Читать книгу Secret Heirs: Baby Scandal - Кейт Хьюит - Страница 13

CHAPTER FOUR

AS THEY ARRIVED in Athens Serena was still in a state of shock, unable to believe the man she’d fallen in love with could be so cruel.

After the private plane had whisked them from Santorini she’d fully expected a chauffeur-driven car to meet them at the airport, but one of the city’s many yellow taxis seemed to be what Nikos wanted.

During the flight she’d played Nikos’s words over and over in her mind, each time coming to the same conclusion. She had to accept his so-called deal—for her child and for her sister. She refused to admit that she hoped he might revert to being the man she’d first met and tell her what she most wanted to hear.

She looked across at him as they sat in the taxi. His profile was stern and unyielding. Could this man ever be the Nikos she loved? He looked at her, and even in the semi-darkness as they were driven through Athens at night she felt his icy cold glare.

Instantly she averted her gaze and looked out of the window, amazed by the sights and desperately wishing she wasn’t so tired, so confused.

‘It’s stunning—and so beautiful,’ she said as she caught sight of the Acropolis, lit up and standing proud on its rocky vantage point above the city, thankful for its distraction from thinking about the conversation they’d had in her hotel room.

It still hurt, and it proved he didn’t have any kind of feelings for her. As far as he was concerned she and his child were nothing more than a commodity to be bargained for.

‘It never ceases to please me.’ Nikos spoke softly, leaning closer to her as he looked out of the window like a tourist too, seemingly happy to put aside all that had unfolded that evening. ‘We should go there one day.’

Serena shrank back in her seat; his words bringing it all back and making her presence on the mainland of Greece sound permanent. It was. She didn’t have any other choice.

She pushed those thoughts from her mind, too tired to deal with them any more tonight, but she was still curious as to why Nikos was here when he’d grown up on the island of Santorini. Was that fabrication too?

‘How long have you lived in Athens?’

‘I came here as a teenager, after I finished school and found myself a job with Xanthippe Shipping. The rest I’m sure you know.’ Bitterness edged his words and he too sat back, the beauty of Athens now spoilt for him as much as her. ‘My apartment is not far now.’

‘I should stay in a hotel,’ she volunteered quickly. She’d been too tired to give any thought to where she was going to stay once she was in Athens, but she’d already questioned the sanity of staying with Nikos.

Now she did so again—because of what had been said this evening and the way her body had reacted to him, the way she still wanted and loved him. Staying with him would be a temptation to believe things would work out, when the way he’d reacted earlier told her that was never going to happen.

‘No,’ he said quickly, then started speaking in Greek to the taxi driver. Within moments they had stopped. He got out and walked around to open her door, his gaze locking with hers.

She stepped out and looked up at the smart modern apartment building blending tastefully with the older buildings around. The street lamps glowed like gold, giving it a magical appearance as well as an affluent one. It was so different from the small whitewashed house nestled on a hillside of Santorini overlooking the sea, which Nikos had pointed out during those blissful two weeks. He’d told her it was his home, igniting all sorts of romantic notions in her head, but after tonight’s revelations nothing he said could be trusted.

‘You are tired and you will stay with me.’

A hint of compassion lingered in the heavily accented words, and if she closed her eyes, pretended the previous hours hadn’t existed, she might almost believe he cared.

‘I’m not sure that’s such a good idea.’

She scrabbled to think of a reason, but couldn’t come up with one. They’d already slept together, seen each other naked, so even those excuses didn’t fit. The reality was that she did want to be with him. That was why she’d made the journey to Greece instead of calling him. She’d hoped those two weeks together had meant something.

‘I’m not going to argue with you any more, Serena. You will stay with me tonight, and after my meeting tomorrow morning we can talk further.’

Inwardly she sighed as the taxi driver pulled away. She was tired—of travelling and of talking. Sleep was what she needed now and the thought of insisting on going to a hotel, then checking in, filled her with dread. She’d stay—tonight, at least—but not in his bed. In the morning she’d be able to think more clearly.

Shouts in Greek caught her attention as a car pulled up alongside them. She turned to look just as Nikos put a protective arm around her, responding in the same language. Just seconds before a camera flash penetrated the night Serena realised they were journalists. Uncomfortable doubt crept over her. Was Nikos such a high-profile figure that they followed him around?

