RAMON ACOSTA WAS a man on a mission. That became very clear, very quickly. If she slept for more than two or three hours at a stretch during the night, she called that a victory. And he didn’t restrict himself to just the bedroom. Discovering her enjoying a mid-morning decaf coffee on his private terrace after lingering in bed for the morning, he’d calmly reefed off his T-shirt and paint-splattered sweat pants, stretched out beside her and pulled her negligee off her body. Afterwards, he’d carried her back to bed and started all over again.
The shower in her own suite had been another scene of his mastery. He’d tracked her there under some now forgotten pretext, invited himself into the steamy cubicle and proceeded to make her shower an unforgettable one.
That had been a week ago. A week when, in between bouts of intense lovemaking, he either spent equally intense hours ruling his kingdom from his study or disappearing into his studio on the boundary of his villa.
He’d given Suki the grand tour of all twenty-eight rooms of his villa the morning after they returned from Miami. Room after room had produced gasps of awe, as priceless antiques vied for attention beneath even more exquisitely carved stone and wood and beautifully cut glass, but, although he’d told her what the glass-roofed structure was, he hadn’t invited her inside his studio. What he had revealed was that his parents had also lived in this villa with him. The west wing where they’d had their rooms was slowly being cleared by Teresa and Mario, and Suki had chosen to stay out of their way.
It was also during that tour that she’d discovered there were two further rooms—a smaller dining room and a drawing room—that needed to be restored. Although her heart mourned the atrocity done to the rooms, she welcomed the opportunity to dwell on something else other than whether she was even now carrying Ramon’s child.
But by mutual tacit agreement, neither of them had brought up the subject of pregnancy tests. Suki shied away from the wicked voice that suggested that she didn’t want to know just yet so she didn’t have to give up her presence in Ramon’s bed. They would know soon enough when her cycle rolled around next week.
Until then, she busied herself by compiling a list of Cuban architects and restorers, conducting videoconference interviews to see who would be a good fit. And when her mother arrived in Miami, she made the trip, spending all day with Moira and Mrs Baron. Suki had been shocked to find her retired neighbour at her mother’s bedside in Miami, but the older woman had been full of praise for a ‘considerate’ Ramon, who hadn’t thought twice about making arrangements for her to accompany her friend. Suki’s expressed gratitude when she’d met Ramon at the hotel afterwards had been shrugged off and quickly dismissed before he’d whisked her into the bedroom.
Her own mother had, predictably, reserved judgement, more concerned with why Suki was still in Cuba. The half-lie that she was working on a commission for Ramon hadn’t sat well with her. But the bald truth would’ve distressed her mother even more.
So instead she’d discussed antique wallpapers and colour swatches and rhapsodised about the beauty of Luis’s childhood home.
The call to her boss to request an extended leave of absence had gone more smoothly than she’d hoped. Whether or not it was aided by the tabloid pictures of her and Ramon, first at the memorial and then coming out of the boutique in Miami that had the paparazzi speculating about their relationship, she didn’t know.
Charlotte Chapman, the tough but fair boss who’d hired her straight after her internship, had all but offered to keep her job open for as long as Suki needed. Unsure what the future held for her, she’d expressed her gratitude to Charlotte and promised that, yes, she would update her on a regular basis.
She was still bemused by the call when Ramon found her in the living room shortly after. A raised-brow query had prompted a retelling of the phone call. He’d given a very Latin shrug and deftly changed the subject.
That had been the first inkling that there were some subjects Ramon would pursue to the ends of the earth and others he wouldn’t waste a single breath on. One such subject was the amount of clothes that had arrived two days after their visit to Miami. Even the clothes he’d initially disapproved of were included in the dozens of boxes that arrived by helicopter.
And tonight, he’d specifically picked the metallic gold dress he’d all but sneered at in the boutique.
They were supposed to be dining by candlelight on his private terrace, yet half an hour after Teresa had set out their meal he hadn’t turned up.
