Lucas’ expressive mouth quirked in receipt of her innocent comment. ‘Having both parents never felt lucky to me. Logan married my mother, who was a very spoiled Greek heiress, primarily for her money.’Layla gazed back at him in shock. "That’s an awful thing to accuse your father of!"But regretfully true. Although he married my mother, he was actually in love with a waitress called Athena. He set Athena up as a mistress, and she became pregnant with William only a few months after my mother conceived me, "he confided grimly. ' Eventually, my mother found out that she wasn’t the only woman in her husband’s life.I must’ve been about six by then. I still remember her screaming, sobbing, and throwing things, and the drama went on for days. Logan duly promised to give up Athena, and we lived in peace for a while. But of course, my father was lying, and the truth came out again. That same destructive pattern just kept on repeating and repeating—’"That must’ve been devastating for your mo
"Bite the bullet, Lucas," Layla advised in amusement. "This is a very romantic setting."Lucas stiffened, but looking away from Layla at that moment wasn’t an option; she looked so irresistibly appealing. She had taken her hair down during the flight, and the brilliantly colourful strands tumbled luxuriantly round her slim shoulders, glinting like her metallic dress in the sunlight coming through the windows.He moved forward, stepped behind her and ran down her zip, peeling the fabric back slowly from her shoulders while planting a kiss on the pale flesh he exposed.Layla held her breath, watching their reflections merge in a tall mirror with the faint blurry quality of antique glass. As he bent over her, the brush of his lips made her shiver. His hair was so black against hers, his hand so dark against her white shoulder. The dress slid down her arms and then dropped into a pool at her feet."My turn to say wow," Lucas growled, flipping her round to take in the full effect of her cu
A couple of hours later, they lay naked in a tangle of fur throws in front of the gas-fired logs in the massive fireplace in the main drawing room. As night fell, they had become hungry and had raided the fridge to savour the delicacies prepared by Josefina, the housekeeper, who had gone home hours earlier."I thought pregnant women suffered a lot from nausea," Lucas said abruptly. But you still have a good appetite.’‘I haven’t felt sick once,’ Layla admitted. ‘A little dizzy a couple of times, but that’s all.’"I’ve signed you up to see one of the local doctors while we’re here.""That’s unnecessary this early in my pregnancy."Lucas gave her a warning glance. "Humour me. I have a very strong need to know that I’m looking after you properly.’But Layla was worried that if she gave an inch, Lucas would take a mile. She wondered if he had taken the same managing and controlling attitude to Beverly and asked.Lucas leaned back on his hands, the hard muscular lines of his chest and stom
Temper hurtled through Layla like a rejuvenating blast of oxygen. You mean you wouldn’t have done it?Of course I wouldn’t have done it. I’m not an unjust man. Your uncle gave you a home when you needed one, and I respect him for that because I doubt very much that he received much support from your aunt.’ Lucas studied her. But from certain things you have let slip quite without meaning to, I think your aunt should be burnt at the stake as a witch...and possibly your cousin with her.’That cool rundown of her upbringing snuffed out Layla’s annoyance as though it had never been and provoked an involuntary laugh from her lips. ‘Oh...dear.’But in one sense, you have done me a favour. Your position in your uncle’s family closely resembled William’s when my half-brother and I were children, and that has enabled me to see that William was often excluded, set apart from my parents and I by his birth and parentage and made to feel like an outsider, "he imparted grimly. It was wrong when tha
She was moved from the limo into the small hospital in a wheelchair and taken to a small side ward. Somewhere in the background, she could hear Lucas talking in low-pitched urgent Italian and thought numbly of how useful his gift with languages could be.A few minutes later, she was moved yet again, and this time she was transferred to a room where there were no other patients. Lucas helped her into bed, and the fraught silence between them worked on Layla’s nerves until a radiographer entered with a portable scanner.Layla lay still while the gelled probe moved back and forth over her tummy, her attention locked to the small screen, her hopes and dreams slowly dying as what she prayed for failed to appear. The operator excused herself and reappeared some minutes later with a doctor, who spoke English.He broke the news that the machine had failed to detect the baby’s heartbeat but that the procedure would be repeated the following day to ensure that there was no mistake."I don’t see
Lucas lost colour, the exotic slant of his cheekbones pronounced. There was a lurch in the region of his gut, as though he had been punched. He didn’t want to be free. Naturally, he had gotten used to being married, and he was content to stay married and eventually try for another baby.Layla suited him. He didn’t know how she did it or why she was so important to him, but she matched him in all the ways that mattered. Indeed, he had become so accustomed to Layla being around that he could not imagine his life without her.Obviously, he was more of a creature of habit and routine than he had ever appreciated, because within a short time, Layla had become astonishingly necessary to his comfort."And what if I don’t want to be free?" He grated, soft and low.Layla told him with astonishing conviction, "If that’s what you think you feel right now, you’re lying to yourself." And why are you lying to yourself? because you feel sorry for me and you think it’s your job to look after me.You
Unfortunately, her prejudice against her father for the way she believed he had treated her late mother had ensured that Layla had not had a very high opinion of men, even to begin with.And how much had Lucas’ own behaviour since their first meeting contributed to her continuing distrust? The casual one-night stand? The engagement he had neglected to mention? The blackmail he had used to persuade her to marry him? His conduct has been less than stellar.But Lucas had always had a can-do approach to problems. Layla wanted him to love her. He could lie and tell her he loved her. Was he willing to do anything to keep her? Lucas winced, shocked by the concept.What had she done to his brain? His brain clearly wasn’t working properly. Shock and sorrow had temporarily deranged his wits because, for the first time since childhood, he felt helpless and almost panicky.It felt wrong not to be with Layla, although maybe she genuinely needed time alone to deal with what had happened. He couldn’
Five days later, Layla sat out on the terrace below the twining vines that were slowly changing to autumnal shades and dropping their leaves. She had thrown up before she made it down to breakfast, and her breasts were painfully sensitive.It was as if every possible side effect of pregnancy was suddenly kicking in all at once. She had gone for her blood tests with Dr. Silvano and he had reassured her that the results were normal.Her nerves, though, were all over the place because Lucas was due back that very evening and she was stressed out at the thought of seeing him again because he had been so polite and distant when he phoned. In addition, he had mentioned dining withBeverly, who was also in London, and Layla had had to battle an innate streak of jealousy and tell herself that she was relaxed about his friendship with his former fiancée. But even so, Layla feared comparisons being made and knew it would always hurt that Lucas should believe that Beverly would have made him the