by Abby Green
‘Okay,’ she said after a moment.
‘Okay?’
She made a little shrugging motion. ‘That’s good enough.’
Was it good enough, though?
Nikos said, ‘I’m committed to making this relationship work for the sake of our son.’
Committed. In a way, Maggie couldn’t fault Nikos. He was already offering more than her father had ever offered her. And she had seen powerful emotion affect him just now, so it was surely only a matter of time before he realised that what he felt for his son was love. Even if he didn’t think he wasn’t capable of it.
To her shame, she felt a dart of something like envy. For her own son. Because he’d sparked something in Nikos that would flower to life. It couldn’t not. But as for her...? Why was she even thinking of herself in this equation? She didn’t even—
Her thoughts stopped there.
The problem was that she did have feelings for him. She’d had them since that night a year ago, when his note the next day had been like a punch to the gut. And then each day of a whole year had followed and he hadn’t made contact—a further punch to the gut. Even knowing now that it hadn’t been his fault, because he’d never got the note, it didn’t diminish the hurt. Because he wouldn’t have contacted her anyway.
Maggie knew she needed to cut off all these nascent tender feelings she had for Nikos, because he’d told her more than once that he just wasn’t capable of returning them. He never would have offered her a relationship if it hadn’t been for Daniel. The fact that he might come to love his son would have to be enough for her.
She said, ‘I’m committed too.’ But the words tasted tart on her tongue.
Nikos moved closer and sneaked a hand around the back of her neck. Her traitorous heart leapt, along with her pulse.
‘I think we have a lot going for us, Maggie. I like you, and I want to be a good father for Daniel. We have insane chemistry. We want each other. We’re going into this with eyes wide open—no illusions. That’s as good a foundation for marriage as any I know.’
I like you.
Maggie longed to be able to pull back and tell Nikos that liking wasn’t good enough. But this wasn’t about her. And she was afraid that he would touch her again and see how close to the surface her emotions were.
She reached for his hand and pulled it down. ‘I think I’ll go and get Daniel settled in our new rooms.’
Nikos looked at her as if he was trying to figure her out. Then he took a step back. He glanced at his watch. ‘I should go to the office to catch up on some work and clear my schedule before the wedding. Help yourself to dinner and make a list of things you need for Daniel. I’ll make sure you get everything you need.’
Maggie watched Nikos walk out and exhaled once she was alone again. Her body was still over-sensitised and her heart was still bruised. As if on cue, to remind her of what was at stake here, Daniel made a sound, and she went in to find him awake. He regarded her with those steady dark eyes. Dark eyes with hazel flecks...
She pushed everything else out of her mind and tended to her son, telling herself that she and Daniel had a lot to be thankful for. Nikos might have proved to be just like her father, uncaring and uninterested. The fact that he wasn’t should be a relief. To want anything more—like love and a real family—was just being greedy.
The next day Maggie stood in front of a full-length mirror, but the woman reflected back at her was a stranger. It was her—but not her. She was tall and svelte, with sleek wavy hair twisted up into an elegant chignon. She’d never thought her hair could behave like that, but the hairdresser in the hotel salon had cultivated it into something far less wild.
And she’d had a pedicure and manicure.
But the dress...
Maggie had never worn a long dress before. Not even for her end-of-school dance. Because she hadn’t gone as she’d had no date. None of the boys had wanted to ask ‘Beanpole Maggie’ as they’d have looked small next to her.
The dress was black and off the shoulder, with little dropped sleeves that rested on her arms. Maggie had tried pulling them up but the stylist had said, ‘Non, non, cherie—they’re meant to be like that.’
A sweetheart neckline showed more skin than Maggie had ever shown before. The tops of her breasts swelled against the bodice in a way that felt indecent. The material clung to her breasts, her belly, waist and hips, before falling to the floor in a swathe of material. When she moved a slit up one side revealed her leg.
She felt very pale, and wished she had more colour.