Walking to the edge of the terrace, she glanced over to his studio. Lights blazed through the glass. She debated for a second, then went back into the bedroom. Throwing a light shawl over her dress, she left the suite.
Her flats were almost noiseless on the stone path as she approached the studio doors. The hand she raised to knock froze at the steady stream of Spanish curses that ripped through the air, followed by the sound of wood breaking. Then another.
Biting her lip, she remained caught between the urge to find out if Ramon was all right and the urge to flee.
That was how he found her minutes later when he almost ripped the door off his hinges in restless fury.
Green eyes latched on to her. ‘Por el amor de—what are you doing here?’ he growled, low and dangerous.
She glanced behind him, caught a glimpse of the carnage on the studio floor. ‘I...we were supposed to have dinner forty minutes ago. I came to see if you...are you okay?’
He continued to stare at her as if she were an alien. Stepping out, he pulled the door shut behind him. ‘I’m fine. My apologies for keeping you waiting,’ he said stiffly, clawing a hand through his hair. ‘Give me five minutes and I’ll be with you.’
Questions tripped on the tip of her tongue, but the dismissal was clear. She returned to the villa, and, true to his word, he joined her five minutes later.
She turned from the terrace wall, and for a moment she thought he’d been struck dumb when he saw her.
The risqué cut of the dress negated the use of a bra, but, of course, what had looked a little daring but ultimately controllable in front of her mirror soon became a clingy, body-exposing and heat-inducing scrap of torture the moment Ramon laid his sizzling eyes on her.
Calmly he strode forward, pulled out her chair and saw her seated. But despite his attempt at easy conversation, tension poured off him. Whether it was from what she’d witnessed outside his studio or what she was wearing, she didn’t dare ask, seeing as she was fighting her ultra-sensitive body’s reaction to his every look.
When she attempted to surreptitiously hide the fact that her nipples had peaked to blatant points beneath the sheer silk, he set his wine glass down and decisively drew away the arm she was attempting to use to hide her body’s reaction.
‘We’re alone, Suki. Stop hiding yourself from me.’
Her lips twisted in a tight grimace. ‘This dress was a bad idea.’
‘Only as a test of fortitude and patience, belleza. But we will persevere,’ he replied drolly, although she noted the tightness of his jaw and the way he shifted in his seat every few minutes when his gaze dropped to her chest.
He waited until she’d returned to using both hands to tuck into her spicy chicken and sautéed potatoes served with a mango and avocado sauce before he returned his attention to his own food. Pleading with her body to calm down, she attempted to be content with the fact that wherever her appetite had gone it was coming back with gusto.
Ramon, on the other hand, ate less and drank more, his jaw clenching and unclenching until she resolutely set down her cutlery.
‘Either my dress is bothering you more than you want to admit or something’s wrong. Maybe something that involves you smashing up your studio?’ she enquired boldly.
He tensed further. When he didn’t reply immediately, she thought he meant to ignore her. But then he shrugged. ‘I’m an artist. I’m allowed a temperamental outburst every now and then.’
‘I suppose, except you look like you want to have another one right now. So I’m guessing it wasn’t cathartic?’
His eyes narrowed on her, but he answered, ‘I get that way when my vision and my process don’t converge as they should.’
‘Artist’s block?’
He grimaced, his gaze sweeping her body before he glanced away. ‘I prefer...frustrated.’
‘How long has it been?’ she asked, then mentally kicked herself. With all he’d suffered, was it a surprise?
‘I drew my last painting eight months ago. My last sculpture has been even longer.’
Before his devastating loss. But after his break-up with Svetlana?
The food in her mouth congealed. Had the break-up affected him to the extent his art had suffered? As she watched him gulp back another mouthful of red wine, his features set, Suki’s chest tightened.
Silence reigned while he took another sip.
‘Since we’re sharing intimate subjects, which of your parents decided to name you Suki?’ he asked.
