‘This is the office Fiona used.’ Theseus waved a hand at the sprawling fitted desks set against two walls to make an L shape. ‘Nobody has touched it since she was admitted into hospital.’
‘There’s a spare room in my apartment that will make a perfectly functional office.’
‘Fiona used that room when she first came here, but it proved problematic. The research papers I collated and my own notes only give the facts about my grandfather’s life. I want this biography to show the man behind the throne. As I know you’re aware, this project is going to be a surprise for my grandfather so any questions need to be directed to me. With the time constraints we’re working under it is better for me to be on hand for whatever you need.’
‘Whatever you feel is for the best.’
A black eyebrow rose at her tone but he nodded. ‘Are you happy with your apartment?’
‘It’s perfectly adequate.’
Apart from being in the same wing as his.
How was she going to be able to concentrate on anything whilst being in such close proximity to him? Her stomach was a tangle of knots, her heart was all twisted and aching...and her head burned as her son’s gorgeous little face swam before her eyes.
Toby deserved better than to have been conceived from a lie.
She knew nothing of this man other than the fact that he was a prince in a nation that revered its monarchy.
He was descended from warriors. He and his brothers had forged a reputation for being savvy businessmen. They’d also forged a reputation as ruthless. It didn’t pay to cross any of them.
Theseus was powerful.
Until she got to know this man she couldn’t even consider telling him about Toby. Not until she knew in her heart that he posed no threat to either of them.
‘Only “adequate”?’ he asked. ‘If there is anything you feel is lacking, or anything you want, you need only say. I want your head free of trivia so you can concentrate on getting the biography completed on time.’
‘I’ll be sure to remember that.’
‘Make sure you do. I have lived and breathed this project for many months. I will not have it derailed at the last hurdle.’
The threat in his voice was implicit.
Now she believed what Giles had told her when he’d begged her to take the job—if she failed Hamlin & Associates would lose their best client and likely their reputation in the process.
‘I have ten days to complete it,’ she replied tightly. ‘I will make the deadline.’
‘So long as we have an understanding, I suggest we don’t waste another minute.’
Where was the charmer she remembered from Illya? The man who had made every woman’s IQ plummet by just being in his presence?
She’d spent five years thinking about this man, four years living with a miniature version of him, and his presence in her life had been so great she’d been incapable of meeting anyone else. Once Toby had been born the secret dream she’d held of Theo—Theseus—calling her out of the blue with apologies that he’d lost his phone had died. As had the fantasy that she would tell him of their son and he would want to be involved in their lives.
Motherhood had brought out a pragmatism she hadn’t known existed inside her. Until precisely one day ago she hadn’t given up on her dream of finding him, but that wish had been purely for Toby’s sake. All she’d wanted for herself was to find the courage to move on. She’d accepted she’d been nothing but a one-night stand for him and had found peace with that idea. Or so she’d thought.
Because somehow that was the worst part of it. Her body still reacted to him in exactly the way it had on Illya, with a sick, almost helpless longing. If he looked closely enough he’d be able to see her heart beating beneath the smart black top she wore.
His indifference towards her cut like a scalpel slicing through flesh.
He couldn’t give a damn about her.
A swell of nausea rose in her and she knew she had to say something.
She couldn’t spend the next ten days with such an enormous elephant in the room, even if she was the only one who could see it.
Heart hammering, she plunged in. ‘Before I start work there’s something we need to talk about.’
He contemplated her with narrowed eyes that showed nothing but indifference.
‘I’m sorry,’ she continued, swallowing back the fear, ‘but if you want me focused I need to know why you let me and everyone else on Illya believe you were an engineer from Athens, travelling the world on the fruits of an inheritance, when you were really a prince from Agon.’