The Secret That Shocked De Santis. Natalie Anderson

is only water,’ he muttered impatiently, taking her hand and curling her visibly trembling fingers around the glass.

      Stella sipped a small amount and determined to pull herself together and straighten out this mess. ‘We’re not getting married. This is another of your whims.’

      ‘My whims?’

      Slowly she nodded. ‘Like seducing strange women on the beach.’

      ‘You were the one swimming when you shouldn’t have been. You’re just as spontaneous. You said yes.’

      ‘I’m saying no now. This is my life.’

      ‘I am well aware of it,’ he countered. ‘It is not what I wish for mine either. But that is not the point.’

      Stupidly, his words wounded her. Yeah, this is no fairy tale.

      ‘There is a doctor present.’ Eduardo leaned against the large reading table near her. ‘He will examine you.’

      ‘Pardon?’ She nearly smashed the glass of water on the floor.

      ‘A doctor. Your condition must be assessed.’

      Here and now? He had to be joking.

      One look at his implacable expression told her he wasn’t.

      Control over her life was slipping further from her grasp and her outrage over his high-handed treatment grew. She wanted to see her own doctor in her own time and in private. She straightened. ‘I will not be subjected to this...invasiveness. You have no right.’

      ‘I have every right.’

      ‘It is my body.’

      ‘And my baby,’ he shot back.

      ‘Mine too,’ she whispered, suddenly afraid. So very, very afraid—of now, of what it might mean for tomorrow and for a few months’ time.

      Even assuming everything went okay, he had such power and she had none. He could take her baby and send her away if he chose. Banish her. He would be able to. He could sell the world any kind of story. He had such charm he could sell the moon and the stars to the heavens.

      ‘Ours,’ he answered, his tone more measured. ‘But you were going to leave San Felipe. Why?’ He trained his fierce gaze on her. ‘Where were you going to go? What were you planning to do?’

      ‘Nothing, I—’ She broke off. She’d had no plan other than to get away and think. What did he think she’d been going to do?

      She hated the look of suspicion and condemnation in his eyes. Why was Eduardo determined to think the worst of her?

      ‘You did not turn to your father?’ he said.

      She’d tried, but her father had turned his back. And when the General found out the whole story he’d be even more furious.

      ‘He’s not pleased,’ Stella mumbled.

      Eduardo’s nostrils thinned and he finally glanced away from her.

      ‘He does not know who I was with,’ she added in a low voice, her embarrassment excruciating. ‘No one does.’

      Eduardo turned back to her. ‘You have not told anyone?’

      ‘Have I boasted that I bedded one of San Felipe’s princes on the beach? No. I have not.’ Her flush scorched her skin.

      ‘Your discretion is a credit to you.’

      She nearly rolled her eyes. As if his approval was anything she wanted!

      His intense scrutiny softened and he almost smiled, as if satisfied at something. ‘You will see the doctor now.’ He walked to the door, opening it and calling in a low voice.

      Stella set the glass down and steeled herself. Were there other people here who knew? She’d never felt shame over her action that afternoon, but she’d wanted to keep it close—just her one private memory to treasure. But now the world was going to know how reckless she’d been.

      ‘You feel unwell again?’ Eduardo had returned to stand right in front of her, looking angry again.

      ‘I feel shocked,’ she corrected miserably.

      She was angry too. Mostly with herself. That she could have been such a fool.

      ‘Prince Eduardo?’ A man spoke from the doorway.

      ‘Dr Russo.’ Eduardo turned so he stood beside her chair. ‘Please come in. I’d like you to meet Stella.’

      Stella didn’t even glance at the doctor. She was too surprised by the charming, ‘glossy-pages prince’ look that suddenly lit up Eduardo’s face.

      ‘I understand there may be good news today?’ The doctor couldn’t quite hide the excited note in his voice as he quickly crossed the room.

      ‘We hope so.’ Eduardo placed a hand on her shoulder in a mockery of a loving gesture.

      ‘That is very exciting.’ The doctor smiled as he put his bag on the big desk and opened it. ‘I’m sure you’re desperate for confirmation, so shall we do that right away?’

      The man lifted out a small box and turned to her, still with that smile. But his eyes were wide and sharp and prying.

      ‘You know how to use this?’ He handed her a commercial pregnancy test.

      ‘Yes.’ Mortified, Stella wanted to hide.

      ‘This way, Stella.’ Eduardo took her hand and pulled her out of the chair. He wrapped his arm around her waist and walked her to the doorway. ‘There is a powder room second door on the left,’ he murmured, but there was steel beneath the soft tone. ‘One of my assistants will help you if you can’t find your way back.’

      This wasn’t pleasant courtesy. He was issuing a warning. She was under surveillance and she couldn’t escape.

      ‘Why don’t you just wait here for me?’ she whispered back snappily.

      ‘Good idea.’

      He walked with her right to the bathroom door. For a horrified second she thought he was actually going to go into the room with her, but he paused and she shut the door in his face.

      Her palms were damp and she grimaced, but the indignity of doing the pregnancy test paled in the light of what the result might show. In her heart she knew her army medical tests wouldn’t have been mixed up. The San Felipe army was too good for such a mistake to be made. It was Stella who’d made the mistake and the result could be catastrophic.

      * * *

      Eduardo De Santis leaned against the wall and waited, furious and impatient that he’d found out so late. That she’d nearly escaped from the country. Where had she been going to go? What had she been planning to do? He couldn’t figure it out. Couldn’t figure her out.

      She finally emerged and walked back to the library. She held the test tightly in her fist and wouldn’t meet his eyes. Wouldn’t speak either.

      She barely came to his shoulder. Her blonde hair was scraped back into a straggly ponytail, her skin was shiny and her loose clothes old. He still thought she was beautiful. And dangerous.

      She placed the test on the desk by Dr Russo. Eduardo watched as the result was revealed. It didn’t take the two minutes it was supposed to. The word was illuminated almost immediately.

      Pregnant.

      The last hint of colour drained from her cheeks. Her lashes lifted and she looked up at him. The intense emotion in her expression struck deep and burned hot within his belly.

      Stark fear.

      She was right to be afraid. He’d never felt so angry—not since the last time he’d seen her. Was her wide-eyed, wounded reaction all an act? Had she somehow planned this? He knew that was impossible, but there was something he couldn’t trust in