There was a movement behind her and she saw Nikos, reflected in the doorway.
Her heart stopped. He was wearing a tuxedo and she felt a rushing sensation in her head, remembering the first time she’d seen him lounging against his own front door, looking like the devil himself.
He looked no less innocent now, even though his tuxedo was pristine. He oozed sophistication and masculine elegance, yet with that ever-present edginess that hinted at something much darker and more intense.
He came into the room and she couldn’t take her eyes off him.
His dark gaze swept her up and down. ‘I knew you were beautiful, Maggie...but like this you are even more than I imagined.’
Maggie couldn’t even take in what he was saying. It was so far removed from her reality.
Her old reality.
‘You look...lovely.’ She winced inwardly. What did one say to one of the most ridiculously handsome men on the planet?
Nikos quirked a smile. ‘Thank you.’
She wanted to scowl. ‘You know what I mean... I’m not used to this.’
Nikos’s smile faded. He reached out and touched Maggie’s jaw. ‘I know. You’ll be fine. I promise. Everyone will be captivated by you.’
‘I don’t want to captivate anyone.’
Don’t you? whispered a small voice.
She ignored it.
Nikos took his hand away and moved behind her to the boxes laid out on a table. Maggie hadn’t even noticed them before.
He opened one of them up and stood back. ‘What would you like to wear with the dress?’
Maggie walked over and was almost blinded by the bling. Diamonds... A necklace with square rough-cut diamonds and matching earrings. A bracelet.
She looked at Nikos. ‘My ears aren’t pierced.’
He responded smoothly. ‘Okay, the bracelet and necklace, then.’
He plucked them out and moved behind her to put on the necklace. She felt its heavy cold weight against her collarbone and touched it.
Then he came in front of her and lifted her arm, fastening the bracelet around her wrist. It too was heavy. Substantial.
‘What if I lose them?’ she asked.
Nikos looked at her. ‘Don’t. They’re worth the annual debt of a small country.’
There was a glimmer of humour in his eyes, though. And then he picked up another, much smaller box.
Maggie looked down at it. ‘What’s this?’
‘This evening is primarily focused on introducing you as my fiancée. You’ll need a ring.’
He opened the box and Maggie sucked in a breath. She’d never really been interested in jewellery, but the ring nestled against a white satin cushion was exquisite. It was a square-cut emerald, with small square diamonds on either side, in a platinum setting and band.
Maggie said, ‘It’s beautiful.’
‘I could have let you choose, but I thought this one would suit.’
Nikos took it out of the box and reached for her left hand. She held it out and he slipped the ring onto her ring finger. It fitted.
She looked up. ‘How did you know it would fit?’
He let her hand go. ‘A lucky guess.’
A little shiver went down Maggie’s spine. This was all falling into place so easily.
; Nikos stepped back. ‘Ready?’
Maggie nodded, but was suddenly reluctant.
Nikos noticed. ‘What is it?’ he asked.
She bit her lip. ‘Daniel... I hope he’ll be okay.’ She’d left him before, for brief amounts of time, but this was a whole new milieu.
‘You like Marianne, don’t you?’
She nodded. In the end none of the nannies who’d come for interview had been suitable, and then Mathilde the housekeeper had suggested her twin sister—newly retired from being a schoolteacher and already bored. They’d met, and Maggie had liked her immediately, warming to her easy maternal warmth. And Daniel had liked her too.
‘We’ll only be gone for a few hours. Mathilde is staying here with Marianne to help her out. And you’ve expressed milk, haven’t you?’
Maggie wasn’t unaware of the irony that Nikos was speaking those words out loud: you’ve expressed milk. A far cry from the lexicon of his previous experience.
‘Yes.’
‘Then let’s go. The sooner we go, the sooner we’re back.’
Maggie put her head around the door of the kitchen area, where Marianne had Daniel in her arms, making faces at him. He was gurgling and kicking his legs. She caught Maggie’s eye and made a shooing motion. Maggie forced a smile, even though she felt physical pain at the thought of leaving Daniel behind.
