Their eyes met and there was so much unsaid. ‘We’re talking this out tonight, Isla,’ Alessi said.
‘I’m sorry, Alessi.’ She told him the truth as the car moved the next five hundred meters. ‘I wasn’t on the Pill.’ She felt his eyes on her briefly. ‘I know I let you think I was … I meant to take care of it the next morning, get the morning-after pill, but I didn’t …’ Tears were threatening and she choked them down.
‘Are you considering an abortion?’ Alessi asked, and Isla shook her head.
‘Then never apologise for your pregnancy again.’
She arrived at Geo’s and walked in as calmly as she could, grateful she had been there before and that the staff let her straight upstairs as soon as she explained that Alessi was parking.
The speeches were going on as Isla made her way through the crowd and Alessi’s father was speaking.
‘Tonight I celebrate forty years with the love of my life. We have been together through good times and bad …’ There was a long pause before he continued. ‘We were blessed with three children, Geo, Alessandro and Allegra, tonight we sit in Geo’s as a family, always.’
Alessi must have ditched the car because he was right behind her as she headed to the bathroom.
‘Watch the door,’ Isla said, and took a deep breath and stepped inside.
She’d delivered many women on the bathroom floor but she’d only deeply loved one of them.
Make that two, Isla thought as she stepped in and saw Allegra’s red face and damp curls. Steve was there beside her and he blew out a breath of relief as Isla came over. ‘Talk about timing,’ Steve said.
‘Perfect timing.’ Isla smiled, dropping to her knees, knowing what to do.
‘It’s coming.’
Oh, it was.
‘Get behind Allegra, Steve,’ Isla said. ‘Help pull her legs back.’
‘Where’s Alessi?’ Steve asked.
‘Gnawing on the door with his teeth.’ Isla smiled.
‘He must trust you,’ Allegra said.
Alessi did.
But with no equipment, no help to hand, it tested Alessi on so many levels and it was a Herculean effort to stand outside.
Last time, with Niko, Allegra had nearly died.
It wasn’t like last time, Alessi told himself.
Isla was there.
Isla was pregnant.
It was then that he properly acknowledged it. He looked at his parents, who were scanning the gathered crowd, waiting for their children to start speaking. A crowd was starting to gather where Alessi was playing doorman and a paramedic was climbing the stairs, wearing a crash helmet, which was possibly a giveaway.
‘Yes,’ Alessi said when his mother raced over. ‘Allegra is having the baby.’
‘Why aren’t you in there?’ Yolanda demanded.
‘Isla’s there. She’ll call if she needs me.’
Alessi closed his eyes.
She just had called.
Private, deep, she had told him she was pregnant and he was eternally grateful for the drama of tonight, for not demanding to know if the baby was his, in some Neanderthal reaction.
Whatever the answer, he was there for her, too.
Alessi knew it.
Isla didn’t.
‘Is everything okay?’ Steve asked, his eyes anxious.
‘Everything,’ Isla said, ‘is perfect.’
Allegra pushed and when she couldn’t push, she pushed some more and then let out a scream, not that anyone would hear outside, where there was music and chattering and laughter. And as Allegra rested her body against her husband, Isla demanded more from her.
‘Again.’
‘No.’
‘One more, come on …’
‘Do what Isla says.’ Steve was both supportive and firm. Behind his wife, he held up her thighs and helped Allegra bring their child into the world.
Their baby was almost here—the head was out and with the next push it would be delivered. The door opened at that moment and Isla smiled as Aiden Harrison, a rapid-response paramedic who had arrived on motorbike, stepped quietly inside.
‘Put your hands down, Allegra,’ Isla said.
Allegra did and together she and Isla delivered the baby.
It was a gorgeous fat baby girl with big cheeks and chunky arms and legs, who cried on entering the world and was born with her eyes open. Allegra and Steve wept when they saw her, their strong, healthy baby, and so, too, did Isla.
