Lottie jerked herself upright, swamped by anger, dread, and most of all pain at the sight of him.
‘I came to spend some time at our daughter’s grave.’ She threw back her head, the wind catching her hair again, lifting it from her shoulders. ‘Not that it is any of your business.’
‘Your irresponsible behaviour is making this my business.’ He sounded black with temper. ‘Per l’amor di Dio, you haven’t even got a coat on!’ What are you trying to do? Make yourself ill?’
Before she could reply he was beside her, tugging off his jacket and flinging it over her shoulders.
‘Dio, you are freezing—come here.’ He pressed her against his chest, wrapping his strong arms around her, rubbing her back through the waxed cotton fabric of the jacket.
‘Get off me.’ Her voice was muffled against his shirt and she wriggled herself free from him, stumbling round to the other side of Seraphina’s grave from where she glared aggressively at him. ‘Leave me alone.’
Rafael glared back, mystified. ‘What’s the matter with you?’ And then, as a terrible thought occurred to him, his voice dropped. ‘Is everything all right?’
‘Yes.’ Lottie forced herself to hold his stare. ‘If by that you mean the baby, everything is fine.’
Relief flooded Rafael’s eyes, but seconds later they darkened again. ‘So what, then? What are you doing here? What is going on?’
His questions shot at her like rapid gunfire.
‘Why are you behaving like this?’
‘I can behave however I want.’
‘No, you can’t. Not if it puts my child at risk.’ His voice was raw, clear and cold. ‘When it comes to protecting my baby’s life, you will do exactly as I say.’
‘Oh, you think so, do you?’ Lottie matched his anger with her own. ‘Well that is where you are wrong. As a matter of fact I have been looking for you.’ The warning look in Rafael’s eyes threatened to steal her courage but she blundered on. ‘To tell you that I am going back home—to England.’ She could feel her heart pounding frantically behind her ribs at the enormity of what she was saying. ‘For good.’
There was a beat of silence between them, pierced by the single caw of a raven overhead.
‘No. You are not.’ Rafael’s voice was dangerously quiet, his eyes burning with fire.
‘Yes.’ Lottie squared up to him as best she could, shivering violently beneath his jacket. ‘I’ve made up my mind.’
‘Well, you can just unmake it.’ The lash of his words whistled across at her. ‘I can assure you, Charlotte, you are doing no such thing.’
‘You can’t stop me, Rafael. I’m going to go back to England and have the baby there and—’
‘Charlotte, if you think, for one tiny second, that I would let you leave the country, take our baby away, then you have seriously misjudged me.’ His breath escaped in angry puffs of condensed air. ‘What’s all this about anyway?’ The depth of his scowl all but closed his eyes. ‘What is going on?’
‘I’ve told you what is going on. I’ve made up my mind and I am returning to England.’
Rafael shook his head, fury slowing the movement. ‘And I am saying you are doing no such thing. I have no idea what has brought this on, but I do know that you can stop this nonsense right now. My baby will be born here and will be raised here—by its father—at the Palazzo Monterrato.’
He hesitated, his scowl turning to a sneer.
‘You have run away once and I’m sure you are capable of doing that again. Should you choose to leave after the baby is born, then so be it. But the baby will stay here. And for the time being you are going nowhere.’
The word resonated with ruthless force.
Lottie fought to control hot tears of fury and despair. His words were like a fish hook in her flesh. The more she struggled the worse the pain. If she had wanted proof of his feelings for her she had it right there. Should you choose to leave after the baby is born, then so be it. She meant nothing to him—nothing at all. Without the baby she might as well not exist.
Biting back the searing pain, she rounded on him, using anger to mask the agony, covering her misery with its red cloak.
‘I’m sure you would love that, wouldn’t you?’ She spat the words at him. ‘Once the baby has been born there is nothing you would like better than for me to disappear completely.’
Rafael stared at her. ‘What are you talking about?’
‘I’m talking about you—me—the whole ridiculous idea that we could ever live together, have any sort of meaningful relationship, baby or no baby.’