Free Bad Boys of London: The Complete GYPSY HEROES Collection by Georgia le Carre Page A

a couple of pregnancy tests and both were positive. The funny thing is, it was one day before the first anniversary of the day we met, so I decided not to tell him until our anniversary night. We were going to spend it in Paris and I wanted to tell him at the hotel before we went to dinner.’
    She looks away from me, a dreamy, far-away look in her eyes.
    ‘He had booked us this beautiful hotel suite in Paris. It had one of those impossibly glamorous interiors, you know, the ones you see in movies. With tall, gilded ceilings, wall paneling, antique wooden floors, and a massive, intricately-carved gold bed. It had a three balconies and palm trees in Chinese pots. That’s where I told him.’
    She pauses and there are tears in her eyes.
    ‘Oh Lily, you are crying.’
    She shakes his head. ‘It was just so beautiful. I had bought these little yellow shoes. They were the tiniest pair of knitted shoes you ever saw. They came in a white cardboard box and I had asked the girl in the shop to gift-wrap them. I still remember the wrapping. Yellow with red balloons. So just before we left for dinner I put the box into his hand. “For you,” I said. He frowned, holding the small box in his hand as if it was the most precious thing in the world. “For me?” he asked as he did not quite believe it. You see, until then I had never given him anything. What could I give him? He was the man who had everything.’
    She smiles, a glowing secret smile.
    ‘He opened the box. For a while he simply stared at them incredulously and then he fished them out between his thumb and forefinger and looked at me. Oh Layla, you should have seen the expression on his face. It gives me goosebumps even now. He was so happy, but he didn’t dare believe it, just in case it was a stupid joke or it meant something different. “Are you trying to tell me what I think you’re trying to tell me?” he whispered.’
    ‘I just nodded and watched as he carefully put the shoes back into the box, and put the box on the side table. Then, with a crazy, small boy whoop of pure joy, he lifted me up into the air and whirled me round and round until I was quite, quite dizzy.’
    ‘Oh Lily,’ I breathe. ‘What a lovely story.’
    ‘It was an unforgettable night,’ she says softly, and strokes her belly with a contented sigh.
    ‘I don’t know if I’ll ever find the kind of love you have.’
    She looks me in the eye. ‘Sometimes the man for you is closer than you think.’
    BJ’s face flashes into my mind. How would such an obviously cold and hard man react to the news he is going to be a father?
    ‘One day you’ll be pregnant and when you tell your man you’re carrying his child you will know exactly what I mean. A light, a special light, comes into his eyes.’
    For a while we stop speaking. Each of us lost in our own thoughts. Then Lily breaks the silence. ‘Your mum said you went to a party at Laissez-faire last night.’
    ‘Yeah,’ I admit. ‘It was Ria’s birthday party.’ I briefly consider telling her about BJ, about that slow-motion, sex-drenched dance and the drug-like kiss afterwards. Then I decide not to. Nothing has happened yet. Nothing will if I don’t make it to Pigeon’s Pie.
    ‘Was it good?’
    I grin. ‘It was brilliant. The music was great and we danced all night, but there was a big fight at the end. A guy almost crashed into me, but I was lucky. The manager of the club appeared out of nowhere and pulled me out of harm’s way. He immediately called a taxi and insisted on putting me into it. Very decent of him, I thought.’
    Lily’s eyes have an oddly knowing glint and she looks as if she is about to say something, but at that moment Jake enters the room, and I run off to the toilet. After I brush my teeth and hair, I dress in a pair of old jeans and a huge, comfy jumper. Then I run downstairs to join my family.
    Lunch is fun. It always is when my brothers are around. Jake is the oldest and he took on the role of breadwinner