by Sarah Morgan
Kelly groaned and pressed her hand to her forehead. How had this complete and utter nightmare happened to her? If only she hadn’t sold the ring, he wouldn’t have come looking for her, they wouldn’t have had sex and she wouldn’t be pregnant.
Just thinking of the word made her shake.
She needed time to think. She wasn’t ready to do this now.
The door to Vivien’s flat banged. ‘You can relax, it isn’t him. It’s one of his slaves.’ Vivien came in dragging a small suitcase and thrust an envelope at her. ‘Here we are. You can tip me if you like; round it up to the nearest million.’
‘What’s that? And where did you get that suitcase?’ Kelly slit the letter open and immediately recognised Alekos’s bold, dark scrawl. Reading the letter, she gulped.
‘Now what?’ Vivien snatched the letter from her: My private jet is waiting for you at the airport. Jannis will drive you. I will see you in Corfu. ‘Kel, any minute now I’m going to poke you in the eye with something sharp. Four-million-dollar diamond rings, Ferraris, limousines, private jets—give me one reason why I shouldn’t die of envy?’
Kelly’s teeth were chattering. ‘The guy left me on my wedding day.’
‘True. But honestly, Kelly, private jet,’ Vivien said weakly. ‘I mean, I bet you get loads of leg room. And the person in front won’t recline his seat into your face. No plastic food. How quickly could I get breast implants? I could go instead of you.’
‘You can go instead of me if you like because I’m not going.’ Kelly stared at the suitcase. ‘What’s that?’
‘Jannis said it was for you.’
‘Jannis? You’re on first-name terms? You got friendly rather quickly.’ Kelly dropped onto her knees and opened the suitcase.
‘Oh my goodness—clothes wrapped in tissue paper.’ Vivien’s voice was faint as she peered over Kelly’s shoulder. ‘He’s bought you a wardrobe?’
‘Probably because he doesn’t want me to show him up arriving dressed in my completely embarrassing black skirt,’ Kelly said stiffly, ripping apart tissue paper and pulling out a dress. ‘Oh! It’s—’
‘Gorgeous. Is that silk?’
Kelly fingered the beautiful fabric wistfully and then she stuffed it back in the suitcase. ‘No idea. Send it back to Jannis.’
‘What? Kelly, he’s inviting you to Corfu. You have to go.’
‘He wants me to bring his ring, that’s why! I’m his personal delivery-service and this is my payment.’
Vivien was still poking through the contents. ‘It’s a pretty good payment; these shoes are Christian Louboutin—do you know how much they cost?’
Kelly eyed the height of the heel in disbelief. ‘No, but I know the surgery to fix my broken ankle would be a lot. Not to mention all the things I’ll probably smash to pieces as I fall trying to walk in those. Vivien, I’m not going.’
Vivien folded her arms, a stubborn look on her face. ‘If this is about that woman he was seeing, he’s not with her any more. I’ve already told you that. It was all over the papers that they’d split up. Now I know why. He shagged you and realised that you’re the only one.’
‘If that’s supposed to sound romantic, you need to try harder.’ But there was no denying that, ever since she’d heard the news that Alekos had parted from that Marianna woman, her mood had lifted. It had been like walking in the darkness and suddenly discovering that you had a torch in your pocket.
‘You’re pregnant. You’re having this man’s baby. He has a right to know.’
Kelly’s palms were suddenly damp with sweat. ‘I will tell him.’
‘And this is the perfect time. Look at it this way: you tell him about the baby, then you can have a holiday in Greece with the four-million dollars.’
Kelly swallowed, her eyes on the suitcase. ‘I think I’d find it hard going back to Corfu.’ Everything had happened there. She’d fallen in love. She’d had her heart broken.
‘Life’s hard,’ Vivien said in a brisk, practical tone. ‘But it’s a heck of a lot easier if you have four-million dollars, and at least you’re going to face the world wearing Christian Louboutin.’
‘I don’t think they’ll fit over a plaster cast.’
‘You hold his arm while you wear them. That’s why you have a man.’
‘I don’t have a man.’
