by Maya Banks
He waited for a moment and when he didn’t hear anything, he said, “Hello?” He cursed. The connection had been cut. Oh well, he didn’t require a response. He just wanted action.
Even if he hadn’t already been extremely distrustful of situations that seemed too coincidental, his brother’s assistant had sold valuable company plans to their competitor. After that debacle, they’d all assumed very strict requirements for the people working closest to them. They could ill afford another Roslyn.
Still, his chest tightened as the car stopped outside his plane, and he got out to board. He wasn’t so much in denial that he could refute that the night had been more than just a casual one-night stand. Which was all the more reason to cut ties now. He wouldn’t give up any power, no matter how subtle, to a woman ever again.
* * *
Jewel sat in Margery’s chair behind her desk filling out a mountain of paperwork while Margery puttered around in the background making phone calls and grumbling at the printer when it didn’t spit out the appropriate documents.
She’d spent the morning on pins and needles, waiting for Piers to return so they could at least try and air things out and get it behind them. The old saying about an elephant in the room was appropriate, only Jewel felt like there was an entire herd.
At lunch, she went down to the small café and nibbled on a sandwich while watching the seagulls dive-bomb tourists who had bread to feed them. If Margery let her on the company computer this afternoon, she’d email Kirk and let him know she’d arrived on the island and would be staying a few weeks.
He was her only friend, but they rarely saw each other. He was forever taking assignments to far-flung places, and she was equally determined to travel her own way. It amused her that they were essentially lost souls who wandered from place to place. Neither had a home, and maybe that was why they understood each other.
An occasional email, sometimes a phone call, and every once in a while they crossed paths on their travels. Those were good times. It was nice to connect to another person even if it was only for a few hours. He was as close to a brother or family member as she’d ever imagined having.
After finishing her sandwich, she tossed the wrapper and walked back to the employee elevator. Would Piers be back? A flutter abounded in her stomach, but she swallowed back her nervousness and forged ahead. It wouldn’t do to let him know she was put off by their unintentional relationship. If he could be cool about it then so could she.
When she walked back into Margery’s office, Margery looked up, a grim expression on her face. “Mr. Patterson wants to see you immediately.”
Jewel’s brow crinkled. Maybe it was more personnel stuff to sign. Lord knows she’d had enough paperwork this morning to choke a horse. With a resigned sigh, she turned and left Margery’s office and went several doors down to the human resource manager’s cubicle.
He looked up when she tapped on the frame of his open door.
“Miss Henley, come in. Have a seat please.”
She settled down in front of him and waited expectantly. He cleared his throat and tugged at his collar in an uncomfortable motion. Then he leveled a stare at her.
“When you hired on, it was with the condition that it was a temporary position. You were to be Mr. Anetakis’s assistant for the duration of his stay here.”
“Yes.” They’d been through all of this and she was impatient to get on with it.
“I’m sorry to say that he no longer requires an assistant. He’s had a change of plans. As such, your services are no longer required.”
She stared, stunned, for a long moment. “Excuse me?”
“Your employment here is terminated effective immediately.”
She stood, her legs trembling, her fingers curled into tight fists. “That bastard. What a complete and utter bastard!”
“Security will escort you to your room and wait while you collect your things,” he continued as if she hadn’t let loose with her tirade.
“You can tell Mr. Anetakis that he is the lowest form of pond scum. Verbatim, Mr. Patterson. Make sure he gets my message. He’s a gutless piece of chicken shit, and I hope he chokes on his damn cowardice.”
With that she turned and stormed out of his office, slamming the door as hard as she could. The sound reverberated down the hallway, and a few people stuck their heads out of their cubicles as she stalked past.
Unbelievable. He hadn’t even had the courage to fire her himself. He let his personnel director handle it while he ran for the hills. What a crock.
Two security guards fell into step beside her when she neared the elevator. It pissed her off that she was being treated like a common criminal.
She rode the elevator with them in stiff silence. They walked behind her to her door and positioned themselves on either side of the frame while she went in. How long would they give her before bursting in? The thought amused her even as rage crawled over her in waves.
Shedding her uncomfortable heels, she sank onto the bed like a deflated balloon. Damn the man. She had enough money to get off the island, but little else. Certainly no money to plan her next venture. She’d spent what she had to get here and taken the good-paying job to restock her resources. With the money earned in this job, she would have been able to travel, albeit economically, for the next six months without worrying about finances.
Now she faced the only choice available to her if she wanted a roof over her head. Going back home to San Francisco and the apartment that belonged to Kirk was her only option.
It had been an agreement between them. If she ever needed a place to stay, she was to go there. The utilities were taken care of each month and the pantry was stocked with staples.
She didn’t even have a way to contact him other than email, and sometimes he went weeks without checking it. She just hoped he hadn’t planned one of his rare trips home at the same time she’d be there.
Her fingers dug into her temples, and she closed her eyes. She could look for work here on the island, but she’d already exhausted most of her possibilities when this job had landed in her lap. Nothing else paid nearly as well, and now she had no desire to stay where she might actually run into Piers Anetakis. The worm.
