‘Ah.’ His smile sent butterflies rampaging through her stomach.
‘I just meant, if you wanted, we could—’
He scanned her face, his eyes moving slowly, and then he shook his head. ‘There is still a risk of conceiving, and I am not prepared to take any chances. Double protection is better.’
‘You really must not want kids,’ she said with a hint of humour, to cover her disappointment. Not about children, of course, but because her desire was so strong she found she didn’t much fancy waiting—even a short while.
‘I don’t want to make a woman pregnant.’
She frowned. ‘Isn’t that the same thing?’
‘No.’
‘So you do want children, just not unplanned ones?’
‘I wouldn’t say that, either.’
She laughed huskily. ‘You’re not making any sense, but that’s okay. I don’t really need you to explain it to me.’
He nodded, but there was thoughtfulness in his gaze, and a moment later he continued. ‘I don’t want children, under any circumstances, because I believe a child should be raised by two parents, wherever possible. And I’m not interested in that kind of relationship. Up until a few months ago, I would have said that outlook was one of the many things Luca and I have in common.’
‘Oh?’
But he compressed his lips, turning to face the view rather than expand on that thought. Only Sienna was just as protective of Olivia as Olivia was of Sienna, and she wasn’t ready to let the matter drop. ‘I know he’s dated a heap of women. Actresses, models and the like.’
Alejandro made a grunting noise of agreement.
‘So I guess leopards can change their spots after all.’
‘Some can, evidently.’ He turned to face her, pinning her with eyes that seemed to bore right through her soul. ‘But not me.’
Something cool stole through her, replacing the warmth he’d so easily flared in her body. ‘Do you think he’s really changed?’
Alejandro’s eyes narrowed. ‘You’re worried about your sister?’
‘Wouldn’t you be?’
‘Not for one second.’
‘But you just said...’
‘Luca isn’t the kind of man who would do anything half-heartedly. They’re married. It’s quite clear he loves her.’
Sienna turned, her eyes landing on the street below, uncertainty a spiral in her belly. ‘They do seem happy.’
‘But you are not convinced.’
She kept her gaze averted, wondering at the way she felt as though she could speak so freely to Alejandro, given that they barely knew one another. Was it his friendship with Luca? Or the fact that they’d agreed this would be over in a few nights?
‘Did Luca tell you about the will?’
‘What will?’
That, then, was her answer. ‘Our father’s.’
‘I only know your father is not alive because he wasn’t at the wedding, and when I mentioned it to Luca he said, very matter-of-factly, that he’s dead. In fact, he said “The bastard is dead”, so I presume there is bad blood between your sister and father.’
Sienna’s smile was like ice. ‘You could say that.’