Powerful Greek, Unworldly Wife
Autor
Sarah Morgan
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10
HarlequinCHAPTER ONE
LEANDRO DEMETRIOS, billionaire banker and the subject of a million hopeful female fantasies, dragged the ‘A’ list Hollywood actress through the doorway of his exclusive London townhouse and slammed the door shut on the rain and the bank of waiting photographers.
The woman was laughing, her eyes wide with feminine appreciation. ‘Did you see their faces? You scared them half to death! I feel safer with you than I do with my bodyguards. And you have bigger muscles.’ She slid her hand up his arm, her manicured fingernails lingering on the solid curve of his biceps. ‘Why didn’t we just use the back entrance?’
‘Because I refuse to creep around my own house. And because you like to be seen.’
‘Well, we’ve certainly been seen.’ The fact evidently pleased her. ‘You’ll be all over the papers tomorrow for terrorising the paparazzi.’
Leandro frowned. ‘I only read the financial pages.’
‘And that’s the bit I don’t read,’ she sighed. ‘The only thing I know about money is how to spend it. You, on the other hand, know how to make it by the bucketload, and that makes you my type of guy. Now, stop looking all moody and dangerous and smile! I’m only in town for twenty-four hours and we need to make the most of the time.’ Her lashes lowered provocatively. ‘So, Leandro Demetrios, my very own sexy Greek billionaire. Finally we’re alone. What are we going to do with our evening?’
Leandro removed his jacket and threw it carelessly over the back of a chair. ‘If that’s a serious question, you can leave right now.’ His remark drew a gurgle of delighted laughter from the woman clinging to his arm.
‘No one else dares to speak to me the way you do. It’s one of the things I love most about you. You’re not starstruck and that’s so refreshing for someone like me.’ The tip of her tongue traced the curve of her glossy lips. ‘If I told you I was going to kiss you goodnight and go back to my hotel, what would you do?’
‘Dump you.’ Leandro’s bow-tie landed on top of the jacket. ‘But we both know that isn’t going to happen. You want what I want, so stop playing games and get up those stairs. My bedroom is on the first floor. Last door on the left.’
‘So-o macho.’ Laughing, she smouldered in his direction. ‘According to a poll just last week, you’re now officially the world’s sexiest man.’
Bored by the conversation, Leandro’s only response was to close his fingers around her tiny wrist and pull her towards the staircase.
She gave a gasp of shocked delight. ‘You honestly don’t care what anyone thinks about you, do you? Indifference is such a turn-on. And when it comes to indifference, you wrote the manual.’ She walked with a slow, swaying motion that she’d perfected for the cameras. ‘There’s a special chemistry between us. I can feel it.’
‘It’s called lust,’ Leandro drawled, and she shot him a challenging look.
‘Haven’t you ever had a serious relationship with a woman? I heard you were married for a short time.’
Leandro stilled. A very short time. ‘These days I prefer variety.’
‘Honey, I can give you variety.’ She used the soft, smoky voice that earned her millions of dollars per movie. ‘And I’m just dying to know whether everything they say about you is true. I know you’re super-bright and that you drive your fancy cars way too fast, but what I want to know is just how much of a bad boy you really are when it comes to women.’
‘As bad as they come,’ Leandro said smoothly, his hand locked around her slender wrist as he led her up the stairs. ‘Which makes this your lucky night.’
‘Then lead on, handsome.’ She kept pace with him, a smile on her full, glossy mouth. ‘You have a lot of art on your walls. Great investment. Are they original? I hate anything fake.’
‘Of course you do.’ Leandro focused on her surgically enhanced breasts with wry amusement. At a rough estimate he guessed that ninety per cent of her was fake. The short time he’d spent with her had been enough to prove to him that she was so used to playing other people, she’d forgotten how to be herself.
And that was fine by him.
As far as he was concerned, the shallower the better. At least you knew what you were dealing with and you adjusted your expectations accordingly.
‘Oh, my! Only you would have a picture of a naked woman at the head of your staircase.’ Stopping dead, she gazed up at the huge canvas and wrinkled her nose with disapproval. ‘Strange choice for a man who surrounds himself with beauty. Isn’t she rather fat for your tastes?’
