by Kit Tunstall
It took every ounce of control, but Leah managed to hide her bewilderment and the stirrings of anger. “I allowed Nikos to vote for me because he knows the company,” she bluffed. “Besides, I hardly think he would have tied himself to me just to get back my ten percent. He could have bought me out.”
“Not then, he couldn’t. When Dmitri died, the company was in trouble. Nikos managed to turn it around, but the company couldn’t have absorbed the costs of buying you out, and Nikos was using his own money to finance the day-to-day expenses of the company and of caring for Dmitri’s daughter.”
Her chest ached with a hollow pain, and she found it more difficult to maintain a calm façade. “My share would hardly matter. I couldn’t do anything with ten percent.”
Maia shook her head. “Kostas had given away other shares before Dmitri took over, shortly after he started the company. He was the son of a poor fisherman and didn’t have the necessary capital. His partners had shares in the company.”
“What has this to do with me?” asked Leah coldly, desperate to be rid of the other woman.
“Kostas purchased back much of the stock he’d used for collateral, but there remained bits and pieces among friends and family. Dmitri attempted to buy back the shares when the company was strong, but a few refused to sell.” Maia leaned a little closer. “The other shareholders were pressuring Dmitri to take the company public. He remained steadfast about keeping it a private corporation, and he had your father’s full support. However, when they died, you were left with enough shares to secure a majority share of the company if you’d thrown in with the others.”
Leah’s head spun, and she shook it, trying to clear her thoughts. “You’re lying. Nikos didn’t even want to run Andrakis Corporation.”
“True.” Maia shrugged. “Nevertheless, he is Greek and knows the importance of family. He wanted to honor Dmitri’s plans for the company.” She grimaced. “Nikos was willing to do anything, apparently.”
“Get out.” Leah stopped caring about hiding her reactions. She got to her feet, letting the envelope scatter on the marble floor.
Maia regarded her coolly. “I will leave, but only for a short time. Now that you know the truth, you have no reason to stay.”
She straightened her shoulders. “Nikos still needs to control my shares.”
The other woman gained her feet in one fluid motion. “Not any longer. He has reacquired all other stock, and the company can easily purchase your stocks. He has control of your stock, so I am puzzled why he’s keeping you around. Perhaps he has decided a divorce is too expensive, or he doesn’t want to risk you being petulant and refusing to sell the shares now that the company is almost fully under his control.” Her eyes narrowed, and the smiled widened. “My theory is he has decided to woo you into signing over those stocks. He’s trying to make you so besotted that you will agree to anything. Once you give up the stock, it will be the end of your ‘marriage’.” Her laugh was full of cruel mockery.
“I want you to leave. If you come back—”
Maia’s eyes narrowed. “Oh, I shall return. Soon, I will be Kryia Andrakis. I made a foolish decision years ago, but I refuse to let Nikos slip through my fingers again.” An expression resembling pity flashed across her face. “You can’t really think you would be able to compete with me?” Without another word, she turned and strode from the room, her heels tapping against the marble.
Leah sagged into the chair, leaning down to pick up the dropped envelope. She pulled out the papers and examined them more thoroughly. Her signature appeared on several pages, all authorizing Nikos to control her shares of the company for as long as they remained married, unless she revoked the right. At the time, she had signed them without really reading, assuming the papers were more paperwork relating to their marriage contract.
Nausea burned in the back of her throat, and she swallowed thickly. Nikos had told her she was penniless. Selling the stock would have allowed her to finish her education and have the life she’d wanted. He must have thought she would choose her own comforts over allowing him to keep the company under his control.
Marriage had been such a drastic step to secure the shares. Of course, he had needed a companion for Arianna. It must have seemed like a small sacrifice, exchanging three years for total control of the Andrakis Corporation.
So why had he suggested extending the marriage? Had he developed feelings for her? Or was it as Maia had theorized, that he was trying to make her fall in love with him so desperately that she would do anything he asked? Was it simply a matter of convenience? He had said he didn’t want to start over in another relationship. Was she merely his convenient wife, made even more convenient now that she was fulfilling all her wifely duties?
He hadn’t expected Maia to be available. Would he change his mind now that he knew she wanted to take on the role she had shunned years before? Or would he keep Maia as a mistress and Leah as his wife?
Her lips compressed at the thought. She refused to be in that position. It didn’t matter why he had changed his mind, or even if he had changed it again. What mattered was their marriage had begun under false pretenses, and he had deliberately withheld the only way she could have maintained her original plans for the future. In just a few minutes, the truth had shattered all the trust she’d placed in him.
Anger cut through the numb disbelief, and she jumped to her feet. The pages scattered around the floor, but she didn’t stoop to pick them up. Her focus was centered on returning to her packing, but not with the intention of waiting for Nikos to decide it was time to return to New York. She would arrange for the jet to take her home. Once in the city, she would move her things from his penthouse apartment and go on with the plans she’d made when their marriage was supposed to dissolve at the end of summer.
Anger fueled her movements, and she filled her cases in less than an hour. Leah was stuffing clothes into the last bag when the bedroom door opened. Her spine stiffened, her heart raced, and her stomach churned as Nikos came in.
