The Helen Bianchin Collection

by Helen Bianchin

  Last night had been in anger, and there was a need to make amends for the intensity of his emotions, the loss of control.

  Tonight was for her, and he took it slowly, employing such incredible gentleness she was on the verge of tears when he slid into her.

  Afterwards, he held her close, his lips buried in her hair as she drifted to sleep.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  NICOS had already left when Katrina entered the kitchen, and she popped bread into the toaster, poured coffee, then she balanced a cup and a plate, tucked the daily newspaper beneath her arm and opted to eat breakfast on the terrace.

  The sun’s warmth was enticing, the air still…a perfect spring morning. Tiny buds were beginning to emerge along the garden borders. Soon, multicoloured impatiens would burst into new life, and the lattice along the back wall would display a tapestry of multicoloured sweet peas.

  Peace and tranquillity, Katrina mused. She bit into her toast, then sipped the hot, sweet black coffee as she skimmed the daily headlines.

  Until she reached the gossip column.

  Which prominent Sydney businessman, recently reconciled with his heiress wife, has been exonerated of fatherhood by DNA testing? The ploy by an ex-mistress to provide herself with a meal ticket has failed due to the success of medical science.

  Nicos? Katrina’s stomach twisted into a painful knot. Following Enrique’s directive yesterday, the reference held too many coincidences for it not to be.

  Dear heaven. She felt sickened as the implications began to sink in.

  She looked blindly out over the landscape, not seeing the superb view, the terraced pool. Her mind was a kaleidoscope of remembered images.

  The nine months between then and now disappeared in a flash. She felt the pain as if it were yesterday.

  Georgia informing her she was pregnant with Nicos’s child. Nicos’s disavowal. Her own disbelief. The arguments. The chilling silences. Followed by Katrina’s decision to leave.

  In seeming slow motion she caught up her plate and cup, the newspaper, and carried them into the kitchen. With automatic movements she rinsed and stacked the dishwasher, then dressed for work.

  She called her office, said she was delayed, and half an hour later she entered the elegant suite of offices Nicos occupied downtown.

  Getting past reception took only the necessary time for the girl behind the desk to buzz his secretary, only to have her offer her personal regrets that Nicos was engaged in an important meeting.

  ‘It’s a matter of urgency.’ Her urgency to discover the truth.

  ‘I’ve been instructed not to disturb Mr Kasoulis under any circumstances.’

  ‘I’ll take the blame,’ Katrina said coolly.

  The boss, or the boss’s wife? Each were irretrievably linked, and she sensed the secretary’s dilemma.

  ‘I’ll tell him you’re here,’ his secretary conceded after a few seconds’ silence, and crossing to the desk she picked up the phone and made the call. Seconds later she replaced the handset. Her expression was carefully composed as she turned back to her boss’s wife. ‘I’ll show you through to Mr Kasoulis’s office. He’ll join you in a few minutes.’

  It was a large corner office, with magnificent views of Port Jackson harbour. Antique furniture, leather buttoned chairs, genuine oil paintings on the walls.

  Katrina crossed to the tinted, floor-to-ceiling plate-glass window, and stood watching a passenger ferry as it headed towards the Manly terminal. A huge tanker lay anchored in the entrance, awaiting a tug-boat to guide it into a designated berth. A peaceful scene that was totally at variance with the turmoil seething beneath the surface of her control.

  The almost silent click of the door closing caused her to turn, and she wore Nicos’s raking appraisal as he closed the distance between them.

  ‘What is it?’

  Katrina felt the knot in her stomach tighten as he reached her side. Oh, hell, just cut to the chase. She slid the newspaper clipping from her jacket pocket, and handed it to him. ‘Read this.’

  He was good, she conceded. There was no change in his physical expression as he scanned the newsprint. Then he crunched it into a ball and tossed it in the direction of a waste-paper basket. ‘For that, you pulled me out of a meeting?’

  ‘I consider it important.’

  Nicos cast her a long, level look that was impossible to read. ‘Of such urgency it couldn’t wait until this evening?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘You want me to confirm it?’

  ‘Yes,’ she stated simply.

  ‘Let me guess,’ Nicos began with marked indolence. ‘Georgia confided in Enrique, who then sold the information to a newspaper contact?’

  ‘Yes,’ Katrina reiterated. Her eyes flashed with long withheld anger. ‘Dammit, you could have told me yourself instead of leaving me to discover facts from a newspaper!’

  ‘When would you have had me confide my intention to have Georgia provide tissue samples for DNA testing, Katrina?’ His voice was pure silk. ‘Should I have introduced it as idle conversation during the few social functions where we accidentally happened to attend at the same time? As Kevin lay dying in hospital? At his funeral?’

  Katrina’s gaze sharpened. ‘You knew Kevin had redrawn his will, incorporating the condition stipulating my control of Macbride.’ The anger began to build, gaining momentum. ‘So you waited. Both of you making the decision to take advantage of a bad situation.’

  ‘Yes.’