Leandro’s gaze lingered on the celebrated Renaissance masterpiece that had only recently returned from being on loan to a major gallery. ‘When she was alive, it was fashionable to be curvy.’
The girl stared blankly at the exquisite brush strokes. ‘I guess they didn’t know about low carbs.’
‘Curves were a sign of wealth,’ Leandro murmured. ‘It meant you had enough to eat.’
Throwing him a look of blank incomprehension, the actress stepped closer to the painting and Leandro’s fingers tightened like a vice around her wrist.
‘Touch it and we’ll have half the Metropolitan police force keeping us company tonight.’
‘It’s that valuable?’ Her knowing gaze turned to his and she licked her lips. ‘You are one rich, powerful guy. Now, why is that such a turn-on, I wonder? It isn’t as if I care about your money.’
‘Of course you don’t,’ Leandro said, his tone dry because he knew full well that her lovers were expected to pay handsomely for the privilege of escorting her. ‘We both know you’re interested in me because I’m kind to old ladies and animals.’
‘You like animals?’
Looking down into those famous blue eyes, Leandro’s own eyes gleamed. ‘I’ve always had a soft spot for dumb creatures.’
‘That’s so attractive. I love a tough man with a gentle side.’ She slid her arms round his neck like bindweed around a plant. ‘Do you realise we’ve had dinner three times and you haven’t told me a single thing about yourself?’
‘Do you realise that we’ve had dinner three times and you haven’t eaten a single thing?’ Skilfully steering the conversation away from the personal, Leandro smoothly released the zip on her dress and she sucked in a breath.
‘You don’t mess around, do you?’
‘Let’s just say I’ve had enough of verbal foreplay,’ Leandro purred, sliding the dress over her shoulders in a practised movement. He frowned slightly as his fingers brushed hard bones rather than soft flesh.
‘People pay good money to see this body of mine up on the screen.’ She scraped her nails gently down his arm. ‘And you, Leandro Demetrios, are getting it for free.’
Hardly, he thought, looking at the earrings she was wearing. Earrings he’d given her at the beginning of the evening. ‘Shame you’re not sold by the kilogram,’ he said idly, ‘because then you wouldn’t cost me anything.’
‘Thank you.’ Assuming his remark was a compliment, she smiled. ‘You, on the other hand, would cost a woman a fortune because muscle is heavier than fat and you have to be the most impressively built man I’ve ever met. And you’re so damned confident. Is that because you’re Greek?’
‘No. It’s because I’m me. I take what I want.’ He took her chin in his fingers, his eyes steely. ‘And when I’ve finished with it, I drop it.’
She shuddered deliciously. ‘With no apology to anyone. Cold, ruthless, single-minded…’
‘Are we talking about me or you?’ Leandro removed the diamond clip securing her hair. ‘I’m confused.’
‘I’m willing to bet you’ve never been confused about a single thing in your life, you wicked boy.’ Smiling, she dragged her finger over his lower lip. ‘Tell me something personal about yourself. Just one thing. This latest story about you being the father of that baby—is it true? The papers are full of it.’
Not by the flicker of an eyelid did Leandro reveal his sudden tension. ‘Are those the same papers that accused you of being a lesbian?’
‘The difference is that my people issued a stern denial—you’ve said nothing.’
‘I’ve never felt the need to explain my life to anyone.’
‘So does that mean it isn’t your child?’ She lowered her lashes. ‘Or are you such a stud you don’t even know? You’re not giving anything away, are you? Tell me something about you.’
‘You want to know something about me?’ Leandro eased her dress down her painfully thin body and lowered his mouth to the base of her throat. ‘If you give me your heart, I’ll break it. Remember that, agape mou. And I won’t do it gently.’ The warmth of his tongue brought a soft gasp to her lips and she tipped her head back with a shiver.
‘If you’re trying to scare me, you’re not succeeding.’ Her eyes were dark with arousal. ‘I love a man who knows how to be a man. Especially when that man has a sensitive side.’
