“Only your choice of groom was stupid,” he assured her. “Needing stability after the mystery of your parentage and the loss of your mother; that is perfectly understandable.”
“Maybe,” she said with a small shake of her head. “With every day that passed, I felt dread and misery. I missed you so much I was sick.” Her lips twisted in amusement. “At least, that’s what I thought.”
“When did you learn about the baby?”
“The morning after our wedding.” She lifted her eyes to his face. “Sophie had noticed me retching. She bought a pregnancy test.” Ava closed her eyes, awash with those memories.
“You must have been devastated,” he surmised.
“Devastated? I was so incredibly over-the-moon!” She cupped his face with her hands, and held him steady. “I had a piece of you! I had thought I would never know you again but here it was; hope. Chance! True, it was messy as hell. I mean, for God’s sake, I had just married Angus. But in that moment, Angus was irrelevant to me. Nothing I had felt before then, the obligation and compassion for his pride, none of that mattered. Milly was my world. And you, too.”
“The rest I know. You told him. He did the right thing – more than I would have done if our positions were reversed and I risked losing you, believe me.”
“But he isn’t you, and what he and I shared is nothing compared to what we are.”
“I believe you. Nothing compares to this.”
She smiled kindly. “The rest you know.”
“Not quite,” he said seriously. “You were married to him for months.”
“Well, yes,” she agreed. “It took me months to build up the courage to come and see you. I was so worried that you would be angry. That you would see Milly and me as anchors you didn’t want. But Angus was insistent. He said that every man should have the opportunity to know their own child.”
“I hate this guy,” Cristiano said, only half-joking. “Can he do no wrong?”
“I told you: he’s a class act.” She dropped a hand to Cristiano’s chest and held it over his hand. “We were never … truly married.”
His eyes flared wide as he deciphered her sweet admission. “By this, may I take it to mean that you did not sleep with him?”
“Yes,” she nodded, her eyes dropping from his face. “So you see, you have no need to be jealous.”
The pleasure he felt was intense. “Then he also has the patience of a saint.”
She rolled her eyes. “I love that you think I’m so irresistible, but don’t forget, I was pregnant with your baby. That’s pretty hard to ignore.”
“And he helped you in this pregnancy.”
“Yes, he was excellent. Foot rubs, craving indulging, bath running, appointment chauffeuring. He was a fantastic friend.”
Cristiano kissed her lips gently. “Then I have every need to be jealous. He was able to support you when I could not. But I cannot remain angry with him, especially not for that. If anything, I owe him my thanks.”
“Yes,” she exhaled with a smile so huge it flipped his heart. “I knew you’d see it that way.”
“So he comes today.”
“Yes.” She bit down on her lip. “And you’ll be nice?”
His laugh warmed her soul. “So nice you’ll agree to marry me afterwards.”
She punched his arm playfully. “We’ll see.”
CHAPTER NINE
On Christmas morning, Ava woke with a knot of presentiment that wouldn’t quit. Despite having spent the most perfect month with the man she loved most in the world, and their beautiful little daughter, she had a ball of tension she couldn’t ignore.
“It’s my sisters,” she said finally, when Cristiano cornered her on her own. Jackson and Marie were making a pudding in the kitchen, and Milly was happily watching.
“What is?” He pushed, thinking of the women who had always stood shoulder to shoulder with Ava.