by Jennie Lucas
“Good morning, sir.” She smiled at him, holding up the baby. “Here to hold your son?”
“Of course.” But, looking at the baby, he suddenly felt as if he were facing a firing squad. What did he know about babies? He’d never held one before. Nikos had been an only child, or close enough, and he’d never exactly been the sort of man to ooh and ah over the children of friends.
Feeling nervous, Nikos gathered his child from the nanny’s protective embrace and held him awkwardly underneath the arms.
“No, er…Mr. Stavrakis, tuck him closer to you. Under his bum.”
Nikos tried, but he couldn’t seem to get it right. The baby apparently agreed. He looked up at Nikos, and his lower lip started to tremble. He screwed up his face and started to wail.
“I…I seem to be doing this wrong,” Nikos said, breaking into a cold sweat.
“Don’t take it personally, sir,” Mrs. Burbridge said in her friendly Scottish burr. “The bairn is just tired and hungry. He’ll soon be right again with a bit to eat. Is his mum about? Or should I make a bottle?”
But Nikos could hardly hear her words over his son’s panicked cries. He felt helpless. Useless. A bad father.
“He… I… I’ll come back when he’s not so tired.” He thrust the baby back into Mrs. Burbridge’s arms and fled.
Or at least he started to. Until he saw Anna standing in the doorway of the nursery, staring around the room with an expression of wonder.
“You didn’t change the room,” she breathed in amazement. With apparent ease, she took the baby from Mrs. Burbridge and cuddled him close. His cries subsided to small whimpers as Anna looked from the painting of animals and trees on the wall to the soft blue cushions of the window seat. “I was sure you’d have Lindsey redecorate.”
Lindsey? Redecorate his house? She could barely manage to type his letters.
“Why would I do that?” Nikos said uncomfortably. “Damn waste of time.”
But the truth was he’d loved this nursery. Once. Mostly he’d loved the way Anna’s face had lit up when she designed it.
This was the first time he’d been in here since that awful day Cooper had called him to say that Anna was missing. Nikos had been sure she’d been kidnapped. Or worse.
It had been one of the police detectives who’d first dared to ask, “Is it possible the woman’s just left you, sir?” Nikos had nearly punched the man for even suggesting it. Because, in spite of his arguments with Anna over her job and her family, Nikos had known he could trust her. He’d never trusted anyone more in his life.
And she’d made him look like a fool.
“Ah, so you’re Mum, then? I’m Mrs. Burbridge, the new nanny. A pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Stavrakis.”
“I’m not Mrs. Stav— A nanny?” Anna glanced at Nikos in surprise. “Is that really necessary? I can take care of Misha, as I always have.”
Nikos stared at the baby. That name still grated on him. He could probably still change it to Andreas. No, he thought. Even he thought of his son as Michael now—Misha. Too late to change his name. Too late for a lot of things.
His own son didn’t know him. He clenched his hands.
“I’m terribly sorry, Mrs. Burbridge, but we don’t need you—”
“Mrs. Burbridge stays,” he interrupted, glaring at Anna. “Since I don’t know how long you’ll be here.”
“What do you mean, how long I’ll be here?” she demanded. “I’m here until Misha is grown and gone. Unless,” she added, “you want to give me joint custody?”
The idea was enough to make him shudder with the injustice of it, but he showed his teeth in a smile. “Your presence here is based upon my will and my son’s needs. The day he doesn’t need you anymore you’ll be escorted to the gate. When he’s weaned, perhaps? A few months from now?”
He had the satisfaction of seeing Anna’s face go white.
She wasn’t the only one. Mrs. Burbridge was edging uncomfortably toward the door. “I…er…now that you’re both here with your son, I can see you have much to discuss. I’ll go and take my tea, if you’ll pardon me…”
Nikos barely noticed the woman leave.
“You can’t throw me out,” Anna said. “I’m his mother. I have rights.”
“You’re lucky you’re not in jail. You have no idea how much I’d love to hand you to my lawyers. Letting them stomp you like grapes in a vat would give me a great deal of joy.”
