His voice faded for a brief second before his temper exploded. “We were good together, Lauren. Marriage is the best solution for everyone, especially the unborn child who does not deserve the unfortunate and despicable fate to which you have predestined him. And our marriage can work, even if it is based on convenience and not love. We can be good together, at the very least we can again be friends. I will make it so.”
Good together. Friends. Alex glossed over their tumultuous history with his declaration. And had he ever made it so good before? Oh yes, there were the early, wonderful times before the problems had started, before his family had sensed how serious Alex was and collectively worked to undermine the relationship. But Alex had scoffed at her worries, saying she was being paranoid.
Lauren rested her hands on her protruding stomach, pencil still in her tight grasp. “Don’t even try that argument, Alex. What happened between us seven and a half months ago was some moonlight, a lot of wine, and simply one big mistake. Chemistry. Nothing more. Now, please, I beg you, leave me alone. Go back to New York and stop wasting your time here. I have work to finish. Work to do.”
Thunderclouds crossed his face, making any smooth features vanish. Then the poker façade fell as he again mastered his emotions.
“I’ll give you until tomorrow to think it over,” he said as he slowly stretched his fingers one by one. “I will come right after siesta to take you to dinner. I will expect you to give strong consideration to my proposal.”
“You’re being ridiculous.”
“I will be back.”
Despite the number of promises he’d broken during their relationship, Lauren knew his return tomorrow was one promise he’d actually keep. Her body betrayed her—her heart fluttered and inside her wide sandals her pregnancy-swollen toes tingled at the thought of seeing him again.
No! Lauren mentally berated her traitorous body. Alex Pappas tempted her physically, and she desired him. But he was like a slow poison. He’d promise and seduce, and she’d be left alone with an absent lover who took her out and played with her on occasion. She’d be a priority only when he made her so, and he’d never trust her. She couldn’t let herself be swept away by desire as she had been seven and a half months ago. She couldn’t cave.
Already her honest nature chided at her to tell him everything, but there was no point, especially now when the evidence was even more damning.
How could she have been so foolish? Her parents had drilled into her not to covet what she couldn’t have.
In spite of everything, part of her wanted that happily-ever-after fantasy that had been long denied. Part of her wanted to be his wife, to live together as they once had, to open her arms and be tossed into bed the moment he arrived home. That was when he arrived home.
Having missionary parents who went from one place to the next trying to save the world had taught Lauren another thing. Life was transient. Nothing was ever permanent, and the calendar page had turned on her relationship with Alex Pappas.
She would have to be satisfied with memories, and the fact that she would always have a tiny part of him. She would have to find comfort in the fact that at one point he had truly loved her, at least a little. Thus, she knew she had to put the reality of the man firmly in her past and leave him there once and for all.
She glanced up at him, seeing the proud, determined man she had once loved with reckless abandon, so much that she’d denied being true to herself. Alex was an irresistible sexual magnet. Even now, if he leaned to kiss her, part of her couldn’t refuse another taste of those lips. His mouth had always been honey, and his tongue knew just how to lick and tease.
She relied on every ounce of field training, and every high school drama class she’d taken, as she kept her face impassive, but her body resolved. The words pained her, but she spoke anyway.
“Alex, please. I don’t need time to think about your proposal any further. My answer remains no. Return to New York. You’re wasting your time and I know how much you hate that.”
Last minute hesitation had marred her voice and flawed her delivery, and when his black eyes darkened, she knew he’d heard the flub. Alex was a man who could sense weakness, and in business, he exploited it daily.
“You are never a waste of my time.” His lips drew into a tight line, one her fickle fingers suddenly itched to soothe as she once done long ago after he’d arrived home from a long day. She’d touched his face, kissed his lips and they’d never made it to the bedroom. Instead he’d ripped off her clothes and taken her up against the wall.
Lauren paled. Just a simple reflex but her smitten behavior showed her that sexual weakness would always remain for this man. He still had the power to make her want the wild passion that only he had roused.
