no child of mine is going to be brought up by whichever random man happens to be in your life at that particular moment.’
‘That’s not—’ She started to protest but he cut her off.
‘Nor is my child going to end up with another man’s name because its mother was too stubborn and selfish to marry its father.’
She stood up so quickly the chair she was sitting on flew backwards. But neither of them noticed.
‘Oh, I see. So you marrying me is a selfless act,’ she snapped. Her blue eyes flashed angrily up at him. ‘A real sacrifice—’
‘You’re putting words in my mouth.’
‘And you’re putting a gun to my head,’ she retorted. ‘I’m not going to marry you just to satisfy your archaic need to pass on a name.’
‘Names matter.’
She shivered. ‘You mean your name matters.’
Ram felt his chest tighten. Yes, he did mean that. A name was more than just a title. It was an identity, a destiny, a piece of code from the past that mapped out the future.
His eyes locked onto hers. ‘Children need to know where they come from. They need to belong.’
‘Then what’s wrong with my name?’ she said stubbornly. ‘I’m the mother. This baby is inside me. How could it belong to anyone more than to me?’
‘Now you’re just being contrary.’
‘Why? Because I don’t want to marry you?’
He shook his head, his dark gaze locked onto hers. ‘Because you know I’m right but you’re mad at me for bringing you here so you’re just going to reject the only logical solution without a moment’s consideration.’
Nola felt despair edge past her panic. His cavalier attitude to her objections combined with his obvious belief that she would crumble was overwhelming her.
‘I have considered it and it won’t work,’ she said quickly. ‘And it doesn’t have to. Look, this is my responsibility. I should have been more careful. That’s why this is on me.’
‘This is on you?’ He repeated her words slowly, his voice utterly expressionless.
But as she looked over at him she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. His eyes were narrowed, fixed on her face like a sniper.
‘We’re not talking about a round of drinks, Nola. This is a baby. A life.’
She flinched. ‘Biology is not a determining factor in parenthood.’
He looked at her in disbelief. ‘Seriously? Did you read that in the in-flight magazine?’
She looked at him helplessly. ‘No, I just meant—’
He cut her off again. ‘Tell me, Nola. Did you have a father?’