A quiet knock on the door that connected his apartment with Jo’s brought him out of his painful reverie.
Opening it, he found her standing there, shielding her stomach with her laptop, her eyes wary.
She’d donned a pair of black jeans and a pale blue sweater that hugged her generous curves. Her hair was damp.
‘I thought you’d like to be there when I call Toby,’ she said, making no move to enter the room.
His pulse raced and a lump formed in his throat.
‘I’ve spoken to my brother and told him what’s going on,’ she added, pulling a wry face. ‘They’re expecting me to connect in the next five minutes so I can prepare Toby.’
A blast of dread shot through him.
Theseus had no experience whatsoever with children. How was he supposed to talk to his son? He didn’t know the language of four-year-olds.
‘I think it’s best if you stay off-camera.’ She looked unashamedly around his bedroom. ‘Let me talk to him.’
He gave a curt nod and led her through to the living area.
‘How did your brother take the news?’ he asked.
‘He was shocked. I don’t think any of my family ever expected me to find you.’ She shook her head, then flashed him a sly grin. ‘I should warn you he’s liable to punch you in the face for lying about your identity.’
‘He’s protective of you?’
‘He discovered his protective gene when I had Toby.’
So at least there was one member of her family who acted as they should towards her. In Theseus’s world blood looked out for blood, even if someone was in the process of spilling another’s blood. That had been what had made his desertion and subsequent failure to be there during his grandmother’s final hours so unforgivable.
‘What about when you were growing up?’ he asked, determined to keep his mind focused and far away from his own past.
‘I was the nuisance kid sister, ten years younger than him. He had zero interest in me.’
‘There’s ten years between you?’ Theseus thought of the tiny age gaps between him and his brothers, who had all been born in quick succession. It had led to much fighting and sibling rivalry, but it had also given them ready-made playmates—something he felt was an important aspect of a child’s life, especially for children unable to form other friendships in their homeland.
‘I was an accident,’ she said matter-of-factly.
‘Talos was a happy accident too,’ he mused. ‘My parents bred their heir and their spare and then two years later he came along.’
Her eyes flashed with something dark, but her lips moved into a smile. ‘I don’t think my mother has ever regarded me as a happy accident.’
‘Surely you don’t mean that?’ But then he recalled how she’d described her parents’ marriage and her mother’s coldness and knew that she did mean it.
‘She never wanted more children. She especially didn’t want a girl.’
She must have felt his shock, for she raised a shoulder in a half-shrug.
‘My mother is one of four girls. Her sisters are all very girly, which she’s very contemptuous of. She has no time for what she considers “frills and fancy”. I don’t think she actually sees herself as a woman.’
‘How does she treat you?’
‘My mother is difficult—my relationship with her even more so. Maybe she would have treated me differently if I’d been a boy. Who knows? Still, that’s all ancient history. Let’s concentrate on Toby and not on my mother.’
Jo took a long, steadying breath and brought her son’s face to the front of her mind as a reminder to stay calm. Talking of her mother’s contempt towards her did nothing to induce serenity.
Now that she had semi-recovered from the distress she’d felt at Theseus’s reaction last night she could appreciate the charms of his apartment, which was a shop of wonders.
While his offices were functional spaces, created for maximum efficiency, his private rooms were a masculine yet homely delight. The huge living space with its high ceilings had dark wood flooring and enormous arched windows, the walls filled with vibrant paintings, ceramics and wooden carvings that had a strong South American vibe—no doubt objects collected on his travels. She remembered him telling her he’d scaled the highest peaks of the Andes and remembered how impressed she’d been. She had trouble scaling an anthill.
She placed her laptop on the bureau where only hours before she had been forced into signing the forms which recognised Toby as Theseus’s son.