With the way he said it, who he was and the mountains of money he had, Belle was sure too.
“Fine,” she gritted between her teeth and looked away.
“Belle,” he called and her eyes snapped back to him. “I want you moving to The Point.”
“You’ve made that clear,” Belle assured him.
“I want your verbal agreement, right now.”
She shook her head and pulled at her arm but he still didn’t let go so she gave up.
“Belle, we’re agreeing this now,” he demanded.
She looked at his ear. “Give me some time to think about it.”
“No.”
Her eyes moved back to his and she asked on a whisper, “Why?”
“You know why.”
“No,” she said with complete honesty. “I don’t.”
He regarded her a moment as if to assess her truthfulness then he moved closer even though he was already close.
Belle backed away but she had nowhere to retreat and came up against the door.
When she did, he put his hand not on already her to the door by her waist and got even closer.
“You want to know why?” he asked quietly and she nodded, at his proximity unable to speak. Feeling the heat from his body, feeling overwhelmed by his large frame in a way she’d not felt when she was with him before and he continued, “All right, I’ll tell you why.”
The way he said that made her think she didn’t actually want to know why.
She didn’t get a chance to stop him.
“Because, three months ago, you walked away from me without looking back. Now you’re carrying my child and therefore, out of necessity as we’re sharing parentage of that child, I’m not giving you the opportunity to do it again. Because you found out you were pregnant and you didn’t intend to tell me. Because you’re obviously having a difficult pregnancy and I intend to make certain it goes as smoothly as possible and ends successfully.”
There was a lot there, most of it Belle had no intention of addressing.
So she addressed the only thing she could.
“I’m not having a difficult pregnancy. I’m told what I’m experiencing is entirely natural,” she told him.
“I’d like to be assured of that by a qualified doctor,” he replied.
“My mother went through the same thing with me,” Belle pushed.
“That may be but I still want an expert opinion.”
Belle looked away, not willing to fight it. Especially when he was that close and muttered again, “Fine.”
“You’ll move in?” he asked and her eyes darted back to his.
“That’s not what I meant,” she answered.
“That’s what we’re talking about.”
She swallowed then took in a deep breath, looked at his nose and admitted, “I don’t want to live here. I don’t feel safe here. I feel safe at home. I want to stay there. I promise to keep you informed and involved however you like that to be.”