บททั้งหมดของ COLLECTION OF LUST AND LOVE: บทที่ 161 - บทที่ 170

Even once she had realised she had missed a period she had dismissed the idea that she might be pregnant as ridiculous; surely it was an old wives’ tale that it only took the once?Apparently it wasn’t!Not convinced by the first test she had done, Helena had used the second test in the box. That had shown a positive result too. Still hopeful that she might have got a faulty testing kit, she had made an emergency appointment to see her doctor, at which point he had calmly and kindly explained to her that neither of the tests was faulty, that she was indeed in the early stages of pregnancy.Which was when complete panic had set in!No doubt her grandfather would be thrilled by the news, but Helena's first instinct had been to run. Her second and third instinct too! As fast and as far from Bryan as she could possibly go.But she had very quickly realised the futility of doing that. She couldn’t just disappear, any more than she could carry on running for ever—and certainly not once the

Helena firmly closed her mind to thoughts of what Bryan might or might not come to think of her pregnancy if he learnt of that clause in her grandfather’s will. At the moment her main difficulty was getting it through to Bryan that she was not, under any circumstances, going to marry him. Although she would be lying if she said that she hadn’t felt a slight thrill, a frisson of excitement, when Bryan had announced his intention of marrying her.It hadn’t been her immediate reaction, of course. Initially she had been absolutely horrified just at the mention of a marriage between the two of them—had never even considered that Bryan would make such an offer.Although perhaps she should have done…Bryan was Italian, and more than that he was a Smith—a member of a English family steeped in honour and tradition; the idea that the Smith heir might be born out of wedlock, so to speak, was probably enough to send Bryan’s ancesto

Helena stared at that hand, feeling suddenly shy with him, never having quite appreciated before how in other circumstances Bryan might have been Prince Smith. But it was all too easy, in these grand surroundings, to imagine him as such—to recognise his innate air of command, to acknowledge him as the powerful and much-respected head of the Smith family.Bryan was offering to share all of this with her, to make her his wife, the mother of his child—children…? For she didn’t doubt that Bryan would want more than one child to continue the Smith line. Any other woman would have grabbed the offer with both hands, Helena knew. Was she being rash in refusing to marry Bryan? Was she being fair to their son or daughter by denying its birthright?She was no longer as sure about that as she had been…But maybe that had been Bryan’s intent in bringing her here?Perhaps it was, but being here with him like this, with the magic of Venice and the Smith palace surrounding them, Helena was finding it

Tears swam in her beautiful green eyes. ‘I’m sorry.’ She hastily wiped away the tears before they could fall onto the paleness of her cheeks. ‘I believe pregnant woman tend to be a little—over-emotional,’ she whispered.Bryan felt like a complete heel now. He hadn’t intended to make Helena cry—hadn’t intended to upset her at all—but she was just being so damned stubborn by continuing to refuse to marry him!He closed his eyes briefly, but could still inwardly see her woebegone face and tear-wet lashes.He appreciated that this couldn’t have been easy for Helena. That it had taken great courage for her to come here like this today and tell him of the baby. She could have had no idea how he would react to the news.He was just so frustrated with her refusal to marry him!It was pretty obvious she wasn’t going to change her mind without a fight, either. A fight Bryan didn’t believe she was emotionally or physically equipped to deal with right now.

She had said she didn’t want him to talk of marriage again this evening—would not even contemplate staying here with him until he made such a promise. So could it possibly be marriage itself that she feared? And if it was, what could possibly have happened to Helena to make her look so fearful at the prospect of marriage? Had her husband hurt her in some way? Perhaps been unfaithful? Was that the reason for the short duration of the marriage?Bryan felt a wave of anger deep inside him as he contemplated anyone—most of all Helena's ex-husband, a man pledged to love and protect her—having hurt her in any way.But it was an anger he would control until he could return to England and possibly seek out the man Helena had been married to so briefly; he certainly did not intend to shake their fragile relationship by questioning Helena about it, either now or in the future.His thumbs moved caressingly across the paleness of her cheeks as he smiled gently down at her. ‘I promise I will not me