‘Thanks for making dinner…’
She quipped lightly, ‘If the shipping business fell through in the morning, you’d get a job as a chef no problem. I could even turn it into a reality show…’
Her words fell flat as she watched him come back from a long distance. His eyes focused on her again. ‘What did you say?’
She shook her head, ‘Nothing, just thanks for dinner. I appreciate it.’
He stood and pulled her close, speaking without thinking. ‘You work too hard.’
‘This from someone who thinks PR is full of drug-crazed lunatics running around partying?’ She wanted to smile teasingly but couldn’t. There was a still, heavy energy surrounding them that confused her.
‘I can see that I’m just going to have to get—’ He broke off suddenly and Kallie saw him go pale. She frowned but he’d gone inwards, disappeared. Shut down. He took her by the hand.
‘Let’s go to bed.’
With dawn coming up outside the bedroom window, Alexandros slid the robe from Kallie’s shoulders. Carefully took the pins and band out of her hair, until it fell around her shoulders. Shrugging off his own top and jeans, naked, he led her over to the bed and curled her back into his front, his strong powerful thighs cupping her bottom. She gave up trying to figure out what he’d been going t
o say.
For a long time Alexandros’s eyes stayed open, looking into the middle distance. He could hear Kallie’s breath deepen and feel her curl even closer to his chest. The shock that had rippled through him when he’d realised what he’d been about to say still made him feel queasy. He’d been about to say, without any preamble, without the slightest hint of any warning, I’m just going to have to get you pregnant…
The whole night made him feel queasy. The way he’d found himself going to the function…drawn her a bath, made dinner. He’d been led by impulse and instinct. And he did not want to look at what might have prompted those instincts or impulses.
He knew what he had to do.
When Kallie woke up it was nearly lunchtime. She didn’t panic, she knew she and Cécile had a day off today to recover. Needless to say, the bed was empty beside her. She sank deeper. The glorious feeling of knowing she had finished a job and that it had been well done made her smile. But it wasn’t long before her thoughts turned back to Alexandros. She groaned and rolled over, burying her head under a pillow.
After a few minutes she sat up on the edge of the bed and, finding her robe to pull on, stood up. The intense wave of dizziness that struck her made her sit back down again quickly. What was that? On an instinctive reflex her hand went to her belly. And then, just as quickly as the dizziness had struck, she felt nausea surge, fast and urgent. She just made it to the bathroom in time.
When she had finished retching into the toilet she stood up and washed her face. She had an awful certainty about what was wrong. And she didn’t even question that it could be something else. The past few days, the intense tiredness, increased sensitivity, the emotional roller-coaster she seemed to be on…
It must be down to the change in her Pill, just before she’d met Alexandros again. As if moving on autopilot, she showered, got dressed and left the apartment.
Alexandros was curt. ‘You have the papers ready?’
‘Of course.’ His solicitor laughed briefly, his curiosity evident. ‘I was expecting you to call a few weeks ago…’
‘Yes, well, I’m calling now.’
His solicitor knew better than to test Alexandros’s patience. ‘Of course. Leave it with me. It’ll only take a few days to process the paperwork.’
‘Good. I’ll be in Athens this weekend if you need me.’
‘I don’t foresee any problems. This’ll be quick and easy.’
Alexandros put down the phone and rested his chin on steepled fingers. Quick and easy.
Exactly how he’d envisaged this marriage of convenience and revenge. But it hadn’t been quick and easy. For one thing, it had lasted a lot longer than he’d expected, and Kallie had been anything but easy, fighting him every step of the way. But when they didn’t fight…he felt his stomach contract in a clutch of something he didn’t understand.
That was the problem. His whole life he’d understood. Everything. Understood that he had obligations and responsibilities, that in many respects his life was not his own. Understood that life could be different for others, but not for him. He’d understood that the minute his mother had informed him he had to marry Pia Kyriapolous.
A shudder of revulsion spiralled through him as the memory came back. He shut it down. But despite his best efforts he couldn’t shut down where it led him…to that night. The contrast between what he’d seen and then…Kallie.
When he’d felt her soft body against his, her warm sweet mouth pressed against his, it had called to him on a deep level so hidden, so untouched that he hadn’t been able to move. He’d been shocked to find himself almost reacting to her untutored caresses, which had been so innocent when compared to what he’d witnessed earlier.
His mouth twisted. Or so he’d thought. He needed to remember that now. To call on that sense of anger, betrayal. In the past few weeks it had faded far too much into the distance, the past…even calling it up was a struggle, as if it was becoming blurred. Kallie Demarchis was dangerous. She had the ability to trick him all over again and he wouldn’t let her.
‘But why do you want us to go to Athens for the weekend?’