Читать книгу Modern Romance November 2019 Books 5-8 - Dani Collins - Страница 15

One year later

THE TURQUOISE WATERS of the Pacific were so blindingly beautiful they brought tears to my eyes. Or perhaps it was the stinging salt from the spray.

It definitely wasn’t because today was my first wedding anniversary.

No. Most certainly not that.

On the list of the most forgettable things to happen to me in the last year, my hastily arranged wedding and the shockingly cold ceremony was right at the top. Not to mention the trapped groom who couldn’t wait to walk away from me. The man I now had the dubious pleasure of calling my husband.

My heart leapt into my throat even as I pushed Axios’s image away. He would need to be dealt with soon.

But not just yet.

I lifted my face to the blazing sun, willed it to pierce through my desolation and touch my wounded soul. I needed brightness and mirth, sunshine and positivity. If only for a little while longer… It might all be gone soon, slipping through my fingers like mercury.

Gripping the railing of the sleek sailboat transporting me from an exclusive Bora Bora resort to the adjoining uninhabited island where I’d ordered my picnic, I mentally went through my list from bottom to top.

Number five: Take control of my life. Check.

Contrary to my fears, walking away hadn’t doomed me or my mother. My monthly phone calls reassured me that she was fine. My father, now a hundred million euros richer, was engrossed in yet another business venture. Better still, he hadn’t challenged any of the terms of the contract he’d made with Axios.

Number four: Do something worthwhile with my painting. Check.

The past year had been frightening in some ways but immensely fulfilling in the exploration of my talent. I was still basking in the knowledge that I could have had a career if fate hadn’t pushed me down a different path.

Number three: Accept that my condition might not have a happy ending and that my prognosis might follow my grandmother’s. Check.

It had been a difficult acceptance, often pitted with tears and heartache and grief for all the things I might never have. For what this would do to those I love.

Number two: Cherish my precious gift for as long as I can. Check. Check. Check.

The last item on my list filled me with equal parts desolation and trepidation. But it needed to be done.

Number one: Hand over my precious gift to Axios Xenakis.

As if that gift knew he was in my thoughts, a soft cry rippled through the sun-drenched breeze, followed by a sharper one, demanding attention.

Smiling, I turned from the railing and crossed the deck to the shaded lounge. There, lying amongst the cushions, was the reason for my heartbeat. The reason I needed to keep fighting for my unknown future.

‘Are you awake, my precious boy?’

At the sound of my voice Andreos Xenakis kicked his plump legs, his arms joining in his giddy response as his searching eyes found mine. For an instant my breath caught. The similarity between the piercing grey eyes of father and son was so visceral, I froze.

Another insistent cry had me reaching for him. His warm, solid weight in my arms quieted the worst of my trepidation, and soon even that evaporated beneath the sheer joy of cradling him, feeding him, doing such mundane things as changing his nappy and handing him his favourite toy, basking in his sweet babbling while I enjoyed the stunning view and just…being.

Pushing away the terrifying news the doctor had given me that day in Switzerland and the choice I’d had to make, I breathed in relief when the boat slowed and a staff member approached with a courteous smile.

‘We’re here, miss. Your picnic is set up for you on the shore.’

Whatever the future held, I would deal with it.

After all, I’d dealt with so much this past year.

Except the future had found me before I was ready. And it came in the form of a solitary figure with furious gunmetal eyes and a gladiator stance, waiting with crossed arms on the jetty as the sailboat returned to the exclusive resort.

My heart leapt into my throat, my breath strangled to nothing as I watched the figure grow larger, more broody, more formidable.

More everything.

He’d grown harder. Edgier. Or perhaps that was all imagined. A product of those feverishly erotic dreams that frequently plagued me.

Whatever… The man who watched me in silent condemnation as the boat gently butted the wooden planks on the jetty had zero mercy in him. And when his gaze shifted to Andreos and widened with chilled shock I had the distinct notion that I’d played this wrong.

