GREEK HUSBAND

Chapter 56

'There's no point in you staying.'

Predictably, Edward argued. He needed to be with her. That was non-negotiable in his mind. He had to see that she was fed, and properly cared for and that if things were to get any worse he was on the spot to provide immediate support. His sense of responsibility was too strong to be denied.

'Why would you stay?' Bella whispered, fighting her desire for his presence, fighting her longing for him to come close again, fighting all those softer feelings with the sure knowledge at that moment that she was doing what had to be done. She was facing up to reality, struggling to move forward and step away from the lure of a future that could no longer be hers. How could she feel any other way when that future had been so inextricably linked to their baby?

'You're my wife, hara mou. I belong by your side,' Edward countered with fierce conviction. 'You're upset, we're both upset but together we're stronger.'

'Maybe that would've been true had we been in love...but obviously, we're not.' Bella closed her restive fingers into a tight ball of self-restraint, her deep sense of hurt tamped down. 'Us...as a couple, that's over. Of course, it is. How could it be anything else after what's just happened?' she asked shakily, anger at the tumultuous emotions she was crushing arrowing through her trembling frame because with every word she spoke she was going against her own heart.

But how could she do anything else? she asked herself in despair. They had come together for the baby's sake and without the baby, there was nothing to keep them together. She had to face that, deal with it, and live with it whether she liked it or not. She loved him but he did not love her. She was too proud and too fair-minded to cling to him and make him feel that he somehow owed it to her to stay with her.

Edward welded long tanned fingers to the rail at the foot of her bed, every muscle in his lean, powerful body pulling dangerously tight. 'I don't know what you're talking about,' he said with a harsh undertone.

'I'm just saying what needs to be said. You're free, Edward.'

Edward lost color, the exotic slant of his cheekbones pronounced. There was a lurch in the region of his gut as though he had been punched. He didn't want to be free. Naturally, he had got used to being married and he was content to stay married and eventually try for another baby. Bella suited him. He didn't know how she did it or why she was so important to him but she matched him in all the ways that mattered. Indeed he had become so accustomed to Bella being around that he could not imagine his life without her. Obviously, he was more of a creature of habit and routine than he had ever appreciated because within a short time Bella had become astonishingly necessary to his comfort.

'And what if I don't want to be free?' he grated, soft and low.

'If that's what you think you feel right now you're lying to yourself,' Bella told him with astonishing conviction. 'And why are you lying to yourself? Because you feel sorry for me and you think it's your job to look after me. You have a very strong sense of responsibility and that's a noble trait but don't let it blind you to what you really want out of life. And what you really want, Edward is not me.'

Edward wondered why she was telling him how he felt. Did she really think he was so inadequate that he couldn't work out his own feelings for himself? Annoyance slashed through him and he wanted to express it but he was horrendously aware of the experience she had undergone and that it was his duty not to make the situation worse.

'Our marriage was all about the baby and everything you have ever shared with me related to the baby and the baby's future needs. Without our baby...' Bella framed unsteadily, tears glinting in her over-bright eyes '...we don't have a marriage. We don't even have a relationship. We can get a divorce now.'

'Are you insane?' Edward heard himself snap back at her, all self-discipline vanquished by her use of that bombshell word. Divorce? How was he supposed to listen to that in polite and understanding silence?