by Julia James
He didn’t take his intense gaze off her. ‘No.’
To her horror he was more stunning than she remembered, with the sort of superhuman good looks that everyone normal couldn’t help but stare at. But as she watched him move closer, she realised he’d become sharper. There was a slight shadow beneath his eyes and stubble on his jaw and an edginess about him that was new. Perhaps it was the stress of his business? Were all those wolfish property takeovers designed to amass his personal fortune wearing him out?
The intensity of his gaze strengthened. He’d looked at her this way when he’d seduced her that night—powerfully mesmerising. Yes, there was still that tiny part positively revelling in being in his presence again. Desperately she dragged that wild piece within her back beneath her control. She couldn’t let him seduce her again. She couldn’t let herself or Luke down like that.
‘It’s been far too long, Emerald,’ he said softly. ‘Why don’t you shut up the shop early?’ But his tempting smile didn’t quite meet his too attentive eyes. ‘Come for a drive with me so we can catch up properly.’
‘What?’ She froze, shocked by the invitation. Panic tightened her throat. ‘I—I can’t leave.’
‘No? I thought you were a woman of freedom and spontaneity.’
Cold sweat slicked her skin. ‘I have work.’ And she had Luke. The baby she’d not told him about.
Bile burned the back of her throat, because she was going to have to tell him and she should have already. As soon as she’d discovered his actual identity she should have reached out—there’d been no barrier to finding him then. She was, after all, the one determined to live a life of integrity and not follow the path of lies and deceit of her own family. But she’d been too scared of his reaction. Not just to the news he’d had a son, but how he’d react to her. She’d been burned before, when people had learned the truth about her background, and she’d been too hurt by his needless lie. Why had he needed to fake who he was?
‘I never expected to see you here,’ he muttered watchfully. ‘I imagined you travelling around the world ticking off that bucket list, but have you been in the Galapagos all this time?’
Nervously she swallowed. ‘Yes.’
‘I didn’t realise you worked on the island.’
‘It didn’t come up in our conversation.’ She looked anxiously to the door. Any minute now Connie would arrive with little Luke. ‘And I really need to get back to it...’
His smile faded as his whole expression tightened. ‘What’s the real reason you won’t come with me now, Emerald?’ he asked quietly.
‘What do you mean?’ Trepidation slithered over her skin. ‘I have work. I’m the only one here, as you can see.’
She felt physically ill at telling half-truths—but what he could do, what he could take...
And then she heard the gurgling chuckle of her beloved little boy. At the next strike of her next hammering heartbeat, Connie appeared in the doorway with Luke in her arms. Emerald’s world teetered, about to smash to smithereens and it was entirely her own fault. There was no way to get Connie to turn around, to run and hide Luke. Her only option was to try to fake it through the next few minutes and tell Javier the truth, alone, later, once she’d had a chance to draw breath. She should have come up with a plan months ago. But she’d been too busy caring for Luke. Too busy surviving.
Swallowing the nausea with a fake smile, she tried to act as if nothing horrific was currently happening. ‘Thanks, Connie,’ she whispered. ‘Can you just go upstairs for a moment? I’ll be there as soon as I can.’
Connie had stilled. Luke too was abnormally quiet, as if he’d sensed something strange in the atmosphere. The elderly woman glanced curiously at Javier. It was obvious her brain was doing the maths and in this case getting it right. But fortunately she said nothing as she walked past the counter, taking Luke with her.
‘Who was that?’ Javier asked, the second the elderly woman disappeared up the stairs.
‘My boss, Connie.’ Emmy could hardly bear to face him, but she forced herself to meet his gaze and her breathing stalled.
Javier was still scrutinising her, his expression sombre. ‘I meant the baby,’ he explained softly.
Emmy’s mind blanked and she stared at him.
‘What’s his name?’ His question was too quiet.
She couldn’t think what to answer.
‘What is his name, Emmy?’ The edge in that repeated question sliced through to her bones.
