Illicit Night with the Greek

by Susanna Carr

  “Oxi, she’s not.” He had already checked the billiards room. “I saw her step outside but she hasn’t come back.”

  “She’s fine,” Gregory studied the desserts on the silver tray the waiter presented. The scent of oranges, cinnamon and cloves wafted in the air. “She’s probably walking around the garden. She does that a lot.”

  Stergios had always thought the man was a lazy father but hadn’t Gregory noticed the changes in his daughter? Didn’t he care? She was pale, quiet, and the shadows under her eyes suggested she wasn’t sleeping. Jodie was trying to hide the symptoms of her pregnancy and Stergios didn’t know why she bothered making the attempt.

  “It’s been twenty minutes since she stepped outside,” he said as he checked his watch.

  “There’s nothing to worry about,” Gregory said as he chose a melomakarona cookie that always made Stergios think of Christmas. “We have the best security system on the grounds. If she’s fallen and hurt herself, she can push one of the security buttons.”

  Hurt. His chest tightened with dread. Jodie could be hurt and in pain.

  Stergios ran out of the room and into the entrance hall. He scanned the area and saw that Jodie still wasn’t there. He stepped outside and onto the portico. The cold air slapped at his skin as the darkness enveloped him. Stergios hesitated, his breath caught in his throat, as he pushed away the memories of the pitch-black wilderness.

  There were no Christmas lights on the grounds and the moon was hidden behind clouds. Taking the steps two at a time, Stergios stood on the terrace that was streaked with the weak light from the arched windows. He looked around the side garden and didn’t see the glimmer of her silver dress.

  “Jodie?” he called, his voice echoing in the cold air, but she didn’t reply.

  Stergios launched down the gravel path, the roar of his blood loud in his ears. He didn’t care if there were security cameras and emergency buttons. He knew what the darkness held. He was aware of how a quiet night could turn dangerous.

  He surged unseeingly down the path, driven by the memory of being hunted as a little boy and the terror that had overwhelmed him. Stergios flinched when his broad shoulders caught on a branch. He paused and took a deep breath before he continued. Relief and anger swirled inside him when he saw a faint gleam of silver.

  Jodie was slumped on the ground, her arms and head resting on a stone bench. She weakly lifted her head when she heard him approach. “Stergios?” she said in a croak.

  “You fool,” he muttered as he pulled off his jacket in clumsy, urgent moves. His hands were rougher than he intended when he draped it around her shoulders. “What were you thinking?”

  “I was sick and wanted to be alone.” She gasped when he lifted her into his arms. “Why did you come looking for me?”

  “What kind of question is that?” he asked tautly.

  “You can’t stand the sight of me,” she said as she huddled into his warm suit jacket. “I’ve caused you nothing but trouble.”

  “Don’t remind me.” The memories of the wilderness were beginning to swarm and he needed to get back to the house before he couldn’t fight them back anymore.

  “You searched for me.” She reached up and cupped her hand against his cheek. “In the dark?”

  “I’m not afraid of the dark,” he said in a withering tone as he kept his gaze forward. “I have already explained it.”

  “You’re afraid of what the dark will trigger inside you,” she said and dropped her hand before she rested her head against his shoulder. “What I will do to you.”

  “You don’t have that power over me anymore,” he said as he held her close. “You killed it the moment you slept with me when you were carrying another man’s child.”

  Jodie gave a long sigh. “Good.”

  * * *

  “This is an excessive use of caution, Stergios.” Jodie lay back in her hospital bed and looked around the deluxe private suite. “All of the doctors agreed that I was dehydrated from traveling and that’s why I got light-headed. Staying overnight for observation is unnecessary.”

  “You will be discharged when the doctors say it’s safe.”

  No, when you decide it’s safe, Jodie silently corrected. Everyone from the patient transporter to the Chief of Medicine had bowed down to Stergios’s wishes. She suspected he was a major donor for the hospital. When he had demanded the best room for her, she had not expected this kind of medical care.

  Her suite reminded her of a five-star hotel, only this stay would include a private nurse and an in-house chef. When she had been wheeled into the room with Stergios at her side, she had been surprised by the luxurious touches. The room decor was a mix of dark natural wood and a soft green color palette. The bathroom was spacious and the sitting area had sofas, chairs and a kitchenette.

  She didn’t need this, so why was it important that she was given the VIP treatment? Jodie watched Stergios from beneath her lashes. He was no longer acting like a chieftain on the warpath yet he was on guard for any threat or problems. The color had been restored in his high cheekbones but he still maintained a stony expression.

  Stergios wanted her out of his life, so why was he acting like this? He didn’t know that she was pregnant with his baby. And why did he insist that he stay with her?

  “You should go home,” she said gently. There was no way she would sleep if he were here. “I appreciate what you’ve done but you don’t need to watch over me.”

  He gave her a curt glance. “I’ve already honored your request and didn’t sit in during the physical exam. I am not making any more compromises.”

  Compromise? The man didn’t understand the meaning of the word. It had been a battle getting him to leave her so she could be examined. “I’m allowed some privacy!”