Between her fingers, the pencil snapped in two as he said, “Until tomorrow, Lauren.”
*****
Chapter Two
The moment Alex left, Lauren exhaled. Had she been holding her breath since his unannounced arrival to her office? It seemed like it. He’d filled the entire space: a glorious cheetah intent on its prey. Her.
She tossed the pencil fragments into the trashcan and wiped the graphite residue off her fingers. The IBF had sent an American doctor to the region, and he’d warned her against any unnecessary stress as the nearest hospital was hours away. Her doctor hadn’t counted on the appearance of Alex Pappas.
Lauren gritted her teeth. She should have been better prepared. But as the passage of time since Christopher’s death had edged towards six months, she had relaxed her guard and assumed the family had forgotten all about her. Alex’s unannounced arrival had proved how mistaken she’d been. The Pappas family wanted what they saw as theirs.
Her baby bump might not have been evident at the time of Christopher’s fatal accident, but the entire village had known of her pregnancy. When the Pappas family agents had arrived for Christopher’s body and personal effects, the friendly villagers had not kept her secret.
Lauren pushed another wayward hair off her face and tried to force it back into the ponytail holder. The stubborn blond strand refused, and there was little point in trying to redo the sagging bun. Giving up, Lauren pulled her hair out of the hairpiece and let it drift around her shoulders. She glanced at the calendar hanging on the wall. Humidity had curled the pages.
Alex had promised to return tomorrow. How often had she heard those words during their affair? How many times had Susan, his secretary, called at the last moment and told her, sorry, but Alex had been unavoidably detained? Susan hadn’t kept her dislike of Lauren hidden, either, and Susan had let Lauren know she’d resented having to call.
This time, however, Lauren knew Alex would be back. The bitter irony was that while she wasn’t the woman he desired anymore, she did have something he wanted, something that now made her extremely important to the very family that had disdained her.
The Greek culture was centuries old, and Alex’s family honor and its place in that culture was of utmost importance. She’d learned that fact early in the relationship.
While Alex’s branch of the family lived primarily in the United States, his grandparents had both been born in Athens. They’d instilled in Alex’s father a firm sense of his heritage, and he’d passed that on to his sons. Alex and Christopher and their parents had made yearly trips to the beloved homeland until his father’s illness.
No, Alex would not simply go away because Lauren wished it. Not this time. He would haunt her and persist until he succeeded in achieving his goal. Lauren was carrying a Pappas heir. He’d marry her, even if he hated her. He’d make love to her, because he’d have needs and her body would be willing.
But he’d never forgive her.
Lupe, her assistant, poked her head through the open doorway. The woman’s questions came in rapid Spanish, and Lauren answered in the language as well.
“I’m fine,” she told her worried assistant.
Lupe’s heavy brows knit closer. The heavyset woman who was a grandmot
her to fifteen didn’t look at all convinced.
“He’s a powerful man, that one,” Lupe said. “He is not used to being crossed.”
“No, he isn’t,” Lauren admitted. Even today, Alex’s innate power had radiated from every handsome pore of his smooth Mediterranean skin.
He had always looked handsome, just like when she’d first met him. She’d been in Christopher’s freshman English class, and they’d been friends throughout their four years of Harvard.
It was after the graduation, when Christopher had introduced her to his mother, father, and Alex that the attraction surfaced. The then 31-year old Alex had enthralled Lauren, and whenever he touched her skin, shivers like none she’d ever experienced had traveled up her spine. She’d made her excuses and fled.
But since both she and Christopher had accepted positions with the IBF, they’d kept in touch. When both happened to be in-between field assignments eighteen months ago, they’d reconnected in New York. Christopher had brought Alex along and for Lauren, the rest was history.
She’d fallen hard and fast, making love to him that very same night. He’d cancelled all his appointments for the following few days and he’d never left her side. They’d hardly left the bed.
In less than a week Alex had swept her off her feet and she took a leave of absence from her job. For the next six months, she’d lived in a state of blissful adoration. Until reality had crashed in.
