by Jennie Lucas
Turning to one of the hovering assistants, he ordered, “Have a large breakfast sent down from your café.”
“Oh, sir.” The salesgirl looked sorrowful. “I’m afraid that’s impossible...”
“Of course it’s possible for Mr. Kyrillos,” the white-haired manager snapped, turning to them with a bright smile. “A pregnant woman must never go hungry. What would madame like?”
“Everything,” Darius said. “Send down a tray or two. We’ll be here a while. We need a ball gown, but also a great deal more. Shoes, accessories, maternity clothes. Price is no object. We may be here for hours.”
“Yes, sir,” the woman replied happily, clapping her hands at her assistants, who rushed to obey.
“Darius, you don’t need to make a fuss!”
“You’re wrong. I can see all too well that I need to be in charge. Because you’ve always been better at taking care of others than yourself.” He drew Letty gently to the white sofa. “Here. Sit down. Take a breath.”
“But I left all those dresses in the changing room—”
“They will wait. Relax. You do not have to shop hungry. Breakfast is on its way.”
The white leather cushion shifted beneath them, tipping her toward him on the sofa. The edge of her thigh brushed against his. She jumped away with an intake of breath, looking up at him with big eyes.
“I’m not your responsibility.”
“You are now.” Reaching out, he tucked a long tendril of her dark hair back behind her ear and said softly, “And taking care of you will be my pleasure.”
His...pleasure?
A sudden terrifying thought occurred to her.
“Darius,” she said haltingly, unable to meet his eyes. “You surely can’t think...”
“Think what?”
Taking her courage in her hands, she looked into his dark wicked eyes. However charming he might seem at the moment, she couldn’t forget the heartless man he’d revealed himself to be. She couldn’t let herself confuse him with the boy she’d once loved. No matter how much Darius’s dark eyes, his smile, his kindness might seem the same. He was nothing like the man she’d loved.
“You can’t think...” She took a deep breath. “That our marriage would be real.”
“Of course it will be real. Legal in any court.”
“I mean...” She licked her lips, hating him for making her spell it out. “It would just be a marriage of convenience, nothing more. For our baby. We wouldn’t... You and I, we would never...”
“You will sleep in my bed, Letty.” His dark eyes burned through her. “Naked. Every single night.”
His sensual voice swirled around her body like a hot wind, making her toes curl.
She had to resist. She had no intention of sleeping with him again, no matter how seductive he might be. She’d been a virgin till twenty-eight, waiting for love. That love was gone.
“I loved you the night we conceived our baby. Everything has changed. Unlike you, I can’t have sex with a cold heart,” she said in a low voice. “No love, no sex.”
He wrapped her hand in his larger one. She felt his palm against hers, and a shiver ricocheted through Letty’s body, deep, to blood and bone. He leaned forward.
“We’ll see,” he whispered.
CHAPTER SIX
LETTY WAS SAVED when the salesgirls interrupted them with trays of pastries and fruit and juices, followed closely behind by yet more racks of clothes for her to consider.
A proper breakfast tray soon followed with maple bacon pancakes drizzled in maple syrup, hash brown potatoes and hot fried sausages. Thus fortified, Letty spent another hour trying on all the clothes she liked in that luxury store. Then they moved to a designer boutique. Then an exclusive department store.
By the end of the afternoon, Darius had bought her so many bags of clothes, he’d had to call his bodyguard and driver down to Fifth Avenue to carry everything back to the penthouse.
He took her to a world-famous jewelry store where they were ushered to an exclusive, private floor. She tried to protest, for about the thirtieth time. “You really don’t need to keep spending more money on me!”
Darius held up a twenty-carat diamond necklace with a critical eye. “You’re going to be my wife. Of course you need clothes.”
“Those are diamonds.”
He grinned. “Hard, sparkling clothes.”
She harrumphed. “You’re wasting your money.”
“So let me waste it. What do you care?” Lifting his eyebrow, he said mildly, “I seem to recall your saying you hate me. So why not make me suffer?”