She looked scared, even as she raised her chin defiantly. “So why don’t you do it, then?”
“Because my son needs you. For now.” He came closer to her. “But that won’t last forever. In the meantime, just give me an excuse, the slightest provocation, and you’re out the door.”
“You can’t force me away from my son!”
“I can’t?” He gave her a hard look, then shook his head with a disbelieving snort. “You and your whole aristocratic family really think the world revolves around you and your wants, don’t you? To hell with everybody else.”
“That’s not true!”
“You’re too much of a bad influence to raise my child. You’re a thief, and the daughter of a thief. Your family mooched off others their whole pathetic lives. Your father was a selfish, immature bastard who never cared about anyone but himself, no matter what it cost the people who loved him—”
He stopped himself, realizing it was no longer Anna’s father he was talking about.
She gave him a knowing glance, causing his teeth to set on edge. She knew too damn much. Ever since the night they’d conceived Michael, when he’d been stupid enough to spill his guts, she’d known the chinks in his armor. He hated her for that.
It had been the confusion and pain of finding out about his father that had sent Nikos to her house last year, expecting his perfect secretary to fix the ache as she fixed everything else in his life. But he hadn’t expected to end up in Anna’s bed. No matter how gorgeous she was, he never would have slept with her if he’d been in his right mind. Anna had been too important to his work—too important in his life—for him to screw it up that way. But, seeking comfort, he’d fallen into her bed and they’d conceived Michael. He’d never had a moment’s peace since.
His son started to whimper again.
Anna snuggled the baby close. “You’re hungry, aren’t you?” With some hesitation, she looked up, biting her lip. “Nikos, I need to feed the baby. Do you mind?”
Itching for a fight, Nikos sat down on the blue overstuffed sofa, pretending to make himself comfortable. “No, I don’t mind at all.” He indicated the nearby rocking chair.
She stared at him in amazement. “You think I’ll do it in front of you?”
“Why not?”
“You’re out of your mind.”
“What? Are you scared?” He raised his eyebrows. “You have no reason to be. I’ve seen everything you have to offer.”
Although that was true, it wasn’t true at all. With her loose ponytail, that left dark tendrils cascading against her white skin, she looked very different from the tightly controlled, buttoned-up woman he remembered. And even in the baggy T-shirt she was wearing he could see that her breasts were larger. They’d been perfect before. He remembered them well, remembered cupping them in his hands, licking slowly across the full nipples, until she’d moaned and writhed beneath him, making love to them after he’d brought her to climax—twice—with his mouth. What were her breasts like now beneath that shirt?
He suddenly realized he was rock-hard.
He was supposed to torture her, not the other way around. He willed the desire away. He didn’t want her. He didn’t want her.
“Fine. Stay. I don’t care,” she said, although he could tell by the defiant expression on her beautiful pale face that she cared very much. Grabbing the diaper bag with her free hand, she set it down with a plop on the floor by the cushioned rocking chair. Rummaging through the bag, she pulled out several items before she found a blanket. A small vial fell out and rolled across the floor. He p
icked it up. The label was in Russian.
“What’s this?”
“Baby painkiller,” she said. “He’s teething.”
“At his age?”
“It’s a little early, but not uncommon.” Her fingers seemed clumsy as she used the blue blanket, decorated with safari animals, to cover both baby and breast before she pulled up her T-shirt. The baby’s wails immediately faded to a blissful silence, punctuated with contented gulps.
It shouldn’t have been erotic, but it was. Every movement she made, every breath she took, seemed electric in Nikos’s overcharged state.
He pressed his lips together, remembering how her whole body had trembled when he’d kissed her in the library. The way she’d melted into his arms when he’d brushed his lips against hers.
