Page 121 of The Billionaire's Demand

Raul had worked long hours before, but now he barely seemed to sleep. When he wasn’t in his office he was in the home gym, running as though a pride of lions was after him. Libby tried to keep busy with the nursery, with online birth classes, with books and movies and workouts of her own—she chose yoga stretches designed for pregnancy—but she was always aware of him. Always aware of his silence, his rejection.

She wanted to be with him, because Raul deserved that. But what about her?

Didn’t she deserve better than this? Could she really live with someone who wouldn’t even try to see what they shared?

On the one hand, Libby was tempted to leave. To run away and go home, tail between her legs, and work out how to do this on her own after all. But always the thought of Raul stopped her. She did love him. It was that simple. So she couldn’t ignore what he needed, even when it ran contrary to her own needs. She had to stay, to show him she was willing to put her money where her mouth was. She meant what she’d said: she wasn’t going anywhere because he was worth loving, even if that hurt her.

In the end, it wasn’t really Libby’s decision though. Four days after Libby had poured out her heart to Raul, he came into the kitchen while she was fixing a light dinner for herself. She had very little appetite but for the sake of the baby tended to have a small bowl of fruit and yoghurt for dinner.

‘This can’t go on.’ It was hardly a promising start to the sentence.

She stopped slicing the tops off strawberries and gave him the full force of her attention.

‘I’ve bought an apartment downstairs. I’ll move out. I’ve organised for a nurse to come and stay in the guest room; you’ll still have around-the-clock care. No climbing ladders,’ he added with a tight smile. ‘I’ll attend medical appointments with you and, naturally, I’ll be at the birth.’ He cleared his throat. ‘Once the baby is born, we’ll work out a solution for co-parenting.’

Libby swayed a little and had to reach out and grip the counter top to stop from falling to the floor.

‘Living in the same building will mean we can both be present in the baby’s life. I know that’s important to both of us.’

Libby’s body seemed to exist in a strange half-life. She felt every organ shutting down; her blood seemed to stop pumping. Every feeling of rejection she’d known in the course of her life seemed to swirl around her all over again. She was unlovable. Unwanted.

‘Oh,’ was all she could say, and it emerged as a strangled, incoherent, breathy sound, garbled by a rush of grief.

Worse than loving Raul and knowing he didn’t return those feelings was being pushed out of his life for good. Sidelined and having his place taken by paid-for medical staff.

Libby had known she would need to fight for this, to get through those stubbornly held barriers of his, but suddenly the fight seemed insurmountable. He had to fight too, just a little bit. Just enough to give her faith she could get through to him. How could she believe that when he was literally walking away from her?

‘You’re not the only one who’s been let down,’ she said quietly, staring at him and doing her best to keep emotion out of her voice and face. ‘You’re not the only one who’s been hurt, rejected, who’s absolutely terrified of what this might mean.’

A muscle jerked in his jaw; he stayed perfectly still.

‘But I’m more afraid of losing you,’ she said simply. ‘I love you, and I want this family to be real.’

‘That’s because it’s your fantasy,’ he said with obvious frustration. ‘You want a family so badly you’ve deluded yourself into seeing something that’s not here.’

She drew in a sharp breath, the charge one that wounded deeply because it could well have been true. Libby knew it wasn’t; she understood the accuracy of her heart’s desires. But she felt that he’d taken her deepest secrets and weaponised them to win his argument.

‘I won’t be responsible for hurting you, Libby. That was never my intention. If I had known what marriage and children meant to you, I might not have suggested this arrangement in the first place; that was my mistake. But I can fix it.’

‘By moving out?’ she asked quietly.

‘Yes.’

‘You think that will make me stop loving you?’

‘It might allow you the necessary perspective to see things as they really are.’

She let out a garbled laugh. ‘That’s ironic,’ she muttered. ‘Given you’re the one who’s blind to the truth, not me.’

His lips clamped together, as if physically biting back whatever he’d been about to say. ‘You have my number. Call me if you need anything.’

Libby stared at him, reality sinking in. ‘You’re seriously leaving?’

‘I’ll have someone come to collect my clothes later today.’

Libby’s eyes swept shut. The pain was immense, but she refused to let him see it. She was too proud, but also, she didn’t want to burden him with it.

‘Okay,’ she said quietly, stoically. ‘If that’s what you want.’

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