Her face went white and she reached for the door behind her. This wasn’t good. Now he needed to explain and hopefully she would listen. He sidestepped and motioned toward the couch. “Anna, please don’t leave. We need to talk.”
For a moment she didn’t move a muscle. He didn’t think she would come.
If she stormed out, he wasn’t sure what he’d do.
But then she let the door go, held her nose in the air, and walked closer.
The air smelled like her rose water, but she circled around him and took a seat in the arm chair like she was already the queen.
Leo hadn’t noticed until now, but Anna’s no-nonsense, business sense was just like his own mother’s. He took the seat next to her, on the couch, and wondered what Anna wanted him to do.
She folded her hands in her lap and said, “This is why Francesca called.”
Leverage, clearly. He would have to face Francesca one more time and find out how much this mistake caused him.
After talking with Anna, of course, to come up with a plan.
“Wait. Did you know?” He looked toward his future but it seemed blurred, like he’d been driving on the roads for too long and his vision was fatigued. “I intended to tell you.”
“You did. She was trolling without explaining.” She hugged her waist. “But I thought you wanted to have children with me.”
His mind shouted that Anna was the only woman he might ever love.
Leo reached out and brushed her knee. “I do.”
She moved her leg away and he sat straighter as she shook her head. “All that talk on the sailboat was because you couldn’t just tell me yourself.”
“I wanted to know the DNA results. I hoped her pregnancy had nothing to do with me.” He’d hoped he’d never have to tell her about a child. Now he had no choice. He balled his fists between his legs. “Anna, I didn’t want you to fix my mistakes anymore.”
With her hair up in curls for the planned late afternoon stroll through town with photographers and journalists waiting, she now modeled the perfect lady as she scooted away. “So you lied.”
This wasn’t how he’d intended this conversation to go. He wished somehow he’d win back her trust as he said, “I used a condom. I was sure she was lying as she cashed the check before telling me anything. I thought it was a ploy for more money. I didn’t want to worry you when I was just seeing you for the first time.”
Her lower lip disappeared for a moment as she stared at him with wide eyes. He stilled, unsure what she’d say, but slowly, she asked, “What happens now, Leo?”
She turned her body away from him like she didn’t want to hear.
He sat at the edge of his seat, willing her to turn toward him again as he said, “Pierre will keep me informed.”
And she did. She turned toward him with her eyes big as she asked, “That’s it—that’s the plan?”
His heart skipped like he’d been caught cheating by one of his tutors. He glanced at the Persian rug underneath the couch as he said, “I’m in shock to be honest. I want Pierre to find a family for this baby if Francesca takes the payoff, but I don’t know what she’ll do next.”
She let out a small sigh but then her voice lost all emotion as she asked, “Who’s handling the PR?”
He met her stare which seemed cold. “My mother’s team, I imagine.”
She walked toward the window, peering out at the sea. He stood but waited for her. Finally she turned to him and said, “You should have told me. Do I have permission to work with Pierre and your mother’s team?”
Permission? He’d hoped she’d talk to him, but right now she seemed on a mission to run everything. “Yes. Of course. This is our lives.”
She let her hands fall to her sides like she used to do when they were in the office and he was giving orders she didn’t like. “I will find out what’s going on and we can then discuss what we want.”
She wasn’t shutting him out. He stepped toward her and massaged her shoulders, brushing her soft skin beneath her silk shirt. “Anna, I want you to be happy.”
Her face was white, despite the makeup and the contouring. He’d kissed countless painted faces, but none were as readable as Anna’s as she said, “You should have told me. Now I’m going to do my old job and protect the Aussa name, and hopefully an innocent child.”
But she hadn’t said whatshewanted, not that he thought she’d want to buy whatever she wanted as a way to avoid the situation, which was how his parents had raised him. Until Anna, he’d thought it was normal to take bribes. Francesca was after a pay-off, but Anna… she had his heart in her hands but didn’t tell him what she preferred.
