CHAPTER ELEVEN
Amber dragged an unsteady hand through her tumbled hair and wished she had something to tie it back from her face.
Her eyes caught her wan reflection in the huge mirror and she grimaced. A hair tie was the least of her problems.
She’d spent the night doing what she’d vowed she’d never again do — making love to Aurelio. Now her emotions were in complete disarray.
Time and again lately she’d told herself that she’d be okay once she could get away from seeing him every day. That she’d start afresh and one day learn to be heart whole again.
Last night had changed that. She felt…connected to him in ways she couldn’t explain. Ways that were stronger than the sex they shared. She watched her reflection as her hand covered her belly. Logic told her she and Aurelio were linked by the fact they’d soon share a child. Yet her stubborn heart hummed that there was more even than that.
Spinning away, she reached for a fluffy robe and slipped it on, tying it tight around her middle. There was no time for daydreaming. She had to go back in there and face Aurelio. Explain…
Talk about timing! Her first ever bout of morning sickness would hit when she was in bed with him.
Had it been morning sickness? Or was it nerves, facing the man she loved, seeing his utter dismay at the idea they might have made a child?
Again her hand crept protectively to her abdomen. Whatever the future held, she was sure of one thing. She’d do whatever it took to give her baby a wonderful future.
She needed all her determination as she opened the door and saw Aurelio propped on the wall nearby, his expression bleak.
There was nothing soft in his face at all. His dark brows sat low, scrunched over his eyes. His jaw was set and deep grooves bracketed a mouth that was a thin twist. Even those wide shoulders seemed rucked up high.
‘When were you going to tell me?’ His voice was low and soft but with a rough edge that scored her conscience.
‘Tell you?’ Amber clutched the neck of her robe close around her throat. He was utterly, gloriously nude and she was almost fully covered by the concealing robe, yet under that brooding glare she was the one who felt naked.
‘That you’re pregnant. Youarepregnant, aren’t you?’
Amber’s hand clawed at the door frame as her already weak knees buckled.
‘How did you know?’ She’d only been nauseous once. She was nowhere near showing. The only other symptom she’d had was sensitive breasts, which far from being a problem had made Aurelio’s lovemaking last night utter bliss.
She shivered as a trail of erotic heat coiled languidly through her middle. Just as if the man scowling down at her was about to ravish her instead of grill her for information.
‘It’s mine, isn’t it?’
No mistaking that hollow tone. Aurelio wasn’t anything like thrilled at the news. He sounded utterly grim. Even worse than the day she’d turned up at the vineyard and he’d ordered her away. Then he’d been cold and angry. Now he sounded…desolate.
A shiver ran through her, icing her skin under the thick robe. Anger she could deal with, and obstinacy, but the blankness in those dark eyes, and the starkness she read in his expression, those filled her with fear.
Again she paused to wonder at his acceptance of the situation. They’d barely known each other when they’d had their affair yet he hadn’t bothered to ask if there’d been anyone else.
‘If you want a DNA check—’
He cut her off. ‘If you tell me it’s my child that’s enough. I know you, Amber. You’re not the sort of woman to foist another man’s child on me.’
It didn’t sound like a compliment though she supposed it was proof that he believed in her honesty. That should comfort her. Instead she felt on the edge of a precipice, leaning out, awaiting the final push that would send her plummeting into nothingness.
‘It’s our baby, Aurelio.’ She stood straighter, releasing her hold on the door frame. ‘I haven’t been with another man in—’
His slashing gesture cut off her words. ‘I don’t need to hear about your lovers.’
Was that anger she heard in his voice? If so it was gone again in an instant. He looked stern, but not furious.
‘I know it seems unlikely.’ Even though he hadn’t questioned, Amber felt the need to explain. ‘I was on the pill and you used condoms but—’
‘But these things can still happen.’ He sighed and she watched as he drew in a breath so huge it made his chest and shoulders rise.