She gazed up into those achingly familiar brown eyes. She absolutely adored the owner of the smaller set, but these ones held a glint that she couldn’t define. A premonition shook her resolve. He’d be steely and unforgiving, but she couldn’t lie now. Not to his face. Not the way he had to her.
‘His name is Luke.’
‘What’s his full name?’ Javier pressed with unerring precision.
Sweat slicked her skin.
‘Didn’t you give him a middle name?’
That was when she realised Javier already knew. He already knew Luke was his. Terror transfixed her. How long had he known and what had he planned? Because he clearly had something in mind. Him walking into her shop was no moment of chance. She had no idea what to do or say in response—all she knew was that she couldn’t trust his handsome visage.
‘Lucero Ramon Jones. Isn’t that right?’ Javier confirmed her fears with dangerously gentle accuracy.
‘You’ve seen his birth certificate?’ Her voice barely sounded.
‘You left the father’s name blank.’
How had he seen that certificate? How long had he been here?
‘Emerald?’ he prompted.
‘For good reason,’ she tossed back on a rush of adrenalin and anger. ‘I’m not sure who the father is.’
‘Are you not?’ He cocked his head. ‘Emmy, we both know the dates fit. I was your first lover and you’ve even named him after me.’
Heat surged. ‘I named him after the man who lied to me. Who didn’t even tell me his real name. “Ramon” was nothing but a lie—a fake persona from some entitled sociopath. You’re not him.’
He was nothing like the man he’d passed himself off as—funny and charming, carefree yet caring. Javier Torres was none of those things.
For a long moment he was utterly silent, but emotion enlarged his pupils so much that the black-coffee core almost obliterated the cocoa-coloured iris completely.
‘What’s my name, Emmy?’ he finally asked in a bloodless, shocked-sounding whisper.
Too late she realised she’d given herself away. Now he knew that she knew he’d lied to her. She straightened, determined to hide her fear because surely, in the shades of grey in this mess, he was the worst liar between them? And even if he wasn’t, she had to be completely honest now. ‘Javier Torres.’
He nodded slowly. ‘Javier Ramon Torres.’
She closed her eyes. That name had been the only tribute she’d been able to offer her son at the time of his birth. She’d felt so betrayed when she’d learned ‘Ramon’ was really Javier and humiliated that she’d given it to Luke. But now it was relevant again? It was their common middle name and, while that should be a soothing symmetry, stupidly it hurt her more.
‘How long have you known?’ His question now had an edge and she couldn’t blame him.
‘Not long.’ She lifted her chin bravely. ‘Since the media release about the Flores property.’
The property she’d shown him—her most favourite place in the world. Her sanctuary. She’d been naive to share something so special with a stranger. Those moments of lust and excitement had made her brainless. Because he’d bought it and was now transforming it from budget retreat to swanky hotel. He was a brutal, ruthlessly acquisitive businessman. Nothing like the carefree sea god who’d held her spellbound that evening on her precious beach.
‘That was mont
hs ago.’ His mouth compressed. ‘Yet you’ve not got in touch since.’
‘You lied to me,’ she muttered.
‘It seems we’re both liars.’
She pushed down her rising panic.
‘How could you just try to tell me you didn’t know who his father is?’ he asked.
‘I didn’t—not for months anyway and even then I found out little more than your real name.’
‘You should have contacted me the second you found that out.’
He was right and yet wrong, because she’d learned more than his real name, she’d discovered his lack of integrity too.
‘I don’t know you at all, nothing other than that you lied to me that night,’ she defended herself desperately. ‘I couldn’t even be completely sure that the jerk written about in the paper was actually the guy from that night.’
Except that was weak of her. She’d glanced at that picture in the paper and known instantly.
‘The second I walked in the door just now, you were sure,’ he said. ‘But you hustled that child upstairs.’
‘Maybe that’s because I’m terrified.’ She glared at him, taking a step to widen her stance, wishing she could make a better barrier between him and that stairway.
‘Because I present danger to you? To him?’ He recoiled. ‘Based on what evidence? Was I violent?’
Her throat tightened but she forced the truth to whisper out. ‘No.’