He seemed to be in a better mood than yesterday, and she briefly remembered Arianna’s plight. If he was still intent on forcing a marriage, Leah would do her best to stop him. Forcing a marriage must be his answer to everything, she thought sardonically.
He drew up short, his gaze on the packed bags. “What’s going on?”
“It’s time to return to New York,” she said in an icy tone.
Nikos frowned. “Has something happened? Is Arianna ill?”
She shook her head. “No.”
He walked closer, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her back against him. “What’s the rush? I thought we could stay a while longer, just the two of us. It could be the honeymoon we never had.”
She had stiffened at his touch, and now she jerked away. “The honeymoon we never had that went with the marriage we never should have had.”
With a sharp exhalation, he turned her to face him. “What has happened? You are angry.”
“Yes, but more than that, I’m just done.” She didn’t like the hint of defeat bleeding through in her voice.
His face reflected his bewilderment. “Done with what?”
“This.” She waved her hand vaguely. “The whole situation, Nikos. I’m through with this sham of a marriage.”
He frowned. “What happened to extending our arrangement?”
“What happened to honesty?” She advanced toward him, spurred by her anger. “You lied to me. You kept my share of the company shrouded in paperwork, taking advantage of my grief to take over the stocks, knowing I was in no state to realize what you were doing.”
Nikos flinched. “What are you talking about?”
“Ask Maia,” she tossed out glibly. “She knows everything about your motivations for the marriage. More than I do, but I’m just your wife.”
“I had no motivations beyond Arianna’s welfare,” he bit out.
“I don’t believe you, Nikos.” She turned away from him. “I can’t trust you, a
nd we can’t have a relationship if there’s no trust.”
“You’re leaving, just like that?”
She nodded, glad he couldn’t see the tears pushing against her eyelids. “It’s over.”
“No, not yet.” Nikos strode to the door. “You are not going anywhere.”
She glared at him. “Try to stop me.”
A nasty smile made his lips curve. “Gladly, agapi mou.” He slammed the door behind him. Leah rushed toward it as she heard a key turn in the lock.
“What are you doing?” She pounded on the door. “Nikos?”
“I am ensuring you stay put.”
Leah yelled his name as the sound of his footfalls faded. “You bastard.” She hit the door again before sagging against it, drained. It had been her plan to avoid a confrontation, at least until she was back in New York. Her racing mind had supplied a few scenarios for how it would go when she told him the marriage was over, but this had never occurred to her. She had never dreamed her husband would lock her in their bedroom, like a prisoner.
Like a prisoner? She was a prisoner. Trapped in his bedroom, in his house, and in his country, Leah was at Nikos’s mercy.
The minutes crept by, and she paced the room while waiting for his return. At one point, Leah walked onto the balcony, but a look down confirmed the drop to the ground would be dangerous. The longer she paced, the more Leah seethed. When the lock finally turned in the door, she turned to face him as he entered the room, with her feet solidly planted, as though bracing herself.
“What do you think you’re doing? You can’t lock me in this room. I’m leaving.”
His face tightened. “Not yet, you aren’t.”
“Stop me.” Leah straightened her spine and strode forward. His hand clamped around her arm as she tried to pass him. “Release me, Nikos.”
“If you want to leave, then you can—once you take this.” He shoved a bag into her hand.
Leah took it automatically, opening the plastic bag to find a three-pack of home pregnancy tests and a specimen cup. She blinked, looking up at him with confusion. “What is this about?”
“It is about you not leaving until I know if you’re carrying my child,” said Nikos, his expression unreadable.
She closed the bag and tried to push it back into his hands, but he wouldn’t take it. “This is crazy. I’m not pregnant. I can’t be.” Leah stared pointedly at the bedside table before looking back at him. “You always used protection.”
“Always?” he asked silkily. “I think you’re forgetting the first night we made love. If you’re honest with yourself, you’ll acknowledge our passion was so intense that we didn’t always act responsibly.”
Leah paled, but shook her head. “I’d know if I were pregnant.”
He shrugged. “You haven’t had your monthly visitor in weeks.”
Her face burned. “How would you know? Are you keeping track?”
Nikos snorted. “Not at all, but you haven’t been indisposed at all since we became lovers. Any person with a scintilla of observation would see that.”
She dropped her gaze, not wanting to admit that she hadn’t been keeping track. Her mind raced as she tried to remember when she’d last had a cycle. A sinking feeling hit the pit of her stomach when she realized she had been in New York the last time. They’d been here for weeks, and she was usually regular.
Leah swallowed audibly. “Fine, just to humor you, I’ll take one.” She lifted her head, meeting his gaze. “Just so we’re clear, when the test is negative, you aren’t stopping me from leaving.”
His mouth curled at one corner. “I wouldn’t dream of making you stay against your will, agapi mou.” She turned toward the bathroom, freezing when he added, “Unless my child is inside you.”
With a mutinous set of her shoulders, she advanced to the bathroom, uttering a sound of protest when he pushed open the door. “I can handle this alone.”
Nikos arched his brow. “Of course you can, but I do not trust you to tell me the truth.” He took the bag from her to withdraw the specimen cup. “You take care of this part, and I’ll supervise the testing process.”
