Chapter Six
A wife? Sooner rather than later?
What happened to the marriage proposal? He’d certainly accepted her refusal at the speed of light!
The bill was paid and as Ella was faffing, gathering her gloves and idly checking her phone for messages. She said casually, ‘You would want a wife sooner rather than later, you say?’
She started sticking on the gloves and surreptitiously stared at Rocco from under her lashes.
He didn’t believe in love, and didn’t think it was necessary for a healthy, happy marriage, so of course he wouldn’t have a problem marrying a woman just to be a mother to their child, to provide the family unit he thought was important.
A woman who would probably come from the same background as him.
A rich, beautiful socialite who wouldn’t make a nuisance of herself by demanding shows of love and affection.
She felt a dizzying tightness in her chest at the thought of that.
It was fine waving aside a marriage proposal as unacceptable because it didn’t meet her requirements.
It was a little different when the marriage proposal was then airbrushed out of existence to give way to the possibility of another woman stepping in to fill the space.
‘You have a problem with that?’
‘I just think it’s a bit early in the day to be putting it on the table.’
‘Why?’
‘Because…’ She looked at him with consternation, hardly aware that he was wrapping her scarf round her neck and handing her the woolly hat that she had dumped on the table.
She absently stuck it on and continued to gaze at him as she formulated something that resembled a reasonable explanation as to why she was so bothered at the thought of him with another woman.
‘I believe that a child needs to have the benefit of a mother and a father.’
‘So do I.’
‘Ah, but key difference here—I won’t be on an endless quest to find a suitable partner I’m in love with who can fit the bill.
I don’t believe that love is the be all and end all.
In fact, when I think about it…’ he slotted her arm into the crook of his and began ushering her out of the restaurant ‘…
if you look at the divorce rate between people who declare undying love on their wedding day, only to relegate that to undying indifference or everlasting resentment a decade later, well, the statistics say it all.
‘My driver is waiting. I think I’ll get rid of him so we can drive together to your house and I can meet your father.’
‘My parents were blissfully happy.’
‘That’s called the exception to the rule.’
‘Your parents…?’
‘Still together.’
‘Which just shows…’
‘Ella.’ Rocco stopped and looked down at her, breaking contact and shoving his hands in the pockets of his coat.
‘My parents’ marriage was a business deal that brought together two important houses.
They stayed together because they both understood how the world they inherited worked. They knew the rules.’
‘You say stuff like that, Rocco, and I’m talking to a complete stranger.’
‘Only when it comes to the details of my life,’ Rocco said gruffly. ‘One thing I do know is that, yes, I would want a wife by my side with a child in the equation.’ He paused, giving her time to digest the scenario he was painting for her.
‘A wife who comes from the same class as you? Knows the rules, like your mother did?’
‘Preferably a wife who is the mother of my child but, failing that, then yes, quite possibly.’
Ella’s mouth went dry. She felt jealousy, and she didn’t know where that was coming from, because surely she should hate him?
Hadn’t he lied to her? Why would you be jealous of someone who’d lied to you, someone you justifiably hated?
Yet if there was hatred there then it was well and truly swamped by the steady thump of possessiveness that coursed through her.
Besides, the way he was now—the man willing to accept a situation he could never have banked on; the guy who still had that flare of fairness and consideration inside him—was no convenient cardboard cutout, easy for her to dismiss…
‘I… I don’t know anything about your parents. How do you think they’ll react?’ This to sidestep the rush of emotion inside her.
‘That’s something I haven’t yet considered. I’m still in the process of trying to come to terms with the situation myself. Don’t forget you’ve had a head start on me.’
‘Not my fault I couldn’t locate you!’ This felt safer, and she broke eye contact, but her heart was still thudding as she clocked the sleek, black Range Rover idling on the other side of the road.
Rocco thought it best to steer her away from picking back up that line of attack.
He’d given her food for thought. It was clear she didn’t approve of the thought of another woman stepping into his life, and she certainly had a point when she’d said that it was a bit early to paint a future that involved other partners, but all was fair in love and war.
He wondered whether she was jealous, and then was surprised at the kick that gave him.
The thought of her with another man didn’t sit well with him.
