Page 24 of Bound By Her Shocking Secret

Daniel followed her out of his study. ‘You won’t be alone, though. I’ve got security standing by in case you wanted to go out.’

Mia looked at Daniel. ‘That’s a bit over the top, isn’t it?’

‘You’re not going without Security and that’s non-negotiable.’

Once again she knew it was futile to argue.

Mia bundled Lexi up in her coat and they went downstairs, where the stroller was waiting with a burly man called Pierre. He said, ‘Don’t worry about where I am. You just go where you want.’

They went out through a back entrance which led into an enchanting landscaped private garden, and then another entrance out to a side street. Mia sucked in the cool autumn air gratefully. They walked out to Rue de Rivoli and across it to the Jardins des Tuileries, another of the city’s most famous and beautiful parks.

Mia let Lexi out in one of the playgrounds and couldn’t stop a smile at her daughter’s carefree joy. Another pang of guilt gripped her, knowing she’d kept this from Daniel.

He could have easily thrown her to the lions today and left her to fend for herself with the press. There were plenty of men who would deny paternity until proved and try to wriggle out of responsibility. But he had stepped up without question. And he’d accepted Lexi on sight—which made her wonder about his sister and what she’d been like.

When Lexi got bored with the swings and slide, Mia took her back to the apartment. There were already a couple of trucks parked outside and delivery men carrying boxes inside.

When she got up to the apartment she saw nothing much changed at first, but then she noticed that the sharp edges of the tables were covered in thick pieces of foam. Also, some smaller tables andobjets d’arthad been removed.

Paul appeared in the doorway and said, ‘Let me show you to your suite of rooms, Ms Forde.’

Mia checked Lexi quickly. She had fallen asleep in the stroller, so she put a blanket over her and left her, having learnt from previous experience to make the most of these snatched moments.

She followed Paul, saying, ‘Please, call me Mia. I don’t stand on ceremony.’

He inclined his head and then led her further into the apartment, down a thickly carpeted hall to a door at the end. When Mia went inside it was hard not to let her jaw drop. There was a massive bedroom with a four-poster bed. An en suite bathroom led to a dressing room. And then, back in the bedroom, Paul opened a door that was cleverly designed to match the wallpaper into a smaller anteroom.

‘Mr Devilliers is suggesting that this could be a good room for the nursery?’

A fluttery bird of panic beat at Mia’s chest. ‘Thank you, but Lexi’s cot can go in the bedroom. We won’t be here for too long, so there’s no point going to all the trouble of setting up a nursery.’

‘As you wish. The cot should be set up within the hour.’

Back in the main part of the apartment Lexi hadn’t moved, still deeply asleep. Mia placed another light blanket over the hood of the stroller, creating a kind of cocoon.

She went over to the window and looked out. Her thoughts flew to the future when, once access arrangements had been made, Lexi would inevitably have a room and a life here of her own, without Mia. It made her feel hollow inside. Because now more than ever she had to come to terms with the fact that those very deeply secret dreams she’d once had of having a happy family would never come true.

She’d allowed herself to fantasise about it with her first boyfriend. He’d told her he respected her. He’d told her he loved her. And she’d been so grief-stricken after her mother’s death, and desperate for connection, that she’d believed in him and his words and she’d projected her fantasy onto a relationship that had been a cruel lie.

It was only after he’d humiliated her and exposed her dreams for the fantasy they were that she’d realised how desperate she’d been to believe in a fairy tale. And that she’d never really loved him.

But she hadn’t realised that bit until she’d met Daniel and—

‘Where’s Lexi?’

Mia whirled around. Her jaw felt tight from thinking of the past. She relaxed it.

She pointed towards the stroller in the corner. ‘She’s asleep...worn out after all the activity.’

‘And you? Are you okay?’

There was a flutter near Mia’s heart. She crushed it. Never more than right now did she need to remember the past and the lessons she’d learnt.

‘I’m fine. I didn’t say thank you for taking us in. I don’t know what we would have done if—’

Daniel waved a hand. ‘It’s nothing. I was hardly going to leave you defenceless. Lexi is my daughter.’ Then he said, ‘There’s something you should know.’

‘What?’

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