Vivien sighed. ‘Yes, you do. You’re just not sure if you want him. But look at it this way, Kel—the school holidays start tomorrow and your alternative is being sad and lonely here. Better to be rich and angry in Greece. Go. Put on the dress and the heels and walk right over him.’
Mistake, mistake, mistake…
Kelly sat rigid in the back of the chauffeur-driven car, staring straight ahead as they drove through the middle of bustling Corfu town, up across the mountains that rose in the centre of the island and down through twisty, narrow roads that led through endless olive groves. Each turn in the road revealed another tantalising glimpse of sparkling, turquoise sea and buttercup-yellow sand but Kelly was too stressed to enjoy the scenic temptations of Greece.
On her first trip to this island she’d fallen in love with the place, loving the smells, the sounds and the bright colours that were Greece. Then she’d fallen in love with the man.
Kelly felt nerves explode in her stomach.
If she’d arrived here under different circumstances, she would have been excited and thrilled. Instead she could hardly breathe. Anxiety choked her and all she could feel was panic at the thought of seeing Alekos again.
They hadn’t seen each other since that day in her kitchen.
She didn’t even know why she’d come. Not really.
Licking dry lips, she stared out of the window. Why had he asked her to bring the ring in person? What was going on in his head? What was he thinking?
Her brain was careering forward like a wild ride at a theme park. One minute hope popped up and she felt a flash of optimism, and then she was confronted by the ugly memory of what he’d done and hope plummeted to earth like a meteorite, leaving her drained and pessimistic.
She couldn’t forget that one comment he’d made about him doing her a favour by not marrying her. It had played over and over again in her head during the weeks since he’d walked out of her house, leaving the door wide open.
What exactly had he meant by that?
Was he implying that she’d been too young or something? Kelly gnawed her lip as she stared out of the window. Nineteen was pretty young to get married. Perhaps he’d been worried she hadn’t seen enough of the world or that she hadn’t known her own mind.
The only thing she knew for sure was that she had no idea what was going on in his mind, and she needed to know. She needed to know what future there was for her and her baby.
Resting her hand low on her abdomen, Kelly made herself a promise.
Whatever happened, however this turned out, there was one thing she was sure about: she was not going to do what her mother had done. She wasn’t going to cling onto a relationship that was never going to work.
This wasn’t just about her any more. It was about her child.
And she knew how it felt to be the child of parents who absolutely shouldn’t have been together.
As the car drove through a pair of elaborate wrought-iron gates, Kelly felt her stomach drop with anticipation. Even the novelty of having a private jet to herself hadn’t been able to damp down her apprehension at the approaching meeting. Whatever Alekos was expecting, it probably wasn’t the news that she was pregnant.
A stomach-churning cocktail of excitement and dread formed inside her.
Maybe he’d be pleased, she thought optimistically, hunting around for evidence to support that theory.
Alekos was Greek, wasn’t he? Everyone knew that Greeks had big families. Everyone knew the Greeks loved children. Unlike their counterparts in England, who had a tendency to treat the arrival of children with the same enthusiasm as vermin, Greek restaurantowners were delighted when a young family arrived o
n the premises. They smiled indulgently if children ran around and danced to the music. Family was the Greek way of life.
And that was her dream, wasn’t it? The whole ‘big family’ thing.
That was what she’d always wanted.
Despite her efforts to keep her mind in check, Kelly’s thoughts drifted off on a tangent as she imagined what Christmas would be like with lots of small versions of Alekos dragging out prettily wrapped parcels from under the enormous tree. It would be noisy, chaotic, a bit like a day in her classroom, which was one of the reasons she loved teaching. She loved the noisy, busy atmosphere that was created when lots of children were together.
Maybe Alekos felt the same way.
Kelly gave a tiny frown. It was true that Alekos had talked to her class as if he’d been in a board meeting, but he probably just needed practice, didn’t he? He needed to understand that he couldn’t apply the principles of corporate management to child rearing. He was basically Greek, so that whole ‘family’ thing should be welded into his DNA.
Maybe, just maybe, they could make this work.
At the very least, they had to try.