  Her eyes sparked green fire. ‘You didn’t have that right!’

  ‘The least I could do for him, and you, was to allow him your total focus, unclouded by other issues which could be resolved—’

  ‘At a later date.’ A cold hand closed around her heart. ‘And if Kevin’s health hadn’t been in jeopardy?’

  His gaze was hard, inflexible, almost dangerous. ‘You doubt I would have told you?’

  She couldn’t be sure. She wanted to be. Desperately, with all her heart.

  Nicos read the momentary indecision, the aching intensity of her emotions. Yet still he waited.

  ‘Do you know what I went through when Georgia confronted me with her pregnancy and named you as the father of her unborn child?’ she demanded.

  ‘At the time, I distinctly recall stating my relationship with Georgia was over long before I met you.’

  She’d chosen not to believe him. ‘You have to admit the evidence seemed weighted against you.’ Dear heaven, the barbs, the innuendo had been very cleverly orchestrated. ‘Georgia provided dates, places, that coincided with your absence.’

  ‘Even given there was any truth in it, do you think I would have been sufficiently foolish not to take precautions against a possible pregnancy?’ he continued relentlessly.

  ‘Prophylactic protection has been known to break.’

  Nicos wanted to wring her slender neck. ‘I gave you my word. It should have been enough.’

  Kevin had believed in him. Why hadn’t she?

  Because Georgia had pressed all the right buttons, she perceived silently. Shock, disbelief, anger had done the rest.

  Anger flared. ‘What did you expect, Nicos? That I’d turn a blind eye? Dammit, my heart felt as if it had been ripped from my body!’

  ‘Did you spare a thought for my reaction?’ His voice dropped to a dangerous softness. ‘Have you tried beating your head against a brick wall, yet make no impression?’

  She was temporarily bereft of speech.

  ‘Do you know how long it took for me to get proof of my innocence? How many legal battles I fought to have Georgia submit to DNA testing during her pregnancy? And failed?’ His features assumed an angry mask. ‘How the legal system forced me to wait until the child was born, and go through the process of a court order to have DNA tissue testing carried out on the child?’

  ‘Just how long have you known the result of the DNA test?’ she demanded.

  ‘Since late yesterday afternoon.’

  He thrust his fists into his trouser pocke
ts in an attempt at control. ‘Georgia’s intention was to latch onto me for child support, and acquire a meal ticket for life. She didn’t care who got in the way. Or who she hurt.’ His eyes were hard, his expression inflexible. ‘It seems the father of the child is a charming playboy living far beyond his means. They set up the scenario together.’

  Her expressive features conveyed more than mere words, unaware he read every emotion.

  ‘You doubt I would leave any stone unturned?’ he queried hardily.

  Katrina stood silent for several seemingly long seconds.

  ‘I have copies of court documents, reports from private detectives, and now the DNA result,’ Nicos explained.

  Nine months of anguish, broken dreams, lonely nights. They had each experienced their own individual hell, caused by a woman whose wicked inability to let go of an ex-lover had damaged their lives and had almost wrecked their marriage.

  To think how close Georgia came to achieving her goal… It made Katrina shudder to even contemplate it.

  ‘I owe you an apology.’ Her voice was stiff, the words almost disjointed.

  His gaze held hers. ‘Are you offering one?’

  A whole gamut of emotions crowded for release. ‘Yes, dammit!’ Oh, hell, she wouldn’t cry. That would be the final humiliation. Her chin tilted as she fought for control. ‘You’re right. Here, now, isn’t the time or place for this.’

  She turned away from him and took two steps towards the door, only to have a hand close over her arm as he pulled her back towards him.

  ‘Oh, no,’ Nicos said with lethal softness. ‘You aren’t going to walk away this time.’

  Her eyes shimmered with unshed tears. ‘What do you want?’

  Her voice broke, and it almost undid him.

  ‘You hold me to blame for using the terms of Kevin’s will?’ he demanded quietly. ‘Taking the opportunity to repair what Georgia had torn apart?’ He waited a few seconds, then pursued her, saying, ‘Proving to you that what we shared was too special to cast aside?’ He released her arm and thrust hands into his trouser pockets so as not to catch hold of her shoulders and shake her.

  ‘I needed for you to see, to feel you’re the only woman in my life. Each time we came together, you had to know it was an act of love. Not just physical sex to scratch an itch.’

  Dear God, she had known. Deep down in a subconscious level, there had been recognition. She should have listened to her instincts, instead of allowing Georgia’s vicious innuendo to take root.

  ‘Except once,’ Nicos revealed darkly. ‘When I hauled you back from the hotel.’ He smote a fist into the palm of his hand, and the explosive sound echoed starkly round the room. ‘I was so angry at yet another legal delay; then to arrive home and discover you gone… I was so close, yet still not close enough to a resolution. To have you openly defy me attacked the barriers of my control.’ He lifted a hand and pushed fingers through his hair. ‘I lost it. And shocked you.’