Was that jealousy or was it just that he was the sort of guy who could never like the thought of another man adopting a fatherly role to his offspring?
He’d never had a jealous bone in his body but when he thought of Ella in the arms of someone else…
‘Do you want to give your father some warning that I’ll be coming along?’
‘Maybe this isn’t a good idea.’
‘It’s a very good idea.’ He dismissed his driver and helped her into the passenger seat but held open the door, maintaining his calm. As far as Rocco was concerned, there were still a million practicalities to pin down, but he would let those wait for the time being.
A place for her to live? He would bide his time.
A car of her choice? In due course.
The details of maintenance? A bridge to be crossed.
At the back of his mind was the thought that those things would not have to be seriously addressed because she would come to him before that.
She would recognise the advantages of marriage and would accept that sometimes flights of fancy when it came to fairy stories of love and romance get put to bed in the face of duties and responsibilities that would always take precedence.
He would drop the subject of marriage and just let time do its thing.
‘You’re nervous about me meeting your father. Why? Is it because you told yourself that this situation would never arise? Because I was never going to show up in your life again?’
‘Something like that.’
‘And, now that I’ve shown up, you’re nervous because…?’
‘I’m not sure how my father is going to react to you,’ Ella said bluntly.
‘He’s not going to think I’m a catch?’ Rocco raised his eyebrows and grinned. ‘Steady employment…good sense of responsibility…happy to put out the bins on a Monday…’
He watched pink creep into her cheeks and was gratified when she smiled at him, relaxing for the first time since he’d surprised her in the boardroom. This was the Ella he’d left in his wake and, if he could have turned back the hands of time, maybe he wouldn’t have been so hasty in his departure.
It wasn’t as though leaving that bubble behind had been a roaring success.
He hadn’t been able to relegate her to something fun that had happened one day.
She’d preyed on his mind, which was why he had finally made his way back to her.
Back to her and, vaguely, back to try and recapture something of that carefree man who had had a window in time during which he had broken free of what had always been expected of him.
Everything that subsequently happened had come as a shock. But to see her smile that sweet, hesitant smile suddenly made him feel ten feet tall.
‘When I began looking for you, I was looking for an ordinary guy,’ she said truthfully. ‘Someone I could relate to. Someone who shared the same worries and concerns that I did.’
‘Tell me I’m not sharing the same worries and concerns right now that you’re facing,’ Rocco said.
The snow flurries pricked his face like needles.
It was freezing, but no way was he going to abandon this conversation, because right now she wasn’t attacking him and he was going to take that as a win of sorts.
He understood her bitterness but he was determined to find a way through that because he had to. There was no choice.
‘It’s cold. You should get in the car.’
‘I’m a big boy. I can withstand a little cold weather. Besides, I don’t want you to clam up on me.’
‘I’m not going to clam up on you.’
‘And I don’t want you to return to the comfort zone of attacking me for what happened. I want you to tell me what to expect when I meet your father. Will I be greeted with a shotgun and a pack of rabid dogs? What have you said to him?’
‘I’m not talking to you until you’re in the car. If you end up catching pneumonia, then I’ll probably feel guilty, and you wouldn’t deserve my guilt.’
‘That’s reasonable.’
He skirted around into the driver’s seat and slammed the door behind him. He swivelled in his seat, leant against the door and looked at her in silence.
It was a feat of willpower for Ella to hold that dark, steady, unrevealing gaze and she half-wished she’d let him stand outside the car, shivering in the cold.
‘Okay.’ She sighed. ‘My dad isn’t going to know what to do with you. He’s a straightforward guy and I don’t think he’s met anyone like you in his life before. Not only are you the guy who gets his daughter pregnant, but Rocco, you…you’re…’
‘Spit it out, Ella.’
‘You’re from another planet.’
‘The money thing?’
‘Yes, the money thing.’
‘I never thought you were a snob.’
‘Don’t be ridiculous. I’m anything but a snob! I happen to have grown up in a very normal household. My dad has a small farm, my mum worked at Hailey’s for years. How can I be a snob?’
‘Aren’t you pigeonholing me because of my background? Isn’t that the definition of being a snob?’
‘No.’ But she flushed.