She looked up, a little startled at the unexpected question. Then, glad for the change of subject, she smiled. ‘My mother. It was her favourite teacher’s name. She decided from a young age that she would name her daughter that.’
‘And your father didn’t raise any objection?’ he asked.
The pleasing memory of how she got her name disappeared. Her gaze veered off him, a sudden interest in her meal meant to disguise the mingled anger and anguish that flashed through her each time she thought of the father who’d chosen to ignore her existence.
‘I didn’t have the privilege of meeting my father for the first decade and half of my life. He decided to do a runner after being with my mother for one night,’ she said. ‘When she found out she was pregnant and eventually tracked him down, it turned out he’d lied about his single status. And, surprise, he wasn’t interested in the child he’d helped conceive.’
An expression passed over Ramon’s face, almost curiously resembling fury. Although why he should be furious on her behalf was puzzling. Or maybe it was directed at her?
‘And you’ve never sought him out all these years?’
‘Not in the past ten years, no. I attempted to when I was sixteen. I skipped school one day and went to his office. Perhaps it wasn’t the best place to confront him, but what the heck do I know? Anyway, he didn’t want to know me. He made it clear he wasn’t interested in engaging with me on any level. So I drew a line under that.’
‘Perhaps things might be different now.’
‘Perhaps. But he knows where I am. He’s always known where I was. He’s not been inclined to seek me out. That says it all, really.’
His expression turned inward. A little bleak. A lot serious. Again his mouth tightened with a hint of fury. ‘Such a waste.’
Something moved in her throat. Her hand found the back of his before she’d fully registered the move. He gave a sharp exhalation, his gaze dropping down to their touching hands before returning to her face.
‘Don’t take this the wrong way. Your family was a close-knit one so you may think my not knowing my father was a waste, but I don’t think I missed a great deal by not having him around,’ Suki said.
He tensed, his eyes narrowing on her face.
Suki bit her lip as the powder keg of the subject of denied father threatened to blow up again. ‘I don’t believe that about everyone, Ramon, only my own. From the little I saw of him, he and my mother would never have been compatible in the long run. I think she fell in love with the idea of falling in love more than anything. And he, of course, would never have left his wife for a one-night stand.’
‘Are you saying that knowledge didn’t in any way inform your own actions?’ he pressed. His tone wasn’t as harsh and condemning as it had been on the day of the memorial. As unyielding as the question was, this time it was powered more by the subtle need for assurance and thin layer of vulnerability than anything else.
But still she drew her hand away before she answered. ‘Think about it, Ramon. We had a one-night stand too and, as you reminded me, we didn’t even like each other much. But would I be here, trying to have another child with you, if I didn’t want this? The doctors reassured me that the likelihood of the congenital heart failure reoccurring was low, but it’s still scary—’
‘Perdón? The what?’ He cut across her, his voice a deadly blade.
Her breath strangled. ‘The baby—’
‘Our baby.’
She nodded jerkily. ‘Our baby was diagnosed with congenital heart disease.’ She frowned. ‘You said you had me investigated. I thought you knew...’
Her words trailed off as his glass dropped onto the table, spreading red wine on the white cloth. ‘Dios mio,’ he muttered through lips gone ashen. He stared at her for an infinite moment, then he jerked to his feet, paced away from the table.
‘Ramon...’
He swerved back around. ‘Tell me what...how...’ He stopped, swallowed.
Pain shook her from scalp to toes. ‘We used protection so I didn’t suspect I was pregnant...for a while. I was still spotting. Anyway, when I eventually had the scan, it showed the defect, I was told the chances of her living through the very risky surgery were appallingly low. I did extensive research. No one could guarantee success.’
‘That’s why you terminated the pregnancy?’
Brokenly, she nodded.
‘So you intended to keep it all along?’ he pressed.
‘Yes. You really didn’t know?’