How could she ever look her child in the eye and say that she hadn’t even tried?
The limousine pulled up in a large courtyard dominated by a fountain, and Kelly gulped. The first time she’d seen Alekos’s Corfu home, she’d been shocked into awed silence by the sheer size and elegance of the villa. As someone who had grown up in a small house, she’d found the space and luxury of his Mediterranean hideaway incredibly intimidating.
She still did.
Reminding herself not to scatter her possessions around his immaculate villa, Kelly stepped hesitantly out of the car.
‘Mr Zagorakis has instructed me to tell you that he is finishing a conference call and will meet you on the terrace in five minutes.’ Jannis urged her inside the villa and Kelly gazed around at the familiar interior, no less daunted now than she’d been four years earlier.
The floors of the villa were polished marble and Kelly picked her way nervously, relieved she hadn’t worn the Christian Louboutin shoes. Death by stilettos, she thought uneasily, wishing Alekos had installed a handrail. Maybe the Greek aristocracy were given lessons in skating in heels when they were children.
Cautiously eyeing the priceless antiques, she kept her hands pressed to her sides, terrified that she was going to bang into something and send it smashing into a zillion pieces on the mirror floors. Nothing was out of place. Everything looked as though it was where it was supposed to be: no magazines, no half-read books, no unopened letters or junk mail covered in pictures of pizza, no half-drunk mugs of tea.
Feeling as though she was in a museum, Kelly looked round nervously, relieved when Jannis led her through a curved archway that led onto the terrace. No matter how many times she saw the view, it still made her gasp.
The beautiful gardens fell away beneath her, hot-pink oleander and bougainvillea tumbling down the gentle slope to the curve of perfect beach that nestled below the villa.
Kelly blinked in the sudden brightness of the midday sun, watching as a yacht drifted silently across the sparkling sea. She felt slightly disconnected, unable to believe that yesterday she’d woken up in her bed in Little Molting and now she was back on the island of Corfu with the sun shining in her eyes.
A lump settled in her throat.
She’d left her dreams here, on a sandy beach, with the sound of the sea in the air.
‘Was your journey comfortable?’ His voice was deep, dark and husky, and Kelly froze, desperately conscious that this was the first time she’d seen him since that day in her kitchen. A sizzle of sexual awareness shot through her body and her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth as she turned.
The air was electric. If either one of them had touched the other, that would have been it. The dangerous glitter of his eyes said it all, and Kelly felt her body grow heavy with longing.
Suddenly she wished there were other people in the villa. She needed someone else to dilute the concentration of sexual tension that threatened to drown both of them.
She didn’t want to drown. She wanted to think with her head, not react with her body.
Trying to apply caution, Kelly reminded herself that this was nothing like the last time. She’d grown up, hadn’t she?
Her own particular fairy tale had most definitely not had a happy ending.
‘The journey was fine. I’ve never been on a private jet before. It was, well, private.’ She winced as she listened to herself. Oh for goodness’ sake, Kelly, say something more intelligent than that. But her tongue had apparently wrapped itself into an elaborate knot and her heart was racing at a very unnerving pace. ‘It felt a bit weird, if I’m honest.’
Bold dark brows rose in question. ‘Weird?’
Kelly shrugged awkwardly. ‘It was a bit lonely. And your hostess woman wasn’t very chatty.’
A smile touched the corner of his mouth, that same shockingly sensual mouth that knew how to drive a woman from wild to crazy. ‘She is not paid to chat. She’s paid to make sure you have whatever you need.’
‘I needed a chat.’
Alekos breathed deeply. ‘I will make sure someone speaks to her about being more, er, chatty.’
‘No, don’t do that; I don’t want to get her into trouble or anything, I’m just saying it wasn’t as much fun as I thought it would be. There’s not a lot of point travelling in a private jet if there isn’t anyone to laugh about it with, is there?’
A look of incredulity crossed his handsome features and it was clear he’d never given the matter consideration before. ‘The point,’ he drawled, ‘is that you have the space and privacy to do whatever you want to do.’
