Page 62 of The Housekeeper and the Brooding Billionaire

Desperately she tried to gather her composure. She should be used to facing life’s challenges alone. If she had to do that now, so be it.

She was busy fending off anxiety when a sound made her look up. Alessio stood before her, hands deep in his trouser pockets, his face blank of emotion except for the troubled knot on his brow.

‘I beg your pardon, Charlotte.’ His deep voice sounded clipped and unfamiliar. ‘That was not well-done of me. I apologise.’

She cleared her throat. ‘It’s a shock for us both.’ She didn’t want him thinking she’d planned this. ‘I’d never thought of getting pregnant. I’d assumed condoms would be enough.’

‘I understand.’ His mouth lifted at one corner in a mirthless smile. ‘I should have known better, since this happened once before.’ He dragged in a breath so deep his chest heaved. ‘I’m sorry for not protecting you better. I should have thought to suggest backup contraception, but—’ his smile turned wry ‘—I was too busy enjoying myself to think.’

That wasn’t what she’d expected. ‘It’s as much my responsibility is yours.’

She might have been a virgin, but she had a responsibility to take care of her own body. Why hadn’t she sought extra protection? Surely it couldn’t be because she’d wanted... No, that was impossible.

Alessio sank to the ground nearby. Not close enough to touch, Charlotte noticed with a sinking heart. He might accept joint responsibility for the pregnancy, but keeping his distance didn’t bode well. Not for her or the baby.

‘There are things I need to explain.’ His voice was gentle, his expression stark. She understood, as if she hadn’t before, that she wasn’t going to like what he had to say.

‘Go on.’

Alessio watched her push her shoulders back as if preparing for bad news. Her chin angled up and her gaze was clear, yet her arms were still wrapped protectively around her middle. It almost killed him to think of how badly he was about to let her down. His gut grabbed painfully. Because he’d be yet another man, after her father and her fiancé, who’d abused her trust.

The realisation made his tongue stick to the roof of his mouth.

He wanted to be the man she wanted.

A man she could rely on to be there for her and her child. He felt torn in two by that need and the knowledge he could never be that, no matter how much he wished it.

His mouth was full of the dull tang of failure. The sharp ache of regret pierced his chest, and his cramped lungs struggled to draw in enough breath to fuel his words. But he owed Charlotte the truth. Even if it made her hate him more than she was already beginning to.

‘You know Antonia and I married because I accidentally got her pregnant.’

He watched Charlotte’s mouth turn down at his choice of words. To her this was a unique event. For him it was history repeating itself. He shuddered as cold enveloped him.

‘We’d been friends for years, so at least we had that to build on when we married. Like me, she was an only child, but unlike me, she had no relatives. I became her only family. She relied on me.’

Alessio felt his throat tighten and paused. ‘We were living in Rome but came here soon after the wedding.’ Charlotte had said it was a good place to raise a child. But that’s not why they’d moved. ‘She wanted to live quietly, away from the paparazzi and the gossipy social scene. She didn’t want people seeing her.’

‘I’m not surprised. It must be hard having the press snapping photos of you all the time.’

‘There was more to it than that.’ He felt like there was a boulder lodged in his chest. He hadn’t spoken about this with anyone. ‘On a routine medical check, the doctor noticed something wrong and sent her for tests.’

Alessio remembered in minute detail hearing her news. Their lives had transformed from that moment.

‘Antonia was diagnosed with a terminal illness.’ He heard Charlotte’s gasp and made himself continue. ‘She could have had treatment that might have lengthened her life, but she chose not to because she wanted, more than anything, for our baby to have a chance to survive. She was playing a waiting game, hoping and praying she’d live long enough for that.’

There was a rustle of fabric as Charlotte moved towards him. Then, as his eyes met hers, she sank back where she was. He couldn’t cope with anyone’s touch right now. He teetered on a knife-edge of self-control.

‘Oh, Alessio! I’m so sorry.’

He nodded. ‘It wasn’t that she minded the world seeing photos of her pregnant. It was that she didn’t want everyone to see her waste away. She was a proud woman, vivacious and glamorous, and she couldn’t bear the world to see that change. She didn’t want sympathy or attention. She needed privacy. As time went by, she cut off ties with friends, relying more and more on me.’ As if he’d been able to give her what she needed! ‘I promised to look after her and the baby. To do everything possible to protect them.’

He’d promised, but he’d failed abysmally.

‘How appalling for her, and how incredibly difficult for you.’

Alessio’s head jerked up again to meet Charlotte’s sympathetic stare. He wanted to bask in it, take every good thing she offered, all the warmth and tenderness, the understanding and generosity of spirit, and hold them close. But he didn’t deserve that.

‘The doctors believed there was a hope for the baby. In fact, things went so well that I went to Rome overnight on business.’ He paused, remembering. ‘That night she miscarried.’

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