He exhaled loudly. Then his face contorted in a pained grimace. ‘No. After Luis told me you’d terminated the pregnancy, I didn’t have much room to hear anything else. I admit I didn’t treat the messenger very well. We didn’t speak for a few weeks, and, when we did, we chose not to discuss it further. My investigation was to verify time and dates and your finances, not why you’d terminated...’ He shut his eyes and shook his head. ‘Madre di Dios.’
‘I’m sorry.’
His eyes opened, spearing her with fierce remorse. ‘No, I am the one who is sorry. Lo siento mucho,’ he repeated solemnly in Spanish.
A stone lodged in her throat, and her eyes prickled. Muttering another curse, he came and crouched before her chair, his thumb brushing her tears. ‘This time we will succeed,’ he rasped harshly. Whether it was a command to the cosmos or a plea couched in typical Ramon arrogance, she found herself nodding, adding her own silent prayer to the statement.
He caught her hand, drew her up and walked her to the terrace. His tone subdued, he probed her gently for more information, which she freely gave, finding the sharing of the pain she’d carried for ever a little easier to bear.
An eternity later, they returned to the table. Their dinner dishes had been cleared, and the table was now set with dessert.
Ramon offered her a plate of pastelitos and yemitas. ‘Eat, they’re your favourite,’ he instructed before heaping ice cream onto the side of the dessert bowl.
She stared at the large, mouth-watering dish. ‘You’re trying to fatten me up.’
‘No, I’m trying to get this meal over as quickly as possible so I can drag you to the bedroom and get that damned dress off you,’ he returned gruffly, stormy eyes ablaze with lust and a large dose of regret pinning hers.
He stayed true to his word. Except the dress didn’t survive the inferno of his lust. Suki suspected he’d intended to rip the dress to shreds all along and didn’t mourn the loss for too long. They were too busy mourning, and then reaffirming life.
But as she scooped the ripped material off the floor the next day, her mind tripped back to the night before and the disturbing subject she’d left untouched.
Svetlana. And why Ramon had lied about having broken his engagement with her. Although Luis had informed her without prompting the last time she’d seen him that Ramon and Svetlana were no longer together, the thought that he’d still been with her when he’d slept with Suki had triggered a fresh bout of bitterness.
It still did. Her fingers gripped the tattered material harder as the admission lanced her.
Why?
Because she wanted to be able to trust the father of her child completely? She didn’t doubt that Ramon would be fully committed to his child. Family held a premium place in his priorities. Perhaps even the ultimate.
So why did she need other assurances that didn’t...shouldn’t matter to their agreement? Because her child would one day look up to his father and find him wanting, just as she’d found her father wanting.
Even before she fed herself that answer, Suki knew it wasn’t the complete truth. She wanted to know for herself.
‘I’m one hundred per cent sure that dress is out of commission for ever. Glaring at it quite so intensely isn’t really necessary.’
She whirled around. He stood in the doorway to their—his—suite, the fists he’d thrust into stone-coloured chinos making his well-developed biceps, left visible by his short-sleeved V-necked shirt, bunch in eye-catching glory. A trace of tension stiffened his shoulders, and lingered in his eyes. Clearly, some of last night’s subjects bothered him too.
She dragged her gaze from the spectacular sight he made to the torn dress in her hand. ‘Yes... I was about to dispose of it.’
‘After delivering its last rites?’ he teased.
She shook her head, the alarming direction her thoughts seemed intent on taking preventing any humour from filtering through. ‘No.’
His face turned serious. Striding forward, he caught her chin in his hand and tilted her face up to his. ‘What’s wrong?’
She started to shake her head, unsure of where this conversation would go if she started it.
He stopped her. ‘Tell me, Suki.’ The even tone of his voice didn’t diminish the implacable demand.
‘Why did you lie to me about your engagement being over the night of my birthday?’ she blurted.
His whole body froze, his jaw tightening as his teeth clenched. ‘I didn’t lie to you,’ he bit out after several tense seconds.
Her heart squeezed with disappointment far too acute for her to fool herself into thinking this conversation didn’t have rippling repercussions for her emotional state. ‘What does that mean? Things weren’t over with her though, were they? You didn’t deny that you were photographed together after you and I were...’