“You’re such an insufferable bastard.” She snatched the cup from his hand. His chuckle followed her into the bathroom. Under her breath, she cursed him as she set about the task at hand. Performance anxiety caused a delay, but she finally managed to produce a sample.
With a sinking heart, she set the cup on the counter. “You can come in now,” she said with reluctance, wanting to put off the test. She wanted to deny that she could be pregnant, but the more she thought about it, the more things made sense—like the bouts of nausea and her fatigue. She had attributed them to other causes, but now she couldn’t help reevaluating the past few weeks, mentally searching for clues.
Nikos entered, holding a test in his hand. She took the foil package from him and ripped it open, despite her shaking hands. With a deep breath, Leah dipped the test stick into the cup. Even before she could put the cap back on and lay it flat, a faint test line started to appear. As she watched, the line became clearer and darker than the control line.
Nikos’s breath stirred her hair as he exhaled from behind her. “You are pregnant.”
You don’t have to sound so pleased about it, she thought sourly. “It could be a false positive. The instructions said it would take up to ten minutes to be accurate. The line appeared immediately, so it must be a faulty test.”
“That is unlikely, but test again.” He withdrew another test. “This is a digital test.” This time, her hands shook too much to allow her to open the package, so he did it himself and performed the test. The small screen displayed “Pregnant” in less than a minute. Nikos extended it to her. “This is also positive. You must admit the odds of two tests being defective are low.”
She shrugged. “It could be a bad batch.”
“Very well.” He nodded decisively as he swept the tests into the trashcan. “We’ll leave for New York within the hour. I shall arrange for you to see the best obstetrician in the city, and he can confirm your pregnancy.”
“Don’t say that,” she hissed. “It isn’t my anything. I’m not pregnant.”
“We shall see,” he said with apparent neutrality, though his eyes gleamed.
Two days later, Leah sat in the car beside Nikos as the limousine took them back to the apartment. She clutched a folder full of prenatal care tips in her hand but hadn’t opened it. It was surreal, but there was no denying her pregnancy. The urine test at the doctor’s office had yielded the same results, which the ob-gyn had confirmed with an ultrasound.
“There he—or she—is,” Dr. Anderson had said, pointing with an elegantly manicured nail to a little blob on the screen. “That’s the fetal pole, which is a good sign. It’s too early to see the heartbeat, since you’re only about five weeks pregnant.” She must have seen Leah’s look of confusion, because she added, “Don’t forget we’re counting from the first day of your last cycle, not the date of conception.”
Leah’s glance dropped to the ultrasound picture Nikos held in his hand. He had taken the printout reverently, while she had wanted to run from the room and pretend like this wasn’t happening. The little blob looked like nothing discernable and certainly not the beginnings of their baby.
Their baby. She shook her head at the notion. Nikos was the father of her child. Anger still simmered within her at his deception. She should hate the idea of having his child. Instead, her heart swelled, and a lump of moisture settled in her throat. Hesitantly, she placed a hand low on her abdomen, amazed that a new life grew there.
She jumped when Nikos put his hand over hers. “Don’t touch me.”
He sighed heavily. “Leah, you must move past this unreasonable anger. We have to make our marriage work, for the baby’s sake.”
Leah sniffed. “How barbaric, to stay married for a baby. I can raise him just fine on my own, thank you.”
His lips thinned. “Perhaps you could, but you won’t. He will have tw
o parents.”
“Of course. I didn’t mean you wouldn’t be part of his life. I simply meant having a baby is no reason to stay together.”
Nikos quirked his brow. “You have changed your opinion in such a short amount of time, agapi mou.”
Leah frowned. “What are you talking about?”
“At the Kakos party, you said the needs of a child, particularly a young one, had to come before the wants of the parents, to paraphrase. Our baby needs both of us, no matter how much you want to leave me.”
Leah flinched, remembering the conversation. She squirmed, unable to refute her original statement. She truly felt that way, but the idea of remaining trapped in a marriage to a man who had manipulated and used her brought tears to her eyes. She blinked them away, setting her mouth into a firm line. “You’re right. He needs us, but I want no semblance of a marriage with you, Nikos. We’ll return to our previous arrangement, one of roommates instead of lovers.”
He cursed softly. “Why must you be so childish about this, Leah? You will deny us both the pleasure we can give each other because of your need for revenge?”
Her mouth dropped, and she whipped her head to the side to glare at him. “It isn’t a childish need for revenge. I can’t share my body with someone I don’t trust.”
Nikos scowled. “Very well, Leah. If we are to return to our previous arrangement, do not expect me to wait at home for a scrap of affection.”
“I’m sure you can find what you need elsewhere,” she said coldly, though her heart tore into pieces at the thought of him with another woman. Yet she couldn’t have it both ways. It was devastating to imagine him with a mistress, but she was too hurt to be his wife.
The next few years stretched before her, a wasteland of emptiness. She couldn’t regret conceiving a child, but she fervently wished it had been with a man who loved her as much as she loved Nikos. In her heart, she wanted no other man except him, but without trust, what future could they have?