In the lift on the way down Nikos said, ‘It’ll get easier. He’ll be fine.’
Maggie suddenly felt at odds...out of her depth. Tetchy. ‘And you know this because suddenly you’re an expert in babies?’
He cast her a look. ‘I might have more experience if I’d had more notice.’
Maggie clamped her mouth shut. She felt immediately contrite. ‘Sorry. That wasn’t fair. It’s just hard to leave him behind. What if he—’
Nikos took her hand, surprising her.
‘Then Mathilde or Marianne will call and we’ll come back straight away.’
He kept hold of her hand until they were outside, where a sleek car was waiting.
The air was warm and the sky was turning dusky, imbuing the surrounding buildings with a magical light. Maggie got into the back of the car on one side, Nikos the other. The interior was cream leather, sumptuous. When the doors were closed and they moved into the traffic the noises outside were just a dim hum. It was like a luxurious cocoon.
Maggie looked out of the window, taking in the wide elegant streets. They were crossing the Seine. She noticed something in her peripheral vision and looked to see Nikos’s fingers drumming a staccato beat on his thigh.
Without thinking, she reached across and put her hand over his.
Nikos couldn’t move his fingers. He looked down to see a pale hand over his, stopping his fingers drumming in that beat that he always felt gave him away.
Maggie’s hand was cool on his. She took it away. He looked at her. She was pink.
‘Sorry, I don’t know why I did that.’
Nikos was more disturbed by her noticing his nervous tic and wanting to soothe it than he cared to admit. He covered it up by drawling, ‘Feel free to touch me whenever you want.’
She grew pinker.
Nikos wanted to shake his head. How had he, of all people, ended up with a woman like Maggie? Innocent, gauche. But surprising.
She surprised him now.
‘Do you not enjoy social occasions?’ she asked.
For the first time in his life Nikos was aware of a sense of reluctance about walking into a room full of people and...performing. Because that was what he’d been doing all his life. Performing to try and make his grandparents love him. Rebelling to make his father notice him. Charming and smiling and seducing his way through endless parties, functions and events and women, to perpetuate the myth of being a playboy while taking advantage of anyone who underestimated him.
He was inclined to give Maggie some pithy response, but he surprised himself by saying, ‘Would you believe me if I said not as much as people might think?’
Maggie regarded him and shook her head slowly. ‘No, I believe you. Why do you do it, then?’
Nikos shrugged, feeling the need to escape Maggie’s piercing blue gaze. Was it more piercing this evening? Because of the artful make-up that had elevated her from beautiful to breathtaking?
‘It’s expected of me. It’s an integral part of the world I grew up in and the business we have only enhances that.’
‘You’d really have me believe that all these countless premieres and parties where you’re photographed with beautiful women are pure torture for you, then?’
Nikos suspected that Maggie had intended that to sound lighter than it had. She looked self-conscious. It reminded him that she was different.
He took her hand and laced her fingers with his, feeling the inevitable tug of desire. ‘They’re not torture, no. It would be disingenuous to claim that. But those women were passing fancies. Diversions.’
He saw her expression change as his meaning sank in. They might be announcing their engagement tonight, but he still wasn’t in the market for anything deep and meaningful.
She pulled her hand from his and looked away—and then she tensed. ‘Oh, my God—is that where we’re going?’
Nikos looked out of the window to see a hotel entrance lit up like Mardi Gras by the popping flashbulbs of photographers, which were almost out-dazzling the shimmering dresses and jewels of the guests being disgorged onto the red carpet.
‘Yes, that’s it.’
He looked at Maggie again and saw she was deathly pale.
He took her hand. ‘Maggie, look at me.’
She tore her gaze from the scene they were fast approaching. ‘I don’t think I can do this.’
‘Just hold my hand and smile. We’re going to stop for a couple of pictures. All you have to do is smile, okay?’