I’d been too selfish.

Taken too much time for myself.

Too much time with my son.

‘Axios.’

He didn’t respond to my whispered utterance of his name. He couldn’t take his eyes off Andreos. His strong throat moved in a swallow and his pallor increased as several expressions charged through his eyes.

Shock. Amazement. Utter fury.

‘What are you doing here?’ I asked.

Finally eyes the colour of a dark arctic night clashed with mine. ‘What am I doing here?’ he asked with icy incredulity. ‘This is what you have to say to me after the stunt you have pulled?’

My insides shook but I forced myself to hold his gaze. ‘You’ll want to discuss this, I’m sure, but can it wait till—?’

‘I’ll want to discuss this? Are you for real?’

A drowsy Andreos stirred in my arms, his senses picking up on the frenetic emotions charging through the air.

‘Miss, would you like us to—?’

‘Leave us.’ Axios’s tone was deep. Implacable.

I wasn’t in the least bit surprised when the staff hurried away.

‘How did you find me?’

It seemed a monumental feat for him to drag his gaze from Andreos.

‘Through an act of sheer coincidence. The owner of this resort happens to be a business acquaintance of mine. He was on a rare tour of his property when he spotted you. Had he not chosen to take his yearly tour this last week…’ He stopped, shaking his head as if grappling with the sheer serendipity of the occurrence that had led him to me.

My chalet was on the beach, and I made the short walk to the gorgeous timber-clad structure aware of his every step behind me.

‘I intended to come back—I promise.’

‘You promise? Why should I take your word on anything? You told the staff you were visiting friends when all along you intended to abscond from our marriage. And now you’re hiding in a resort on the other side of the world under a false name. Not to mention you seem to have had a child during that time. I am assuming the child is yours?’

‘Of course he his. Who else’s would he be?’

He went as rigid as an ice statue, and what little colour had flowed back into his face on the walk from jetty to chalet receded momentarily before fury reddened his haughty cheekbones once more.

‘So I can add infidelity to your sins?’

‘Infid—? What are you talking about?’ Shock made my voice screech.

Andreos whimpered as I laid him down in his cot, and then went back to sound sleep.

‘We used contraception on our wedding night, as I recall,’ he rasped with icy condemnation.

‘Well, I wasn’t on birth control. I never have been. And, while I’m not an expert, I’m sure there’s a caution that states that condoms aren’t one hundred percent foolproof.’

‘And I’m suddenly to accept that the protection that has never failed me before suddenly malfunctioned with you?’

I wasn’t sure why the reference to other lovers drilled such angst through me. His lovers, past or present, were of no consequence to me. I had no hold over him, nor did he over me, when it came right down to it. All that had brought us together was my father’s greed and manipulation.

‘I don’t know what to say to make you believe me but I know the truth, Axios. Andreos is yours.’

Piercing eyes locked on mine for the better part of a minute. ‘If he’s mine, why have you hidden him from me for the better part of a year?’

His voice had changed, turned grittier, and he even looked a little shaken as his gaze swung again to Andreos. He started to walk towards the cot as if compelled, then stopped, shook his head.

‘Why is he here on the other side of the world when he should be in Greece, with his family?’

It would have been so easy to blurt out everything that had happened to me since that dreaded visit to the doctor in Switzerland. and the urgent summons to hear my diagnosis three gut-churning days later, when it had been confirmed that there was indeed a growth in my cervix.

But I was also told I was pregnant, and that any further exploration, even an initial biopsy to ascertain its malignancy or benignity, would jeopardise my baby.

I could have told him about the latest scans I had in my suitcase, taken by Dr Trudeau in Switzerland, and his recommendation to take action.

But if Axios’s presence here wasn’t warning enough that the time I’d bought for myself was over, the look in his eyes said I wouldn’t escape scot-free.

Nevertheless, I wasn’t the same woman he’d married. Harrowing decisions made in the cold grip of fear had a way of changing a person.

