Squeezing her eyes shut, Raquel cried, “This isn’t what I wanted for myself, Ana. Not a wedding like this, and certainly not a husband like Alexandre!”
“Oh, Raquel!” Ana exclaimed—aghast. “I thought you liked the man.”
She shook her head though her heart screamed ‘yes’. She more than liked him and that terrified her. She remembered thinking on that fateful night that under the right circumstances she could fall in love with Alexandre. But now she feared that she was truly beginning to fall for him.
Hadn’t she begun to put his needs and wants before hers? Hadn’t she agreed to a marriage becausehe’dwanted to protect their child and offer it legitimacy while she hadn’t even entertained such a thought? And had she not begun to feel more than lust for him?
“Liking someone isn’t foundation enough for a marriage, Ana!”
Ana clucked her tongue. “I know this isn’t a love match, but don’t you feel more for Alexandre? I feel mutual attraction isn’t the only thing you both feel for each other. You clearly care about one another and this child, if not, you wouldn’t have decided to marry, yes?”
Wringing her hands, Raquel stood up. She paced the room as her heart raced. How was she going to explain to Ana that this marriage was no longer about lust and providing legitimacy for her child? It had become more. Her heart was getting involved and—it terrified her.
“Oh, Ana!” she cried. “I can’t marry Alexandre!”
Getting to her feet, Ana grabbed her arm. “Look, I know a lot has happened in the span of a few days and the pregnancy hormones certainly don’t help...”
“It’s not the hormones!” Her shriek had Ana jumping back from her. “I can’t marry him, Ana. I... I’m afraid...”
“What are you afraid of?”
“I’m afraid of falling in love with a man who will never love me back.”
Chapter Seventeen
Alexandre stood nextto the altar waiting for his bride, who he feared wouldn’t turn up. Sliding one finger under the collar of his shirt, he wished he could get rid of the monkey suit.
The chapel was near empty, and he summarily dismissed the twinge of disappointment he experienced.
This wasn’t a wedding befitting a man of his standing.
Alexandre Monteiro—eminent businessman—should have married in a cathedral packed with hundreds of friends and business associates. Family wouldn’t have attended his wedding, because the Monteiros didn’t think of him as one of their own, and he had no family left on his mother’s side. But he would have poured money into the event—making it an affair people would have talked about for months after.
His one negligent act had resulted in this hasty wedding with poor attendance. Although, it didn’t matter to him that the chapel was small or that the only people attending his wedding were his household staff, what rankled him most was the fact that he was marrying a woman who didn’t want him.
Raquel and Anabela hadn’t seen him standing outside the bedroom as the sisters had sat talking to each other. He hadn’t intended on eavesdropping—he’d only hoped to introduce himself to Raquel’s sister whom he hadn’t met in person. But as he stood at the door, intent on announcing his presence, he’d heard his fiancée’s desperate cry.