And before. After they’d found out she was pregnant he’d barely left her side for six months. Every inch of his skin, every cell of his body tingled with the memory. Remembering lovemaking so hot that it had nearly set his bed on fire. Not just his bed. When they hadn’t been fighting about the way he’d forced her to relax and take care of herself, they’d made love everywhere—in the kitchen, the conference room, the home theater. Against the wall in the courtyard one rainy day. And in the back of his helicopter the time he’d wanted to fly her over the Grand Canyon. They’d never made it off the ground.
She glanced up at him now, her turquoise eyes so cool and distant. I’m too good for you, her eyes seemed to say. She had a royal bloodline of a thousand years. The great-granddaughter of a Russian princess, she was a fantasy of ice and fire. He’d never experienced any woman like her.
Watching her now, nursing his son, he came to a sudden decision.
She deserved to suffer.
But there was no reason to make himself suffer as well.
Tonight. He would have her in his bed tonight.
CHAPTER THREE
A SLOW BURN spread across Anna’s cheeks as Nikos watched her nurse their child. She pulled the blanket a little higher, making sure her breast was covered, but she could still feel his eyes on her. It made her feel naked.
Funny to think she’d once dreamed of this moment, of nursing their baby in the gorgeous, spare-no-expense baby suite she’d decorated, with Nikos sitting beside her. A happy family. She’d dreamed that Nikos would love her, be faithful to her, and someday propose to her.
Now the dream tasted like ashes in her mouth.
Perhaps he hadn’t purposefully set out to ruin her father, but he’d kept his involvement in his business a secret. If Anna had known, she could have found a way to save her father from himself, to prevent the depression after his bankruptcy that had caused him to drink himself to death. Nikos should have told her. Instead, he’d tried to shield her from everything, as if she were a helpless doll. It was as if the moment she’d become pregnant he’d suddenly lost all trust in her and in the world around them.
Thank God she’d given up on waiting for him to love her. Too bad it had taken her so long to wise up. After five years as his secretary, watching his revolving door policy with women, she’d been stupid to ever think he would ever change.
But for her to run away had been trading one stupidity for another. She’d dragged her newborn baby from Las Vegas to Spain to Paris, always on the run, living in cheap, tiny apartments with paper-thin walls and mattresses that sagged in the middle. Even in her great-grandmother’s old palace there’d been no heat or electricity.
That was no life for a baby. In trying to do better for her child, she’d done worse. Nikos had been right to criticize her. Misha deserved a life of comfort and security.
And he deserved to spend time with the father who loved him.
But how could Anna remain here with him and survive? Nikos had made his intentions clear. He would shred her apart without remorse. Glancing at him now, she shivered at the darkness in his eyes. No, she couldn’t stay here. That path led to endless days of seduction…a lifetime of heartbreak.
She silently cursed herself. Last year, when Nikos had unexpectedly shown up on her doorstep, she’d opened her arms…her bed…her soul. She should have slammed the door in his face, thrown all her bags into her car and headed east on Interstate 15. If she had, she might have still been in New York. Working. Single. Free.
But then Misha would never have been born.
That focused her. The past didn’t matter. Her mistakes were old news. Her son was all that mattered now. And she wasn’t going to let him grow up in this cold house with that cold brute.
But how could someone as small and powerless as Anna fight a billionaire ensconced in his own private fortress? He had money, power, and the added immunity of having no heart. What weapons did she have against him? Her family had no money. Her heart was an easy target.
What power did an impoverished single mother have in the world?
Then she had an idea.
An awful, terrible, dangerous idea.
Nikos touched her knee. She jumped in her seat, causing the baby to give a whimper of protest.
“We need to talk. Alone. We’ll have Mrs. Burbridge watch Michael tonight.” He gave her a lazy smile that belied the predatory look in his eyes. His strong, wide fingers lightly traced the edge of her knee through her jeans. “We’ll have dinner. Discuss our future.”
Anna could imagine the type of reacquaintance he had in mind. She felt relatively sure that it wouldn’t involve a night of bowling or picquet. She trembled with anticipation and fear. He meant nothing less than full-scale seduction—which she wouldn’t be able to resist. Even knowing that he caressed her with a cold heart and punishment on his lips.