  “Privacy?” he repeated incredulously. “I am intimately acquainted with your body. You have nothing to hide from me.” He braced his hands against the side of her bed and leaned forward. “Although you are acting suspicious.”

  Jodie gave him a startled look.

  “What’s going on?” he asked. He raked his eyes over her. “What did the doctors say? Why are you not taking care of yourself?”

  Jodie bristled under his tone. “Don’t talk to me like that. I am not neglecting my responsibilities. I am doing everything in my power to have a healthy pregnancy.” She was using all of her time, energy and resources to give this child a promising start.

  “Calm down, pethi mou.” He stroked his knuckle against her jaw. “I am not accusing you of anything.”

  “Your job is done,” she said firmly as she jerked her head away, “and you can go home and sleep.”

  “I will decide when I’m done looking after you.”

  She saw the determined glint in his dark eyes. “That tone might intimidate your employees, but it just makes me angrier,” she informed him in a cool tone. “You are pushing your luck. I will call security and have you removed from this room if necessary.”

  He arched an eyebrow. “Why are you so uncomfortable having me here?”

  “I’m not used to it,” she admitted as she nervously plucked the fine linen. She had always wanted someone to care and to worry about her. She needed someone to wonder where she was and if she was okay. But now that she had it, even temporarily, she was afraid that she was going to do something to ruin it.

  “You’re overwrought and tired. It’s time you get some sleep,” Stergios ordered as he glanced at his watch. “I’m going to speak to the nurse before I leave.”

  “Again?” She wearily closed her eyes. “Don’t scare her off.”

  “If she’s easily scared, it’s best if I know now and have a different nurse assigned to you,” he said as he left the room.

  Jodie sighed with relief and carefully rolled to her side so she didn’t pull at the intravenous tu
bes. Stergios had been acting strangely overprotective since they’d arrived at the emergency room. Ordinarily she would have hated how he’d taken charge and made demands, but at the time she felt too weak to do it herself. She idly wondered how he’d act if he knew this was his baby.

  She needed to tell him the truth but she was unwilling to face the aftermath. He was going to be furious. This child was going to create chaos in his orderly world.

  What demands would he make? That she didn’t have the baby? That she put it up for adoption? If he tried to coerce her into giving up her baby, he would discover an epic fight on his hands. The best-case scenario was that Stergios would deny the baby’s existence and keep it a secret from his family.

  Jodie frowned when she heard Stergios’s steady footsteps pounding against the corridor floor. She slowly turned onto her back and stared at the open door. It sounded as if he was getting closer.

  He knows. Her stomach twisted and she suddenly felt queasy. He knows about the baby. She had waited too long to tell him.

  Suddenly he was there, clenching the door frame with his hands. She forgot to breathe when her gaze connected with his blistering glare.

  “You are not in your second trimester?” His voice was quietly sinister. “Your date of conception was in the last week of September?”

  He surged forward and she wanted to launch out of bed. He got there before she could move. Jodie wished she could curl up in a ball and pretend this wasn’t happening.

  Stergios flattened his palms against the mattress. He invaded her space and she was trapped. Surrounded. Jodie couldn’t look away. She flinched when he spoke in a harsh whisper.

  “When were you planning to tell me that the baby is mine?”

  CHAPTER TEN

  HE WAS GOING to be a father. Stergios stared at Jodie as the thud of his heart echoed in his head. His skin felt cold and clammy as his world slowly tilted. Stergios struggled to remain upright as he drew in a shallow breath. He was bringing an innocent child into this cruel and dangerous world.

  Jodie lowered her gaze and turned her head to the side. “I was going to tell you.”

  He doubted it. If the nurse hadn’t mentioned the due date, he may never have known. The possibility sent a chill down his spine. Jodie would have kept him from his child.

  “When did you find out?” he asked in a snarl.

  She swallowed hard and pressed her lips together. When he thought he was going to have to shake the truth out of her, Jodie quietly responded. “Six weeks ago.”

  He gripped the side of the bed tighter as the white-hot anger spread inside him. Six weeks. The woman had plenty of opportunity to give him the news. She knew he wanted to be informed of any consequences of that night. He had demanded that she add his contact information in her phone. But she had distracted him with a lie that had sent him into a tailspin.

  Jodie cautiously glanced up at him when he didn’t respond. “I was trying to find the right time,” she insisted. “The right words.”

  “Or were you stalling because you were considering other options? Like getting rid of the child and never telling me.”

  “No! I wouldn’t do that!” She wrapped her arms over her stomach. “I wasn’t planning to have this baby but I want it.”

  His eyes narrowed on her protective gesture. Why was she trying to protect the baby from him? The rage flashed through him, burning hot and destructive, and it hurt to breathe. “Why did you tell me you were pregnant in September?”

  Jodie’s cheeks turned pink and she slowly lifted her hands as if to placate him. “You have to understand.”

  “Do you think I’m going to show you mercy because you’re pregnant?” His low voice shook as he struggled to remain icy calm. “You had planned to keep my baby from me. It’s as good as stealing my child.”

  “No!” Jodie’s eyes filled with tears as if she’d been struck.