‘Together? No, I don’t deny it. And yes, she was still in my life, but we were not engaged.’
Pain she had no right to feel lanced her. But she fought to keep it from showing. ‘That’s just semantics, Ramon. Whether you were engaged or not, you were with her when you were with me. You weren’t just a cheater, you also made me a cheater!’
His head went back at the hot accusation. His hand dropped, leaving her cold, far colder than common sense warranted she should be.
And yet the shiver that went through her was so strong, she rubbed frantic hands up and down her arms as she watched him walk away. When he reached the French doors, he turned around to face her. The look on his face was chillingly forbidding.
‘That day, your birthday... I found out that she was cheating on me.’
Her gasp fell into the wide chasm that had sprung up between them. Whether he heard her or not, she wasn’t sure as he continued.
‘When I confronted her, she swore that it wasn’t true. I didn’t believe her so I ended it.’
‘That’s why you were in such a foul mood that night?’
He scowled at the carpet for a moment. ‘That’s why I jumped to conclusions about you that I shouldn’t have.’
The admission salved a little, but there were gaps she needed filled. ‘Right. Okay...’
‘A few weeks after you, she begged me to give her the benefit of the doubt. I refused. But she had a debut movie coming up and she pleaded with me to maintain appearances until the premiere. Her morals turned out to be questionable but I didn’t see the benefit in ruining her so I agreed. Besides, it also got the press off my back for a while.’
‘So you maintained a relationship just for appearances’ sake?’ Suki wasn’t sure how she felt about that.
He shrugged. ‘We’d been together a year but we both led busy lives and hadn’t seen each other more than a handful of times those last two months. Turning up for a three-hour premiere in exchange for a quiet exit to the relationship seemed like a good bargain.’
She frowned in remembrance. ‘But that wasn’t the end, was it? There were more pictures of the two of you. Even Luis believed you were still together.’ She was aware she was coming across like a rabid stalker who had tracked his every move. But she couldn’t stop the questions that spilled out. Or the need to understand.
‘She tried to get me back after that. She refused to take off the engagement ring and turned up at a few places she knew I would be.’
‘But you sent her packing?’ she asked, with a lot more hope than she knew was wise.
Ramon’s expression didn’t alter, but his silence told her he was weighing his words. ‘She continued to plead her innocence. When she proved an allegation false, I decided to hear her out.’
Because he’d been in love with her.
‘Because you...cared about her?’
A frown twitched between his brows. ‘We were engaged to be married. Of course I cared.’
The hollow sensation in her gut shortened her breath. ‘Then why aren’t you with her now?’
His face twisted in a grimace of deep bitterness and unforgiving reprehension. ‘Because only one of the allegations was untrue,’ he answered in an icy voice.
When the penny dropped, her mouth gaped. ‘She cheated on you with different men?’
His jaw worked for several seconds. ‘Apparently, she was lonely and I wasn’t there for her enough so, yes, she turned to other men while convincing herself that I would be okay with it.’ Impatient fingers charged through his hair, ruffling the jet waves. ‘Are we done with the questioning, Suki? Are you satisfied that I didn’t make a cheater out of you the night we slept together?’ he asked.
Although she managed to convince herself that the part of her that had felt battered and wronged was appeased, the sinking sensation in the pit of her stomach presented an even greater problem.
‘Yes, I’m satisfied,’ she murmured.
He exhaled, his stride steady and assured as he retraced his steps back to her. ‘I came up here to tell you lunch is ready. Teresa has made boliche.’
For the first time since she’d started sampling his housekeeper’s incredible dishes, Suki couldn’t summon the appetite for the delicious Cuban pot roast. She pushed her food around her plate, forcing down bites for the sake of eating rather than enjoyment.