‘Then what have I done to hurt you? If I remember correctly, you were the one who walked out without so much as a goodbye.’
The flash of reproach in his eyes deepened her guilt.
‘Why did you leave so early?’ he added. ‘Why not wake me to say goodbye? Were you that full of regret?’
‘No,’ she muttered, hoarse with burning embarrassment.
‘You could have left a note.’
‘What was the point? I thought you were a tourist and that we’d never see each other again.’ She gazed at him with a hot mix of anger and guilt and sadness. It had been a fantasy experience, she’d not wanted to shatter its perfect illusion with morning-after awkwardness. ‘It wasn’t like you were planning a second date either. You were passing through.’
‘So were you. Or so you led me to believe. You lied as much as I did that night.’
She shook her head. ‘I never lied.’
He tensed. ‘By omission, you definitely did.’
‘What about everything you forgot to mention? Like, your real name. Your true intentions for being there. You never said you were looking for something to tear apart.’
‘I’m not the one tearing apart valuable things. You’re the one who’s done that—keeping a child from his father.’ His voice rose. ‘There’s no reason you can give that excuses your failure to tell me once you knew who I was.’
‘You didn’t want me to know who you really were. I only discovered that by accident months afterwards. But you were so comfortable to lie, which told me all I needed to know about your integrity.’ She snapped at him. She didn’t really mean it but emotion had overruled her tongue. ‘I never would have said yes if I’d known who you were.’
‘You would have said it faster,’ he shot back.
‘Oh, wow.’ She drew in a shocked breath at his sheer arrogance. ‘You think you’re that amazing?’
He might be six feet three of muscled manly beauty, he might have a brilliant brain and he might have billions in the bank, but he had no integrity. And therefore, no true value.
‘The resources I have are amazing.’
‘You think I care about money?’ she scoffed. She worked as a volunteer, the last thing she was interested in was accumulating material wealth. ‘If I was a gold-digger, wouldn’t I have beaten down your door the second I discovered who you really were?’ She flushed angrily. ‘I thought you were some chilled-out surfer. I had no reason to suspect you were a billionaire bulldozer who buys whatever he wants and then destroys it.’
‘Destroys it?’ His eyes widened. ‘Are we talking about that dilapidated old hostel?’
‘It wasn’t dilapidated.’
‘You showed me a prime piece of land that was in dire need of investment.’
She rejected that notion. Lucero’s property had been perfect. Furthermore the old man had been unwaveringly kind to her. But now Javier was ripping apart his legacy. ‘And didn’t you take that information and use it well?’ she raged. ‘Well, you’re not buying me and you’re not buying my son.’
‘He’s my son too.’ His eyes glittered, revealing his own loss of temper. ‘It’s eighteen months since that night, Emmy. And I’ve only just discovered he even exists. Now he’s nine months old,’ he said. ‘I’ve missed out on almost the full first year of his life. That’s unforgivable and you can’t keep him from me. You owe me time.’ He inhaled sharply and whirled away, clearly struggling to regain his self-control.
Emmy was struck still as her worst fears were realised. Javier was going to fight. He was used to getting his way. Was he going to do whatever it took to get it now? He had everything on his side—resources, power, privilege. She had only intuition and resolve and the fiercest love imaginable.
‘Understand this,’ she breathed. ‘There’s nothing I won’t do to protect my son.’ She would be there at every step. She would never let Javier or anyone else sideline her.
‘Nothing? Good to know.’ He turned back to face her. His lips curved in a smile full of bring it on challenge that fired up that dangerous part of Emerald. ‘I consider myself warned. But somehow, I feel confident I can handle whatever you try to throw at me.’ He stepped closer. ‘You know I can handle you, Emerald.’
His words sent sparks cascading through her—anger, defiance, attraction. Unwanted, inappropriate, unstoppable attraction.
And she was furious about it.
Copyright © 2020 by Natalie Anderson
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ISBN-13: 9781488068577
The Greek’s Penniless Cinderella
Copyright © 2020 by Julia James
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
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