‘I don’t have a sensitive side.’ Leandro’s voice was hard as he lowered his forehead to hers. For a moment he stared into her wild, excited eyes, his breath mingling with hers. ‘I don’t care about anyone or anything. Lie down in my bed and I’ll guarantee you fantastic sex, but nothing else. So if you’re looking for happy ever after, you’ve taken a wrong turning.’
‘Happy ever after is for movies. It’s my day job. At night, I prefer to live for the moment.’ Squirming against him, she lifted her hand and stroked his rough jaw. ‘I should make you shave before you touch me, but I like the way it makes you look. You are so damn handsome, Leandro, it shouldn’t be allowed,’ she breathed, lifting her mouth to his. ‘My last leading man needed satellite navigation to find his way round a woman’s body. I have a feeling you won’t suffer from the same problem.’
‘I’ve always had a very good sense of direction.’ Leandro backed her against the door and the actress gasped her approval.
‘Oh, yes…’ Panting, she wrenched at his shirt, sending buttons flying. With a low moan of desire she pushed the shirt off his shoulders and let it fall to the floor. ‘Your body is incredible. I’m definitely going to get you a part in my next movie. I want you now.’
Having reached the part of the evening that interested him, Leandro scooped her up, strode purposefully towards the bed and then froze because his bed was already occupied.
The woman sat glaring at him, her eyes a fierce blue in a face as pale as his dress shirt. She’d obviously been caught in the rain because her thin cardigan clung to her body and her long hair curled damply past her shoulders like tongues of red fire.
Given the state she was in, she should have looked pathetic, but she didn’t. She looked angry—the blaze of her eyes and the angle of her chin warning him that this wasn’t going to be a gentle reunion.
It was as if a small, unexploded firework had landed in his bedroom and Leandro felt a dart of surprise because he’d never seen her angry before—hadn’t known she was capable of anger.
He’d been on the receiving end of her injured dignity, her silent reproach and her agonised pain. He’d witnessed her disappointment and contempt. But a good healthy dose of old-fashioned anger had been missing from their relationship.
She hadn’t thought that what they had was worth fighting for.
His own anger bubbled up from nowhere, threatening his usual control, and the emotion caught him by surprise because he’d thought he had himself well in hand.
Unfinished business, he thought grimly, and was about to speak when the actress gave a shocked squeak and tightened her grip on his neck.
‘Who’s she? You bastard! When you said you were going to hurt me, I didn’t expect it to be that quick,’ she snarled. ‘How dare you see someone else while you’re with me? I expect my relationships to be exclusive.’
Surprised to realise that he’d forgotten he had the actress in his arms, Leandro lowered her unceremoniously to the floor. ‘I don’t do relationships.’ Not any more.
‘What about her?’ Balancing on her vertiginous heels, the actress shot him a poisonous look. ‘Does she know that?’
‘Oh, yes.’ Leandro was watching the girl on the bed and his humourless smile was entirely at his own expense. ‘She wouldn’t trust me as far as she could throw me, isn’t that right, Millie?’
Her eyes were two hot pools of blame and he ground his teeth. Fight me, he urged silently. If that’s really what you think of me, stand up and scratch my eyes out. Don’t just sit there. And don’t walk out like you did the first time.
But she didn’t move. She sat in frozen silence, her eyes telling him that nothing had changed.
The actress made an outraged noise. ‘So you do know her! Surprising. She doesn’t look your type,’ she said spitefully. ‘She needs to fire her stylist. That natural look is so yesterday. This season is all about grooming.’ She snatched her dress from the floor and held it against her. ‘How did she get in here, anyway? Your security is really tight. I suppose no one noticed her.’
Nothing killed sexual arousal faster than female bitchiness, Leandro thought idly, regretting the impulse that had driven him to invite the actress home. The woman’s tongue was as sharp as the bones poking out through her almost transparent flesh.
‘Well? Are you going to throw her out?’ The actress’s voice turned from sultry to shrill and Leandro studied the girl sitting on his bed, noting the flush on her cheeks and the accusation in her eyes.
He met that gaze full on, with accusation of his own.
Silent communication raged between them and the atmosphere was so thick with tension that both of them forgot about the third person in the room until she stamped her foot.
