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Di CESARE PREGNANT MISTRESS - Chapter 39
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She glanced at him fleetingly and then quickly looked away, her heart hammering painfully in her chest.
‘There is a reason why I’m here.’ She wished he would say something, rather than continue to stare at her dispassionately, and she wondered if his eyes had ever really been warm during the weeks that they had been lovers, or if she had imagined it. There was no easy way to say what she had to say, and in the end she just said it. ‘I’m pregnant.’
‘Ah.’ Alexander leaned back in his chair and put the tips of his fingers together. ‘Of course you are. Why didn’t I think you would come up with something like this?’
His sardonic smile stirred her temper. ‘I haven’t come up with anything. I’m simply here to tell you that I am carrying your child,’ she snapped. ‘And before you say another word, yes, it’s yours—no question. Although actually I really don’t care if you believe me.’
Tears burned her eyes. His reaction was pretty much as she had expected, so why did she feel as though he had knifed her in the ribs? She remembered her ex-husband’s fury less than a year into their marriage, when she had told him she was pregnant—his disbelief followed by his angry accusations that it was her fault and she must have deliberately missed her contraceptive pill. She had been devastated by Fabian’s reaction, and distraught at his hints that it was still early days and she didn’t have to continue with the pregnancy. She wondered if Alexander was about to make the same suggestion, and a cold slab of anger settled in her chest. He might not want their baby but she did, and she would love and protect the fragile life within her.
Alexander stared at her as if he was determined to see inside her head. ‘Forgive me for sounding suspicious, bella,’ he said softly, ‘but I understand that you attempted to persuade your husband to stay with you by telling him you were pregnant.
It didn’t work then, and I can assure you that if your announcement that you are carrying my child is a ploy to restart our relationship it’s not going to work now either.’
It was amazing how much pain the human body could withstand, Stephanie mused, feeling strangely detached from herself. She even managed to give Alexander a cool smile as she stood up. ‘Right—I’ve done my duty and told you,’ she said briskly, picking up her handbag and heading for the door. ‘Your reaction is entirely as I predicted, Alexander. I knew you would want nothing to do with your child, and that suits me fine…because I really don’t want anything to do with you. Goodbye.’
Her hand was on the doorknob. She was actually going to walk out. Alexander’s eyes narrowed. Was she playing another game and gambling on him calling her back? Or was she telling the truth about the pregnancy?
‘You’ve had your pregnancy confirmed I assume?’ he growled, his tension rising when she opened the door.
She paused fractionally, her foot over the threshold. ‘Yes.’
‘How far?’
‘Twelve weeks.’ Stephanie’s pride insisted that she should walk through the door and keep on walking, but she could not resist looking at him one last time.
Alexander’s black brows were drawn into a slashing frown as he made a mental calculation. ‘The night of the storm,’ he said harshly. ‘But if you’ve known all the time, why did you leave the Villa? And why wait until now to tell me?’
‘I didn’t know then. I had an unusually light period a couple of weeks after that night and I assumed everything was all right.’ She flushed, embarrassed at having to explain the technicalities. ‘I only found out a week ago, and I was shocked when the scan showed my pregnancy was so well established. I could have told you the moment I found out, but— she gave a faint shrug to hide the bolt of pain that shot through her ‘—there is a higher risk of miscarriage in the first three months of pregnancy, and I decided to wait until I was sure I had something to tell you.’
Her voice shook, and Alexander glanced at her speculatively. She looked small and vulnerable, and he had to fight the urge to take her in his arms and simply hold her. His shock at her stark announcement was slowly receding, and he was certain now that she wasn’t lying. She really was expecting his baby. He stared at her, searching for signs of pregnancy. Concealed beneath the folds of that thick woollen coat was a tiny spark of humanity—his son or daughter—and he was shocked by the feeling of possessive pride that surged through him
He had assumed that he would one day have children, although he had never visualised actually settling down and spending his life with one woman. He had taken scrupulous care to prevent any of his mistresses claiming that they had conceived his child. He was cynical enough to realise that many women would consider nine months of pregnancy a small price to pay to secure a regular maintenance agreement from a billionaire—certainly enough to employ a full-time nanny to care for the resulting offspring.
The news that Stephanie was pregnant with his child had initially angered him. How could he have been so stupid as to fall into the age-old trap? But honesty forced him admit that it had been his mistake. On the night of the storm his hunger for her had been so urgent that he hadn’t even thought about contraception. It was ironic that the first and only time he had ever had unprotected sex he had given Stephanie a child, he thought grimly. But, despite what she thought, he had no intention of shrinking his duty.
‘Don’t look so shattered, Alexander.’ Her voice mocked him.
’I don’t want anything from you—certainly not your money.’ She said bitterly. ‘I have no expectations that you’ll want a relationship with this baby, but there will come a time when our child will ask questions about his or her father, and I won’t lie.