Sophie reached her hand out and curled it over her sister’s. The water lapped in the pool at their feet, making a rhythmic sound that was quite soporific. “I’m glad you’re here, Liv. I feel like we haven’t just hung out like this in such a long time.”
“I know. It’s been far too long.”
Alex paused at the edge of the paved area that led to the pool. His eyes briefly took in Olivia, and then slammed into Sophie. His gut twisted uncomfortably and acid formed in his throat. Her toes were pink, her skin tanned, and her hair silky. Even at this distance, he could catch a light hint of her sweet, vanilla fragrance, blowing to him on the afternoon breeze.
“It could only be better if Ava was here,” Olivia murmured, stretched on a small sigh, and then turned around to reach for the sunblock. Only she saw the man who was on the edges of the pool deck and she smiled. “You must be Alex.” She stood quickly and walked over to him, curiosity an actual force in her body.
“And with those eyes, I have no doubt you are my wife’s sister.”
His voice sent tremors of desire spiking through Sophie’s blood. She felt her veins pounding with heat, and her throat was parched. But outwardly, she tried her hardest to stay calm.
“Olivia Henderson. Please, call me Liv.”
“Liv,” he agreed, shaking her hand. “I must apologise for my rudeness. I had an urgent matter in New York I had to attend to.”
“New York.” She spun to Sophie. “You never said he was in New York.”
Sophie’s bitterness was profound. She hadn’t known. Alex hadn’t told her. “No, I didn’t.” She responded casually, as though her husband’s location didn’t matter to her one bit. She couldn’t put off greeting him any longer, but she wished fervently that her sister wasn’t there, acting as a curious audience. She stood reluctantly, and began to make her way towards him. Every step made her heart race faster. She was in love with him, but she was also as mad as hell. Her eyes clashed with his, and her pulse fired loudly.
“Mrs Petrides,” he murmured, moving towards her with his long stride, to close the distance. His expression was impossible to interpret. He lifted a hand to cup her cheek and lowered his head. His kiss was slow and it was desperate at the same time. Sophie felt her whole body electrify as though she’d been shocked, and she lifted her hands and tangled them in his dark hair. How easy it was to forget anything except Alex when he kissed her like that.
He pulled away from her but moved his mouth to her ear. His words were barely a whisper. “Kiss me like that and I will take you right here on deck, with no care for who might be watching.”
Colour darkened her cheeks and she stepped away from him as though stung. Olivia, watching the interaction with unashamed curiosity, arched a brow at her sister. “I was thinking of going for a walk. Alex, perhaps you could point me in the direction of the best paths.”
“I can take you, honey,” Sophie said quickly, her body and her mind all over the place. He was back. But she was still so angry with him. And yet she needed to speak to him. Her mind was firing like a cannon.
“No,” Olivia shook her head. “I have a few calls to make.”
“Then you can use Alex’s study.”
“No,” Olivia laughed. She lifted her gaze to Alex and winked. “I think I should make myself scarce for a while.” She scooped her book up from the lounger and lifted a hand in farewell. “I’ll see you for dinner.”
“Livvie,” Sophie called after her retreating back, but Liv only lifted her hand back in the air and waved.
Sophie and Alex, then, were alone.
“I like your sister. She is … perceptive.”
“I wouldn’t have said so,” Sophie corrected peevishly.
His laugh was like warm caramel on her skin. She expelled a breath and forced herself to face him. “How was New York?”
“Exhausting,” he responded honestly. “I would have called, except …”
Sophie nodded quickly, but she didn’t believe him. “Don’t worry about it. I had Liv. We’ve been having a great time.”
He had no doubt, and yet her attitude bothered him. “Have you missed me at all?”
She lifted a hand and toyed with her necklace. She wanted to deny it, because she wasn’t sure he deserved her slavish devotion. But she found herself nodding. “Alex, I wanted to talk to you that day, but you’d left already.”
He nodded, his eyes dark in his face. “I needed to get out of here.”