Also for the first time, Ramon didn’t complain, his own thoughts seemingly turned inwards as the meal progressed. When another furtive glance showed his gaze in the middle distance, Suki had to bite her tongue to stop herself from asking what he was thinking of. Who he was thinking of.
The idea that she’d opened a vault of memories for him sat like a heavy weight on her chest. One she could no longer bear by the time their plates were cleared away.
‘Do you mind if I skip dessert? I want to go for a swim in a little while and I’d rather not fall asleep in the pool.’
‘If you wish,’ he said, his usual droll response patently absent.
When he failed to deliver the narrow-eyed warning for her to be careful at the pool, Suki walked away from the table, the weight sitting heavier on her chest.
It stayed with her as she traversed the hallways to the room where the decorators were beginning to re-plaster the walls in readiness to replace the centuries-old carved stone that had been removed. After a short discussion with the foreman, she made her way to her suite.
The light tan she’d acquired gave her the confidence to don the canary-yellow bikini she would normally have avoided as being too eye-catching for her pasty skin. But the way she looked was the last thing on her mind as she stepped out onto the terrace and headed for the pool.
Submerging herself beneath the cool water did nothing to erase the image of Ramon’s face as he spoke of Svetlana. The bitterness. The pain.
Acrid jealousy rose to choke her as his words joined in her torment.
We were engaged to be married. Of course I cared.
Did he still care? Was he still so in love with her it’d stunted his artistic passion?
She burst from beneath the water, her breath coming in pants as she clung to the edge of the pool. What was wrong with her that she couldn’t get off the subject? Who Ramon cared about shouldn’t feature anywhere on her emotional landscape. What she should be giving thanks for was that her integrity hadn’t been compromised.
She hadn’t inadvertently stolen another woman’s man, even if it’d been for a single unforgettable night.
And yet, she continued to cling to the tiles, her mind tripping forward to the nights she would soon not have. To the time when she would be relegated to sleeping alone, should her job of conceiving succeed sooner rather than later.
Deep in her heart, she knew it would be sooner. But the joy of that knowledge was crushed beneath the boulder sitting on her chest.
Ramon emerged from the salon and for a moment the weight lightened. Her gaze met his as he joined her at the poolside, her senses barely registering the kitchen staff who followed a moment later with a tray holding fruit punch.
Ramon too had changed into a lighter T-shirt that hugged his impressive torso and a pair of swim shorts that framed his powerful thighs.
Tall, proud, virile and impossibly handsome.
His gaze obscured by aviator sunglasses, he stretched out on a lounger. She stared, unable to help herself, unable to fathom why the sight of him did such unimaginably crazy things to her. Why, even when he was with her, a part of her mourned the future loss.
How can you mourn something that never truly belonged to you?
Because she was only borrowing for a while, wasn’t she?
Frustration and confusion battling through her, she pushed away from the wall, dived under the water in the vain hope that the exercise would bring her some clarity.
It didn’t.
When she eventually gave up and walked up the shallow steps, he met her at the edge of the pool, wrapping a towel around her before leading her back to the loungers.
He waited until she’d patted herself dry, then poured her a drink. Thirstily, she drank the punch, eyeing him as he grabbed sun protection, squeezed a portion into his palm and tugged her foot into his lap. In silence he massaged the protection over her ankles and up her calves.
Her breath hitched when he slid those sure hands over her thighs, but, although his movements were firm and efficient, his touch didn’t linger.
Fighting the hunger that was never far off when he touched her like this, she took a deep breath. ‘I’m sorry if I brought back memories for you earlier.’
A handful of seconds passed, then he shrugged. ‘No es nada,’ he dismissed. ‘Your peace of mind is more important than my past liaisons.’
‘Is it? I guess we’re making progress, then.’
With the shades obscuring his eyes, she couldn’t tell their expression. But she felt tension bouncing off him as his hands froze on her thigh. ‘Is there something else on your mind, Suki? I thought we were done, but perhaps you wish to air whatever troubles had you clinging so tightly to the pool tiles ten minutes ago?’ His voice was even, but it held the barest hint of a storm that intensified her floundering.