‘What do they want?’ She glanced quickly at them as they still lingered close by, watching them with suspicion.

She couldn’t keep the sceptical edge from her voice as he held the main door to the apartment building open for her and she walked into a bright lobby, the white walls a stark contrast to the darkness outside.

‘They wanted to know who you are.’ He took his keys from his pocket then pressed the button to call the lift.

‘Why am I of any importance?’ She frowned as she watched the numbers above the lift counting down the floors, trying to appear unfazed by the event.

He sighed and she felt his gaze on her face.

‘It has been an obsession with them for the past year or so. The more successful my business becomes, and the more unattached I remain, the more determined they are to dig something up.’

‘So what did you tell them?’

Her heart began to thump harder as he looked into her eyes. The depths of his were darkening to a sultry blue, which made her stomach flutter wildly. She cursed her body—and her emotions—for falling under the spell of his charm.

‘The truth.’

The lift doors swished open. He walked inside and then stood looking at her, the spark of mischief in his eyes and the quirk of a smile on his lips almost her undoing.

Determined not to let him see just how easily he could crash through her defences, she marched in after him.

‘What is the truth?’

‘That we are engaged.’

Serena wasn’t sure if it was the movement of the lift or the words he’d just spoken that made her stomach lurch and her head spin. She clutched at the handrail inside the lift and closed her eyes against a wave of nausea.

* * *

Nikos moved quickly as Serena’s face paled. Her knuckles whitened as she gripped the handrail and he wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close against him. He could feel her sliding down, so scooped her up into his arms just as the lift doors opened.

Furious that she’d allowed herself to become so exhausted by travelling all the way to Greece alone, risking his child, he marched towards his door. With each step he took he could feel her body against his, and an unknown emotion of protectiveness swept over him, but he pushed aside the unfamiliar sensation, not wanting to know why or how.

Swiftly, and with ease, he unlocked the front door and angled himself so he could negotiate the doorway without letting her go. Full of concern, he looked down at her just as her eyelashes fluttered open. Relief filled him as green eyes, full of questions and shock, met his.

‘You are supposed to do this after we are married...’ Her voice was weak, more like a throaty whisper, and her pale face looked anxious.

‘I always do things my way, Serena.’

The words came out harder than he’d intended, and he felt her sharp intake of breath as he held her.

She wriggled in his arms as he made his way into the open-plan apartment. The view of the city lights twinkling beneath the floodlit Acropolis didn’t move him this evening. Concern for Serena and his baby took precedence, as did his guilt at flying her back here tonight.

He could have made the flight alone, attended his meeting, then gone back for her—but instinct had warned him against that. Everything she’d said had made him sure she wouldn’t meekly be waiting for him to return. He knew she was only here because of the deal he’d offered and nothing more.

Satisfied that the child she carried was his, he was not going to let her go easily. He was prepared to do anything to create a family for his child. The kind of family he’d craved as a boy and thought he’d never have. It didn’t matter what excuses or what reasons she gave him, he was going to give his child what he’d never had.

‘You can put me down now.’

She pushed her hands against his chest and he heard the strength in her voice returning. As did the spark in her eyes, making them resemble the bright green leaves of spring.

‘It was the lift that made me dizzy. It’s been a long day.’

‘I will order in something to eat, then you can rest.’

He let her slide from him, feeling every delectable curve of her against his body, arousing all the passion he’d been suppressing since he’d got the message from her this morning. He couldn’t allow lust to complicate things—certainly not his inability to control it. Lust-filled desire had already caused enough problems.

She nodded and walked towards the balcony doors. Glad of her acceptance of the situation, he slid open the large glass doors, letting the buzz from the city streets flow in.

‘Enjoy the view.’

She turned, her gaze meeting his, and another pang of guilt rushed over him. She looked so tired—but there was still a hint of the feisty woman who’d met him just a few hours ago. Their differences were far from settled. But this wasn’t something which could be settled overnight. This was much more, and the full implications of what Serena’s presence in Greece meant finally hit him.