‘But no one to do it with.’ Realising that she probably sounded really ungrateful, Kelly tried to retrieve the situation. ‘But it was great not having to queue through customs, and brilliant to be able to lie flat on the sofa.’
‘You lay flat?’
‘So I didn’t crease my dress.’ Kelly smoothed the fabric, wondering why something so simple as a dress could make you feel good. ‘It’s linen, and I didn’t want to arrive looking as though I’d jumped out the laundry basket. The clothes are great, by the way; thanks. How did you know I had nothing to wear?’
‘I didn’t. It was a guess.’
Kelly gave an awkward laugh. ‘Good guess. My wardrobe is full of stuff that doesn’t fit me any more, but I refuse to throw it away because one day I’m going to be a size zero.’
His gaze slid down her body and lingered on her breasts. ‘I sincerely hope not.’
That look was all it took. Her breasts tingled and her nipples pressed against the fabric of her dress, defying all her attempts to control her reaction. Not wanting to look down at herself and risk drawing attention to what was happening, Kelly fumbled with the clasp of her purse and pulled out the ring. ‘Here. This is yours. This must be the most expensive delivery-service ever, but here you go.’ She held out the enormous diamond, frowning when he made no move to take it. ‘Well? Go on—it’s yours.’
‘I gave it to you.’
‘Not exactly. I mean, you did, but it was supposed to come with a wedding. And, anyway, you bought it back from me,’ Kelly reminded him. ‘For four-million dollars. And, if you’re waiting for me to say I’d rather have the ring than the money, forget it. I’ve already given away a big chunk of it to pay for the new playground. I can’t give you the money back, so you have to take the ring. A better person than me probably wouldn’t have taken the ring or the money, but I’ve discovered I’m not a better person. Exposure to wealth has obviously warped me.’
Alekos studied her, a curious look in his intense dark eyes, a smile flickering around his sensual mouth. ‘You suddenly find yourself with four-million dollars and you spend the money on a new playground? I think you might need some lessons on the true motivation of the gold-digger, agape mou.’
Even though she hated to admit it, the endea
rment made her heart flutter. Or maybe it was his voice—deep, sexy and chocolate-smooth. This whole thing would be easier, Kelly thought desperately, if she wasn’t so drawn to him. It was difficult to push something away when you wanted it more than anything.
The tips of her fingers tingled with the desire to touch, and she linked her hands behind her back to be on the safe side. ‘I didn’t spend all the money, obviously. What use is a gold-plated playground? But I found this brilliant climbing-frame—massive—and it comes with this bit that’s like a tree house…’ Nervous and unsettled, she faltered. Don’t bore him, Kelly. ‘Never mind. Take it from me, it’s a good one. And we’re having this special surface put down over the summer holidays so that if the kids fall they shouldn’t break anything…’ Her voice tailed off and she shrugged self-consciously. ‘Don’t say anything to them. I pretended I was an anonymous benefactor.’
‘They don’t know the money came from you?’
‘No.’ A grin spread across her face as she remembered the staff meeting. ‘They were all guessing. It feels good giving money away to good causes, doesn’t it? It makes you go all warm and fuzzy inside. I guess you get that feeling all the time when you give stuff away.’
‘I don’t give anything away personally. Charitable donations are managed by the Zagorakis Foundation.’
Kelly digested that information with astonishment. ‘You mean you have a whole company that gives away your money?’
‘That’s right. It was set up for that purpose. We donate a proportion of income, and they analyse all the applications and make a decision—with my input.’
‘But you don’t actually get to meet the people you help?’
‘Sometimes. Not usually.’
‘But don’t you feel warm and fuzzy when you know you’ve helped someone?’
Alekos studied her through heavy-lidded dark eyes. ‘I can’t honestly say that “warm and fuzzy” features large in my emotional repertoire.’
‘Oh. Well, it should, because you’ve obviously helped loads of people so you should feel good about that.’ It was confusing, thinking about that side of him. Or maybe it was just the man himself who was confusing. Experience was telling her to be wary, but instinct was telling her to throw herself into his arms. It was probably because he was standing so close. He smelt fantastic, Kelly thought weakly, thrusting the ring towards him again.