‘Leandro?’
‘No,’ he said harshly. ‘I’m not going to throw her out.’ The timing wasn’t what he would have chosen but now she was here, he had no intention of letting her go. Not until they’d had the conversation she’d walked away from a year earlier.
The actress gave a gasp of disbelief. ‘You’re choosing that plain, bedraggled, badly dressed nobody over me?’
Leandro sent his date a cold, assessing glance that would have triggered shivers of trepidation through any one of the people who worked for him or knew him well. ‘Yes. At least that way I’m guaranteed a soft landing when we tumble onto that mattress. No bones. No claws.’
The actress gasped. ‘I won’t be treated like this!’ Delivering a performance worthy of an Oscar, she wriggled back into her dress and tossed her head in anger. ‘You told me you weren’t involved with anyone and I believed you! I’m obviously more of a fool than I look.’
Deciding that it was wisest not to respond to that particular statement, Leandro stayed silent, his gaze returned to the girl sitting on his bed. In that single, hotly charged moment he felt the blaze of raw sexual chemistry erupt between them. It was elemental, basic and primitive—the connection so powerful that it was beyond control or understanding. Recognising that fact, she gave a murmur of denial, her expression one of sick contempt as she dragged her gaze from his.
Vibrating with desperation, the actress sent a look of longing towards Leandro’s bare, bronzed torso. ‘I know you didn’t expect to see her here. I know women throw themselves at you. Just get rid of her and we can start again. I forgive you.’
Propelled by a need to ensure that forgiveness would never be forthcoming, Leandro urged her towards the door. ‘You need to learn to play nicely with the other girls. I don’t mind knives in my boardroom but I do find them shockingly uncomfortable in my bedroom.’
Her face scarlet, the actress snatched her phone out of her tiny jewelled handbag. ‘All the rumours about you are true, Leandro Demetrios. You are cold and heartless and just missed your chance to have the one thing every man in the world wants.’
‘And that would be?’ Leandro raised an eyebrow, deliberately provocative. ‘Peace and quiet?’
The actress simmered like milk coming to the boil. ‘Me! And next time you’re in LA, don’t bother calling. And you.’ She glared at the girl on the bed. ‘If you think he’ll ever be faithful to you, you’re crazy.’ Checking that the diamond earrings were still in place, she stormed from the room and several moments later Leandro heard a distant thud as the front door slammed closed.
Silence closed in on them.
‘If you’re going to cry, you can leave now,’ Leandro drawled softly. ‘If you choose to wait in my bedroom, you deserve to get hurt.’
‘I’m not going to cry over you. And I’m not hurt,’ she said stiffly. ‘I’m past being hurt.’
Then she’d done better than him, Leandro reflected grimly. ‘Why are you here?’
‘You know why I’m here. I—I’ve come to take the baby.’
Of course, the baby. He’d been a fool to think anything else, and yet for a moment…
Leandro curled one hand into a fist, surprised to discover that his thick protective layer of cynicism could still be breached.
‘I was asking what you’re doing in my bedroom at midnight.’ Strolling across to the bedroom door, he pushed it shut. He trusted his staff, but he was also sharp enough to know that this story was the juiciest morsel the media had savoured for a long time. They were slavering outside his house, waiting for something to feast on.
And everyone had their price.
He’d learned that unpalatable truth in the harshest way possible, and at an age when most children were still playing with toys.
‘I’m intrigued as to how you got past my security.’
‘I’m still your wife, Leandro. Even if you’ve forgotten that fact.’
‘I haven’t forgotten.’ Keeping his gaze neutral, he looked at her. ‘You really pick your moments. Thanks to you, my night of hot sex just walked through that door.’
Her slender shoulders stiffened, her back rigid. ‘I’m sure you’ll find a replacement fast enough. You always do.’ Her chest rose and fell as she breathed rapidly and then her eyes flew to his, bright with accusation and pain. ‘You are a complete and utter bastard, she’s right about that.’
‘I’ve never heard you use bad language before. It doesn’t suit you.’ Leandro strolled across the bedroom and lifted a bottle of whisky from a small table. Funny, he thought, that his hand was so steady. ‘And I don’t understand why you’re angry. You walked out on our marriage, not me. I was in it for the long haul.’