San Francisco was it, she admitted with forlorn acceptance. Hopefully she could land a job, save up some money. Having a rent-free place to stay would be helpful but she hated to take advantage of Kirk’s generosity.
“Damn you, Piers Anetakis,” she whispered. He’d managed to turn the most beautiful night of her life into something tawdry and hateful.
With a resigned shake of her head, she knew there was little point in feeling sorry for herself. There was nothing to do but pick up and go on and hopefully learn a lesson in the process.
CHAPTER 4
Five months later…
Piers descended the steps of his private jet and strode across the paved runway to the waiting car. The damp, chilly San Francisco air was a far cry from the warm, tropical air he was used to. He hadn’t taken the time to pack appropriate clothing, and the thin silk shirt and light suit coat didn’t offer much in the way of protection from the pervading chill.
The driver had already been instructed as to Piers’s destination, so he sat back as the car rolled away from the airport toward the hospital where Jewel was being treated.
What had happened to her? It must be serious if she’d broken down and phoned him after he hadn’t been able to uncover her whereabouts for five months. Guilt was a strong motivator, and yet his efforts had come to naught.
No matter. He now knew where she was. He’d see to it that she had the best care and settle an amount on her to compensate her loss of employment, and then maybe he could get her out of his head.
When they finally rolled up to the hospital, Piers wasted no time hurrying in. At the help desk he was given Jewel’s room number, and he rode the elevator to the appropriate floor.
At her door, he found it slightly ajar and issued a soft knock. Not hearing any summ
ons, he pushed the door open and quietly walked in.
She was barely more than a rumpled pile of sheets on the bed, her head propped haphazardly on her pillow. Her eyelashes rested on her cheeks, and her soft, even breathing signaled her sleep.
Even in rest, she looked worried, her face drawn, her brow wrinkled. Her fingers were clutched bloodlessly at the sheet gathered at her chest. And yet she was as beautiful as he remembered, and unfortunately for him, he’d been haunted by her beauty for the last five months.
He removed his suit coat and tossed it over the chair beside her bed and then settled himself down to sit and wait for her to wake. The slight movement alerted her, and her eyes flew open.
Shock registered as soon as she saw him. Her eyes widened in what looked to be panic. Her hands moved immediately to her stomach in a protective gesture he’d be blind to miss.
Then he saw what it was she was protecting. There was an unmistakable swell, a taut mound that shielded a baby!
“You’re pregnant!”
Her eyes narrowed. “Well, you needn’t sound so accusing. I hardly got that way by myself.”
For a moment he was too stunned to realize her implication, and then when it came, it trickled like ice down his spine. Old memories came back in a wave, and hot anger quickly melted away the cold in his veins.
“Are you saying it’s mine?” he demanded. Already his mind was moving in a whir. He wouldn’t be trapped again by a conniving woman.
“She,” Jewel corrected. “At least refer to your daughter as a human being.”
Damn her. She knew that by personalizing the vague entity she shielded that he’d be inhuman not to react.
“A daughter?”
Against his will, his voice softened, and he found himself examining her belly closer. He impatiently brushed aside her cupped hands and then snatched his own hand back when her belly rippled and jumped beneath his fingers.
“Theos! Is that her?”
Jewel smiled and nodded. “She’s active this morning.”
Piers shook his head in an attempt to brush away the spell. A daughter. Suddenly he envisioned a tiny little girl, a replica of Jewel but with his dark eyes. Damn her for making him dream again.
His expression hardened, and he once again focused his attention on Jewel. “Is she mine?”
Jewel met his steady gaze and nodded.
He swore softly. “We used protection. I used protection.”
She shrugged. “She’s yours.”
“You expect me to accept that? Just like that?”
She struggled to sit up against her pillows, her fingers clenched into tight balls at her sides. “I haven’t slept with another man in two years. She’s yours.”
He wasn’t the gullible fool he’d been so many years ago. “Then you won’t object to paternity testing.”
She closed her eyes wearily and sank back into the covers. Hurt flickered in her eyes when she reopened them, but she shook her head. “No, Piers. I have nothing to hide.”
“What is wrong with you? Why are you here in the hospital?” he asked, finally coming around to the matter at hand. He’d been completely blindsided by the discovery that the child she was pregnant with was… could be his.
“I’ve been ill,” she said in a tired voice. “Elevated blood pressure. Fatigue. My doctor said my job had a lot to do with it, and he wants me to quit. He says I must quit, that I don’t have a choice.”
“What the devil have you been doing?” he demanded.
She lifted one shoulder. “Waitressing. It was all I could find on such short notice. I needed the money before I could move somewhere else. Somewhere warmer. Somewhere I could make more money. It’s very expensive here in San Francisco.”
“Then why did you come here from the island? You could have gone anywhere.”
She cast him a bitter glance. “I have an apartment here. One that is paid for. After I was fired, I had little choice in where to go. I had to have a place to sleep. I intended to save enough money and then go somewhere else.”