For the first time Nikos felt a prickle of unease. He hadn’t really considered what jumping into the deep end would be like for Maggie. Now he felt protective, and it was disconcerting.
Maggie nodded. She looked terrified.
He said, ‘Relax. It’ll be fine. I promise.’
The car stopped and the door was opened by an usher.
Nikos said, ‘Wait there. I’ll help you out.’
Maggie’s heart was palpitating so hard she felt light-headed. She hadn’t really considered the enormity of what this would be like. She’d had some notion that they’d walk anonymously into a function room. Not be paraded in front of the world’s media.
Nikos was waiting, holding out a hand. Reluctantly she reached for it and let him help her out. The dress fell around her legs and she walked carefully in the high heels, not used to them, clinging to Nikos’s arm to stay upright as much as to disguise her trembling limbs.
They were approaching the entrance now, lined on either side by photographers. Then they stepped onto the red carpet and the world exploded into blinding light.
‘Nikos! Nikos!’
Maggie was in shock, clinging on to Nikos as voices came at her from all sides. She couldn’t understand French, which was probably a good thing. She felt like Alice in Wonderland—as if she’d landed in a new and scary universe.
Nikos’s arm was around her waist, pulling her close. It was enough to distract her momentarily, and then he said in her ear, ‘Good... Now just smile and pretend this is normal. Let them see the ring.’
Maggie placed her hand as strategically as she could over Nikos’s arm and the flashbulbs increased in intensity. So much so that she felt blinded.
After what felt like an eternity Nikos was saying something back to the photographers and leading her into a thronged foyer which was mercifully absent of flashbulbs. Her ears were ringing.
‘Okay?’
She nodded, even though she felt stunned. Dizzy.
Waiters dressed in black w
ere handing out tall, slim glasses of champagne. Nikos handed her one. She took a sip, aware that she shouldn’t really drink too much, but she relished the alcohol fizzing down into her belly and sending out a little warming, calming glow.
Nikos looked as if he was about to say something else, but then they were joined by a tall man—as tall and dark as Nikos. Intimidatingly good-looking with deep-set dark eyes. He also looked slightly familiar, which was odd when Maggie knew he was a stranger. He had a forbidding expression.
Maggie sensed Nikos’s tension. Then, ‘Maggie, I’d like to introduce you to Sharif, my brother.’
So that was why he was familiar-looking. Maggie could see the resemblance now. The same high cheekbones. Strong bone structure. Thick hair. Arrogant air.
He put out a hand. ‘It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Maggie. And I believe congrautlations are in order? On your forthcoming marriage and also because you’ve made me an uncle?’
For the first time Maggie had a very real sense that she and Daniel had joined a family.
She shook Sharif’s hand, more than a little intimidated. ‘Yes, thank you. His name is Daniel. He’s three months old.’
Sharif let her hand go and slid a look to his brother. ‘I look forward to meeting him soon. Perhaps at your wedding?’
Maggie nodded. ‘Of course. He’ll be there.’
Sharif addressed Nikos. ‘So, are you still okay to do the tour or do I need to talk to Maks?’
Nikos answered. ‘It’s fine. We’ll have a brief honeymoon and then I’ll resume my work commitments.’
Sharif gave Nikos a nod, then made his excuses and walked away.
Maggie turned to Nikos. ‘What was he talking about...the tour? And a brief honeymoon? Why do we need any honeymoon?’
Nikos said, ‘We need a honeymoon to make our marriage look authentic, so we’re going to spend a couple of days in Athens. The tour he spoke of is a showcasing of various aspects of the Marchetti Group in Rome, Madrid, London, France and Monte Carlo—from the launch of a new perfume to welcoming a new head designer for one of our fashion houses and hosting various charity benefits. It’ll be a quick, fast-paced tour, over two weeks. We’re building up our exposure for the thirtieth anniversary of the group next year.’