‘Why does it matter to you, anyway? I thought you would be glad to see the back of me for ever.’

A ferocious light glinted in his eyes for a heart-stopping second before he took a step towards me. ‘You married a Xenakis, Calypso. You think simply packing your bag and walking out through the door is the end of it? That you simply had to hightail it to the other end of the world for your marriage vows to cease to have meaning?’

I stemmed my panic as his words rankled. ‘Our vows had meaning? I could’ve sworn you challenged me to find a way to make them stop having meaning.’

His eyes narrowed. ‘You think this was the answer?’

‘It was my way!’

‘Perhaps I should’ve added an addendum that finding a way needed to involve discretion and consideration. Nothing that would throw a spotlight on me or my family. My mistake. Tell me, Calypso, do you think disappearing off the face of the earth for over a year screams discretion or consideration?’

I shrugged with a carelessness I didn’t feel. ‘You didn’t stick around long enough to hash out another course of action. I did what was best.’

‘What was best for you, you mean?’

My senses wanted to scream yes! Caution warned me to remain calm. To talk this through as rationally as the tower of formidable fury in front of me would allow.

‘You still haven’t told me why you’re here.’

He made another sound of incredulity. ‘Because you’re my wife! Because the whispers need to cease. Because you will not jeopardise everything I’ve worked for. And that’s just for starters.’

‘Ah, now we’re getting to the bottom of it. You’re here because of what my absence is doing to your business? Is that it, Axios?’

With lightning speed warm fingers curled over my nape. His hold wasn’t threatening, simply holding me in place so that whatever point he needed to make would be accurately delivered.

‘While no one would dare say it to my face, rumours of my wife fleeing our marital home has caused ripples in my life. The kind I can do without. So make no mistake: I intend to remedy that. Whatever point you intended to make, it ends now.’

Each word contained a deadly promise—an intention to have his way that stoked the rebellion that had gone dormant in the last year back to life.

‘Believe it or not, my walking out had absolutely nothing to do with you.’

‘Enlighten me, then, matia mou. What was it all about?’

The soft cadence of his voice didn’t fool me.

‘What could possibly have driven you from the life of luxury and abundance your father battled for so cunningly?’

The mention of my father brought my goals back into focus. Reminded me why I hadn’t been able to stomach staying under Axios’s roof for one more day. That feeling of a loss of control. Of suffocation. Of not being able to live my life on my own terms. My choices being taken away from me without so much as a by your leave…

‘I’m not my father,’ I stressed, with every cell in my body.

‘No, you’re not. But while I was prepared to give you the benefit of the doubt before, your actions have led me to form a different opinion about you. So whatever your reasons were, tell me now.’

‘Or what?’

He didn’t speak for the longest moment. Then his attention shifted to the cot where Andreos slept, lost in baby dreams. My heart tripped over itself as I watched Axios’s face. Watched him speculate with that clever mind financial analysts rhapsodised over.

‘Is he the reason?’

‘What do you mean?’

His jaw rippled. ‘If there was an indiscretion, I urge you to confess it now rather than later.’

His words shouldn’t have scraped my emotions. Considering what my mother had done, and the fall-out and gossip that had followed, I knew all too well how assumptions were made, judgements passed without verification. But the reality that he suspected Andreos wasn’t his lanced a soft spot in my heart.

A fierce need to protect my child’s honour ploughed through me. ‘We may not have known each other before we met at the altar, but you should know that I would rather cut off my own arm before attempting to lie about my child’s parentage. Whether you’re willing to accept it or not, he’s yours.’

If I’d expected my fervour to melt his coldness, I was sorely disappointed.

‘Your vigorous defence of your child is admirable. But, as you said, we were virtual strangers before we came together. If you want me to believe you, tell me where you’ve been. Every single thing you’ve done in the past year. Then perhaps I’ll consider believing you.’

The list reeled through my head.