She cleared her throat. “I would love to have dinner with you tonight, but, um, I’m afraid I have other plans.”
He quirked an eyebrow. “Plans?”
“Yes, plans. Big plans.” She swayed furiously back and forth in the plush rocking chair.
“Fascinating. With whom?”
She glanced down at the baby. “With a man.”
He followed her gaze with amusement. “Anyone I know?”
She scowled, knowing it was hopeless to continue when they both knew that she was a terrible liar. “All right, I’m going to spend the evening with my son.”
“Michael won’t mind if his parents spend time alone together tonight. Mrs. Burbridge is trustworthy, Anna. She comes highly recommended and I had her thoroughly vetted, believe me. Michael will be happy with her.”
“You called him Michael,” she said suddenly.
“So? It’s his name.”
“You accept that?”
She saw a flash of anger in his face which was quickly veiled. “It is done and over with.”
“You know I’m sorry about—”
“Forget about it. I have. Let’s talk about tonight. Shall we have Cavaleri serve us dinner under the stars? By the pool?”
Yeah, the pool. Which was conveniently adjacent to the poolhouse, the Moroccan stone fountain, and the manmade waterfall—all places where they’d made love during their brief months of happiness.
Not happiness, she reminded herself fiercely. Illusion.
“No, thanks,” she said. “I heard it might rain tonight.”
“Would you prefer we have dinner at L’Hermitage?”
Her breath caught at his suggestion. L’Hermitage Casino Resort. All the years she’d spent organizing the details of its creation, and she hadn’t even seen the inside since it opened. She ached to see it. In so many ways L’Hermitage was a part of her. She and Nikos had worked on it together. She’d never formally studied architecture, or interior design, but he’d still taken her suggestions to heart. She missed that.
“We’ll have dinner at Matryoshka,” Nikos continued.
Yes, her heart yearned. But she forced herself to take the safe course. She turned away.
“You can do whatever you want,” she said crisply. “But after Misha’s asleep I will stay in my room alone. I plan to get a sandwich and take a long, hot bath.
”
He gave her another lazy half-smile, toying with her. “That sounds pleasant. I’ll join you.”
“You’ll find a locked door.”
“This is my house, Anna. Do you really think you can keep me out?”
She took a deep breath. He was right, of course. He had the key to every lock. And even if he didn’t, he could break down the door with one slam of his powerful arms. He’d find a way into her room, and that would be that.
Of course he wouldn’t need violence. One kiss and she’d fall at his feet like a harem girl, without a mind or will of her own.
Victor. The name of the Very Bad Idea pounded in her brain. He was her only hope to escape. Her only hope to survive.
It’s too dangerous, she tried to argue with herself. But her former employer had ties both in Las Vegas and in Russia, and the wealth to employ lawyers who could face the best Nikos had to offer. The two men already hated each other—ever since the day Nikos had stolen Anna away to be his executive secretary. If Victor was still in love with her, he’d be willing to help… For a price. Whose price was worse?
Talk about a rock and a hard place. Would there be any way for her to pit the two men against each other and emerge unscathed, without giving body and soul to either one?
She glanced at Nikos from beneath her lashes. His power seemed like a tangible thing. It scared her. No, she couldn’t risk getting Victor involved. It was too dangerous. Someone would end up getting hurt.
With as much grace as she could muster, she gently lifted Misha out from beneath the blanket, pulling down her shirt.
“He’s asleep,” she said softly. She carefully laid him down on the soft mattress of the crib. Nikos came to stand beside her, and for a moment they watched their child sleep. The baby’s arms were tossed carelessly above his head, and his long dark eyelashes fluttered against his plump, rosy cheeks as his breath rose and fell. She whispered, “Isn’t he beautiful?”
“Yes.”
She bit her lip at his abrupt tone, feeling guilty again about what she’d done. No matter how she hated him, how could she have separated a child from his father?
She took a deep breath. “I…I owe you an apology, Nikos. I should never have taken Misha away from you.”