Not a lot, but some tears did spill out, especially as Steve cut the cord.
‘I think you’ve stopped the party.’ Isla smiled through her tears because the noise outside had faded.
‘Steve …’ Allegra said. ‘Maybe you could let them know that everything is okay?’ She glanced up from her beautiful daughter. ‘And let Alessi in, poor guy.’
His face was as white as chalk but he smiled when he stepped in and saw his niece.
It was so completely different from the last time.
Then, it had needed to be all sterile equipment and everyone avoiding meeting his eyes. Then it had been his sister and nephew on different intensive care units and the joy of childbirth completely missing.
Now smiling faces greeted him and the surroundings didn’t matter.
A backup ambulance had arrived and as Allegra was transferred to a stretcher it was Alessi who held the baby.
There were repercussions to his job. He generally dealt with the babies that had run into complications, with the battlers to survive, but this little girl was feisty, dark, hungry, angry … Alessi looked into very dark navy eyes that in a matter of weeks would be as black as his.
She needed no help from him, just love, and this little lady had it.
So, too, did Isla.
He loved her—of that he was completely sure.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
A PROCESSION OF cars followed the ambulance to the hospital and once there a celebration ensued.
Isla was more than used to the excitement within a Greek family when a baby was born but it was all multiplied tonight, because this little lady had been born on her grandparents’ fortieth wedding anniversary. Isla was aware, too, of the exhaustion having so many people around might cause for a new mum, but Alessi sorted it and suggested that the party continue back at his place.
‘Thank you so much, Isla,’ Allegra said as Isla went to go. ‘It might not have been the ideal location but it really was the best birth.’
‘It was wonderful.’ Isla smiled. ‘You made it look very easy.’
‘It has been the best wedding anniversary present ever.’ Yolanda was ecstatic. Niko was asleep on her shoulder and would be staying with his yaya tonight, but first they headed back to Alessi’s, stopping for champagne on the way.
The mood was elated as corks popped and Alessi watched as Isla took a glass and pretended to take a sip so as not to draw attention to the fact she wasn’t drinking.
‘Are you okay?’ he asked.
‘Of course.’ Isla smiled.
‘Isla?’ Alessi checked, because he could see that she was struggling.
‘I’m a bit tired,’ Isla admitted, which was the understatement of the year. She was exhausted. The high of the birth was fading and the enormity of her revelation was starting to make itself known. They hadn’t had a chance to discuss it and from the way things were going it would be a good while yet till they could.
‘Go and lie down,’ Alessi suggested.
‘I can’t just go to bed in the middle of a party. My father would have kittens if I—’
‘He’s not here, though. Isla, you can do no wrong today, you just safely delivered Allegra’s baby. I know they are a bit over the top but they really are so grateful and relieved.’
‘I think it’s lovely how happy they are,’ Isla said.
He led her to the bedroom and she walked in, glad to escape from all the noise. Alessi closed the blinds and Isla undressed down to her underwear and slipped into bed. He came and sat on the edge.<
br />
‘Thank you for tonight,’ he said.
‘I really didn’t have to do much. Your niece made her entrance herself,’ Isla said. ‘She’s such a gorgeous baby.’
‘It will be you soon,’ Alessi said, and watched as her eyes filled with tears. He could only guess how overwhelming this all must be for her. ‘How long have you known?’ he asked, and then answered his own question. ‘The Monday before Valentine’s Day.’
‘How do you know?’
‘Your texts went from ten lines to two words,’ Alessi said. ‘Don’t worry about all that now. Just get some rest.’
‘You’re not cross.’
‘Cross?’ Alessi checked. ‘Did you expect me to be cross?’
‘I didn’t know what to expect.’
‘I only get cross when you dump me for no good reason, Isla,’ he said. ‘Get some sleep. We’ll talk later.’
There was a lot to talk about but when Alessi finally got to bed around two, he certainly wasn’t about to wake her for The Talk. He had never intended to wake her at all, but Alessi hadn’t forgotten how nice it was to have her in his bed and he had missed her so much.
