by Abby Green
Zoe lifted her chin.
‘If you don’t believe me you can check the bank account where the money from the pictures was lodged. It’s in Dean’s name. He didn’t even try very hard to cover his tracks.’
Maks looked at Zoe, a small obstinately cynical part of him refusing to give in to what his gut was telling him—that she was innocent. Always had been. In more ways than one.
‘How do I know you weren’t working together? That you haven’t spent your entire inheritance and you’re looking to make more money at my expense?’
Zoe went so pale that for a moment Maks thought she might faint. Instead, she stalked past him and went to the door, opening it.
She looked at him. ‘Get out, Maks.’
A lead weight seemed to be stuck in his gut. And then he remembered. The reason why he’d come here in the first place.
He said, ‘There’s something else. I bumped into Pierre Gardin. He told me that you might be pregnant. Is it true?’
* * *
Zoe looked at Maks. She forced herself to breathe, to let oxygen get to her brain. Anger, betrayal, and so many other emotions roiled in her gut that she felt light-headed. All mixed up with a clawing need to throw herself into Maks’s arms and wind herself around him like a vine.
She forced all that out. The urge to self-protect was paramount.
When she felt as if she could sound calm she said, ‘That’s the most ridiculous thing I ever heard.’
‘Pierre said you weren’t well.’
Zoe’s face grew warm and she avoided Maks’s eye. ‘I had a bug, that was all.’
‘So you’re not pregnant?’
She gripped the handle of the door. ‘Please leave, Maks. I have an English class to teach today and I’m already late.’
Maks sounded frustrated. ‘Zoe...if you are, you need to tell me.’
She finally looked at him, focusing on anger to block out all the other disturbing emotions. ‘Why? When I know exactly how you feel about having a family? You’re the last man I’d choose to be the father of my child.’
‘If you were pregnant with my baby I would take responsibility. You wouldn’t be alone.’
The thought of Maks having to take responsibility for her made bile rise inside Zoe. She said, ‘Even if I was pregnant I wouldn’t come to you, because I don’t need to. No matter how much money I give to charity, the interest alone on what’s left keeps me rich beyond anything I know what to do with. So if I was pregnant, which I’m not, I wouldn’t need you anyway.’
CHAPTER TEN
PLEASE LEAVE, ZOE begged silently, just wanting to escape Maks’s far too probing eyes. Relief moved through her when he finally walked to the door and stepped over the threshold.
He turned around. Grim. ‘If what you say is true then I owe you an apology. Simpson victimised you as much as me.’
Hurt gripped her again at his reluctance to trust her. ‘You don’t owe me anything.’
Zoe shut the door and stood in a stupor for a long moment, staring at her closed door. She heard the sound of the main door closing heavily. The throttle of a powerful engine.
In spite of her brave words just now, she knew it wasn’t the last she’d see of Maks. Not by a long shot. Not just because he might come back to apologise, as his integrity would demand. But for another far more pressing reason.
Her hand went to her belly. She’d lied. Unforgivably. Blatantly. She was pregnant and her little bump was growing every day. But the shock of having Maks here in her space, confronting her, suggesting she might have been colluding with Dean Simpson, had decimated any urge she might have had to tell him today.
Of course she would tell him she was pregnant. When she could do so on her terms. When she could prepare herself for the inevitable distaste she’d see on his face. When she would be able to stand in front of him and tell him calmly and rationally that she was prepared to do this on her own and didn’t expect him to take responsibility.
Terrified, but filled with a sense of focus and a determination to get over her fear of loss and grief, she knew she owed it to her baby to do her best to try. To create a secure life for them both. To shield them from the fear she would feel every day.
It was time to reassess her experiences and do things differently. She had a child to support now. She couldn’t continue like an out-of-work student, skirting around the edges of life, ignoring the fact that she had the means to live well. It wasn’t just about her and her guilt any more.
* * *
Maks felt sick. It had taken the most rudimentary of internet searches to find the news reports on the tragic crash that had killed Zoe’s family. Leaving her the sole survivor. There’d been pictures of the car wreckage that had made him feel weak, and pictures of Zoe, taken before the crash.
Her father had been tall and dashingly handsome, her mother blonde and beautiful. Like Zoe. There’d been pictures of a three-year-old Zoe holding her baby brother, grinning proudly. And a lot of breathless speculation about the young, tragically orphaned heiress.
It also hadn’t been hard to find the philanthropic foundation she’d set up to donate money anonymously to various charities. Set up—Maks suspected—on her eighteenth birthday.
He recalled how she’d sounded almost bewildered when she’d mentioned the fact that no matter what she did the interest kept growing on her remaining inheritance. He’d never met anyone before who’d actively tried to get rid of money.
The way she’d denied herself out of a sense of guilt and grief made Maks’s chest feel tight.
A knock sounded on his home office door. Hamish stuck his head around it. ‘Lunch, boss?’
