Page 11 of Bound By Her Shocking Secret

Mia had blushed and said, ‘We did...but the last few times...maybe we weren’t as careful as usual...’

And his conscience had stung, because she’d been right. As zealous as he usually was about protection, the heat between him and Mia had been growing, not diminishing, and there had been moments when passion had overcome the need to be cautious.

Daniel looked at Mia now, disentangling the past from the present. He knew he owed her an explanation for why he’d behaved so coldly that day—the day she’d come to tell him of the pregnancy, only to then, a short time later, double over with pain in his office, which had precipitated a dash to the hospital and the subsequent miscarriage.

He’d found out about the pregnancy and lost it within hours.

He’d tried to explain at the hospital that day, but it had been too late. She hadn’t wanted to hear and he hadn’t blamed her.

‘The reason I wasn’t...receptive to the idea of a baby was because I’d never had any intention of having children. A family...’ His voice felt rusty from the weight of past memories.

Mia unfolded her arms. She frowned. ‘But what about the business? If you don’t have children, what happens to Devilliers?’

‘Things have changed. The brand name will exist whether it’s in the family or not.’

‘You would let the business go?’

‘No, I would ensure that the brand lives on no matter what, whether that’s through a bloodline or via a trust.’

‘I wondered...you didn’t have a child with your wife.’

Daniel folded his arms. ‘Ex-wife. And, no. We didn’t. The marriage wasn’t about that.’

He could see that that had sparked Mia’s curiosity but he had no intention of going into detail about his marriage.

It was slowly sinking in, amidst the onslaught of too many memories and the resurgence of a very inconvenient desire, that he was a father. It was a fait accompli. A situation he’d never envisaged allowing to happen. Yet it had.

‘Look,’ Mia said, ‘I just wanted to let you know... I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before now. I should have made more of an effort. You’ll probably want to do a DNA test—’

‘Why?’

‘To prove that she’s yours...’

‘I know she’s a Devilliers.’

Now Mia folded her arms. ‘Well, she’s not a Devilliers. She’s a Forde.’

Daniel felt something very alien take root inside him. A sense of possessiveness. Proprietorial.

‘She’s a Devilliers, Mia. Heiress to a vast fortune. Whether you like it or not.’

Mia felt a cold finger trace down her spine. She hadn’t expected Daniel to accept so quickly that Lexi was his. She’d been prepared for horror, shock, and then denial. She’d assumed that he would want to distance himself as quickly as possible.

She realised now she’d totally underestimated him and his reaction. And that she’d hoped that once she’d told him she would feel she had done her duty and could get on with her life.

She should have known better. She’d been ridiculously naive. Which was galling, because she’d lost any sense of naivety a long time ago.

‘I don’t expect anything from you, Daniel. I can support Lexi on my own. I just wanted you to know. And of course I would have told you eventually. I grew up not knowing my father. I wouldn’t have wanted that for Lexi.’

‘Yet she’s been without a father for eighteen months already.’

Mia’s face grew hot, and she felt panicky. She didn’t like the look on Daniel’s face. ‘You just said you’ve never wanted a family. Children. That day in the hospital you told me that the miscarriage was probably for the best.’

Daniel’s jaw clenched and unclenched. ‘Because after the childhood I experienced I never wanted to risk inflicting the same on another innocent child.’

Mia’s panic drained away. ‘You never spoke of your childhood or your family. It was that bad?’

Daniel was grim. ‘It was worse.’

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