Serena looked at him, her mind racing back to the time they’d spent here, to their first night together. That night he’d kissed her softly, his lips teasing and gentle. She’d known then for certain that this was the man she wanted to give herself to completely. She’d wanted him with such abandon she’d have done anything to show him how much she loved him.
She’d instinctively known that what they’d had was special, that the attraction was one she might never find again. Now, as she stood looking at him, her heart was heavy—because it hadn’t been like that for him. It had been nothing more than a passing affair. One he’d hoped he could turn his back on.
She stepped away and looked out of the open window to the sea moving restlessly in the darkness, its salty tang lingering on the warm breeze. This would be her child’s heritage—one it might never see if she walked away now. But how could she stay when he didn’t want her? Let alone the child she carried?
‘Serena...’
His voice was husky and he stood right behind her, the heat of his body almost too much. She shut her heart against thoughts of what might have been as he placed his hands on her shoulders. Mesmerised by his spell, she turned, looking up into his face. His blue eyes were heavy with desire as they looked into hers, urging her towards him.
She closed her eyes, but that didn’t help, and when his lips brushed hers she jumped back and glared at him. ‘Don’t you dare think you can seduce me with kisses this time.’
‘I don’t need kisses to get what I want.’
He moved closer to her, forcing her against the wall, but she held her ground and maintained eye contact, even though inside she was quaking.
Those hard words had suffocated any lingering illusions of love she’d had. He didn’t care about her. He didn’t care about the baby. This was all about getting what he wanted.
‘So what is it you want?’ she asked haughtily, testing him. Would he openly admit to being that callous, that cold?
‘I want you to come to Athens with me, Serena.’
Each word was full of determination, softened only by the accent that she found so sexy.
She shook her head. ‘That’s not going to happen, Nikos.’
‘Then why are you here?’
She stepped up to him, lifting her chin and glaring angrily at him. ‘I came here to tell a fisherman he was to be a father—to tell him that no matter what I’d never stop him from seeing his child. But that fisherman is not you.’
Memories came unbidden to her mind of that night on the beach—the night they’d made love without any thought of contraception. The night they’d created the new life she now held within her. The life whose future she could determine by her choices now.
‘It’s just as well that I am not that fisherman, because now I can give you what you want—but only if you become my wife. No child of mine will be born illegitimate.’
‘You think you have all the power, don’t you, Nikos? But you can’t drag me up the aisle.’
Unnerved by his certainty that he could get what he wanted, she moved away from him and to the door of her room, opening it wide in the hope that he’d leave.
That hope faded instantly.
* * *
Nikos remained resolutely still, biting down hard against the anger that coursed through him. How dared she think she could calmly dismiss him from his child’s life? He hadn’t wanted to be a father, but there was no way he would turn his back on his child—allow it to grow up wondering where he was.
As the challenge of her actions settled around them he knew exactly how he was going to handle this. Serena would be his wife—his willing wife—no matter what. His child was going to be born without the stigma of illegitimacy.
He ignored the waves of anxiety rushing through him at the thought of commitment. And he didn’t even know if Serena would stay and go along with his plans or if she’d be just like his mother—too selfish to care—and walk away.
‘You will be my wife. The child you carry is my heir and I will not allow you to keep me from it.’
Hostility poured off her as she stood, rigid and tall, by the open door of the hotel room. With each passing second she was challenging him further, pushing him to limits he’d never thought it possible to go to.
‘What are you going to do? Force me to marry you?’
The curtness of her tone irritated him further, and he crossed his arms and glared coldly at her.
‘I’m going to make you an offer you can’t refuse.’ Dominance in the boardroom was something he was used to, but overpowering a woman—one he still wanted and desired—was a totally new concept.
‘You don’t have anything I want, Nikos.’
The hint of confusion in her voice made him raise a brow in speculation. Surely she was curious to hear the terms of his deal?
‘If the baby is mine—’ he began, but halted as she gasped loudly, her delicate brows furrowed, her soft lips open and her hand against her stomach.
‘How dare you suggest it isn’t?’
‘I have no evidence that it is.’ He snapped the words at her, feeling her anger as she glared at him, her green eyes sparking.
She spun round so quickly to reach for her handbag that he thought she might fall. She pulled out a small black-and-white photograph.
‘Here.’ She thrust it at him. ‘The evidence you want. That is what you mean, isn’t it? Conclusive dates to match the date of that night on the beach?’
‘This will do for now, but I would like you to see a doctor here in Greece.’
What kind of fool did she think he was, simply to take her word that she was carrying his child?
He’d seen men cheated into bringing up other men’s children, and whilst he would stand by his child he had to know that it was his.
Even as the thought entered his mind he knew that it was. She’d been a virgin when she’d met him. He remembered vividly the moment he’d realised the truth. He had cursed aloud, the look of shock on her face forcing him to quell his reaction as he’d focused on giving her as much pleasure as he’d felt. Now all he felt was guilt about questioning her.