“You were angry with me. And I’d like to know why.”
God, but she had gall! To put him on the spot and ask to know what had bothered him, when surely she knew how very wrong her behaviour was! “I am quite certain you already know why,” he drawled, reaching down and linking his fingers through hers. Warm heat travelled the length of her arm from where they were joined. She looked down at their clasped hands, as if she might see a source of heat, like flame or fire.
She had a feeling that she was sinking into volcanic lava. Did he know? Could she gamble that he didn’t? And if it wasn’t about Helena, then what?
“I don’t know why,” she said finally. For she only suspected, and the more she thought about it, the more his anger didn’t seem to fit the situation. If he had discovered the truth about Helena, surely he would have peppered her with questions to ascertain the degree of Helena’s depression.
“I see.” He lifted her hand to his lips and pressed his teeth lightly into the soft pad of her thumb. “And so we will continue to pretend.”
Sophie’s heart turned over in her chest. “Alex, this is killing me. Please talk to me.”
Alex had thought about doing just that. But wouldn’t it simply give her the opportunity to go back to Eric? No. Alex needed to hold onto his wife until he was certain Helena’s marriage was safe. “I do not wish to talk to you right now,” he murmured, slipping a finger through the straps of her swimmers and gliding the top down her arms.
“Alex,” she groaned, for her insides were already churning with pleasurable anticipation at his touch. “We have to talk.”
He put an arm around her waist and guided her away from the pool, towards the villa. The side entrance led to the room he used for business, and beyond them, there was a narrow staircase. He led her up it until they reached yet another bedroom.
“When you are ready to talk honestly to me, I will listen.”
She stared at him and felt a strange prickle of concern. “Why do I get the feeling you’re playing me somehow?”
His smile was bleak. “Because I am.”
Sophie tried to think of something to say, but he brought his mouth down to one of her nipples and rational thought became increasingly difficult.
“Alex,” she lifted her hands, meaning to push him away, but they gripped the lapels of his shirt instead. “I don’t understand.”
“Does it matter now? In this moment, do you care?”
“I care,” she shuddered as he transferred his mouth to her other breast.
“Do you want me to stop, so that we can speak?”
“No,” she responded instantly, her breath coming in ragged spurts now. “There will be time … later.”
“Yes. The rest of our lives, remember?” His ironical tone wasn’t lost on her. It was simply subsumed by what they were about to share.
In contrast to several nights earlier, when they made love now, Alex was gentle and kind, careful to hold her lovingly as he moved her to the brink of passionate collapse. It was as if he was atoning for the way he’d taken her, only Sophie, traitorous, treacherous, sex-mad Sophie, was part-desperate for the intensity and strength he’d introduced her too.
As she felt herself tipping into climax, she dug her nails into his shoulder. “Fuck me, Alex.”
He lifted his head so that he could stare into her eyes. His look was loaded with silent enquiry.
“Fuck me, Alex,” she repeated, nodding slowly.
He ran a hand down her cheek. “I hurt you last time.”
“No.”
A single tear slid out of the corner of one of her eyes and he watched it with a kick of remorse. “Your manner hurt me. Your anger hurt me. You didn’t hurt me. Physically, you were … amazing. It was amazing.” Her cheeks flamed. Discussing their sex life was not something she’d ever find easy.
He shook his head, his eyes banking down on the emotions she was invoking. “I was angry. I do not ever want to hurt you, Sophie.” It was a plea. A broken, angry, confused plea, and Sophie understood then that whatever he knew, whatever he felt, it was eating him alive too.
“Then don’t.” She pushed up on her elbows and kissed him. “I love you, Alex. Whatever else you think, you have to know that I married you because I love you.”
He kissed her back, but he felt even less convinced of anything than ever. She was either an excellent liar, or she did indeed feel something for him. But love? Was this woman who had slept with two of her married employers truly capable of feeling love?