Asleep, Isla wriggled towards the source of warmth. Her back was to him and, deprived of his touch for ten days now, her body knew who it wanted and her bottom nudged into his groin and sank into his caress as his arm came over her.
Alessi lay there. No, it would be completely inappropriate, he told himself, because there was that damn talk to have. Except his fingers didn’t care about such matters and were stroking her through the silk of her bra and then burrowing in.
‘Isla …’ Alessi said, which wasn’t much of a conversation. His mouth was on her shoulder, tasting her skin again and then moving up to her neck. The response in her had him harden further, the craning of her neck to meet his mouth, the consent, the want had a flare of possession rise in Alessi and there was no conversation to be had.
Isla was his.
His mouth suckled her neck and Isla bit down on her bottom lip as he deliciously bruised her. His hand was sliding down her panties and she wanted to turn but she didn’t. She liked the arm holding her down and Alessi’s precision as he took her from behind.
Of all his responses, of all the reactions she had anticipated, this hadn’t been one of them. Alessi’s hand was on her stomach, gently pressing her back into him, and Isla, who had never been taken like this, writhed in pleasure as his hand moved down and stroked her intimately.
‘Alessi …’ She said his name, the only thing now on her mind as he moved her towards orgasm.
And for Alessi, here in the darkness of his bedroom, yes, there were questions, but her body’s response, their absolute connection meant the only truth that actually mattered was easily said. ‘I love you.’
Isla stilled, but Alessi didn’t. He thrust into her and didn’t let her get her breath, neither did he allow the panic that suddenly built in her to settle. He just said it again, for their love was no accident.
She could feel him building to come, feel all the passion about to be unleashed, and it tipped Isla into raw honesty when she’d spent her whole life covering lies. ‘I love you, too.’
Isla came before him and she loved how he held her down and didn’t kiss her, or stifle her shout. He just let her be and drove her ever higher as he came deep inside her.
And still there was no need for The Talk because they had said what mattered.
Doubts belonged to the morning. There were none in his arms.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
ALESSI WOKE BEFORE Isla and would have watched her sleeping had he not been so hungry.
Neither had had dinner, he remembered.
He wondered if she was as starving as he was.
If Isla was feeling sick in the mornings.
He just stared at her and wondered, which he’d been doing for more than a year, Alessi thought with a smile as he climbed from bed and went to the kitchen.
Coffee on, he started making breakfast and completely out of habit he checked his emails and then glanced at the news.
And then did a double take.
Yes, again she had him wondering.
‘Morning, Isla …’
It was incredibly nice to be woken with coffee and breakfast and Alessi’s smile, and she returned it but even as she stretched, doubts started piling in.
God, she’d told him she loved him.
Isla let out a breath.
Yes, he’d said he loved her but she was petrified of forcing his hand, thinking that Alessi might be simply making the best of a bad deal.
‘This looks lovely,’ she said, her hand shaking a touch as she took the coffee from the tray, unable to meet his eyes.
‘Is there something you need to tell me?’ Alessi said.
‘Isn’t what I told you last night enough to be going on with?’ Isla said. ‘I know it’s a shock. I know it’s too soon …’
‘It doesn’t feel too soon,’ he said. ‘We’re not teenagers, Isla.’
‘I know, but even so …’
‘It was a shock last night,’ Alessi admitted, ‘but it’s a nice surprise now. How do you feel about it?’
‘Nervous,’ Isla admitted. ‘I was terrified at first but now …’ she looked at him ‘… it’s starting to feel like a nice surprise, too, but I’m terrified of the pressure it might put on us.’
‘Like marriage?’
Isla nodded.
‘You don’t want to get married?’ Alessi asked. ‘Isla, help me here, because the last woman I asked to marry me …’ She could see him struggling. ‘I don’t want to put the same pressure on you. Looking back, I can see that we were far too young and not in love. You’ve heard the saying “Marry in haste, repent at leisure”. I’m quite sure now that that would have been Talia and I.’
