Page 55 of Claiming His Baby At The Altar

‘Look, he’s an unforgiving bastard but he’s never been a cheat, and he’s liked you for a long time. Do you really think I’d have encouraged you with him otherwise?’

She remembered when she’d finally plucked up the courage to tell Justin she was pregnant with Alejandro’s child and that Alejandro had cut her off. He’d said nothing, just hung his head in his hands, his devastation obvious. Their marriage had been like a weight off his shoulders. She’d assumed that was because the threat of prison and all the financial burden had been taken care of. Justin had been in such a bad place that she’d taken great pains to hide the blackmail aspect of it and make it sound like marriage to Alejandro was what she wanted too. She hadn’t wanted to add to her brother’s guilt.

‘Are you serious? Did youwantus to get together?’

He suddenly smiled. ‘I’ll be honest with you, Flo. I thought he had no chance with you. Not the way you hated him. But I always knew that if he won you round, he’d look after you. You’re my sister and our mother’s daughter. There was no way he’d have shown an interest if he wasn’t serious about you.’

Flora hugged her knees even more tightly. She desperately wanted to believe Alejandro hadn’t cheated on her. Desperately wanted to believe that history wasn’t repeating itself. But those pictures of him entering Aimee’s apartment...all those fears she’d had before, it turned out they hadn’t gone, had simply been buried under the bliss of what they’d found together and now they had reared back up; her worst nightmare coming viciously to life.

The last two months had been so good between them that it hadn’t even occurred to her to worry about him being in Paris when sheknewthat was where his old mistress lived.

Justin nudged her. ‘Get you a drink?’

She tried to smile and managed a nod.

Her return flight was in two days. She would get home around the same time as Alejandro. She would sit down with him and confront him over the pictures. She knew him well enough that she would know if he was lying to her.

She’d never known him to lie, she thought starkly. Or cheat.

What was she supposed to do if hehadcheated? She couldn’t leave him or he’d launch the prosecution against Justin again, and, while she had enough money saved to form a strong defence for him, there was no way Justin would avoid serving prison time.

If Alejandro hadn’t cheated, she was in no position to demand future fidelity from him, she thought miserably. No position to demandanythingfrom him.

It just went to prove that without Alejandro’s love, their marriage was a house built of sand. One hit of a wave and it would come crashing down.

In the kitchen, she found she’d forgotten to switch the plug on when charging her phone earlier after the battery had drained. She sighed and turned it on, then waited for enough charge to go through it to bring it back to life.

Nausea sloshed in her belly. Had Alejandro finally tried to make contact?

Or would she still be met with a wall of silence from him?

‘Lemonade in your wine?’ Justin asked.

‘Yes, please.’

‘Fancy watching a film?’

Life flickered on the screen of her phone.

She tried another unsuccessful smile. ‘You choose something. I’ll join you in a minute.’

Her screen showed she had twenty-four missed calls, eleven voicemails and eighteen text messages.

She clicked on the call icon and her heart jumped. The last missed call had come from Alejandro. He’d tried calling her seven times. The others were from Camila, a couple of her old English friends and numbers she didn’t recognise. Alejandro was responsible for only one of the text messages, a short,Call me back as soon as you can.

She went into her voicemail. The first three were messages from the soulless journalists who’d upset her baby so much. The fourth was from Alejandro and her heart clattered to hear his deep voice speak her name into her ear. Before she could hear the rest of it, a loud rap on the front door made her jump.

Some sixth sense kicked in and, her blood turning to ice, she knew immediately who the visitor was.

Justin reached the door before Flora had passed the kitchen threshold. He swung it open and instantly stilled.

Alejandro loomed menacingly in the doorway, still in a work suit despite the late hour, a head taller than her brother. His eyes zoomed over Justin’s head and locked onto hers.

Barely a second elapsed before his gaze left her, but the fury in the dark depths was strong enough to land like a punch.

With a withering stare at Justin, he said, ‘I am here to speak to my wife. Your presence is not welcome. Leave.’

Justin darted his gaze to Flora. She swallowed hard then nodded. His presence could only make matters worse.

---