Page 27 of Pregnant and Stolen by the Tycoon

The power of that word was...indescribable.

Her hand trailed to her stomach. He followed the movement, his face clenching as he exhaled.

‘Dear God, I didnotjust swoon like a pathetic Victorian maiden,’ she muttered.

He heard her, of course. He was attuned to her in a way that should’ve been uncanny, and yet, the more exposed she was to it, the more she accepted it.

‘Let’s blame it on turbulence,’ he rasped. His face remained grave but she had the absurd urge to laugh. A broken sound escaped before she could stop it.

His eyes latched onto her throat, as if he yearned to hear it again.

Shaking her head, she reached for the covers, ready to throw them off.

‘Stay.’

It wasn’t an arrogant command like before; nevertheless it was a directive that made her bristle. She needed solitude to properly absorb the news. To talk herself through this trepidation so she could make careful plans for her baby. ‘Haven’t we achieved the objective of all of this?’

He rested his elbows on his knees, subtly blocking her exit from this side of the bed. ‘We’ve merely verified the foundation on which we stand.’

‘What does that mean?’

He didn’t answer. Instead, he reached for a sleek little gadget on the bedside table. She watched him press the button labelled ‘cockpit’ with growing alarm.

The crisp voice answered, echoing in the room. ‘Yes, sir?’

‘Flight option one, please,’ Seve responded.

‘Of course, Mr Valente.’

He released the button, then eyed her in a way that made the hairs on her nape stand up.

‘Flight option one?’ Even as she repeated it, Genie suspected she wouldn’t like what it meant. ‘For your sake I hope that means you’re delivering me to my original destination.’

One corner of his mouth lifted but there was no humour in the motion. ‘I’m sorry to disappoint you, but no. We flew over Norway about half an hour ago.’

‘Then turn back!’

The tic in his jaw gave her his answer even before he said, ‘No. You’re carrying my child. That changes things.’

‘What things—?’ The question snagged in her throat as the aircraft banked with a definite course adjustment that made her heart lurch. ‘Why is your pilot changing course? Where are we going?’

He rose from the bed, and she noticed the pregnancy test was still in his hand. He stared down at it for a long moment, his chest rising and falling in heavy breathing. Then he speared her with ferocious eyes, his stance giving no quarter as he answered. ‘We’re going to Cardosia. Where my child will be born.’

Several thoughts charged through her brain as she stared at him.

The primary one was thatthiswas why she didn’t like human interaction. Because half of the time she wasn’t sure whether they were the faulty creatures, orshewas missing vital clues of fairness and decency.

‘You’re quite insane if you think I’m going anywhere with you, never mind staying for the better part of a year.’

Her scathing response didn’t faze him one iota. ‘As far as I know, insanity doesn’t run in my family. Which is why I can assure you with one hundred per cent certainty that that’s exactly what is going to happen.’

She swallowed the unhelpful panic scrabbling at her throat. ‘Enlighten me, please. Is this usual behaviour for men like you?’

‘I don’t speak for other men, nor do I care how the general male population feel about anything. You’re my main concern. And you, Genie Merchant, are in the unique position of being the only woman who has affected me enough for me to lose my head in bed. Just as you are the unique woman carrying my child.’

Her nails dug into the covers, seeking an anchor in this mad tempest. ‘Ourchild. If you must make proprietary assertions, have the decency to include me.’

‘Perhaps I do so because I suspect that if you had your way, you would put the distance of half a world between me and what’s mine.’

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