‘I don’t want it to be us.’
‘It won’t be,’ Alessi assured her. ‘Just so long as we are always honest with each other.’
‘I feel like I’ve forced things …’
‘Isla, I was going to ask you to marry me on Valentine’s night. I had it all planned, right down to if you said yes, we were going to go the next day to the restaurant, upstairs this time, and tell my family …’ He could see the disbelief in her eyes. He rolled his eyes and then climbed out of bed and went to a drawer, and Isla watched as he took out a small box.
‘There.’ He handed it to her. ‘Do you believe me now?’
She looked up at him and then back to the ring.
It was white gold, with a pale sapphire. ‘It matches your eyes, almost exactly,’ Alessi said. ‘I wanted a diamond but when I saw this …’
Again he asked a question. ‘Is there something you need to tell me?’
‘Such as?’
Alessi took a breath. ‘Maybe there’s something I need to tell you. I’m sorry if it comes as a shock. Your ex-boyfriend just came out. It’s all over the news …’ He saw the tears in her eyes and misread them. ‘I’m sorry. Is this news to you?’
‘I’ve always known.’ Isla took a breath. ‘There’s never been anything sexual between us.’
‘I don’t understand.’ Alessi frowned. ‘Were you covering for him?’
‘Yes,’ Isla said, ‘but he was covering for me, too.’ It was the biggest confession of her life and far harder to admit than her pregnancy. ‘I’ve never had a sexual relationship with anyone. Till you.’
‘You’re telling me that our night together was your first?’ He shook his head, not so much in disbelief but that night he had felt her burn in his arms, the sex between them had been so good, so natural. ‘You should have told me,’ he said. ‘You must have been so nervous …’
‘No,’ she refuted. ‘I was always scared before, I wasn’t that night.’
‘Scared of what, Isla?’
‘I don’t really know,’ she admitted. ‘I thought I was scared of getting pregnant but I don’t feel scared. Something happened when I was twelve … She closed her eyes. ‘I can’t tell
you.’
‘I think you have to.’
‘I can’t tell you because it’s not my secret to share, it didn’t happen to me.’
‘Whatever happened affected you, though,’ Alessi said. ‘What would you tell one of your patients?’
‘To talk to someone.’
‘So talk to me.’
‘My sister.’ Isla gulped in a breath as panic hit. ‘Please, never say …’
‘I would never do that.’
That much she knew.
‘When I was twelve I heard her …’ Isla let out a breath. ‘She had a baby, I think it was about eighteen weeks …’
‘You think?’
‘I didn’t know at the time,’ Isla said. ‘I delivered him. Isabel begged me not to say anything but I got our housekeeper, Evie. She took us to a hospital … It was all dealt with, our parents never found out … I promised never to tell.’
‘You’re not telling me about Isabel,’ Alessi said. ‘I don’t need the details about her, I need to know what happened to you and what you went through.’
And so she told him, and Alessi watched as the supremely confident, always cool Isla simply collapsed in tears as she released the weight of her secret.
He held her as she spoke and then, as the tears subsided, Isla lay there and looked up at him and found out how it felt not to be alone.
‘No more secrets,’ Alessi said.
‘I know.’
‘You could have told me … And then he stopped. ‘I guess you had to trust me.’
‘I should have told you that night,’ Isla said, ‘because I trusted you then, Alessi, or I wouldn’t have slept with you …’ She looked at the smile on his face and frowned. ‘What’s funny?’
‘Not funny,’ Alessi said. ‘I guess that means that the baby’s mine.’
‘Of course—’ Isla started, and then halted. Of course he would have had doubts, he would have been doing the frantic maths. Not once had it entered her head that he might wonder if the baby was his, but of course it must have been there for him. ‘You loved me, even when you didn’t know that the baby was yours …’
Just One Night? Page 14