What he did now would affect not only his life but his child’s—and Serena’s. Despite that, he didn’t regret the deal he’d put to her. It had presented itself so innocuously that at first he hadn’t seen it as important, but he knew that without it Serena would have walked away from him for ever, taking his child too.

It was far too close to the pain of his own childhood, and thoughts of his father’s blatant denial of his existence rushed forward like the tide with gale force winds behind it. He’d watched him withdraw until he could no longer look at his only son. There was no way he was going to deny his child existed, ignoring it like an inconvenience.

For the first time ever he knew he wanted to be different. Better. He wanted to be a father in every way—to be there each day and each night for his son. But to do that he needed Serena to stay with him...something his mother had been unable to do.

Those thoughts jarred inside him as he made a call to organise an evening meal to be brought in, trying not to think beyond that moment. He joined her on the balcony, where the warm evening air was finally cooling as he stood next to her.

It had been the same kind of warm weather the night he and Serena had walked along the beach for the last time. That night should have been for them to say goodbye, but one kiss had turned it into so much more.

His pulse began to pound like a drum and the hum of desire warmed his blood as he remembered the night that had changed his life for good.

He’d taken Serena in his arms, knowing it was time to say goodbye, to push her away, to deny himself the love which shone in her eyes each time they met. She deserved more than a cold-hearted man such as him: a man who could not and would not allow love into his life—and never into his heart.

She’d whispered his name as she’d kissed him, and he’d held her so tight, deepening the kiss, his hands caressing her body, committing to memory each and every curve. As passion had swept them away the champagne supper he’d organised as a farewell meal had lain abandoned beside them on the blanket. With the moon and the stars shining above them he’d made her his one last time, without thought of anything else.

‘Nikos, I love you,’ she’d whispered as his pulse rate had returned to normal.

Every drop of blood within him had frozen, crystallising in his veins, choking him. It wasn’t possible. He was unlovable. Hadn’t his mother said as much? Then, as the ice had splintered around them, he’d realised what had happened. He hadn’t used any form of contraception. He had broken the one rule he’d always followed and in doing so had exposed himself to the possibility of fathering a child.

Before he’d known how he’d been standing on the sand, looking down at her, with the blanket rumpled beneath her and the glasses of champagne spilt. Fury had boiled inside him at how easily he had been distracted. What if this moment of mad lust resulted in a child? He didn’t want to be a father. He couldn’t be a father.

As memories of that night rushed through him he knew that whatever he’d previously thought he could not turn his back on his child—ever. But that night he’d spoken starkly, each word more forceful than the last. ‘If there are consequences of what has just happened you will tell me.’

Anger had blinded him to anything else, and the evening he’d planned had dissolved around them. She’d got up, dusted the sand from her clothes and looked at him, her beautiful face paling. Before he’d been able to say anything else she’d fled, running from him as if he was the devil.

The damning words of love she’d said had replayed in his mind like a haunting melody, and with a cowardice he’d never before known he had remained where he was, watching her run from him.

Now she stood resolute and courageous on his balcony, with her gaze meeting his and the gold glow from the city casting shadows around her. For the first time he’d recalled what she’d said that night. That she loved him. Fear gripped him—not because of what she’d said, but because briefly he’d believed he could love her. If only his childhood experience of that powerful emotion had been different.

‘Excuse me. I will get the food,’ he said quickly, grateful of the distraction.

He didn’t want to think about what those words had meant, much less acknowledge them.

* * *

Exhaustion swept over Serena and she knew she couldn’t eat another bite of the delicious meal or engage in any more small talk. She had to sleep. She couldn’t put it off any longer and wished she’d insisted on a hotel. At least that would have given her some much needed time alone.

‘I’ll show you to your room,’ Nikos said, and he stood up, uncannily reading her thoughts.

He dominated the room, looking so handsome her heart hammered, but she couldn’t let that sway her. She had to remember what he was capable of.

She should feel relieved that she was to have her own room—that he wasn’t assuming they were going to continue where they’d left off. But she didn’t. It was like a rejection of her as a woman.

‘Thank you,’ she said, reassured by the patience in his tone. It still hurt, but she kept up a facade of defiance, not wanting him to know how disappointed she was and how much she wished things could be different.

