‘What we’re talking about is a five-billion-dollar investment—which will be dead in the water, according to my PR guy, if we don’t get married.’ It wasn’t, strictly speaking, the truth. Garvey had simply said a marriage would be a great PR story to support the launch. And right at this very second, he didn’t give a damn about the money, the investment or even the branding that they’d been working on for five years. All he cared about was sealing up the black hole in the pit of his stomach and shoving all those emotions he hadn’t felt in years back in the box marked ‘don’t give a damn’.
‘The Maldives development is part of an eco-friendly project which supplies a sustainable living for over twenty thousand local people in one capacity or another. That project goes bust and all those people are out of a job. You really want to be responsible for that?’
He could see he’d got to her when her eyes flickered away from his, the colour still riding high on her cheeks. Eventually she shook her head. ‘What do you want me to do?’
‘We issue a press release tonight and then head for the new resort tomorrow to get married. We can stay there for a week’s honeymoon before it opens.’ Given what had just happened against the wall of his apartment, he figured they’d find ways to pass the time that didn’t involve him making any more emotional commitments he wasn’t comfortable with.
‘But I can’t just leave Nico for a week,’ she said, her voice breaking on the words.
‘Nico will be fine with Maureen. You can contact him by Skype every day. We can even fly Nico and Maureen out for the launch at the end of the honeymoon.’
‘No, I don’t want him to be part of this PR stunt,’ she said, her voice firm, giving him a glimpse of the tigress he’d first met the night she’d confronted him at Blackstone’s Full Moon Ball.
The surge of desire was swift. But the surge of admiration was more disconcerting. Even if he would never be able to trust her any more than he’d ever been able to trust anyone, at least he knew she would make a good mother to his child. The way she’d already made a good mother, in all but name, to his brother’s son.
‘Nico doesn’t have to come,’ he conceded, forcing himself to hide his disappointment. The boy would have gotten a major kick out of some of the kids’ facilities at the resort, and he would have gotten a kick out of showing them to him. But she was right—they didn’t need to involve the boy in this subterfuge. ‘Garvey can put a spin on it either way,’ he added.
‘Can I ask you something?’ She hesitated after he nodded. ‘What happens after we get back from our fake honeymoon?’
The honeymoon wasn’t going to be fake. Not in any of the ways that mattered. He sure as heck wasn’t giving her a chance to back out of this marriage on a technicality because they hadn’t consummated it. But he didn’t figure there was much mileage in pointing that out now. Once they got to Blackstone Island, she’d be looking for a distraction as much as he was. Especially as the only people there were going to be the two of them and the staff.
‘Afterwards, I guess I’ll have to move into the place in Regent’s Park for a while.’
‘For how long?’ she said dully.
‘As long as it takes to convince people this marriage is real,’ he said curtly.
And I get over the dumb urge to have you in my bed—and watch over you, and Nico and our baby, every damn minute of every day.
‘Us playing happy families is going to be confusing for Nico,’ she said flatly, her expression blanker than he’d ever seen it.
‘Uh-huh, well, you should have thought about that before you lied to me about being on the Pill,’ he said. The thought of having to live in that house knowing he could never be a part of that happy family was a new form of torture he hadn’t even considered. She didn’t care about him, had never cared about him. It seemed so obvious now.
She stiffened and looked out of the window at the gathering night. Then she wrapped her arms around her midriff in a defensive gesture that had shame snapping at his heels.
He pushed it away as the hollow pain in his stomach twisted.
She should have told him about the pregnancy a lot sooner. What right did she have to look so fragile, so overwhelmed?
Cupping her elbow, he tugged her round to face him. ‘We’ll figure out a way to make sure it doesn’t confuse Nico. I do a lot of travelling, so I won’t be around much anyway.’ He allowed himself the luxury of glancing down at her belly. ‘Once the baby’s born, Nico will be far too busy welcoming his new cousin into the world to care about what’s going on with us.’
‘I suppose.’ She chewed her bottom lip—the shot of desire was swift and unequivocal. ‘But will you promise me one thing?’
He nodded, the tightening in his chest almost unbearable now. Why was this so hard? He was just doing what needed to be done. To protect his child.
‘Don’t let Nico know how much you dislike me.’
He frowned. ‘That won’t be a problem,’ he said because he didn’t dislike her, couldn’t make himself dislike her... Even if he should.
CHAPTER TEN
‘I WILL,’ BRONTE MURMURED, her whole body trembling as she stood on the white sand beach and shielded her eyes against the mid-afternoon sun.
The minister continued to talk, but the words seemed to float above her head and drift out over a sea so blue it hurt her eyes.
She jolted as Lukas gripped her fingers. His hold was sure and firm as he slipped the wedding band onto her ring finger. The expensive white-gold reflected the sun’s rays, mocking her, as a photographer appeared to take their picture.
The palm fronds fluttered in the warm sea breeze. And the feeling of unreality—of being in a deluxe but devastating dream—settled into her soul.