Alex’s cousin Theo had returned from Greece, and Theo had hated Lauren on sight. He’d undermined, threatened, even offered her money to leave. And Alex? He’d remained oblivious. His cousin Theo was like a brother to him. He’d insisted that Theo would never lie.
Seeing her life spiraling out of control as Theo’s threats increased, Lauren had cut her losses and left Alex for the first time. They’d tried once after that, and failed.
Pushing the hurtful memories aside, Lauren pondered Alex’s appearance. He’d changed. While he still looked better than most men his age, he’d appeared somewhat haggard, as if the endless treadmill of work and time were finally beginning to best him. His virility had remained intact.
Then again, she mused, she hadn’t seen him in almost eight months. Maybe her impression had been a trick of the late afternoon sunlight slanting through the dirty wooden plantation blinds. His lips, though, had been the same. No mistaking that full, perfect, and eminently kissable. She’d wanted to kiss him. The stuff of fantasies. As she contemplated that, she let her shoulders slump forward.
“Are you alright, senora?” Concern etched Lupe’s face, and contrariness mocked Lauren.
Of course she wasn’t all right, nor was she a senora. She was a single female caught between a rock and a hard place. She was pregnant and alone, with a small trust fund, but not enough to fight the Pappas family.
And moments ago she’d thought of kissing Alex’s. Her body would always want his like thirsty men craved water. He was her drug.
Hormones and stress formed a deadly combination, she decided, and then she remembered Lupe remained waiting. Lauren patted her stomach and attempted a reassuring smile. “I’m nearing full term, Lupe. Is it any wonder I’m tired and run down?”
Lupe’s gaze turned skeptical. “Everyone is worried about you, senora. You must take care of yourself and the little bambino. Nothing should be allowed to stress you, especially now.”
“I’m fine,” Lauren lied. “Nothing is going to go wrong with my pregnancy. I won’t let it.”
Lupe shook her head, her long black hair dancing around her waist. She frowned. “Senor Pappas should not upset you. I can get Jose to be here tomorrow for security if you’d like.”
Lauren didn’t need to make matters worse, and the presence of Lupe’s very righteous and oversized husband might do just that. “I’ll be fine, Lupe. Seriously. Don’t worry about me. Jose isn’t needed. I can handle Senor Pappas.”
Lupe scowled, disbelief evident. “I will say extra prayers for you tonight.”
“Thank you. But seriously, don’t worry. I’ve been in a lot worse situations than this one. My parents were missionaries. I grew up in some pretty scary places.”
“Hmm.” Lupe wasn’t comforted by that.
“Seriously. I’m good. You can go.”
Lauren watched as Lupe left the room and then she eased back in her chair. Her body ached and the baby kicked. Lauren pressed her hands to her stomach. She was worried.
No matter what happened tomorrow, a fateful die had already been cast. Wine, moonlight, and magic seven and a half months ago meant that she had a secret to keep, something Alex and his misguided family could never know.
Her reasons were so strong and so just that even Christopher, who had been devoted to his older brother with a dog-like adoration, had agreed to perpetuate her terrible lie, much to his disgust.
Christopher had wanted her to tell Alex the truth, but Theo’s threats against her life had made that impossible. She’d also known Alex wouldn’t believe. Not after seeing her in Christopher’s bed. And now, Christopher had taken to his grave any chance for the truth to be told.
Alex thought Lauren had betrayed him seven and a half months ago when he’d caught Lauren and Christopher watching TV in bed they’d done for years in college.
They’d always been platonic friends, and despite their pajama-clothed state, when Alex had seen Christopher draw her into his arms for a hug, Alex had immediately assumed the worst. He’d thought she and Christopher….
Alex’s jealousy had been a seed Theo had planted and nurtured, like Iago in Othello, and trusting his cousin, Alex hadn’t believed the truth that Christopher and Lauren’s friendship was only platonic. Theo had told him they’d been lovers for years.