‘You were watching me?’
‘You decided you wanted to swim directly after lunch,’ he replied, as if that explained everything.
‘You know that those theories about cramps from swimming after a meal have been proven groundless, right?’ she snapped.
‘I know that you seem to be spoiling for a fight. Are you?’
The laughter that emerged was dry. ‘I don’t know. Maybe let’s blame the past few hours on crazy hormones.’ Words that were meant to be offhand suddenly grew leaden, dropped like anchors between them.
Ramon went completely still. Suki was sure he’d stopped breathing. ‘To which type of hormones are you referring?’ he asked, that storm powered by a different kind of energy now.
‘Which do you think?’ Her voice was little more than hushed sound, her instincts clamouring.
He reached up and slid off his glasses, as if he wanted no barrier between them when he asked, ‘Are you sure?’ His accent was pronounced; a deep husk throbbing with a maelstrom of emotions.
Suki willed her racing heart to calm. ‘I... I think so.’
He stood and held out his hand in silent command. ‘There’s only one way to find out. Come.’
Her head tilted higher to read his face. ‘Where are we going?’
‘Upstairs. Unless you wish to perform the tests down here?’
Her eyes widened. ‘You bought pregnancy tests?’
‘Sí, of course. A dozen of them when we were in Miami.’
‘But you didn’t say anything...’
His hand extended again impatiently. ‘I was waiting for you. And now you’re wasting time, Suki.’
She slid her hand into his, secretly grateful for the support when she rose on shaky legs.
For a moment, they faced each other, saying nothing as hardly a breath passed between them. Then he was leading her away from the pool, through the salon and down the endless hallways to the grand staircase.
His fingers tightened around hers for a second before he made an impatient sound. The next instant, he swept her into his arms. Her already non-existent breath completely evaporated at the sizzling skin-to-skin contact. But while her senses went into free fall, he was taking the stairs with quick, purposeful strides, barely exerting himself as he carried her into his suite.
In his large, luxuriously appointed bathroom, he set her down on the cushioned vanity seat, pulled open a drawer and scooped out the long, rectangular boxes. With uncharacteristically unsteady movements, he started to rip open the boxes.
Suki stopped him when he reached for the fifth one.
‘I think we have enough.’
He paused, looked as if he wanted to disagree, then gave a tight nod. ‘Do you need anything else?’ he rasped, casting a searching look around the bathroom.
‘N-no. I’m fine.’
Still he hesitated. Finally, he nodded again, and left the bathroom.
Heart in her throat, Suki reached for the first white and blue stick. The handful of kits he’d bought were far superior quality to the ones she’d used previously, but the basics were the same.
An excruciating three minutes later, she had her answer.
She emerged to find him pacing the bedroom in tight circles, one hand clamped on his nape. He spun around immediately.
A vein throbbed at his temple. Eyes ablaze with rabid, expectant light fixed on her. His mouth worked, but no sound emerged.
The equally soul-shaking cocktail of emotions rampaging through her weakened her limbs. Leaning against the door frame, she slowly held up the sticks. ‘I’m... I’m pregnant.’
His hand dropped from his neck, his eyes turning a dark, dark green she was associating with deep emotional upheaval. When after a full minute he said nothing, she nervously licked her lips. ‘Did you hear—?’
‘Sí, querida. I heard you,’ he croaked.
‘And?’ The blend of joy, hope and naked fear in her voice was very easy to discern.
Coming to life again, he ate up the distance between them and cupped her face in his hands. She’d seen a ruthlessly determined Ramon more times than she cared for. The expression that crossed his face was nothing short of a man on a crusade.
‘And this time things will be different. We will succeed this time.’ He repeated the words he’d said last night.
And because she needed that assurance more than she would’ve thought possible, because she wanted to hold on to something...anything that affirmed the belief that things would be different this time, she took a deep breath, and, just like last time, she nodded. ‘Yes.’