“What did Novros say?” Rafael demanded in a low, dangerous voice.
She shook her head, frowning in confusion. “Nothing.”
“You’re lying. I heard him speak to you. Did he offer you a job?” He grabbed her wrists and suddenly the expression on his handsome face was so hard and full of repressed fury, she felt afraid. “Did he offer you something more?”
Bewildered at his strange reaction, she shook her head. “No.”
“Then what?” he demanded.
She swallowed. “He didn’t make sense.”
His grip tightened on her. “Tell me,” he ordered.
She whispered, “He offered me a million dollars for my brownie recipe, then when I wouldn’t, he just said…‘Good for you.’”
Rafael’s jaw clenched. His impossibly handsome face looked like stone in the moonlight.
“Do you know what he meant?” she asked.
With a coldly furious expression, he shook his head.
She licked her lips nervously. Why was Rafael acting so angry? She felt a lump in her throat, a nausea right beneath her ribs.
He wouldn’t release her wrist, and a hard knot of anger grew in her own throat. She thought she’d known him—known all his faults. But she’d never seen Rafael so dark, so altogether brutal.
Ripping her hand away, she demanded, “Why are you acting like this?”
“You know why,” he growled.
Grasping at straws, she asked, “Did something happen to your business deal, Mr. Cruz?”
His lips twisted into a harsh, ironic smile at the Mr. Cruz. “An interesting suggestion. It’s always about money to you, isn’t it?”
He wasn’t making any sense—any more than that Greek man had! Louisa’s hand tightened into a fist as she picked up the wet, dirty towel she’d been using to scrub the stone table. She took a deep breath. “Miss Lepetit is no doubt looking for you.”
“Miss
Lepetit,” he ground through his teeth, “is gone. All the other guests have gone. We are—” his lips curved “—alone.”
“Oh,” she whispered, licking her suddenly dry lips. So this was her chance, then. Possibly her only chance to tell him she was pregnant…
But how could she tell him now, when he was acting so dark and strange?
She twisted the wet towel in her hands as she looked up at him nervously. “There’s something I need to tell you, Rafael,” she whispered. “It’s important.”
He grabbed her shoulders. Startled, she dropped the towel heavily against the stone terrace floor.
“What is it?” he demanded in a low voice.
She sucked in her breath, searching his gaze. Did he already know she was pregnant? Had he somehow guessed?
She licked her lips. “It’s not something I thought could happen. I denied it, even to myself…”
“Let me guess,” he said sardonically. “You’re desperately in love with me.”
She nearly gasped. Then, looking up into his face, she told him the truth.
“Yes,” she whispered.