‘That won’t be necessary.’ She pushed away from him roughly. ‘I have seen doctors in England.’
He looked again at the image, his sharp gaze scanning the information. All the evidence he needed that the baby was his was there, but it was seeing the fuzzy image, knowing it was his baby, that pulled on his heart, creating a tight band across his chest as unfamiliar as if the sea around the island had frozen.
‘Even so, you will see a doctor once we arrive in Athens.’
‘I’m not going with you, Nikos. And I can’t marry you.’
Her voice was filled with emotion, and if he’d been a man with a heart he would have asked why. He would have taken her hand and told her they’d work it out. But he didn’t have a heart.
‘Once you agree to be my wife, to stay in Greece and to live as a family, I will give you what you want.’ He delivered the words in a cool and dominant tone, ignoring the way she visibly flinched.
‘I’ve told you—I don’t want anything from you.’
‘I’m sure your sister wouldn’t like to know you’d turned down a chance of her continuing with her IVF treatment.’
‘What?’ She crossed the floor and came to stand directly in front of him. ‘That is blackmail.’
‘No, it’s getting what I want at whatever price has to be paid.’
‘It’s blackmail—and totally ruthless.’ She hissed the words at him and, despite the situation, he admired her staying power.
‘Ruthless, maybe—but it is my only deal.’ He laid his final card down and waited for her surrender. ‘Take it or leave it.’
‘How can you even think I would accept such terms?’
She snatched th
e scan photo back and looked down at it, holding it tightly. When she looked up at him the glitter in her eyes bellied the anger he’d provoked.
‘Don’t go against me, Serena.’
The warning in his voice didn’t go unnoticed.
‘I’m not going against you. All I want is to do the best for us both—me and my baby.’
Anger shattered around the periphery of his vision and he inhaled deeply, locking his gaze to hers. He’d never expected such challenge, such dismissal of his deal.
‘You forget. It is my child too.’
* * *
The bristling atmosphere pressed down on Serena as Nikos stood watching—waiting for her answer. She looked again at the scan photo in her hands. The knowledge that she had the power to give the same experience to her sister, or deny her, sickened her. She closed her eyes against the nausea—and against Nikos’s merciless scrutiny.
Secretly she’d dreamed of marriage and happy-ever-after, but those dreams had finally died the moment she’d heard Nikos condemn the idea of love. How could she marry a man who not only admitted he hadn’t ever wanted to be a father, but one who firmly believed love had nothing to do with marriage?
‘But marriage...?’ Still stunned by his proposed deal, delivered without a hint of compassion, she could hardly form a sentence. Exasperation and fury raged through her, quelling the nausea of moments ago. ‘That’s a drastic step, Nikos. What if you meet someone you actually want to marry?’
‘Marriage has never been on my agenda.’
The icy tone left her in no doubt that he meant it.
‘So why marry me?’
Deep down she knew the answer—knew it was because he was opposed to his child being illegitimate. But that went against everything she’d ever wanted for her future. It meant their being forced together because of a baby—a copy of her childhood exactly.
He closed the distance between them, coming so close her heart raced—whether due to the attraction she couldn’t completely dismiss or the seriousness of their discussion, she couldn’t tell.
‘Call me old-fashioned, but my child—my heir—will not be born out of wedlock.’ His voice dripped with disdain as he towered over her. ‘You must decide, Serena—and right now. My plane is waiting.’
All sorts of scenarios rushed through her mind as he watched her, and she wondered if he could see them playing out. She saw her sister happy and content, with a baby in her arms. Saw her own child looking into its father’s eyes and smiling for the first time. These were things she could control just by accepting this bizarre proposal.
An image of herself in Nikos’s arms, being kissed with fiery passion, followed swiftly. The passion had existed once, but could it ever turn to love? Could he ever fall in love with her the way she’d fallen in love with him? If they could find that passion again, surely they could find love one day.
‘Serena?’ he said sternly, pushing her for a decision.
She wanted to rally against him, tell him she needed more time to think—but hadn’t she already done plenty of that? And yet if she said yes she’d be doing exactly what he’d suggested when he’d repeated what she’d said—anything to help her sister have a baby of her own.
She saw him draw in a breath of exasperation. Time was running out. If she said yes, went with him now, she would be buying more time to think.
‘Very well. We’ll do it your way.’
CHAPTER FOUR
AS THEY ARRIVED in Athens Serena was still in a state of shock, unable to believe the man she’d fallen in love with could be so cruel.
After the private plane had whisked them from Santorini she’d fully expected a chauffeur-driven car to meet them at the airport, but one of the city’s many yellow taxis seemed to be what Nikos wanted.
During the flight she’d played Nikos’s words over and over in her mind, each time coming to the same conclusion. She had to accept his so-called deal—for her child and for her sister. She refused to admit that she hoped he might revert to being the man she’d first met and tell her what she most wanted to hear.