Why not indeed? Put that way, it didn’t sound so unreasonable. “You do have it coming.”
Setting the necklace down, he looked at her with a heavily lidded gaze.
“And I intend to take it.” Turning back to the jeweler, he nodded toward the diamond necklace. “Starting with that.”
But though Darius insisted on buying her an entire wardrobe of fancy clothes, he was never satisfied by any of the ball gowns she tried on. Truth be told, even Letty thought most of them hideous. A hoop skirt on a baby bump? She looked like a cartoon hippo.
In spite of Letty’s misgivings, the afternoon flew by in an irresistible whirlwind of small pleasures. Her new wardrobe wasn’t comprised of minimalist black and gray clothes as he had originally suggested, currently popular with chic society women, nor were they the plain, sensible, washing-machine-ready clothes she’d worn for the last ten years. No.
Darius had watched her carefully as she’d tried on each outfit, and he seemed to notice the colors that made her face light up with joy. Bright, vivid jewel tones—emerald green, cerulean blue, fuchsia, ruby red—in impractical sensual fabrics like silk.
“We’ll take it,” he would say immediately.
Letty felt guilty revealing her own pleasure, but she couldn’t help herself. For so long, survival had been her only goal. She couldn’t remember the last time that her happiness had mattered to anyone, least of all her.
But Darius treated her as if her happiness was actually the main goal.
Because I carry his baby inside me, she told herself, as she changed her clothes yet again in a private dressing room.
But his hot dark gaze had told her it was more than that. He didn’t just want custody over their baby.
He wanted to possess Letty, too.
You will sleep in my bed. Naked. Every single night.
She shivered, then tried on yet another formal gown, this one made of a slinky knit fabric in a delicious shade of hot pink, her favorite color.
The dress fell softly over her body. Reaching back, she couldn’t quite zip it all the way. She looked at herself in the mirror.
The long stretchy gown fit perfectly over her pregnant body, curving over her full breasts and huge belly. She liked it, but weren’t pregnant women supposed to wear tent dresses?
“I want to see,” Darius’s voice commanded outside the dressing room. She took a deep breath, then came out, her cheeks hot.
“What do you think?” she said timidly.
His expression said everything. He walked slowly around her, looking up and down her body in a way that made her shiver inside.
“That,” he said softly, “is the dress.”
She bit her lip. “I’m afraid it’s too formfitting...”
“It’s perfect.”
“I couldn’t zip it all the way up...”
Drawing close, he wrapped his arms around her. She felt his arms brush against her body as he pulled on the zipper. His eyes never left hers as he towered over her, so close. He made her breathless.
A hint of a smile lifted the edges of his cruel, sensual mouth. He cupped her cheek, then stroked down her throat. “The necklace will be perfect here. Against your skin.”
Looking down, she realized how low cut the gown was. Her cheeks went redder. “I shouldn’t wear this.”
“Why?”
“It’s too revealing. Everyone will stare.”
/> “They will stare regardless.”
“Because I’m the daughter of a criminal.”
“Because you’re an incredibly beautiful woman.”
At his soft words, Letty’s throat suddenly hurt. “You don’t realize how much they hate me.” Her eyes stung as she pushed away. “When they see me...it’ll be like dropping raw meat in a shark tank. And the more they notice me, the more they’ll rip me apart.” She took a deep breath, tried to smile. “I sound like I’m complaining. I’m not. I can handle it. I’m used to it. But...”
“But what?”
She looked down at the floor.
“Letty?”
She said in a small voice, “I don’t want them to say rude things about you at your own party. And they will if I’m your date.”
Reaching out, he lifted her chin. “I can take care of myself, agape mou,” he said in a low voice. “When will you learn that?”
His dark gaze fell to her mouth, and Letty’s whole body tightened as, for a moment, she wondered if he was going to kiss her, right there in the luxurious store. For a wild moment, it didn’t seem like such a bad idea.
