Theo took out his mobile phone, barked out a few instructions, then dialled again and cancelled his arrangements for the day.
CHAPTER FIVE
With a hotel booked in Falmouth for tomorrow night, and their suitcases packed, Willow was ready to leave first thing in the morning. A week away together would do them both good, she told herself. As for looking for Stephen's father. . . She couldn't lie to her son, but at least the break would give her time to come to terms with the fact that Stephen had a right to know who his father was and maybe some time in the future meet him. But not yet. . .
Meeting Theo for a drink last night had been a huge mistake and had seriously dented her pride and her confidence. Convinced she could handle the situation with mature sophistication, she had been terribly shocked to realise that, in the sexual stakes, she was no further forward where Theo was concerned than when she was an eighteen-year- old virgin. She hadn't been able to resist him then, and it had been humiliating to realise that nothing much had changed.
True she had said, 'No,' and escaped, but not before she'd been forced to face the shattering realisation that for some bizarre reason her body seemed to be programmed to respond instantly and helplessly to one particular man: Theo Kadros. It was only lust. An unfortunate chemical reaction, nothing more. She knew this, but even so she needed time to build up her defences before even contemplating telling him he had a son.
Still too ill at ease to rest in the now spotless house, she walked out into the garden. Perhaps a stroll along the riverbank would ease the emotional turmoil the events of the past twenty-four hours had created in her mind. Spying a thistle among the profusion of flowers that lined the path, she stooped and tugged viciously at the offending weed. The spikes pierced the palm of her hand, and she cursed long and bitterly under her breath. The brief physical pain was nothing compared to how foolish she felt. She had allowed her editor, Louise, to persuade her into entering her book for the award, and to attend the ceremony in London.
She had succumbed to flattery and paid the price for it. Hadn't her grandmother always said, 'Get too big for you boots, and the chances are you will end up without any'? If she had thought the thing through logically she would never have taken the risk of exposing herself to the press, and especially not Stephen. . .
Willow straightened up as she heard the sound of a car approaching. A big black Mercedes almost filled the narrow road. Surprised, she watched as the car drew level with her garden. A car door slammed and the figure of a tall dark man appeared. He stared at her across the roof of the car, and the blood froze in her veins. He must have seen the newspaper, and put two and two together.
Theo's hard black eyes swept over Willow from head to toe. He noticed her exquisite face framed by the silken mass of black hair tumbling over her shoulders; the long cotton dress skimming her slender figure, baring her arms, and just the merest hint of firm white breasts, and, lower, a glimpse of leg and ankles. He wanted to kill her.
Once he had taken her innocence and felt thoroughly ashamed of himself when he had discovered how young she was. Anger, regret and guilt had plagued him, and almost unmanned him. In consequence he had resumed a sexual relationship with Dianne, and had hastily leapt into a marriage that had never been going to last. The reason being the image of Willow's exquisite body, wildly responsive in his arms, was etched into his brain for all time.
For years he had still ached to possess this one woman again; hers was the face that haunted his waking and sleeping dreams.
Only yesterday he had thought the gods were smiling on him and had given him a second chance. A harsh, cynical smile twisted his wide, sensual mouth. Not any more. . . She was no innocent deserving sympathy, never had been. . . She was a secretive, conniving bitch, and she had committed the most heinous crime against him and his family it was possible to envisage, and he had every intention of making her pay.
'The original earth mother—how charming,' he mockingly opined, strolling around the bonnet of the car.
Standing frozen to the spot, Willow couldn't believe her eyes. It was Theo Kadros, but it was impossible. It was a five-hour drive from London. That was in the middle of the night with no traffic on the roads. There was no way he could have made the journey this morning. His tall, broad- shouldered frame was immaculately clad in a dark blue pinstriped business suit. A pale blue silk shirt emphasised his bronzed features and was complemented by a finely striped tie.
'What, nothing to say, Willow?' She simply stared at him, her heart pounding in her chest as he opened the garden gate and in a few lithe strides stopped inches from her.
'Cat got your tongue, Willow?' His black eyes, as cold as ice, stared down into hers.
'Hello, Theo, nice to see you again.' She made a polite response, too shocked to do anything else, and looked be- musedly past him to the car. 'How did you get here?'
'Let's be civil, by all means,' Theo drawled scathingly. 'My private jet was waiting at London City airport. I was supposed to attend a meeting this morning and then fly out to Greece this evening; instead I had my pilot fly me to Exeter airport, and arranged for a car to be waiting. It is barely an hour's drive to here.'
'Oh, I see.' And in that moment she saw a lot more than she wanted too. Theo, his great body taut, was watching her with a hard, challenging gleam in his dark eyes, and her heart sank like a stone. Did she really have the strength to protect her son from this man, to fight him? A man of his wealth and power. A man who could hop in his jet and appear on her doorstep at the drop of a hat. But, more, did she have the right? She was no longer sure.
'Hi, Willow. Congratulations on the award.' A voice floated over the garden gate. Willow looked nervously over Theo's shoulder, and then smiled at Tess's husband cycling past on his way home.
'Thanks, Bob.' And she waved.
'Damn it to hell!' Theo suddenly exploded, and, grabbing her arm in an iron grip, he dragged her towards the open front door and shoved her into the hall, slamming the door behind him. 'You can cut out the country-girl routine in front of me, Willow. You are the most devious bloody woman I have ever met,' he snarled. 'My God! Why didn't you tell me I had a son?'
'How did you find me?' she shot back. She knew her publisher would never reveal her address. Willow realised that if Theo got the idea she was hiding something it would simply confirm his suspicions. Not waiting for an answer, she added, 'And anyway, what makes you think my child has anything to do with you?' she demanded in a cool, polite voice. Inside she was shaking like a leaf.
'Don't bother to deny it,' he said harshly, his fingers tightening on her arm. 'I saw the photograph in the newspaper. I had my people check the boy's birth date at the register office, and, surprise, surprise, he was born at home, at this address. It was not terribly difficult to discover, Willow.'
'No. Oh, no,' she murmured. Her worst fear had been realised. Bowing her head to evade his searing gaze, she knew with a despairing sense of inevitability that her world would never be the same again.
'You dare to deny it?' he declared contemptuously, completely misreading her negative response. 'Then I will see you in court, and show you up for the little liar you are. By the time my lawyers are finished with you, you will be begging me to see our son. Believe me, Willow, I can and I will do it.' The cold menace in his voice sent shivers of fear down her spine. 'You have deprived me of my child for eight years.' Grasping her chin with his free hand, he tilted her face up to his.
'Hanging your head in shame now? It is a bit late for that, Willow,' he opined scathingly, forcing her to look at him. 'Because it was not only me you deprived of the child.' The hard bones of his jaw and chin tightened with suppressed emotion. 'The one thing my father wanted before he died was to see me with a family of my own. He died three years ago, and went to his grave never knowing he had a grandson, all because of you.' The bitterness in the black eyes that held hers chilled her to the bone. 'No more lies, Willow. Where is my son? I want to see him now!'
'He is at school until three-thirty.' She told the truth; there was no point trying to deny it. 'And I'm sorry about your. . .' She was about to finish, but as she looked into his bitter, hate-filled eyes the words of conventional sympathy stuck in her throat. When Stephen was born, it had never entered her head that, by not informing the father, at the same time she might be depriving a decent old man of a much-longed-for grandson.
'Oh, you are going to be sorry. I can promise you that.' Theo tightened his grip and she winced.