That evening Jane tried to relax. It was impossible. Her whole body felt as though it had received an injection of some vital life force energy. When she had got back to the flat she’d changed into tracksuit bottoms and an old baggy sweatshirt.
Xavier was in the country, and as long as he was she couldn’t rest easy. She hoped that he would just leave her alone. Let her get on with things.
The doorbell rang.
It couldn’t be … could it? She went towards the door, her hands balled into fists, opening it warily.
‘Dominic.’ She breathed a sigh of relief, but also felt a stab of disappointment. Lisa’s brother stood on the doorstep. She hadn’t seen him since she’d got back, had avoided his persistent calls.
‘Come in … what are you doing here?’ She ushered him into the sitting room.
He was shy, as usual, not really able to meet her eye. ‘Look, I won’t beat around the bush … Lisa told me about your … being pregnant.’
A blush stained his freckled cheeks, and Jane’s heart went out to him, but she didn’t interrupt.
‘The thing is, Jane … well, you know how I feel about you.
I came to say that I’m here if you need someone to lean on. That is, if you’d have me, I’d marry you.’
A lump came into her throat. ‘Oh, Dominic … that’s so sweet. I’m very flattered that you would offer to marry me, but the truth is—’
The doorbell rang again. Jane muttered an apology and went to open it.
Xavier.
Standing on the doorstep, crowding the small doorway.
The breath was driven from her lungs and her body reacted spectacularly, a million miles away from what her head was trying to impose on it. She felt a tremor start in her legs.
She had completely forgotten about Dominic until she heard him behind her. ‘Janey, love, are you all right? Do you know this man?’
She came out of her reverie.
‘Yes.’
She let Xavier pass her to come into the small hall, feeling a hysterical giggle bubbling up from somewhere deep in her belly.
‘Dominic, this is Xavier Salgado-Lézille. Xavier, this is Dominic Miller—an old friend of mine.’
The men looked at each other with deep suspicion. Jane knew she had to put Dominic out of his misery. She threw a quelling look at Xavier and showed him into the sitting room, shutting the door behind him.
Leading Dominic away from the door, she said, ‘Xavier is my baby’s father … and it wouldn’t be fair to take you up on your offer because …’ her voice gentled ‘… I’m not in love with you.’
‘Are you in love with him?’
She nodded her head mutely.
‘Is he in love with you?’
She shook her head. ‘But he will take care of me and the baby if I so wish. I know that. You don’t have to worry about me.’
She pressed a kiss to his cheek, making him colour again.
‘Are you sure you’re OK …? I can stay if you want.’
Jane shook her head, ignoring her rapid pulse. Dominic was no match for Xavier.
She let him out, the difference in the two men comical as they passed in the hallway. At the sitting room door took a deep breath before going in.
Xavier was pacing the small room, dwarfing it with his size and presence.
‘Who was that?’
She bristled at the proprietorial tone in his voice, hating the effect he was having on her.
‘He’s my best friend’s brother.’
‘What did he want?’
‘It’s none of your business what he wanted.’ She sat down to disguise the trembling in her legs, then contradicted herself, saying disbelievingly, ‘As a matter of fact, he asked me to marry him.’
‘Did you say yes … Janey, love?’ Xavier’s voice was sharp.
She looked up. His face was shuttered, his eyes giving nothing away. Her heart twisted at the mocking way he repeated Dominic’s friendly endearment.
‘What’s it to you? I can marry whoever I want.’
He hauled her up against his chest so quickly that she didn’t have time to protest before his mouth descended and his lips found hers. After a second of shock she was like someone dying of thirst who had found water in the desert. With a small whimper she wrapped her arms around his neck, and their tongues collided in a heated feverish dance.
Time stood still.
She was home.
Then he thrust her away from him.
‘That’s why it’s my business. You’re carrying my baby—and don’t tell me you react like that with everyone.’
Shocked blue eyes clashed with blistering green.
‘That’s why, if you marry anyone, it’ll be me. No one else. Our baby deserves to be brought up within a marriage. He is going to be my heir, and as such will be afforded the necessary ceremony for his inheritance.’
The shock of what he was suggesting rendered her speechless for a moment.
‘I will not marry you just for the sake of an heir. Don’t be so ridiculous … It would be a sham … and anyway it could be a girl,’ she pointed out somewhat pedantically.
He threw off his overcoat and jacket, loosening his tie. He was like a panther in a confined space. Hands on hips.
‘Boy or girl … You would deny our child—possibly the only child I may ever have—its inheritance?’
Jane gasped. ‘Are you threatening me? That if I don’t marry you then you will effectively deny its existence?’
‘It won’t be up to me … Before my father died he added a codicil to his will stating that should I have any children outside marriage they wouldn’t be entitled to anything. It was his way of ensuring the line would continue in our family’s name, ensuring that the island stays in the family.’ He shrugged. ‘He was very conservative, and there’s no way around it.’
She had a sudden memory of the numerous pictures of Xavier with countless women in the press, and words tumbled out, barely coherent to her muddled brain.
‘You’ve had to check that out already? Maybe you have other children dotted around the world—Milan, Paris—?’
He took her by the shoulders. ‘No, I don’t. I don’t make a habit of jumping in and out of bed with countless partners, and I always make sure I’m protected…. Just with you … with you something happened.’
His hands were biting into her shoulders. Something had happened, all right, and she could see how much he hated to admit it. It was in every strained line in his face. He had been taken over by the lust of the moment, whereas she had been taken over by much, much more. She could remember all too well what had happened. She had let good sense out and madness in. She tried to avoid his probing gaze.
‘OK … maybe you don’t, but what you’re suggesting is positively medieval. Surely in this day and age—’
‘Did