She looked across at him as they sat in the taxi. His profile was stern and unyielding. Could this man ever be the Nikos she loved? He looked at her, and even in the semi-darkness as they were driven through Athens at night she felt his icy cold glare.
Instantly she averted her gaze and looked out of the window, amazed by the sights and desperately wishing she wasn’t so tired, so confused.
‘It’s stunning—and so beautiful,’ she said as she caught sight of the Acropolis, lit up and standing proud on its rocky vantage point above the city, thankful for its distraction from thinking about the conversation they’d had in her hotel room.
It still hurt, and it proved he didn’t have any kind of feelings for her. As far as he was concerned she and his child were nothing more than a commodity to be bargained for.
‘It never ceases to please me.’ Nikos spoke softly, leaning closer to her as he looked out of the window like a tourist too, seemingly happy to put aside all that had unfolded that evening. ‘We should go there one day.’
Serena shrank back in her seat; his words bringing it all back and making her presence on the mainland of Greece sound permanent. It was. She didn’t have any other choice.
She pushed those thoughts from her mind, too tired to deal with them any more tonight, but she was still curious as to why Nikos was here when he’d grown up on the island of Santorini. Was that fabrication too?
‘How long have you lived in Athens?’
‘I came here as a teenager, after I finished school and found myself a job with Xanthippe Shipping. The rest I’m sure you know.’ Bitterness edged his words and he too sat back, the beauty of Athens now spoilt for him as much as her. ‘My apartment is not far now.’
‘I should stay in a hotel,’ she volunteered quickly. She’d been too tired to give any thought to where she was going to stay once she was in Athens, but she’d already questioned the sanity of staying with Nikos.
Now she did so again—because of what had been said this evening and the way her body had reacted to him, the way she still wanted and loved him. Staying with him would be a temptation to believe things would work out, when the way he’d reacted earlier told her that was never going to happen.
‘No,’ he said quickly, then started speaking in Greek to the taxi driver. Within moments they had stopped. He got out and walked around to open her door, his gaze locking with hers.
She stepped out and looked up at the smart modern apartment building blending tastefully with the older buildings around. The street lamps glowed like gold, giving it a magical appearance as well as an affluent one. It was so different from the small whitewashed house nestled on a hillside of Santorini overlooking the sea, which Nikos had pointed out during those blissful two weeks. He’d told her it was his home, igniting all sorts of romantic notions in her head, but after tonight’s revelations nothing he said could be trusted.
‘You are tired and you will stay with me.’
A hint of compassion lingered in the heavily accented words, and if she closed her eyes, pretended the previous hours hadn’t existed, she might almost believe he cared.
‘I’m not sure that’s such a good idea.’
She scrabbled to think of a reason, but couldn’t come up with one. They’d already slept together, seen each other naked, so even those excuses didn’t fit. The reality was that she did want to be with him. That was why she’d made the journey to Greece instead of calling him. She’d hoped those two weeks together had meant something.
‘I’m not going to argue with you any more, Serena. You will stay with me tonight, and after my meeting tomorrow morning we can talk further.’
Inwardly she sighed as the taxi driver pulled away. She was tired—of travelling and of talking. Sleep was what sh
e needed now and the thought of insisting on going to a hotel, then checking in, filled her with dread. She’d stay—tonight, at least—but not in his bed. In the morning she’d be able to think more clearly.
Shouts in Greek caught her attention as a car pulled up alongside them. She turned to look just as Nikos put a protective arm around her, responding in the same language. Just seconds before a camera flash penetrated the night Serena realised they were journalists. Uncomfortable doubt crept over her. Was Nikos such a high-profile figure that they followed him around?
‘What do they want?’ She glanced quickly at them as they still lingered close by, watching them with suspicion.
She couldn’t keep the sceptical edge from her voice as he held the main door to the apartment building open for her and she walked into a bright lobby, the white walls a stark contrast to the darkness outside.
‘They wanted to know who you are.’ He took his keys from his pocket then pressed the button to call the lift.
‘Why am I of any importance?’ She frowned as she watched the numbers above the lift counting down the floors, trying to appear unfazed by the event.
He sighed and she felt his gaze on her face.
‘It has been an obsession with them for the past year or so. The more successful my business becomes, and the more unattached I remain, the more determined they are to dig something up.’
‘So what did you tell them?’
Her heart began to thump harder as he looked into her eyes. The depths of his were darkening to a sultry blue, which made her stomach flutter wildly. She cursed her body—and her emotions—for falling under the spell of his charm.
‘The truth.’
The lift doors swished open. He walked inside and then stood looking at her, the spark of mischief in his eyes and the quirk of a smile on his lips almost her undoing.
Determined not to let him see just how easily he could crash through her defences, she marched in after him.
‘What is the truth?’
‘That we are engaged.’
From One Night to Wife Page 5
