Page 85 of The Billionaire's Demand

His eyes shuttered, concealing his feelings from her. ‘I am simply being honest—which is, in my opinion, an important prerequisite for this.’

‘Fine,’ she agreed, knowing she should have been grateful for his truthfulness, even when it cut her to the quick. It was just such a bald, frank assessment, another dropping of the guillotine on those childish hopes. But she wasn’t stupid enough to put those dreams into Raul’s hands, anyway! So what difference did it make if he was pronouncing they would always be loveless?

‘I presume the same conditions imposed upon me would apply to you as well? If you were to take a lover, it would be with the utmost caution to avoid discovery.’

‘Of course,’ Libby said, rolling her eyes. ‘But you really don’t need to worry about that. I’m not exactly a highly sexed person,’ she said, ‘which makes the irony of this just all the more ridiculous.’

He was quiet. It was the only explanation for why Libby kept speaking, as if nervously filling the void.

‘To think, the first time I have sex with anyone in three years I fall pregnant.’ She groaned. ‘I swear the fates are laughing at us, Raul.’

CHAPTER FIVE

HE TRIED NOT to wonder about that. He definitely didn’t ask. But how could he fail to be curious about why a woman who was so sensual and passionate hadn’t had sex in such a long time?

It was not the most important thing in that moment though, so he pushed it aside.

‘Be that as it may,’ he said with a tone of resignation. ‘Here we are.’

‘Yes, here we are.’ She stared up at him, as if looking for an answer he didn’t know how to give. An assurance. But he was all out of promises. Raul was moving into fresh new territory, and he wasn’t going to pretend otherwise. ‘Which brings me to my next point,’ she said slowly.

‘There’s more?’

Libby rolled her eyes. ‘We’re talking about a marriage. Don’t you think it’s wise to go through more than a couple of details?’

She had a point, but Raul believed they would make it work however they had to. He knew all he needed on that score: they both cared about this child more than they did their own wishes. It was his only concern.

‘What else?’ he prompted.

‘Where we’ll live, for starters.’

‘My headquarters are in New York.’

Her throat shifted as she swallowed. ‘New York?’ she said softly. ‘For real?’

He scanned her features. ‘You don’t like it?’

‘I’ve never been,’ she replied. ‘I’ve never been anywhere. I can’t just move to New York.’

‘Why not? What’s holding you here?’

She looked around.

‘Do you have family? A support network?’

‘I have friends,’ she said, but weakly.

He expelled a breath. ‘We can move back, if you don’t like New York. For now, though, it’s how it has to be. I cannot uproot my business at the drop of a hat and relocate to Sydney.’

‘You mean you don’t want to,’ she said stubbornly.

‘I am prepared to make all sorts of accommodations for this child; I am asking you to meet me halfway.’

‘New York is the other side of the world, that’s not halfway.’ Her expression was belligerent, but he could see she was waning on this point. ‘I don’t even have a passport.’

Raul’s brows flexed as he processed her statement. It was totally antithetical to him—he who travelled at the drop of a hat, drawn to his business interests all over the world. But he could see the vulnerability in her face at having made the admission and didn’t want to exacerbate it.

‘No problem. My assistant will arrange it.’

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