Page 34 of The Return of Her Billionaire Husband

‘I know all that but it’s not enough.’ Her slim shoulders went back as if she was drawing on some inner strength to get her point across. ‘I want a family, Joe. I want to be a mother so badly. I can’t guarantee it will happen, especially given what happened last time, but I still want to try.’

The punching panic in his chest was at a manic stage, like a boxer going for the knockout blow. Desperate to get out of the ring no matter what.

‘Look, children obviously are an important part of many people’s lives. But we’ve been down this road and it nearly destroyed us. Why not quit while we’re ahead? We can have a great life. Travel to anywhere at any time and never want for anything.’

Her eyes dulled, her expression faded, her throat tightened over a swallow. ‘You never wanted her, did you? You never wanted a baby in the first place. That’s why you don’t want another one now. It’s not part of your life plan. It never has been.’

‘That’s not true. I wanted our child as much as you did—’

‘Tell me honestly. Do you ever want another child?’

The silence clawed at his guts, tore at his heart like talons.

‘I’m not sure I can answer that.’ He finally found his voice.

Her grey-blue eyes became glacial ponds, her expression hardening like a hoar frost. ‘I think I get it now. Sorry for being so slow on the uptake.’ Her tone chilled the temperature in the room to an arctic level. ‘The problem as I see it is you don’t want to have a baby with me. I’m the problem.’ She batted her hand against her chest for emphasis. ‘It’s me.’

‘That’s not true,’ Joe said, scrambling for a way out of this wretched conversation. He was in quicksand and sinking. He could feel it dragging him down, down, down. He had seen whole buildings crumple and disappear into sinkholes. Could there be a bigger, blacker pit of despair for him to fall in? To lose her again? Not once, but twice?

But...another baby?

No. No. No. He couldn’t go through it again.

Her spine straightened, her gaze determined. ‘If you don’t want to be the father of my child, then it’s time for us to say goodbye.’

No! The word was a silent scream inside his head. A siren of blind panic. A high-pitched screech of fear that made his blood run cold. But, rather than voice it out loud, Joe curled his lip instead, determined not to show how undone he really was. He would climb out of that damn sinkhole and take control. He had to. He’d done it before. He would do it again.

‘Blackmail doesn’t suit you, Juliette. And you should know by now, I’m not the sort of man to respond to it.’

Her small neat chin came up and her eyes glittered with defiance. ‘Then we are at an impasse.’

‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ he began.

‘I’m not being ridiculous—I’m being realistic,’ Juliette said. ‘What would be the point in continuing our marriage if one of us isn’t getting what we want? Who never gets what they want? I’d end up resenting you. Hating you for denying me the family I want so much.’

Joe strode over to her but refrained from touching her. If he touched her, he would agree to anything. He couldn’t risk it. He needed time to process what she was demanding. It was too much for him to handle when they had only been back together a matter of days.

‘There’s always compromise in relationships,’ he said, shocked at how calm and collected he sounded when on the inside he was collapsing like a badly constructed office tower. The very foundation of his being was under threat. He was teetering over an abyss of uncertainty, dread, uncontrollable danger.

Juliette met his gaze with a level stare. ‘I know all about compromise. I’m the one who made all the adjustments, fitting into your life when we first got married. But I’m not prepared to compromise on this. It’s not fair to ask me to. If you loved me, you would understand how important this is for me.’

‘Then maybe I don’t love you.’

One side of Joe’s brain was shouting, What are you saying? The other was saying, You’re safe, for now.

She flinched as if he had slapped her and, right at that moment, he had never hated himself more. But wasn’t it better this way? He had always known on a cellular level he would not be enough for her. He wasn’t good for her. He had all but destroyed her life by getting involved with her in the first place.

The blame for so much suffering was at his door.

‘Then I think that’s all that needs to be said.’ Her voice was almost as calm and indifferent as his but he could see how much he had disappointed her. It was in every nuance of her face—the tight lips, the creased brow, the dullness of her grey-blue gaze as if a light had been turned off inside her. ‘I won’t be returning to Italy with you this afternoon. I’ll fly straight home to London.’

Home to London.

The words were vicious hammer blows to his heart. But he had no way of defending himself without bringing more pain and uncertainty into both of their lives.

Juliette turned away and began packing her things into her weekend bag.

Stop her. Stop her. Stop her. Tell her the truth. Tell her how you feel about her. Don’t let her leave like this.

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