  “You weren’t going to tell me.” He drew in a shallow breath as the fury billowed inside him. He often expected the worst in people, but he was stunned by Jodie’s treachery. “You were going to let me believe another man was the father.”

  “No, not exactly.” She pressed the heels of her hand against her forehead.

  “Trying to keep all your lies straight?”

  She slapped her hands on the mattress. “I lied to you when I said I was pregnant. I didn’t know I was actually going to have a baby.”

  Stergios leaned forward, his face inches away from hers as he bared his teeth. “Why did you tell me you were pregnant with another man’s child?”

  “I knew that we had started up something. It was a sexual obsession that could keep us from what we really wanted. I knew if I told that lie you wouldn’t forgive me. You could cast me out of your life and both of us could move on.”

  Stergios pushed away from the bed. It sickened him that Jodie, of all people, knew how he would react. She had used her intimate knowledge of him against him. “All this time I wondered why you singled me out and told me.”

  “Listen to me, Stergios,” she pleaded.

  “I don’t want to hear any more lies,” he said as he turned away.

  “Are you and Aleka engaged?”

  He froze and his back went straight. No one knew about those plans. What did Jodie know and how was she going to use it against him? “How do you know about that?”

  She dismissed his question with the wave of her hand. “My father mentioned that when he visited me in October. Yes or no, Stergios. Are you engaged?”

  “Oxi. No.” They were finalizing the deal and he would formally ask Aleka in the New Year. He dipped his head. Those plans were ruined. His family would not strengthen their power base because he had to marry the mother of his child. “This does not explain why you lied. Why you were hiding my child from me!”

  She took a deep breath. “I thought I was doing you a favor.”

  “A favor?” The rage pressed against his skin, ready to burst free. “Denying me my child is a favor?”

  “We’re a burden to you.” Her voice cracked as if it hurt to say the words out loud. “You are marrying someone else so you can get everything you want in life.”

  “Not anymore.” Having a baby changed everything. “This child is mine and I want him to know his father.”

  Only Stergios didn’t know the first thing about being a father. His pulse raced at the idea that there was a baby relying on him. He had always known that once he had children, he would be nothing like his father. Now the time had come and he was scared that he would be just like Elias Pagonis. They shared the same blood and the same mannerisms. Hell, he even looked like his father.

  His stomach churned. “I’m going to be part of this child’s life,” he said in a low, harsh tone. “I’m giving him the protection of my name and I’m going to guide him through every milestone. Do not assume that I have no interest in becoming a father.”

  “I know I am the last woman you’d want to carry your child,” she retorted.

  He clenched his jaw. “That’s not true.”

  “I remember what you said on the island.”

  He rubbed his hands over his face, regretting those words of anger. I’m grateful that my child wouldn’t have you for a mother. A whore, a liar and an outcast. At the time he had meant them. He had said those words to wound, to make Jodie suffer with him.

  “You are the mother of my child and how I feel about you is irrelevant,” he said coldly as he pushed back the memory of the lancing pain her lies had caused. “All that matters is that we get married.”

  Her mouth twisted with defiance. “No.”

  Stergios began to pace around the suite. She would come around. Once she realized all he had to offer to her and the child, she would grab at the engagement ring. He would be the one who had much to lose. The marriage to
Jodie would cause a scandal. She was his stepsister and a woman who had encouraged a questionable reputation.

  The Diamantopoulos family would be furious and humiliated no matter how much diplomacy and tact he used. They had been important friends of the family and would have been good allies. Now they would become powerful enemies.

  “You’re not listening to me.” Jodie’s voice filtered into his troubled thoughts.

  And he would have a war on his hands with his board of directors. When news of his hasty wedding and unsuitable bride came out, it would reflect poorly on him and the Antoniou Group.

  “Stergios!” Her frustrated tone rang in the suite. “We don’t need to get married.”

  He gradually turned around and glared at Jodie. She should be grateful that he was accepting his responsibility. “We do and we will.”

  “Let me rephrase it.” She flattened her hands against her chest. “I don’t need to get married. I have my money, a place of my own and the ability to give this child every opportunity.”

  “This is the heir to the Antoniou fortune,” he declared as he thrust his hands in the air. “We have to get married.”

  “No one needs to know, especially if I live in America and—”

  He jerked his head back. “You are going to deny me access to my child.”

  She blinked hard. “No, we can come to an agreement before the baby is born.”

  “Fight for custody?” His skin went cold. “You know that I was a pawn in a custody battle between my parents. You know what happened to me and to my family. And now you want me to relive it?”

  Her eyes widened. “Stergios, that’s not what I said.”

  He had to get out of here before he said or did something he would regret. “I will not beg for a chance to see my child,” he said gruffly as he strode to the door.

  “You cannot force me into marriage,” she called after him.

  “For years I have gathered wealth and power to protect my family.” He turned around and captured her gaze. When she paled, he knew his eyes shone with bloodlust. “I have made choices that an honorable gentleman wouldn’t just to keep them safe. You will soon discover that I will use every weapon at my disposal to take care of my child.”