‘Only you could make it sound like an endurance test. It’s nice to know you had such a positive view of our relationship. No wonder it didn’t last five minutes. You’re even more unfeeling than I thought you were—’ She broke off, as if she was trying to control herself. ‘You’re horribly, horribly insensitive.’
‘I’m living my life. What’s insensitive about that?’ Leandro’s hand remained steady as he poured. ‘There was a vacancy in my bed and I filled it. In the circumstances, you can hardly blame me for that. Drink?’
‘No, thank you.’
‘Such perfect English manners.’ Leandro gave a humourless laugh as he lifted the glass. ‘Don’t tell me—alcohol is fattening and you’re watching your weight.’
‘No. I’m watching my tongue. If I drink, I’ll tell you exactly what I think of you and right now that might not be a good idea because what I think of you isn’t very flattering.’
His hand stilled on the glass. ‘Don’t hold back on my account. It’s interesting to know you’re capable of expressing what you’re feeling providing you’re sufficiently provoked. Just for the record, I actually prefer confrontation to retreat.’
She closed her eyes, misery visible in every angle of her pretty face. ‘I hate confrontation. I didn’t come here to argue with you.’
‘I’m sure you didn’t.’ Leandro examined the golden liquid in his glass. ‘You don’t talk about problems, do you, Millie? And you were certainly never interested in fixing the problems in our relationship. It’s so much easier to just walk away when things become awkward.’
‘How dare you say that to me when you’re the one who—?’ She broke off as if she couldn’t even bear to say it, and his mouth tightened.
‘I’m the one who what?’ His silky soft voice was in direct contrast to the passion in hers. ‘Spell it out, Millie. Come on—let’s hear what I’m guilty of.’
‘You know what! And I didn’t come here to talk about that. ‘You’re a—a…’ She appeared to struggle with her breath and he gave her a long look.
‘You really must learn to finish your sentences, agape mou.’ His tone bored, he offered no sympathy. As far as he was concerned, she deserved none. He’d given her a chance. He’d given her something he’d never offered a woman before. And she’d thrown it back in his face. ‘I’m cold and heartless, isn’t that right, Millie? Wasn’t that what you were going to say?’
‘I wish I’d never met you.’
‘Now, that’s just childish.’ Leandro suppressed a yawn and she looked away.
‘Our relationship was a disaster.’
‘I wouldn’t say that. For a short time you were a revelation in bed, and I was reasonably entertained by your gift for saying the wrong thing at the wrong time.’
‘It’s called telling the truth.’ She glared at him through lashes spiked with rain. ‘Where I come from, that’s what people do. They tell it like it is and that way there’s no confusion. When someone says, “Lovely to see you,” they mean it. In your world when someone says, “Lovely to see you,” they certainly don’t mean it. They kiss you even though they hate you.’
Leandro added ice to his glass. ‘It’s a standard social greeting.’
‘It’s superficial—everything about your world is!’ She sprang off the bed and walked towards him, her eyes flashing fire. ‘And that included our relationship.’
‘I’m not the one who called time on our marriage.’
‘Yes, you did!’ Angry and hurt, she faced him. ‘You blame me for walking out, but what did you think I’d do, Leandro? Did you think I’d say, “Don’t worry, that’s fine by me”?’ Her voice rose, trembling and thickened by pain. ‘Did you think I’d turn a blind eye? Maybe that’s what women do in your world, but that isn’t the sort of marriage I want. You slept with another woman and not just any woman.’ Her breathing was jagged. ‘My sister. My own sister.’ Her distress was so obvious that Leandro gave a frown.
‘You’re working yourself up into a state.’
‘Please don’t pretend you care about my feelings because you’ve already amply demonstrated that you don’t.’ Holding herself together by a thread, she wrapped her arms around her body and met his gaze.
Brave, he thought absently, part of him intrigued by the sudden strength he saw in her. Yes, she was upset. But she wasn’t caving in, was she? He hadn’t known that she possessed a layer of steel. By the end of their relationship he’d come to the conclusion that she was so lightweight that the only thing preventing her from being blown away was the weight of his money in her handbag.