He flinched as guilt consumed him. Damn, but this was a mess. Not only had he had her fired, but he’d sent a pregnant woman into a bad situation.
“Look, Jewel, about your firing…”
She held up a hand, her expression fierce. “I don’t want to discuss it. You’re a coward and a bastard of the first order. I wouldn’t have ever spoken to you again if our daughter didn’t need you, if I didn’t need your help.”
“That’s just it. I never intended for you to be fired,” he said patiently.
She glared at him. “That’s hardly comforting given that I was fired and that I was escorted out of your hotel.”
He sighed. Now wasn’t the time to try and reason with her. She was growing more upset by the minute. If she chose to believe the worst in him, and it was obvious she did, he was hardly going to change five months’ worth of anger and resentment in five minutes.
“So what is it that you need from me?” he asked. “I’ll help in any way I can.”
She stared at him, suspicion burning brightly in her ocean eyes. Maybe he was wrong to want his daughter to have his eyes. No, she should definitely have Jewel’s eyes. Dark-haired like him, but with her mother’s sea-green eyes. Or were they blue? He could never tell from one moment to the next.
Then her shoulders sank, and she closed her eyes. “My physician won’t discharge me until he’s certain I have someone to care for me.”
She said the latter with a measure of distaste, as if it pained her to be dependent on anyone.
“I’ll be on bed rest until my surgery.”
Piers sat forward. “Surgery? Why do you need surgery? I thought you said you were only ill. Blood pressure.” He knew enough about that from his sister-in-law’s pregnancy to know that the prescribed treatment for stress or elevated blood pressure was merely rest and to be off one’s feet. “You can’t have surgery while you’re pregnant. What about the baby?”
She stared back at him patiently. “That’s just it. When they did a sonogram to check on the baby, they found a large cyst on one of my ovaries. Instead of shrinking, as a lot of cysts do during the course of the pregnancy, this one has gotten larger, and now it’s pressing on the uterus. They have no choice but to remove it so that it won’t interfere with the pregnancy or possibly even harm the baby.”
Piers cursed. “This operation, is it dangerous? Will it harm the baby?”
“The doctor doesn’t think so, but it has to be done soon.”
He cursed again, though he didn’t allow the words past his lips. He didn’t want to be ensnared in another situation where he stood to lose everything. Once a fool, but never again. This time things would be done on his terms.
“You’re going to marry me,” he announced baldly.
CHAPTER 5
“You’re out of your mind,” Jewel burst out.
Piers’s eyes narrowed. “I’d hardly say my speaking of marriage constitutes an unsound mind.”
“Crazy. Certifiable.”
He bristled and let out an irritated growl. “I am not crazy.”
“You’re serious!”
She stared at him with a mixture of stupefaction and horror.
His breath escaped in a long sound of exasperation.
Her mouth fell open. “For the love of God. You think I’d marry you?”
“There’s no reason to sound so appalled.”
“Appalled,” she muttered. “That about covers my reaction. Look, Piers. I need your help. Your support. But I don’t need marriage. Not to you. Never to you.”
“Well if you want my support, you’re damn well going to have to marry me for it,” he growled.
“Get out,” she bit off. She held a trembling hand up to point to the door, but Piers caught it and curled his fingers around hers. He brought it to the edge of the bed and gently stroked the inside of her wrist.
“I shouldn’t have said that. You made me angry. If you’re pregnant with my child, of course
you’ll have my support, Jewel. I’ll do everything I can to provide for you and our daughter.”
Astounded by his abrupt turnaround, she could only stare at him, her tongue flapping to try and come up with something, anything to say. How could he still affect her this way after all he’d done?
“Then you’ll say no more about marriage?”
His lips tightened. “I didn’t promise that. I have every intention of marrying you as quickly as possible and definitely before this surgery.”
“But—”
He held up his hand, and to her utter annoyance, her mouth shut, cutting off her protest.
“You are having a dangerous surgery. You have no family, no one to be with you, to make decisions if the worst should happen.”
A cold trickle of dread swept down her spine. How did he know anything about her family? Had he had her investigated? Her stomach rolled as nausea welled. She couldn’t bear for anyone to know of her past. As far as she was concerned it didn’t exist. She didn’t exist.
“There has to be another way,” she said faintly. Already the strain of him being here, of standing up against this hard man, was wearing on her.
It must have been obvious, because his expression softened noticeably. “I’m not here to fight with you. We have a lot to work out and not much time. I need to speak with your doctor and have you transferred to a better facility. I’ll want a specialist to take over your care. He can give us a second opinion on whether this surgery is the best solution with you pregnant. I’ll see to the arrangements for our wedding.”
“Stop right there,” she said as fury worked its way up her spine until her neck was stiff and locked. “You won’t come barging in here, taking over my life and making decisions for me. I’m not some brainless idiot who needs you to rush in and save the day. I’ve spoken to the doctors. I’m well aware of what needs to be done, and I will make the decision as to what is best for me and my daughter. If that bothers you, then you can take yourself right back to your island and leave me the hell alone.”