Isolation crammed in on her. If only she’d been able to talk to her sister—confide in someone sensible and rational. Sally, eight years older, had always been her place to go for advice, which made the secret she now kept even harder to endure. Especially as it was the very thing Sally desired most in the world. Marrying Nikos was the only way to give that hope back to Sally.

‘I will be leaving early in the morning. I have an important meeting tomorrow. Relax, enjoy the apartment and I will be back at lunchtime.’

His blue eyes were full of concern, and for a moment she thought she saw genuine warmth in them. He stood holding the door open as she walked past him and she caught a hint of his aftershave. Citrus aromas mingled with crisp pine, reminding her of what it was like to be close to him.

‘Sleep well.’

He was leaving her alone—tonight and tomorrow. All sorts of scenarios, from boarding the first UK-bound plane to luxuriating here in his apartment, filled her mind. ‘Aren’t you worried I will leave?’

‘You may do whatever you wish, Serena, but I’m sure you want your sister’s happiness as much as I want to be a part of my child’s life.’

‘You’re hateful,’ she whispered harshly, the reminder of his terms knocking out any misplaced hope she might have been nurturing.

‘Just remember this: no matter where you go, I will find you.’

A hard edge of warning crept into his voice and she swallowed back her retort. Her heart thumped at the implication of his words.

‘Goodnight, Nikos.’ She stood behind the door of her room, using it as a shield against the darkness of his glittering eyes.

‘Goodnight, Serena.’ He turned and walked away, his footsteps on the marble floor as insistent as his voice.

She closed the door and took her phone from her handbag. Two missed calls from Sally. Her heart plummeted with dread. Could she say anything to her without blurting out the sorry tale of her and Nikos? She pressed the button to dial and waited as the call was connected, relieved when Sally answered almost immediately.

‘Serena, where are you? Not in Greece, by any chance, with your handsome fisherman?’

The teasing tones of Sally’s words made her smile, despite the weight of what she wanted to confide in her sister.

‘As a matter of fact, yes.’

‘That’s such good news. I’ve been worried about you.’

Guilt washed over Serena. The last thing Sally needed was more worry than she already had, but she’d always been mothered by her elder sister. She had stepped in when their parents had been too busy avoiding each other instead of being around for their daughters.

‘I’m fine—but what about you?’

‘It’s not good news, I’m afraid.’

The wobble in her sister’s voice nearly broke Serena’s heart. She sat down on the bed, her dizziness making the room slowly turn.

‘I’m sorry, Sally.’ She closed her eyes, feeling the cage Nikos had used to trap her shrinking. There wasn’t any escape now. She had to accept his barbaric terms.

‘It was the last time. I’m never going to be a mother now.’

She could hear Sally’s pain searing at her from across the miles and wished she was there to hug away her hurt. Instead she placed her hand over her still flat stomach and a tear slid down her cheek. Guilt mixed with grief was threatening to overpower her. She couldn’t confide in her now. Not tonight, anyway.

‘We’ll find another way. I promise.’

Serena’s body had turned cold. There was only one other way.

‘Now, you get back to your Greek,’ her sister said, and she could hear her effort to remain bright. ‘And, Serena...?’

Serena’s breath caught in her throat as she registered the pause in the conversation. ‘Yes?’

‘Stop using Mum and Dad’s marriage as an example. Create something better for yourself. If you find love, grab it and hang on to it. Be brave, Serena. Be brave.’

Serena nodded, not able to form any kind of reply, knowing her sister’s advice was well meant. But what if the man you loved didn’t want to love you?

More tears prickled in her eyes and she knew she had to end the call. ‘I will. See you soon.’

With Sally’s goodbye ringing in her head, she cut the connection and lay on the bed, desperately needing to sleep. But her sister’s advice played over and over again in her head. Were her parents and their unhappy marriage the reason why she’d never had a long-term relationship? Had that been why she’d pushed everyone away?

With shock, she realised the truth of her sister’s words and knew it was time to stop hiding from life—and love. The father of her child might not love her, but she loved him. Was that enough—for her and her child?

Other people’s happiness now rested on it. It would have to be.