He made love to her with the desperate, aching need that was consuming him. He took her until she screamed with pleasure, and then he held her tight. Silently, while he held her to his chest, he begged whatever Gods were out there to work out a way to make his Siren truly belong to him.
And to absolve him of guilt for manipulating her into a marriage that, if she understood his true motivation, she wouldn’t have wanted a bar of.
* * *
“Seriously the best Scotch I’ve ever had.” Olivia cradled the glass in her hand, her legs curled beneath her. The man she’d come to meet had, over the previous two days, impressed her. She hadn’t wanted to be caught up in his web, but Alessandro Petrides was an impressive specimen. Funny, engaging, intelligent, gorgeous and generous, he had made her feel completely at ease, and had even insisted on his private jet taking her over to Vegas. “It is, forever, at your disposal. Any time you need it, simply call Sophie and she can arrange it.”
Sophie had been oddly touched by the gesture, for it provided some of the reassurance that she was desperately seeking. Beside their bed, which was practically burning up from the heat of their connection, he spoke to her with the same civil politeness he was employing with Olivia. In fact, perhaps even less!
She watched the two of them with a sense of exclusion.
“You should try some Soph.”
Sophie wrinkled her nose. “I’m still recovering from our champagne bonanza,” she said with a shrug.
“Bonanza.” Olivia shook her head with mock disappointment. “My sister just can’t handle her liquor, I’m afraid.”
“I have noticed,” he said with a laugh. “Where will you stay in Vegas?”
“I don’t know.” She grinned. “That’s part of the fun.”
“We have a home there. Of course you may …”
“No, no.” Olivia held up a finger. She’d had several wines with dinner and three different scotches with Alex afterwards, and yet she seemed completely in control. “You’re not going to deprive me of my fun.”
He arched a brow inquisitively.
Sophie smiled, despite the gnawing certainty that something was very badly wrong in her marriage. “Liv loves the thrill of destitution. She’s not a big believer in having money in the bank, nor a steady job.”
“I see.” He smiled, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. Sophie understood, too late, what she’d said wrong. It was not a joke to him. Alex had lived that life. He’d been destitute for real, and he knew, better than most, that it was not funny, nor was it fun. She searched for something to say – anything – to move the conversation forward before Olivia could add something else to the insensitive remark. “I’ve never been to Vegas.”
“I thought you went with Edwin,” Liv remarked, lifting a finger to her chin thoughtfully. “Didn’t you go when he had that conference?”
Sophie’s eyes flew to Olivia’s with shock. She knew they couldn’t speak of her former employer!
Alex, still in his chair, was instantly alert. He saw the panic in Sophie’s face.
“Edwin?” He aimed his query towards Olivia, who was far more communicative than his secretive wife.
“Sophie’s boss back in Sydney. A real pig of a man, but you thought the world of him for a while.”
Sophie winced at the poor choice of words.
“I see,” Alex nodded, but Sophie could see that he didn’t.
“Liv,” Sophie’s voice held a warning, but Olivia ignored it. She might have seemed unaffected by the alcohol she’d imbibed, but of course she wasn’t.
“Oh, come on. It’s ancient history. Besides, you must have told Alex about him?” Before Sophie could reply, Liv turned back to Alex. “This guy was a real piece of work. He fell completely in love with Soph and got really creepy for a while there.”
Alex, who had seen the report for himself, knew Olivia’s version of events was incorrect, but he did a good job of pretending otherwise. “Creepy how?”
“Olivia.” Sophie stood, and her face was completely white beneath her tan. “You must stop.”
“Why?” She sat up straighter, as if realising for the first time that she’d said something wrong. “Oh, Sophie. What did I do? I’m sorry. I’m such a blabber mouth. I just presumed he knew.”
“No,” Sophie was bewildered.
“Because of the agreement. Right.” She slapped her forehead. “No more scotch for me.” She stood, her expression contrite. “Having dropped that messy little bombshell, I might absent myself now.” She smiled weakly at Alex and then crossed to her sister. In a whisper, she said, “I’m so, so sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it.” Sophie smiled kindly. “I know you didn’t mean it.”