Maks didn’t feel hungry. He stood up. ‘No. Can you get my assistant to meet me here? And call my legal team. I have some information for them.’
‘Sure thing.’
Hamish left and Maks walked over to the window, looking out unseeingly. Zoe wasn’t pregnant. And even if she was, as she’d pointed out, she didn’t actually need his support.
He should be feeling relieved. She was right. A family was the last thing he’d ever wanted. A baby. No matter what kind of ache he might have felt when he’d thought of his brother Nikos and his family. An ache that was still there now.
He’d misjudged Zoe badly. And any sense of betrayal that she hadn’t told him about her family was fading fast. He could understand why.
A mixture of complicated emotions roiled in his gut. He didn’t usually judge people out of hand. He was actually far less likely to jump to conclusions than either of his brothers. But with Zoe... She’d pushed his buttons from the moment he’d first seen her. And at the first sign of an opportunity to believe the worst about her he’d jumped at it.
The worst thing was, he knew exactly why he’d reacted like that. Because he hadn’t been prepared to admit that he still wanted her. That he wasn’t ready to let her go. And more. Much more.
* * *
Zoe stood on the stony beach and looked out at the Irish Sea. It was a blustery day with leaden skies. Typical Irish weather. She turned around and looked up to the cliff behind her, where a distinctive yellow house stood out. That had been her home. The family home where she’d felt loved and safe and as if nothing could touch her.
A deep sigh moved through her as the wind whipped her hair around her face.
She’d spent the last few days in a storage facility, going through her family’s possessions, and she felt wrung out but also a little lighter. As if a weight was finally lifting off her shoulders.
She faced the sea again and tried to ignore the dull pain that dogged her every step. Maks. Every time she thought about him she forced her mind away again. But, like a well-worn groove, her mind kept going over all the reasons why she was so reluctant to contact him and reveal the truth about her pregnancy: he’d never promised her anything but a finite affair; he believed t
hat she’d betrayed his trust, which just confirmed how little he’d really thought of her; he didn’t want a relationship or a child or a family.
And, even more damningly, she now knew why he’d appeared on her doorstep in London.
He hadn’t really wanted to verify her guilt or innocence. He’d been there to see if she was pregnant. Because the last thing he wanted was more adverse publicity.
She cursed herself again for letting him close enough to hurt her. Devastate her. Fatally.
No, she told herself now. Not fatal. She was still here. Whole. Pregnant.
She would have to tell him sooner or later and deal with the fact that he would be in her life in some capacity for ever...but not today.
Zoe turned around to walk away from the sea, back up towards the hotel where she was staying while she went through her family’s things.
She’d only taken a few steps into the lobby when she heard her name being called.
‘Zoe.’
She stopped. The voice was deep. Hypnotic. She didn’t want to turn around. It couldn’t be. And yet no one knew her here.
She turned around. Maks was standing a few feet away in dark clothes. He’d never looked more beautiful or sexy.
Zoe felt weak. ‘What are you doing here? How did you know where I was?’
Maks took a step towards her. She stepped back—a self-protective reflex. She saw his jaw clench and felt ridiculously like apologising.
‘I went to your flat in London. Your neighbour told me you’d moved out and that you were taking a trip to Dublin. It wasn’t hard to track you down.’
Not for a billionaire with means at his disposal, Zoe thought to herself. She could feel herself responding to his proximity. She wanted to drink him in. She wanted to reach up and pull his head down and feel that hard mouth on hers. Every part of her body tingled with awareness and she vaguely wondered if it had anything to do with being pregnant.
Pregnant.
She wasn’t ready. Not today.
Coward.
Feeling desperate, she asked, ‘Why are you here, Maks? I thought we’d said all we had to say.’
‘Can we go somewhere more private?’
Zoe looked around. People were practically tripping over themselves when they saw Maks Marchetti in this very mediocre hotel lobby. Zoe felt like rolling her eyes. He literally was too beautiful to be out in public without causing an incident.
‘You have a room here?’
Zoe’s mind seized at the thought of him in her small suite. But there was nowhere else private and, as much as she didn’t want to tell him about the pregnancy, she knew she had to.
Reluctantly she walked over to the elevator, without waiting to see if he followed her. But she could feel him behind her. Tall. Powerful. His scent was exotic. Musky. Sexy.
The tension crackled between them when they were in the elevator—so much that Zoe got an electric shock when she pushed the button for her floor. It was a relief to get out and walk down the short corridor to her room.
She went in and immediately went over to the window, crossing her arms, looking at Maks warily as he followed her in. She noticed more now. His hair was longer. Jaw stubbled. He looked tired. Dishevelled.
Her heart squeezed with an unbidden urge to know if he was okay. And then she lambasted herself for being weak. She hated him. His betrayal of her was far worse than anything she’d unwittingly done to him.
But when he looked at her she could feel herself aligning towards him. Her head and body at war. She was melting. Aching.
She didn’t hate him at all.
‘Maks, what do you want?’ Her voice was sharp. Panicked.
