A shiver went through her. ‘Of course not. I’ll find another place to live.’
‘And when the child is older? What then?’
‘I’ll find adequate childcare and continue my career. Millions of women do it every day. Why should I be any different?’
‘Because this child is not just any child. It is a Pantelides. Whether you want to admit it or not, that makes it different from any other child.’
‘I know you like to think you’re special but—’
‘No buts, Perla. I’ve lost one unborn child.’ His gaze dropped to her flat stomach and he swallowed hard. ‘If I’m lucky enough to become a father for a second time, nothing and no one will keep me from my child.’
* * *
A stalemate.
Despite knowing it was temporary, she hung onto the stalemate as Ari’s private jet raced them towards Bermuda and the Pantelides resort project she’d undertaken what seemed like a thousand years ago.
It was hard to fathom that it’d been barely eighteen hours since she’d discovered she was carrying Ari’s child.
Even harder to believe she’d agreed to give him an answer in the time the marriage licence would take to be ready.
But the look on his face when he’d made his vow had shaken her to the core. Shaken her into considering the fact that he meant it when he said he wanted a full-time role in their child’s life.
After what she had been through, shoved from foster home to foster home and then eventually spat out at eighteen, did she not owe it to her child to give it the best care possible?
But then could she bear to tie herself to another man who clearly did not want her for herself? Morgan had used her to hide his true sexual orientation from those he believed would judge him.
With Ari, it was simply the fact that she carried his heir.
A wave of sadness washed over her and the tablet she was supposed to be using to jot down ideas for the resort opening blurred as tears welled in her eyes.
Tears. Another symptom of her pregnancy she couldn’t seem to stem. She brushed them away and looked up to find Ari watching her.
‘What’s wrong?’
‘I seem to have discovered the pregnancy hormone that lets me cry at the drop of a hat. I should hire myself out to Hollywood.’
He stood from his wide leather seat and approached her with one hand outstretched. ‘Come with me,’ he commanded.
‘Where are we going?’ she asked, although she found herself putting her hand in his, allowing him to draw her up.
‘We don’t land for an hour and a half. You should take the time to rest.’
She stopped. ‘I’m pregnant, not sick. I don’t need to rest.’
‘But you will. Or I’ll turn this plane around and we can head to London.’
‘I have work to do, Ari—’
‘You were staring at a blank screen on your tablet.’
‘I was strategising.’
‘Yes, and it was so effective you were in tears.’ He placed a firm hand on her waist and propelled her forward. He opened the cabin door and she entered a large, sumptuously appointed bedroom. The gold-and-blue décor screamed opulent sophistication but it was the bed that drew her attention. King-sized and high, it was piled with pillows and covered with a gold silk spread that begged to be touched.
Moving forward, she did just that, then went one better and sat on the edge of the bed. The firm mattress gave a little beneath her and, on a whim, she kicked off her shoes and scooted backwards just as a large yawn caught her unawares.
She looked up to find Ari regarding her with an amused expression. ‘Fine. I can probably do with a little rest.’
He moved forward and started removing the cufflinks from his shirt. As he folded the sleeves back, he toed off his shoes.
‘What are you doing?’
‘What does it look like?’
‘But...’ She stopped as she recalled that he’d been up all night. It suddenly struck her that he’d taken care of her all through the shocking discovery of her pregnancy and afterwards while he’d neglected his own needs.
She could insist he return to the cabin but that would be unnecessarily mean and, really, there was more than enough room on the bed for both of them. It wasn’t as if he was about to tear her clothes off and make mad, passionate love to her.
They’d moved past that.
She pushed away the ache that lodged in her heart at the thought and lifted the cover.
The smile he gave her didn’t quite reach his eyes and she noticed the tension lines around his mouth when he got into bed.