‘No.’ I felt a sudden urge to hit him. How dare he tell me what to do. ‘I don’t want anyone else. I want him.’

Peter shook his head. ‘No, Bella, you don’t. You want me.’ He paused to swallow. ‘But that’s not going to happen. It’s over.’ A pulse throbbed in his cheek and he fixed me with his gaze imploringly. ‘Tell Ben it’s over and leave us alone.’

I could feel a smile tugging at the corners of my mouth but managed to clamp my lips together to stop it. ‘Well, you see, that’s not going to be possible, I’m afraid.’

The look of fear reappeared. ‘What do you mean?’ he hissed. Aggression had been replaced by a tentative whisper.

‘I’m pregnant.’ I didn’t even try to hide the triumphant note in my voice. Let him squirm for once.

He visibly reeled. ‘You … you can’t be.’ I could see his mind whirring back through the weeks, trying to calculate. Again, the irony of someone who was so gifted at maths being unable to count a few short weeks made me want to laugh.

‘Yes. I can be. And I am.’

Peter exhaled loudly and put his hands on his hips. ‘Well, it’s not mine.’

‘Actually, it is.’

It was almost funny, the way the colour drained instantly from his handsome, smug, tanned face. He stumbled slightly and I wondered if he might faint but he seemed to recover his composure quickly. ‘No,’ he said, his voice reedy at first. He cleared his throat. ‘No,’ he repeated, more clearly this time. ‘I don’t even believe that you’re pregnant. But if you are, then it is someone else’s.’

I flashed him my widest smile, enjoying his discomfort. ‘I think you’ll find that it’s most definitely yours. I’ll do a DNA test to prove it.’

Peter looked away and rubbed his hand over his face. ‘How much?’ he said at last.

I raised my eyebrows theatrically. ‘Peter! I’m shocked. I hope you’re not suggesting that I get rid of …’

‘Of course I’m fucking suggesting that!’ he spat, and this time the tears of panic were brimming in his dark brown eyes that had gazed at me with undisguised lust so many times in the past. ‘Look …’ He took a deep breath to try to calm himself down. ‘I will pay whatever you need to, uh, deal with it. And then I will pay you whatever it takes to make you go away and leave us alone. Just tell me how much you want.’

I shook my head sadly. How could he have got me so wrong? ‘Oh no, Peter, I’m afraid I’m not some little problem that you can make disappear by throwing cash at it. But I am going to make you pay for dumping me the way you did. And the fact is, no matter how much money you have, you will never be able to afford what it’s going to cost you.’

Peter’s face creased with anguish. He made as if to reach out towards me but seemed to think better of it and withdrew his hand. ‘Please, Bella, don’t do this. Don’t hurt Ben.’