Page 7 of Bound By Her Shocking Secret

When she’d confronted Daniel about it, he’d been dismissive. ‘It’s not anengagement. It’s an ancient agreement that was arranged by my grandfather when he had to borrow money from the Valois family. To be honest, I’d forgotten about it.’

Mia had replied angrily. ‘Well, it seems your intended fiancée hasn’t forgotten.’

She’d thrown the paper down on the floor between them in her apartment, leaving the luminously pretty face of his future wife, dark-eyed and dark-haired, staring up at them impassively.

And at that moment Mia had suddenly thought of something. ‘No wonder you were so happy to go under the radar with our affair—because you knew this was imminent and you didn’t want our relationship to appear in the press right now.’

He’d looked at her, his dark grey gaze narrowing. ‘You were the one who dictated the terms of this affair. You specifically said you didn’t expect any commitment, that you were happy to keep things casual, discreet.’

She had. And it had hit her in that moment that, in spite of her best efforts to protect herself from developing any feelings beyond the physical for this man, she’d failed woefully.

A prickling sense of shame and exposure had made her realise how badly she’d exposed herself. She’d vowed never to fall for a man like Daniel again—rich and privileged—and yet there she was, her heart feeling as if it had been sliced open.

Mia’s attention came back to the present moment when she noticed the car was turning into her quiet street. Daniel had been right that day. She hadn’t wanted anything more. But somewhere along the way she’d forgotten the lessons of her past and had humiliated herself spectacularly.

The car pulled to a stop outside the tall building where she had an apartment on the top floor. She looked at Daniel. ‘I really would prefer if we could arrange another time to meet.’

He looked at her. ‘Tough. I deserve answers, and I’m not going anywhere until I get them.’

CHAPTER TWO

ATMIA’SFRONTdoor she stopped and turned to face Daniel, who was behind her, taking up an inordinate amount of space in the small landing. ‘Can you just give me a minute? I need to make sure Lexi is okay and if she sees you she might get upset... She’s not used to men being in the apartment.’

Mia hated admitting that, but there were more important considerations right now.

She could see the struggle on Daniel’s face. Eventually he said, ‘Five minutes, Mia.’

Mia turned back and opened the door and slipped inside. Simone appeared in the doorway to the bedroom, holding a flushed-looking Lexi. Mia’s heart clenched. She was a mini carbon copy of the man outside the door. Dark curly hair framed a cherubic face and huge grey eyes. But, as Mia was discovering lately, the cherubic exterior could change in a heartbeat to something far less angelic!

‘Mama!’ Lexi held out her arms and Mia scooped her into her chest, murmuring words of comfort while assessing her.

Her friend Simone said, ‘I’m so sorry, Mia, I probably overreacted. But I’ve never seen a baby get sick before and it scared the life out of me.’

Mia sent her a wry smile. ‘Honestly, it’s way better to overreact than do nothing. This little one has given me quite a few scares along the way.’

Mia took Lexi into the bathroom and checked her temperature. A couple of minutes later she let out another sigh of relief. ‘Normal.’

Her friend grinned and chucked Lexi under the chin, making her giggle. ‘You little fiend—you had me all wound up!’

Aware that Daniel was undoubtedly pacing up and down outside her front door, Mia said, ‘Look, thanks, Simone. You should try and make something of your evening while you can.’

Her friend looked at her. ‘You could go back to the party if you want?’

There was a peremptory knock on the door. Her friend frowned. Mia shook her head. ‘I don’t need to go back.’

Mia walked to the door with her, Lexi a sleepy weight in her arms. Her friend gathered her bag and coat and looked at her with a mischievous expression. ‘Did you bring the party home?’

Mia smiled weakly at the thought of Daniel’s grim face. ‘Not quite.’

She opened the door and could see Simone’s eyes widen as she took in the vision of an impatient Daniel Devilliers being made to wait.

Ever the gentleman, though, he greeted her friend. ‘Good evening.’

Mia remembered her manners. ‘Simone, this is Daniel Devilliers. Simone is an old friend of mine. She was kind enough to babysit this evening.’

Her friend was uncharacteristically silent. When Mia looked at her she was staring at Daniel as if she’d never seen a man before, and then she looked at Lexi. And then at Mia, who said hurriedly, ‘Thanks again for tonight.’

Simone left.

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