Page 55 of His Wedding Day Revenge

‘It’s a public holiday here this weekend and the main entrance to the office is around the other side of the building. There are not so many staff. It’s just a small hub specialising in...’ He paused and spared her the techno speak before adding simply, ‘Mostly it is IT-based here, and my office. The pool and gym in the basement are open to the staff, but feel free.’

‘I really don’t think I’ll have the time.’ Or the inclination. She took a deep breath. ‘I doubt I will be here long enough. As soon as Mattie is able, we will—’ Then, because he might think that she was including him in the ‘we’, she added quickly, ‘Me and Mattie?’ Hearing the question mark in her voice, she flushed and, seeing his perceptive appraisal, wished the words unsaid.

It wasn’t that she would ever give his proposal of staying serious consideration, which was just as well because, from his expression, he wasn’t going to make the offer again.

Probably thinking he’d had a lucky escape. Last night must have brought home that she and Mattie were a package deal and, as great as he was with Mattie, the baby was not his responsibility.

One day he’d have his own children.

‘Me and Mattie. I think we might go directly home from here. I’ll have already missed some of the course and it seems pointless—’

His strong jaw quivered as his dark glance slid from the baby to her. ‘We will discuss things later.’ The situation had necessitated a delay in confronting Jane, but there had been no lessening of his need to demand answers. He had spent a sleepless night with his stepmother’s spiteful words pounding inside his skull like a jackhammer.

The careful placement of his words, the undercurrent in his voice, brought her head around to face him. She blinked, confused by the explosive tension pouring off him in waves, and turned back to the task in hand.

‘Let me do that,’ he interrupted, watching her struggle with the anchoring straps on the unfamiliar baby chair. Mattie, who had dozed off, carried on sleeping.

Jane eased herself out, taking care not to hit her head in the car built for looks and speed rather than its family-friendly qualities.

Draco did not hit his head and the car seat came away in two deft clicks and snaps.

Walking into the building’s spacious entrance hall, he ignored a wide marble staircase and led her straight to a lift that whooshed upwards.

Inside the apartment was the same mix of ancient and modern, eclectic contemporary pieces set against old stone and wooden panelling.

‘I thought you’d like Mattie to sleep with you tonight.’

Jane wanted to ask if he would be sharing her room, but she didn’t. The tension she had sensed earlier was even stronger in him now.

Draco couldn’t wait any longer. ‘I know.’

She blinked, met his hard dark eyes that glimmered like obsidian pools and it hit. He had overheard her conversation with Marco when she had told the doctor that she couldn’t have children.

‘Oh, I know I should have told you but I knew how you’d react.’

He just couldn’t believe what he was hearing. ‘So you knew how I’d react.’

‘I suppose that some men might not mind, but I knew how badly you wanted a family, Draco, and at the wedding I knew I just couldn’t do that to you.’

As a shaft of anger pierced him like a blade the faint white line around his sensually sculpted lips grew more defined. The idea that she had been carrying his child and known it, concealed it from him... It was almost as if he were standing outside his outrage. To embrace it would mean a loss of control, acknowledging a pain that he might never move beyond.

CHAPTER TWELVE

‘YOUKNEWYOUwere pregnant at the wedding.’ It sounded so calm, so civilised, so careful. It was only careful to preserve the illusion that what he was feeling could be considered logically.

She felt utter confusion when he raked her with a cold stare.

‘P-pregnant?’ she stuttered out. ‘What are you talking about...?’ She suddenly realised to her horror that they were talking at cross purposes. ‘No, that’s not right...’ She lifted her hands in silent appeal but saw her words had no effect on him. ‘That wasn’t how it was, Draco, just calm down and listen to me. I can explain.’ Explain that she had wanted to guard her secret. She’d fooled herself that it had been to protect him but wasn’t his anger justified? She had been protecting herself, like a wounded animal seeking a quiet corner to lick her wounds.

‘It is a bit too late to lie now. My stepmother was at the same abortion clinic as you. She remembers you well. So don’t try and deny it!’

Never forget a face.

The woman’s comment came back to Jane.

Like cracking a safe, the clicks in her head continued until the truth of what he was thinking, of what he thought of her, was revealed.

The irony of what he imagined the truth to be was not lost on her as her horrified despair became fury at the flick of a switch.

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