As he’d advanced in years, one part of his plan hadn’t sat well for Dimitrios—the lack of children. He’d felt a yearning to continue his lineage, but he’d still been reconciled to not having that, given that he didn’t want a traditional marriage.
And here Annabelle had presented him with all the pieces of a marriage he wanted—if he could have cherry-picked the perfect situation, it would be exactly this. He desired her, he respected her and she’d already borne him a son, so it was likely they’d have more children when they were ready. Yeah, he was feeling pretty damned good about things—especially because he’d also taken great pains to make sure he was looking after her feelings this time round.
Relaxed, he stretched an arm along the back of the leather car-seat, his fingers dangling tantalisingly close to the exposed skin of her shoulder.
‘So what are you nervous about?’
Her brow furrowed, her eyelashes sweeping down and hiding her expression for a moment. She had a little dimple in her cheek that deepened when she frowned and pursed her lips like that. Out of nowhere, he imagined leaning forward and pressing his tongue to it.
Later.
‘I mean...’ She darted a glance at him and then looked down, twirling her engagement ring around her finger. He’d already spotted that habit she’d developed. ‘T
his ring, the private jet, now a limousine...and I can’t help noticing that these houses are kind of enormous.’ She gestured to Ocean Drive as they moved round it.
‘You’ve already seen a photo of my house.’
‘I know. It’s just hitting me that this is where we live now.’
‘You’ll get used to it.’
‘What if I don’t?’
‘Then we’ll move back to Sydney.’ The quickness of his response surprised him—his willingness to leave the life he had here was something he hadn’t known he felt. Then again, he’d expected Annabelle to simply pick up and leave her life, and all that was familiar to her. Why should it be any different for him?
‘I think a big part of it is making sure Max settles in well. So long as he’s happy at school, then I’m sure I’ll be happy.’
He heard the determination in her voice and admired her for it. She really wanted to make a success of this.
‘When did you move here?’ she asked a little uneasily as the car turned into the section of road that led to his home.
‘Four years ago.’
‘Right, you said that.’ Her tongue darted out, licking her lower lip. ‘Why Singapore?’
‘We spent a lot of time here—our teenage years. It feels as much my home as Australia. And then, a few years back, we expanded into a television network and a masthead of magazines and newspapers. I moved here first, but Zach spends around half his time here now too—we both love it, to be honest. It’s a convenient springboard to anywhere in the world.’
That made a lot of sense. ‘It was good to see Zach again. He hasn’t changed.’
‘No.’ Dimitrios laughed, but there was a hint of worry at the back of that laugh, a worry he generally didn’t express to anyone. Yet, despite that, he found himself saying, ‘To be honest, when that journalist sent me a photo of Max, my first thought was that Zach must be the father.’
It seemed to distract Annabelle from her anxiety. Her eyes moved to Max and a small smile curved her lips. The first since they’d boarded the jet, he realised.
‘Why?’
‘Well, he bears more than a passing resemblance.’ Dimitrios tried to make light of his admission, but Annie shook her head.
‘Well, you are twins,’ she responded in a droll tone.
Dimitrios nodded.
‘So why, then?’
‘Let’s just say the rumours about me are generally exaggerated.’
‘You mean you don’t go through women like most men go through underwear?’ she prompted, and though her voice was calm she was watching him with an intensity that told him to be careful—he didn’t want to give her false hope about him.
‘I’m not a saint,’ he said with a lift of his shoulders. ‘I’ve been with women. But I’m careful. You are the only woman I’ve ever lost control with.’