Finding the bank account in Switzerland my grandmother had left in my name.

Seeing the private doctor who’d treated me.

Getting the results and feeling the soul-wrecking fear that my fate would echo my grandmother’s.

Making the choice I had to make.

Andreos’s arrival.

Saying the fervent prayers for more. One more day. One week. One month.

One year.

I couldn’t tell Axios any of that. Even the simple joy of rediscovering my love of painting and finding the shops and galleries I’d sold my watercolours to seemed too sacred, too private to share with the man who looked at me with rancour and suspicion. Whose every breath seemed like a silent pledge to uncover my secrets.

My life. Lived on my terms.

That was what I’d sworn to myself that rainy afternoon in my hotel room after leaving Dr Trudeau’s office. For the most part, it had been.

Axios’s arrival had simply shortened the time I’d given myself before checking off the last item on my list.

‘You’ll consider believing me after you’ve triple-checked everything I say?’

The unapologetic gleam in his eyes told me he intended to do exactly that. Tear through every new, unconditional friendship I’d formed along the way, every haven I’d sought refuge in.

My stomach churned at the thought of Axios finding out the true state of my health and exploiting it the way my father had done with my mother. It was that terrible thought more than anything else that cemented my decision to keep my secret.

If he found out my condition, he would wonder if the state of my health affected my suitability as a mother. Unlike my mother, my flaws weren’t outward. For the precious time being, I could hang on to that.

As for when I couldn’t…

‘All you need to know is that Andreos is yours and I’m prepared to return to Greece. If that’s what you want?’

His nostrils flared and his gaze raked my face for long sizzling seconds before his lips twisted. ‘Oh, yes, wife. The time has most definitely come for that. And whatever it is that you’re keeping from me, rest assured, I’ll find out.’

With that he stepped back.

Thinking he was going to leave me to grapple with the turmoil his unexpected arrival had caused, I watched, my heart speeding like a freight train, as he headed to the cot where Andreos slept.

Silence disturbed only by the slow stirring of the ceiling fan throbbed in the room as Axios stared down at the son he hadn’t accepted was his. His jaw clenched tight and his throat moved convulsively as he watched the rise and fall of the baby’s chest.

He remained frozen for so long I feared he’d take root there. When he turned abruptly and tugged a sleek phone from his pocket my senses tripped.

‘What are you doing?’

Eyes the colour of a stormy sky met mine as he hit a number and lifted the handset to his ear. ‘Getting the answers I need.’

The sharp orders he gave in Greek when the phone was answered didn’t surprise me. The irony that the one truth I’d told him was the one he was having a hard time accepting wasn’t lost on me. But, conversely, I understood. I too had wondered why fate would choose to lay both joy and sorrow on me in one fell swoop, leaving me with a choice that had seemed both simple and terrifying.

After all, my actions pointed to behaviour that would’ve left me suspicious too. And, considering what my own mother had done for the sake of freedom and love—an act that was an open secret in Nicrete—I didn’t blame Axios for wanting to verify that the baby he’d helped create was truly his.

When he was done making an appointment for his private doctor to visit his home in Athens the moment he returned, to take DNA samples for a paternity test, he hung up, his piercing regard staying on me as he tucked his phone away.

I ignored the blatant challenge and asked the question more important to me. ‘Is it going to hurt him?’

For the most fleeting second the charged look in his eyes dissipated. ‘No. I’m told all it requires is a swab from his cheek.’

I nodded. ‘Very well, then.’

He frowned, my easy acquiescence seemingly throwing him. But his face returned to its formidable hauteur in moments, and his strides were purposeful as he strode to the house phone and picked it up.

Before he dialled he turned to me. ‘Is the child okay to travel on a plane?’

‘The child’s name is Andreos. And I’d thank you not to make any plans without discussing them with me first.’

A muscle ticked in his jaw. ‘Why? Did you not tell me that you intended to return to Greece?’