Alex’s misguided outrage and distrust had been the final straw, and the ensuing fight she’d had with Alex had been the catalyst for Lauren’s escape to freedom.
When she’d discovered the pregnancy test had two lines, the IBF had already come through and transferred her to Mexico, to Christopher. Ironic, that Christopher had planned on marrying her and fulfilling his older brother’s role, just as Alex was ready to do now.
Christopher had been her best friend, a compatriot. He’d avoided the family business himself and believed Lauren when she’d told him about the money Theo had offered, and the threats that had followed when she’d turned him down. Christopher had believed, unlike Alex, who had blatantly refused to listen to a foul word against his beloved cousin.
Finally, Christopher had understood why Lauren couldn’t return to New York, why she couldn’t tell Alex and make things right. She needed her freedom. Babies needed to be raised in a loving environment, not a political dynasty.
Despite Christopher’s strong reservations, he’d agreed to help her, even though it meant perpetuating the affair falsehood Alex believed to be true. After all, either way her baby was a Pappas.
But Lauren didn’t carry Christopher’s baby. She carried the Pappas heir. The first-born son of the first-born son. The one the entire family estate would settle on. The baby she carried was Alex’s.
*****
Chapter Three
“You look sucker punched.”
“It’s hotter than Hades outside.” As Alex stepped into cool confines of the small hotel’s finest suite, he sidestepped Theo’s unspoken question. Alex reached for the ice-cold bottle of water that his forty-year old cousin handed him. “Thanks. It’s been a long and tiring trip.”
“I can’t believe Christopher ever came to this place,” Theo said. His proud face darkened suddenly. “When he told us eighteen months ago that he was returning here, we shouldn’t have let him. He should have taken his place in the family business, not come to this,” Theo gestured erratically, “this place. What good was he here when we needed him on our side when the Favazza family tried to move into our territory? What did coming to this infernal place get your brother? Nothing but an early grave.”
Alex strode to the sliding doors. The boutique hotel sat high
on a hill, and from his windows and balcony, he had a spectacular view of the village below. The IBF had been in the village the past twenty years, and the hotel had been built a few years back when a reality TV show had spent six months filming nearby.
From Alex’s current vantage point, he could see why Christopher had stayed. There was a sense of peace to the small town, a serenity long missing from the hurry-hurry, get rich world of New York City that Christopher had always despised. Lauren had also hated the city. She’d grown up all over the world, and despite the high ceilings of his two thousand square foot apartment, she’d been a bird in a cage.
Alex turned and faced Theo. “What’s past is past. As much as even I’d like otherwise, the past can’t be undone. Christopher came here, and he was happy.”
“My apologies.” Theo humbled himself and backed away slightly, deferring to Alex’s family stature. “I shouldn’t speak ill of the dead. The bus accident was a terrible tragedy. You lost a brother and I lost a beloved cousin. Twenty-seven is too young to die.”
And thirty-five isn’t old enough to deal with such a horrible loss.
Alex swallowed a sip of water to keep himself impassive. He’d broken down and cried for hours after learning the news of Christopher’s untimely and tragic death, but he’d never cried in the presence of another family member. Would he have cried in front of Lauren? Would he had found solace in her arms as he had so many nights?
Seeing her had exhausted his patience. Worse, he hadn’t been as prepared as he’d thought he was to see her again. Admittedly, pregnancy suited her. She had that female glow, and it wasn’t from equatorial heat. That moment he’d leaned on her desk, her citrus scent had permeated his senses, and he’d found himself shaken by immediate and powerful desire.
He’d hated his reaction—his body should have been seared cold from her betrayal. But then, he’d always found her a hot, sexy, fascinating woman. He’d wanted her from the very moment he’d first laid eyes on her at Christopher’s graduation, and when fate had placed her again in his path, he hadn’t wasted the second chance to claim her as his. He’d pursued, seduced, and found nirvana when he’d spilled himself inside her.
The Greek Billionaire's Secret Baby (Contemporary Romance) Page 2