She watched Olivia leave the room with a sinking heart. Confidentiality agreement or not, she certainly owed some explanation to her husband.
She toyed with her fingers and sighed. “It’s not a big deal. And it was a long time ago. That’s why I didn’t tell you.”
“Tell me now,” he said quietly, fascinated to see how convincing she could be.
She nodded jerkily. “It was basically like Liv just said.” She shook her head in frustration. “But he wasn’t like it all along. In the last few months, he got a bit weird.” Her cheeks flamed. “It’s hard, when you’re working as a nanny. Those lines can get blurred.” She closed her eyes. “I’ve looked back and I’ve tried to see if I did something that encouraged him. I mean, I was always there, living with them, playing with the kids. It’s really intimate. Maybe he thought I was encouraging him.” She looked down at her tangled fingers. “I wasn’t though. At least, not intentionally. When he … made it obvious that he thought we were more than we actually were, I quit.”
“How did he make this obvious?” Alex pushed. And though he knew his wife was creating a fiction to save her hide, he still felt a sharp pang of jealousy for this man.
She shook her head. “Details aren’t important.” Sophie didn’t want to remember that night, when he’d come to her hotel room uninvited and drunk. It had taken all her strength and presence of mind to lock herself in the bathroom and wait until he’d calmed down.
“A secret, Sophie?”
“No.” She bit down on her lip and her look was so intensely vulnerable that Alex wanted to pull her into his arms. “Just … not something I like to talk about.” She sighed. “The next day, I quit. He had me sign a confidentiality agreement.”
“In exchange for what?” Alex pushed.
“Money.” At his look of disappointment, she added quickly, “I used it for my airfare to London, and then gave the rest away. I didn’t want a penny from him. I didn’t want him thinking that he’d paid me off, and that what he did was therefore somehow okay.”
“To whom?”
“To whom?” She repeated, lost by his question.
“To whom did you give the money?” He clarified impatiently.
“My sister Ava.” Sophie decided that some secrets could be lifted. “She’s a single mother. She runs our family vineyard and the little ro
w of cottages we rent out for accommodation.”
He arched a brow and Sophie didn’t know what more he wanted her to say.
“I didn’t tell you because I’m not really allowed to discuss it. And also because I hate to think about it.” She fixed her gaze on his. “Even now, I wonder if I did something wrong. I’m … a friendly person. Maybe I was too friendly.”
Alex could have said dozens of things to assuage her worry, but he didn’t. He wasn’t sure he believed her version of events, given the dossier he’d received from his investigator. And yet, there were several sides to any story, and particularly this one. The wife had blabbed. Sophie had not. Sir Edwin Thomas had not. Perhaps the wife had put two and two together and got five.
In the same way he’d first thought Helena might have been mistaken, until he’d gone to London for himself to see the degree of affection between Eric and Sophie.
“Are you going to say anything?” She whispered, after several long minutes of silence had passed.
“Let’s go to bed.”
Sophie’s heart sunk further. Yes. Her marriage was in a state of decline and she didn’t know how to arrest it.
She put her hand in his, and with it, all her hopes. She loved him. Surely he would see that, and he would let go of whatever was bothering him.
Chapter 8
“How long will you be away for?” Sophie was amazed by how well she kept the emotion from her voice. Liv had left them earlier that day, and now, Alex had lifted a few of his immaculate suits from the wardrobe and layered them into a hanger bag.
“I do not know yet.”
“I see.” She toyed with the ends of her hair and forced her gaze beyond him, to the window that framed the sea. “I was just thinking I might go back to London for a while.”
He froze, his heart decelerating to a soft, slow thud, before cranking back to fever pitch. “What for.” A statement, it showed that he was displeased. But she couldn’t care. Her heart, her broken, aching heart, could not hurt her more than it already was.
Billionaire Brides: An Anthology Page 29