Page 12 of Consequence of One Reckless Night

“Why were you trying to find me?”

She didn’t like his tone—not one bit. “I...” Her eyes slipped away from his face as she struggled for the right words. “There’s... something I need to tell you.”

He stood still, watching her like a hawk, noticing every move she made—her wandering eyes, her quickened breathing and her wringing hands.

Raquel colored when he raised an eyebrow in question, clearly believing that she was invoking drama by prevaricating, while her struggle was real. Her hands were clammy, and she felt dizzy as blood roared in her ears. It would be a blessed relief if she fainted now, she thought, but it would only delay the inevitable.

“Then tell me.”

“I’m pregnant.”

A deafening silence filled the room as Alexandre stared back at her.

“What did you just say?” he growled, his voice low and menacing, making her blanch.

Yes, her news was shocking but the fury on his face frightened her, and she leaned back against the wall as spots began to dance before her eyes.

Angry eyes nailed her to the wall behind her, and Raquel felt helpless as she watched him transform into a veritable stranger in front of her very eyes—a very angry stranger at that.

Alexandre was too stunned to talk, and neither noticed the person lingering behind the door.

“How do I know it’s mine?”

She flinched as his question ripped into her. Tears sprang from her eyes as her arms wrapped around her waist, as if to protect the life within. It was the very first time she acknowledged the child in her womb.

Since learning about the pregnancy, she’d functioned on autopilot—her only thought had been about locating Alexandre and telling him the news. She hadn’t paused to acknowledge that there was a baby growing inside her.

Thinking of it as a pregnancy had staved off accepting the truth—she was having a baby!

Disbelief and horror rushed across Alexandre’s face, and at that moment Raquel knew that she’d lost the fight even before it began.

****

Alexandre’s blood frozein his veins as the words echoed in his ears.

I’m pregnant.

His immediate response was to question her claim that he had fathered her child. But when she sagged against the wall like a wilted flower, he had his answer. She was telling the truth, but he struggled to believe her.

“I used protection,” he snarled with unrestrained anger.

His lifestyle to an extent was debauched, but he’d always been careful. Not wanting to repeat his father’s mistake, Alexandre was adamant on using protection—always, even when his lovers insisted they were on the pill and were protected.

He didn’t, not even by accident, want to bring a child into this world. No child should have to suffer like he had—unloved and tossed about like unwanted baggage, only remembered when funds ran low, and his mother needed money.

Alexandre still remembered the first time Liza took him to meet his father—Rico. Seeing him, Rico had flown into a rage, accusing Liza of deliberately trying to trap him and extort money from him.

“No,” Alexandre bit out like his father had all those years ago. “It’s not possible.”

Tears sprang from Raquel’s eyes, but he stood firm in his belief. Water works didn’t faze him.

“I was a virgin, Alexandre,” she said, one trembling hand clutching the lapels of her blue dress. “You’re the only man I’ve ever been with. This is your child.” Her hand fell to her belly, shaking as it lay over the place where her child lay.

Something tightened in his chest at that gesture. A previously unknown feeling burst inside him and spread throughout his body. The urge to reach out and touch her belly was so strong that he almost took a step toward her.

But a voice from his past yanked him back. A voice—his father’s—accusing his mother.

“How dare you!” Rico had yelled, stabbing a finger at Liza.

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