He turned to the nearest salesgirl. “We’ll take this dress. Wrap it up. We need shoes to match.”
Letty tried on ten pairs before she found stiletto heels that made her gasp at their outrageous beauty.
“Those,” Darius said, looking at Letty’s face.
“No, I couldn’t possibly. They’re too impractical. I’ll never wear them again!” She looked doubtfully at her feet, wobbling in the high heels. “I’m not even sure I can wear them now.”
But even as she protested, she couldn’t look away from the beautiful shoes, which were encrusted with glittery pink crystals and had a red sole.
“We’ll take them,” he told the salesgirl firmly.
Though they pinched Letty’s toes and made her wobble ever so slightly, she was filled with joy as she sat down and handed the precious pink crystal stilettos to the salesgirl. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had anything so outrageous, just because of their beauty. And their cost! She was trying not to think about owning shoes worth three months’ rent. And when would she ever wear them again? Working as a waitress? Going to the grocery store?
It was wicked, letting him buy her these shoes. Letting him buy her so many things, when after tonight, he’d likely never want to see her again.
She would just leave everything behind, she decided. Most of the clothes could be returned, unworn, with tags. She’d have nothing to feel guilty about when he tossed her out of his life. Nothing!
“Now—” Darius’s gaze lingered on her lips, then dropped lower “—lingerie.”
Letty made a sound like a squeak. “Forget it!”
“Ah. You intend to wear nothing beneath your gown tonight? I approve.”
Her cheeks burned. “Of course I’m going to wear something!”
“Then you need undergarments.” He nodded toward three hovering salesgirls. “Get us a selection of lingerie that would suit the gown.”
They departed in a rush to obey.
“I hope you don’t expect me to try those on for you,” Letty said sulkily.
“No?” He looked at her lazily. “Maybe later.”
Her blush deepened.
Right here, in the exclusive department store, with strangers everywhere, Darius was looking at Letty as if he wanted nothing more than to drag her into a changing room and roughly make love to her. Possibly while she was wearing nothing but those pink crystal stilettos. Not a bad idea...
She blinked, realizing she’d been licking her lips. She put her hand unsteadily to her head. What was happening? Was she losing all her morals over a pair of beautiful shoes and for the body of a dangerously beautiful man?
Except Darius wasn’t just beautiful. He was also the only man she’d ever slept with. The only man she’d ever been in love with. She was even now carrying his child deep inside her. He wanted her in his bed. He wanted to marry her. All of those things together were likely to distract any woman.
And with every moment, she felt herself being drawn into his world. Remembering what it was like when money was no object. To be without worry or care.
To be cherished.
It had been a long time since she’d felt that way. She’d been a lonely teenager, far happier spending her time with the estate staff, pets or books instead of other debutantes. At fourteen, she’d fallen hopelessly for Darius, the chauffeur’s son, six years older and totally out of her league. Funny now to recall that she’d actually imagined herself to be unhappy then.
She’d discovered soon after what unhappiness really meant, when her beloved mother, the heart of their home, had suddenly fallen ill. She’d wasted away and died within months.
Her father had been gutted. A few years later, he’d gone to prison. Letty had tried to be tough. She’d tried to be strong. She’d hadn’t let herself think. Hadn’t let herself feel.
But now...
For the first time in years she realized how it felt to be truly looked after. To be cared for. As the salesgirls wrapped up a thousand dollars’ worth of silky lingerie, she tried to tell herself it was just an illusion. Exactly like Cinderella. After midnight tonight it would all disappear.
Darius signed the credit card receipt, smiling at her out of the corner of his eye. “Is there anything else you desire?”
Letty looked at him, her heart in her throat. Then she just shook her head.
“It’s growing late.” He took her hand. “We have one more place to go.”
The bodyguard had already left in Darius’s sports car filled with bags. As his driver walked ahead, weighed down by yet more bags, toward the waiting town car, Darius never let go of her hand. His dark eyes glowed down at her as the sun slipped down between the skyscrapers, toward a horizon she couldn’t see.