‘Yes, I did.’

‘When exactly were you proposing to do that? When he was a year old? When he was five or perhaps ten?’ he grated out.

The cold embrace of knowing that time wasn’t on my side stalled my answer for several seconds. ‘I was thinking days—not months or years. My booking at this resort is only for a week. I was going to fly back to Athens from here.’

His lips flattened. ‘I don’t plan on leaving you behind, Calypso. My good faith where you’re concerned is gone. When I fly out of here in three hours you and the child will be by my side. And that state will continue until such time as you choose to come completely clean about your actions for the past year or I furnish myself with the information.’

After that, there really wasn’t much more to say.

Moments after Axios left my suite the head concierge arrived with instructions to get as many staff as I needed to help me pack. I almost laughed, considering my meagre belongings and everything Andreos needed could fit in one small suitcase.

I dismissed the staff and was done with my packing in twenty minutes. The rest of the time I spent sitting beside Andreos’s cot, hoping against hope that my time with him going forward would be just as peaceful as the past precious months had been. Because I didn’t intend to be separated from him for a second. Time was too precious. Too special. And I would fight for every moment.

As if aware he was at the centre of my thoughts, he stirred and woke, his face remaining solemn for a few seconds before a toothless smile creased his chubby face. Blinking back the tears of joy that just looking at him prompted, I scooped him up and cradled him close.

By the time Axios knocked on the door we were both ready.

After another taut spell of staring at Andreos with turbulent eyes, he eyed the single suitcase with grating consternation. ‘This is all you have?’

‘I believe in travelling light.’

His expression darkened. ‘What about safety equipment for the baby? A car seat?’

‘I find it easier to hire what I require as and when I need it. And, before you disparage my methods, I research and make sure everything I use is of the highest safety standard.’

His gaze remained on me for another second before he nodded at the porter.

My suitcase was quickly stowed on a sleek private boat. Within minutes my last sanctuary had become a dot on the horizon.

I’d forgotten just how ruthlessly efficient Axios Xenakis could be. I received another rude reminder when, upon our arrival at the jetty, a smiling courier presented me with a gleaming state-of-the-art buggy and car seat combo, already assembled.

I braced my hand on Andreos’s back, tugged him closer to where he nestled snugly in his papoose. ‘That won’t be necessary. The airline I’m flying with will have all the equipment I need.’

Axios stepped forward and took hold of the pushchair. ‘You think I’m going to let you out of my sight now I’ve found you?’

‘But I have a ticket—’

‘And I have a private jet.’

Of course he did.

I’d blocked so many things out of my mind for the sake of pure survival. But the world had kept on turning. Axios had remained a powerful mogul with looks that weakened women’s knees. And, as a billionaire who commanded an airline empire, didn’t it stand to reason he’d possess his own plane?

A short SUV ride later we arrived at the private area of the airport, where an obscenely large aircraft bearing the unique Xenakis family logo stood gleaming resplendently beneath the French Polynesian sun.

‘So what’s it to be? Athens or Agistros?’ he asked silkily.

I stared at him in surprise. ‘You’re giving me a choice?’ It was more than he had the last time. More than my father ever had. Not that I planned on reading anything into it.

He shrugged. ‘The location doesn’t matter. Whichever you choose will be home. For all of us,’ he added succinctly.

I chose Athens.

A mere twenty-four hours later we drove through the imposing gates of Axios’s jaw-dropping villa. A different set of staff greeted us, and an even more opulent set of adjoining master suites had been readied for the prodigal wife’s return.

I was standing in the middle of cream and gold opulence when I felt his presence behind me. Not wanting to look into those hypnotising eyes, I kept still, my precious bundle safely tucked in my arms.

My skin beginning to tingle wildly, I snatched in a breath and held it when his mouth brushed over the shell of my ear and he said, in a low, deep whisper, ‘Welcome home, yineka mou. And rest assured that this time you will not get away from me that easily.’