She shrugged. “I walked. He didn’t catch up with me until after….”

Rafael looked hastily around and then dragged a chair to her bedside. He perched on the edge and stared intently at her.

“Has the doctor been in yet? What has he said about the baby? Are you hurt anywhere else? Did the bastard hit you?”

She shook her head at the flurry of questions and blinked at the fierceness in his voice and expression. This wasn’t a side of Rafael she’d ever seen before.

“The nurse said the on-call obstetrician would be in to see me shortly and that he would conduct an assessment to make sure all was well with the baby. And no, I’m not hurt anywhere else.”

She raised her hand to her eye and winced when she pushed in on the already swelling area.

Rafael captured her hand and pulled it away from her eye.

“It’s unacceptable for you to be walking the streets of New York City alone. I don’t even like you staying in that hotel alone.”

She smiled in amusement. “But it’s your hotel, Rafael. Are you suggesting it isn’t safe?”

“I’d prefer you were with me, where I know you are safe,” he said through gritted teeth.

Her brows came together as she studied him. “What are you saying?”

“Look, we were going to be leaving together for Moon Island in a few days anyway. It’s only reasonable that you’d stay with me until we depart. It will give us additional time to…reacquaint ourselves with one another.”

She stared hard into his eyes, looking for…She wasn’t sure what she was looking for. What she saw, however, was burning determination and outrage that she’d been harmed.

He may not remember her, but his protective instincts had been riled, and whether he fully accepted that she carried his child, he was certainly concerned about both mother and baby.

Wasn’t that a start?

“All right,” she said softly. “I’ll stay with you until we leave for the island.”

CHAPTER 5

Rafael would have carried her into his penthouse if she’d allowed it. As it was he argued fiercely until she rolled her eyes and informed him that she was perfectly okay and that no one got carried around because of a black eye.

The reminder of her black eye just infuriated Rafael all the more. She was a tiny woman and the idea that some street thug had manhandled her—a pregnant woman—made his jaw clench. Even though the doctor had assured him that all was well with her pregnancy.

He wasn’t sure what to do with himself. He was in new territory for sure. Bryony was the first woman he’d ever brought up to his penthouse and it felt as though his territory had been invaded.