* * *
You. Maks just restrained himself from saying it. Seeing Zoe up close again made him feel primal. Her lithe petite form. That honey-blonde hair, wild and messy from the wind. Cheeks pink. Eyes like two stormy oceans.
He forced his brain out of his pants. ‘I came to say I’m sorry. I should have given you the benefit of the doubt. I knew you better than that.’
The pink faded from her cheeks. She looked pale now.
‘You’ve got proof that Dean hacked into my account and sold the pictures.’ Her voice was flat.
‘No, I didn’t need to. I should have trusted you. I gave his name to the authorities. They informed me that he was picked up in Spain yesterday, and he’s admitted everything. They’re extraditing him back to Ireland to face charges. I won’t hold back from bringing the full force of the law down on him, Zoe.’
‘Oh.’
It shouldn’t surprise Maks that Zoe looked troubled at that news. She probably felt sorry for her ex.
She said, ‘You didn’t have to come all the way here to tell me that, but thank you.’
He nodded. ‘Yes, I did. The first time I saw you I accused you of being something you weren’t. You...you have an effect on me. Normally I can be rational, but with you...that goes out the window.’
Zoe bit her lip. ‘I can’t help that.’
Now she sounded injured. Maks cursed himself. Shook his head.
‘You got too close, Zoe. Closer than I’ve ever let anyone get. The only other person who knows me as well is my sister. That’s why I let you go in Venice. When you took my picture, and when it didn’t immediately feel like a violation...it was like a wake-up call. I panicked.’
His forced out words through the weight in his gut.
‘And then, when the pictures came out, I jumped on any excuse to damn you...so I wouldn’t have to acknowledge how much you’d got to me. How much I wanted you. How much I still want you now. Pushing you away was easier than being honest with myself.’
Zoe’s eyes went wide, colour flooding her cheeks. He could see the pulse at her throat beating hectically.
‘I don’t... I don’t want you any more,’ she said.
He moved closer. Unable not to. Zoe looked at him as if in a trance. ‘Don’t lie, Zoe.’
She moved back. ‘So what if I do still want you? You dumped me, remember?’
Maks stopped right in front of her. Her scent, fresh and sweet, wound around him. He smelled the sea too. Salty. Something in him calmed for the first time in weeks.
‘Maybe that was a mistake.’
She’d been looking at his mouth. Now her eyes met his.
‘What’s that supposed to mean? What do you want from me?’
All Maks knew was that what he really wanted was too huge and terrifying to articulate. Far easier to focus on the hunger that had been eating him up for weeks.
He reached out, put his hands on her arms. He felt the tension in her body even as she swayed towards him.
‘I want you. We both want this. We can talk later, hmm...?’
* * *
Zoe was drowning in a sea of rising lust. The urge to just sink into Maks, allow him to seduce her again, was overwhelming. She desperately wanted to forget everything for a moment...forget the need to think about what he’d said, about what it might mean.
She wasn’t sure what signal of acquiescence she gave, but Maks was tugging her towards him and saying, ‘Are you sure?’
Zoe just nodded, her eyes fixed on his mouth, silently begging him to kiss her. And then he was, and for the first time in months she felt as if she could breathe again.
It was fast and furious. Clothes were dragged off, thrown aside. They only stopped for a moment when they were naked. Zoe touched Maks reverently, feeling emotional. She’d thought she wouldn’t see him like this again.
He pulled her down onto the bed and she sank into him, her whole body melting and on fire at the same time. She gasped when his fingers explored her, testing her readiness.
He moved over her and she welcomed him into the cradle of her body, breathing deep as he moved inside her, deeper and deeper, until she couldn’t breathe any more and he
r whole body tightened before the exquisite release.
Zoe fell down into a warm comforting blanket of peace and satisfaction, only vaguely aware of the rush of warmth inside her.
* * *
When Zoe woke a few hours later the sun had started dipping in the sky. She had her back to Maks. They touched at every point where he spooned her. Her bottom was tucked against the potency of his body—no less potent now, even in sleep.
His arm was wrapped around her, his hand splayed across her. Zoe went cold. His hand was right there...on the thickening swell of her belly.
Panic gripped her. She moved as stealthily as she could, dislodging his hand, moving out from under his arm.
He stirred and said a sleepy, ‘Zoe?’
She mumbled something and fled to the bathroom on jelly legs, closing the door behind her. She looked at herself in the mirror. Her eyes were sparkling and her face was flushed. She didn’t have to look further to know the evidence of Maks’s touch would be all over her body.
She took in everything he’d said before they’d made love. He’d apologised. He hadn’t even sought proof of Dean’s guilt. He finally trusted her. He still wanted her.
That could be the case—and she couldn’t stop the hitch of joy and relief inside her at that fact—but she had to remember what was at stake here. She was pregnant, and as soon as Maks knew that everything would change again.
Like that morning in Venice, he’d go cold. Let her go. Because he didn’t want more.