Leandro’s hand tightened on his glass and then he lifted it to his lips and drained it. Then he placed the glass carefully on the table in front of him.
‘Given the circumstances of your departure, I’m surprised you chose to come back.’
Sinking back onto the side of the bed, the fight seemed to go out of her and she suddenly looked incredibly tired. Tired, wet, beaten. ‘If you thought I wouldn’t then you know even less about me than I thought you did.’
‘I never knew you.’ It had been a fantasy. An illusion. Or maybe a delusion?
‘And whose fault is that? You didn’t want to know me, did you? You weren’t interested in me—just in sex, and when that—’ She broke off and took a breath, clearly searching for the words she wanted. ‘I wasn’t right for you. To start with you liked the fact that I was “different”. I was just an ordinary girl, living in the country, working on her parents’ farm. Unsophisticated. But the novelty wore off, didn’t it, Leandro? You wanted me to fit into your life. Your world. And I didn’t.’
Watching her so closely, he was able to detect the exact moment when anger turned to awareness.
Her eyes slid to his bare, bronzed shoulders and then back to his. It was like putting a match to kerosene. The chemistry that had been simmering exploded to dangerous levels and she turned away with a murmur of frustration, although whether it was with herself or him, he wasn’t sure. ‘Don’t you dare, Leandro! Don’t you dare look at me like that—as if everything hasn’t changed between us.’
‘You were looking at me.’
‘Because you’re standing there half-naked!’
‘Does that bother you?’
‘No, it doesn’t.’ She rubbed her hands up and down her arms, trying to warm them. ‘I don’t feel anything for you any more.’
‘Oh, you feel plenty for me, Millie,’ Leandro said grimly, ‘and that’s the problem, isn’t it? You hate the fact that you can feel that way. A woman like you shouldn’t find herself hopelessly attracted to a bad boy like me. It’s not quite decent, is it?’
‘I’m not here because of you.’
‘Of course you’re not.’ His tone caustic, he watched as she flinched away from his words. ‘You wouldn’t have made the journey for something as trivial as the survival of our marriage, would you? That was never important to you.’ Filled with contempt, Leandro lifted the glass, wondering how much whisky it was going to take to dull what he was feeling.
‘Are you drunk?’
‘Unfortunately, no, not yet.’ He eyed the glass. ‘But I’m working on it.’
‘You’re totally irresponsible.’
‘I’m working on that, too.’ He was about to lift the glass to his lips when he noticed that the sole of her boot was starting to come away. Remembering how obsessive she’d been about her appearance, he frowned. ‘You look awful.’
‘Most people would look awful compared with the cream of Hollywood,’ she said tartly. She lifted her hand and he thought she was going to smooth her damp hair, but then she let her hand drop as if she’d decided it wasn’t worth the effort. ‘She’s very beautiful.’
He heard the pain in her voice and gritted his teeth. ‘Jealousy was the one aspect of our relationship at which you consistently excelled.’
‘You’re so unkind.’
Leandro discovered that his fingers had curled themselves into a fist. ‘Unkind?’ His mouth tightened. ‘Yes, I’m unkind.’
‘Do you love her?’
‘Now you’re getting personal.’
‘Of course I’m getting personal! Did my sis—?’ Her voice cracked and she cleared her throat. ‘Did…Becca know you were seeing the actress?’
The mention of that name made Leandro want to drain the bottle of whisky, as did the unspoken accusation behind her words. ‘Are you blaming me for the fact that your sister crashed the car while under the influence of drink and drugs?’
‘She drank because you rejected her! She was suffering from depression.’
Thinking about what he knew, Leandro gave a humourless smile. ‘I’ll just bet she was.’
She sprang to her feet and crossed the room with the grace of a dancer. ‘Don’t you dare speak about the dead like that! If anyone was responsible for my sister’s fragile mental state, it’s you. You broke her heart.’
And Leandro committed the unpardonable sin. He laughed. And that grim humour cost him.
She slapped him.
