Secret Heirs: Baby Scandal. Кейт Хьюит
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‘It sounds like you’ve been doing some research.’ He should feel irritated that she’d been here in his home, researching him on the internet, but instead he was shocked to find the thought amused him. ‘You could just ask me about my life. After all, you can’t believe everything the papers say.’
‘You weren’t honest with me when we first met, so why should I believe anything else you tell me?’
The light tone of her voice was in complete contrast to the stern look on her face and he fought the urge to pull her to him, feel her body against his and kiss her. He shouldn’t desire her, but he did.
‘You probably know all there is to know now.’
He glanced out at the Acropolis, busy with people visiting in the sunshine. The thought that they should go there wandered idly through his mind.
‘Hmm,’ she said, and walked towards him, testing his restraint too much. ‘It’s a shame I prefer the fisherman I first met to the businessman I now see. But he wasn’t real—was he, Nikos?’
He moved closer, clenching his hands against the urge to take her in his arms and kiss her. Inside, the need to show her he was the same man grew stronger by the second. His guard slipped like a sail unfurled just before the wind filled it. He wanted to tell her he was the same man inside, that he desired her as much as he had when they’d first met, but that would be showing his hand—something he couldn’t ever do.
Then, as if the sail had been filled with the ocean wind, his guard was back, rising higher than ever.
‘Right now I’m not just a businessman. I’m also a fiancé who needs to take his intended bride shopping for a ring.’ He growled the words as his control was tested far more than he’d ever thought possible. What was it about her that made him like this?
‘Out of necessity!’ She tossed the words lightly at him as she walked back into the apartment.
Of course she was right. She was carrying his child, his heir, and he had every intention of doing the right thing. No matter the cost, emotionally or financially, his child would be born within marriage.
Marriage.
The word bounced around inside his head like a shout echoing in a cave, taunting him. Marriage was something he’d never aspired to. There had been no need. He’d never wanted to be a father. But one spontaneous and out of control night had changed all that.
‘We cannot be married without first being engaged.’ His voice was rough and hard as he pushed back emotions from the past that he couldn’t deal with now. He’d always looked forward—looking back only caused pain.
‘Perhaps you’d better look at the headlines today.’ She smiled sweetly and made her way to the kitchen.
He watched her as she poured iced water into two glasses and handed him one.
‘The reporters last night have taken you at your word, judging by their photos.’
His comment last night might have been made without the thought he usually gave dealing with the press, but it had certainly sparked a furore of media interest. He just wished he’d seen it first.
‘Is that a problem?’
‘Of course it is. You’ve made certain I have no option but to accept your absurd deal. But I hate you for it Nikos—with all my heart.’
* * *
Serena saw the colour drain from Nikos’s face. Last night she hadn’t realised there had been calculated planning behind making such an admission to the press, but now she did. It had been made to remove that tiny window of escape, to force her to accept his deal.
She hadn’t arrived looking for marriage—just the opportunity to do the right thing and tell him face-to-face. After her talk with Sally last night she knew deep down she wanted to be with Nikos, to raise his child. But he must never know that—not when he could use her so cruelly after all they’d shared.
It was perfectly clear he didn’t want commitment, and if their last night together hadn’t resulted in pregnancy she would never have seen him again. Somewhere deep inside she’d known that all along, but now he was forcing her into a marriage neither wanted. A marriage just the same as her parents had had, until their divorce a few years ago. One for the sake of their child—and she’d been the one who’d paid the price.
She inhaled deeply. Her child might not have been planned, but she’d never let her child think he or she was a mistake, never make it feel guilty for forcing its parents to be together. The idea of marriage to Nikos had been a far-fetched dream, but now it was a harsh reality that would enable her sister’s dreams to come true. A high price, but one she would willingly pay if it meant Sally becoming a mother.
‘I have a charity party to attend this evening. I need to talk with some business acquaintances. You will come too.’
He’d recovered his composure quickly. The ruthless businessman was well and truly back in control and today he looked even more so than he’d ever done. The fisherman she’d met wasn’t evident at all. The tailored suit that hugged his body with agonising perfection and the crisp white of his shirt shouted professionalism, but the expensive watch on his wrist and gold signet ring screamed success.
Before seeing him this morning she’d already decided she had no choice but to stay, to give marriage to him a chance not just for her child but for Sally. It was Sally’s advice that had taken the sting out of Nikos’s deal, warning her she mustn’t base her life on her parents’ marriage. She had to find her own happiness and she owed it to her child at least to try.
Despite that, she couldn’t keep a cutting remark from leaving her lips. ‘In what capacity? Your fiancée—as you told those reporters last night?
His blue eyes darkened. Glittering sparks shot from them and he set his lips in that all too familiar line that she was fast becoming accustomed to. It was something she’d never seen the fisherman she’d fallen in love with do.
‘Of course. We are to be married—that is why you are still here, is it not?’
‘I’m still here because it helps my sister.’ She threw her retort back at him, infuriated by his arrogance.
‘I will buy you a ring so big there will not be any questions as to my intentions towards you.’
His acerbic tone cut deep, but she didn’t let it show. Instead she took a sip of water. The ice clinking in the glass as her hands shook almost gave away how much his words had hurt.
‘After those newspaper headlines that will save a lot of awkward questions.’
Buying an engagement ring with a man in such a harsh mood wasn’t at all what she’d hoped for. Even though theirs wasn’t going to be a marriage made out of love, she’d hoped the desire and passion they’d once shared would count for something.
‘I had no idea the story would get out. It won’t help my current negotiations if I’m seen to be going back on my word to the woman I’ve proposed to. Are you ready to go right now?’
‘I’m ready,’ she said—though she wondered if she was ever going to be ready to enter into a loveless marriage. It was her parents all over again. Their unhappiness had been her fault, and now she was going to lay that guilt on her own child—but with Sally’s happiness at stake she had little choice...for now at least.
Half an hour later, having been driven through the rush of Athens traffic, she was in an exclusive and very expensive jewellers with an attentive Nikos at her side. His acting skills were incredible, and he lovingly laid his arm around her shoulders as she tried the biggest diamond ring she’d ever seen on her finger.
The assistant gushed, but her Greek words were totally lost on Serena. It was an amazing ring—a big show of wealth—but it wasn’t at all what she wanted.
‘No,’ she said decisively,