Maybe it was the pregnancy hormones, but as they climbed into the back of the elegant car, emotion squeezed her heart as she looked at him. All day, Darius had been beside her, ready to push through any crowds, to make sure that she got—in his opinion—proper attention. When she was thirsty, when she was hungry, when she was tired, he seemed to know even before she did, and like a miracle, whatever she desired would instantly appear.
It was as if she were no longer alone. Someone else was looking out for her. Someone tough and strong. Someone who made her feel safe.
Safe?
She shook herself hard. Darius was dangerous. Selfish. Arrogant and cold.
He frowned at her in the backseat. “Are you crying?”
She wiped her tears. “Nope.”
“Letty.”
“I’m sorry. I just...” She faltered. “You’ve been so kind.”
“Buying you clothes?” he said incredulously. He gave a low laugh. “Is that all it takes?”
It was more than the clothes, far more, but she couldn’t explain. She said miserably, “I shouldn’t go with you to the ball tonight.”
His mouth turned down grimly. “You’re going.”
“Don’t you understand? It’ll only cause you trouble.”
“Stop trying to protect me,” he said evenly. “I mean it.”
“But—”
“It’s not your job to protect me. It’s my job to protect you now. And our baby. Never again insult me by insinuating I am incapable of it.” At her expression, he said more gently, “Don’t you understand, Letty? I will watch over you. I’ll make sure no one ever hurts you again. You’ll always be taken care of now. You’re safe.”
She was suddenly shaking as the town car drove down the street. How she wished it were true! How she wished she could believe in him, as she had so long ago.
The car door opened. Looking up in surprise at Darius’s driver, who was holding it open, Letty looked back at Darius. He gave her a cheeky grin.
“I’m just dropping you off. This is the best day spa in the city. Collins is bringing your gown and everything else you’ll need for the ba
ll tonight. I’ll collect you here at eight.”
“A day spa? Why?”
“You deserve some pampering. Enjoy yourself.” He leaned forward in the car’s backseat. She felt his warmth and breathed in his scent as he brushed back her hair and whispered in her ear, “I’ll be back for you soon.”
As he drew back, her heart beat rapidly, and she felt prickles of sensation and desire course through her body, down her spine and over her skin.
And all he’d done was whisper in her ear!
Oh, this was bad.
Her legs were shaky as she stepped out of the car and was whisked into the gorgeously bright day spa with its tall windows, green plants and kitschy pink furniture. A team of specialists, including massage therapists, beauty therapists, stylists and more, surrounded her, moaning about Letty’s cuticles, her tense shoulders, her dry skin...
Hours passed in a flash. Her nails were done and her muscles rubbed and her skin freshened until dewy. Hairstylists and makeup artists came next, and once they were done, it was nearly eight.
Letty put on the new silk bra and panties, the perfectly fitting pink gown and sparkly stiletto heels. She looked at herself in the mirror.
Her long, freshly shaped dark hair was now glossy and shiny and bouncy from the hairstylist’s efforts. Red lipstick made her look glamorous, and her eyes were emphasized with dark liner and even a few false eyelashes for drama. Her full breasts, pushed up by the bra, were laid out like a platter in the knit pink dress, her hips thrust forward by the stilettos, her voluptuous belly the star.
She was dazzled by her own image. She barely recognized herself.
“Wait until Mr. Kyrillos sees you,” the proprietress of the spa said with a broad smile. “Our finest creation!” There was a whisper, then a gasp. “He’s here!”
Nervously, Letty came down into the foyer. She wondered if he would think she looked silly. She couldn’t bear it if her appearance embarrassed him, on top of everything else.
But as Darius came into the foyer, she saw his face. And she knew he approved. Deeply.
“You look incredible,” he whispered. “So beautiful.”
She gave him a shy smile. “You don’t look so bad yourself.”