Then she put her hand against her throat and stepped backwards, as if she couldn’t believe what she’d done. Her skin was so pale she reminded him of something conjured from a child’s fairy story.
‘I should probably apologise but I’m not going to,’ she whispered, her fingers pressed against her slender neck. ‘Do you know the most hurtful part of all this? You don’t even care. You destroyed our marriage for sex. It didn’t even mean anything. If you’d loved her maybe, just maybe, I would have been able to understand all this, but for you it was just physical.’
‘As a matter of interest, did you say any of this to her?’
‘Yes. Actually, I did. I went to see her just after she was admitted to that clinic in Arizona. I…’ She rubbed her fingers across her forehead. ‘I needed to try and understand. She confessed that she was so madly in love with you that she wasn’t thinking clearly.’
‘She knew exactly what she was doing,’ Leandro said flatly. ‘The only person your sister ever loved was herself. That was probably the only thing we ever had in common.’
‘That’s a very cynical attitude.’
‘I’m a cynical guy.’
‘So you wrecked our marriage for a woman you don’t even care about.’
‘I didn’t wreck our marriage, agape mou,’ Leandro spoke softly, his eyes fixing on her white face, as he hammered home his barb. ‘You did that. All by yourself.’
If he’d hit her, she couldn’t have looked more shocked. ‘How can you say that? What did you expect? I’m not the sort of woman who can turn a blind eye while her husband has an affair. Especially when the woman involved was his wife’s sister. You made her pregnant, Leandro! How was I supposed to overlook that?’ Visibly distressed, she turned away. ‘What I don’t understand is why, if you wanted my sister, did you bother with me at all?’
Leandro let that question hover in the air. ‘And does the fact that you don’t understand help you draw any conclusions?’
His question drew a confused frown and he realised that she was too upset to focus on the facts.
She’d seen. She’d believed. She hadn’t questioned. Hadn’t cared enough to question and the knowledge that she hadn’t cared left the bitter taste of failure in his mouth.
In a life gilded by success, she’d been his only failure.
Leandro flexed his shoulders to relieve the tension and the movement caught her attention, her eyes drifting to the swell of hard muscle. Her gaze was feather light and yet he felt the responding sizzle of sexual heat and almost laughed at his own weakness.
It seemed his body was nowhere near as choosy as his mind.
Millie stared at him for a long moment and then sank her teeth into her lower lip. ‘Leandro, do me a favour.’ Her voice was strained. ‘Put your shirt on. We can’t have a proper conversation with you standing there half-naked.’
‘This may surprise you, but I’ve been known to conduct a conversation even when naked.’ His sardonic tone masked his own anger and brought a flush to her cheeks.
‘I’m sure. But if it’s all the same with you, I’d like you to get dressed.’
‘Why? Is the sight of my body bothering you, Millie?’ His tone silky smooth, Leandro strolled across the bedroom and retrieved his shirt from the floor. ‘Are you finding it hard to concentrate?’ He shrugged the shirt back on, discovered that there were no buttons and spread his arms in an exaggerated gesture of apology. ‘She was a bit over-eager, I’m afraid. This is the best I can do.’
‘It’s fine.’ She averted her eyes, but not before both of them had shared a memory they would rather have forgotten. ‘The media have been running the story for days now, and it’s awful. Somehow they know about you and my sister, and they know the baby’s been brought here.’ Her voice wobbled. ‘Where…?’
‘Asleep on the next floor.’ His voice terse, Leandro strolled over to the window that overlooked the garden. ‘Someone from the clinic brought the baby to me. Your sister left him alone and uncared for while she went for her little drive. He was found crying and neglected.’ The anger in him was like a roaring beast and he was shocked by the strength required to hold it back. Control was a skill he’d mastered at an impossibly young age, but when he thought of the baby his thoughts raced into the dark. ‘Evidently she didn’t have a maternal bone in her body.’ Another woman, another place.
‘She was sick.’
‘Well, that’s one thing we agree on.’ Infested with greed. Aware that the past and the present had become dangerously tangled and the conversation was taking a dangerous turn, Leandro changed direction. ‘Why do you think they brought the baby here, Millie?’
‘The clinic said she left a note saying that you were the father. She wanted the baby to be with family.’
He made an impatient sound, marvelling at her naivety. ‘Or perhaps she just wanted to make sure there was no chance of reconciliation between us. Her last, generous gift to you.’ His carefully planted seed of suggestion landed on barren ground.
‘There never was any chance of reconciliation.’ She didn’t look at him. ‘Where’s the baby? I should be going.’
Leandro stilled. ‘Where, exactly, are you planning to go?’
‘It’s already past midnight. I’ve booked into a small bed and breakfast near here.’
‘A bed and breakfast?’ Leandro looked at her with a mixture of disbelief and fascination, realising just how little he knew about this woman. ‘Are you suggesting what I think you are?’
‘I’m taking the baby, of course. What did you think?’
‘So you’re planning to take in your sister’s baby and care for it—this is the same baby that is supposedly the result of an affair between your own sister and your husband. Whether you think your sister was lying or telling the truth—’
‘Telling the truth.’
Leandro’s jaw tightened. ‘Whichever. Your sister wrecked your marriage. She hurt you. And you’re willing to take her baby? What are you, a doormat?’
Her narrow shoulders were rigid. ‘No, I’m responsible. And principled. Qualities that you probably don’t recognise. Am I angry with my sister? Yes, I’m angry. And that feels really horrible because even while I’m grieving I’m hurt that she could have done that to me.’ Her voice shook. ‘She behaved terribly. Some people wouldn’t forgive that. If I’m honest I’m not sure that I’ll ever forgive that. She betrayed my trust. But at least she was in love with you. And I think at the end she was truly sorry.’
Leandro raised an eyebrow but she ploughed on.
‘It was the guilt that pushed her into depression. And whatever had happened, I would never have wanted her to…’ Her voice trembled. ‘We were sisters. And as for the baby—well, I don’t believe that a child should be held responsible for the sins of his parents. My sister is dead. You can’t bring up a baby, so I will have him. He will have a loving home with me as long as he needs one.’
‘So you’re proposing to love and care for your husband’s bastard, is that right?’
‘Don’t ever call him that.’ Her eyes blazed. ‘And, yes, I’m intending to care for him. He’s three months old. He’s helpless.’
Curiously detached, Leandro looked at her. She wasn’t classically beautiful, he mused, but there was something about her face that was captivating. ‘So you have forgiven your sister.’
‘I’m working on it.’ She caught her lip between her teeth. ‘I understand the effect you have on a woman. Even that Hollywood actress was willing to humiliate herself to spend a night with you. Tell me one thing—why, when you have a reputation for not committing to a woman, did you marry me?’
‘Frankly?’ Leandro lifted his eyes from his scrutiny of her soft lips. ‘At this moment I have absolutely no idea.’
‘You really know how to hurt. You treated our marriage lightly.’
‘On the contrary, you’re the one who walked out at the first obstacle.’
Her shoulders sagged, as if she was bearing an enormous weight. ‘If you’ve said everything you wanted to say, I’d like to take the baby.’
‘As usual you are being quite breathtakingly naïve. For a start there is a pack of journalists on my doorstep. How do you think they’re going to react if you leave here clutching the baby?’
‘I think it would reflect very badly on you. But you don’t care about that, do you? You never care what people think about you. If you did, you wouldn’t behave so badly.’
Leandro pressed the tips of his long fingers to his forehead, his control at breaking point. ‘We’ll talk about this in a minute,’ he snapped. ‘For goodness’ sake, go and use the bathroom. You’re soaking wet. And next time use the front door, like my wife, instead of creeping through the garden like a burglar.’
‘Whatever you say, you wouldn’t have wanted those headlines any more than I did.’
Leandro sent her a brooding glance, marvelling that the male libido could be such a self-destructive force. ‘The headlines will stop when they realise there is no story.’
She didn’t appear to register his words. Certainly she didn’t question his meaning. ‘As soon as I’m dry, I’ll take him away. We’ll both be out of your life.’
Leandro watched in silence, allowing her to delude herself for a short time.
His wife was back.
And he had no intention of letting her walk out again.