  ‘No, you overwhelmed me,’ Katrina corrected. ‘You were always the one in control of your emotions. To have you display such a degree of unleashed passion was exciting. Mind-blowing,’ she added. There was nothing left. Not even pride. ‘I loved you so much.’ It was all she had. Words. Yet they came from the depths of her soul.

  Something moved in his eyes, fleetingly, then it was gone. He lifted a hand and brushed his knuckles over her cheek. ‘And now?’

  ‘It never changed,’ she admitted simply.

  ‘Thank you.’ He knew what it cost her to say it.

  He touched the tip of his thumb to her lips, felt them quiver, and offered a faint smile. ‘Was that so hard?’

  ‘Yes.’

  Such honesty, so hard-won. His fingers slid down her throat, caressed the hollow there, then slipped to cup her nape.

  Her mouth was soft, tremulous beneath his own, and he savoured it gently, then took her deep, with such passionate intensity there could be no room for doubt.

  He felt the breath sigh from her throat, caught it, and pulled her in against him until the softness of her body melded to the hardness of his own.

  His hand slid down her back, shaped the firm buttocks, then paused on her thigh, aware of its line, before shifting beneath her skirt.

  The heat of her flesh drove him almost to the edge, and he had no other thought but to divest her clothes, his own, and ravish her here, now, uncaring of time or place.

  He explored the moistness, sent her up and over, then caressed with an expertise that drove her wild.

  It was almost more than she could bear, and her fingers tore at the buttons on his shirt, found the skin she so desperately sought, and moved lower in a feverish craving to touch him as he was stroking her. Until he was past need, beyond hunger.

  Dear heaven, it wasn’t enough. Not nearly enough.

  His mouth left hers, trailed the slim column of her neck, then grazed her throat, nibbling the swollen softness of her lower lip before plundering at will.

  Katrina became lost, so caught up with him, she was hardly aware he had dragged his mouth from hers until she registered the insistent buzz of the in-house phone.

  ‘Kasoulis.’ His voice was hard, inflexible, and she swayed slightly, then moved back a step.

  Only to have him circle her wrist and hold her still.

  His eyes never left hers, and she felt her own widen as she took in his dishevelled clothes, the state of her usually immaculate business suit.

  ‘Reschedule, please. Tomorrow afternoon.’

  Katrina could imagine his secretary’s response.

  ‘I don’t give a damn what excuse you offer.’

  Nicos listened, then cut in, ‘The deal is more important to them than it is to me. They’ll concede.’ He cut the connection.

  Katrina tried for calm, and failed miserably. ‘I should go.’

  ‘We are.’ He brushed light fingers over her breasts, lingered, then reluctantly tended to the buttons on her blouse.

  With deft movements he redid his own buttons, tucked his shirt back into his trousers, and straightened his tie.

  His mouth curved into a lazy smile. ‘Somewhere with no interruptions.’

  ‘But you have an important meeting—’

  ‘I just cancelled.’

  A witching glimmer of humour danced in her eyes. ‘So you did.’

  He kissed her briefly, a swift, evocative gesture that didn’t begin to satisfy.

  Katrina watched as Nicos negotiated the traffic, aware of him to a heightened degree. His male scent, the faint tang of his cologne.

  He possessed an elemental sexuality that stirred her senses to fever pitch. Primitive, raw, and wholly mesmeric, it had the power to turn her into a willing wanton woman, shameless, libidinous, and totally his.

  ‘A hotel?’

  ‘You want to shock Sofia and Andre?’

  She shot him a mischievous smile. ‘I guess not.’

  Katrina slid from the passenger seat as Nicos handed the car over to a porter, and she entered the spacious lobby, admired a magnificent floral arrangement as Nicos checked in, then entered the lift at his side.

  Could the other occupants sense the shimmering passion? It was all she could do not to reach out and touch him.

  There were words she longed to say, but they could wait. What they wanted, needed, from each other, could not.

  Nicos drew her into the suite, fixed the do-not-disturb sign, locked the door, then drew her into his arms.

  His mouth closed over hers with a hunger she met and matched, their hands busy as they discarded each layer of clothing, until there was the warmth and intimacy of skin on skin.

  Heat and passion, desire and hunger. Wild ravaging need.

  Now.

  It was a silent language two lovers shared, and a groan escaped her throat as he lifted her high, then slid into her with one powerful thrust, his hands caging her hips.

  Katrina flung back her head, exultant in his possession, and she simply held on as he captured her breast, teasi
ng the tender peak until she cried out for mercy. Only to have him ravish its twin.

  Her hands slid to his shoulders, then moved up to hold fast his head as she brought it to her own in a kiss that mirrored the sexual act itself.

  It was a turbulent coupling, and she gasped as he took her deep, only to withdraw and take her again, long slow movements to maximise her pleasure.

  She sensed the moment he was at the brink of losing control, and she joined him as they tipped over the edge, his husky groan mingling with her own in a climax that left them both shuddering their release.

  He held her close, nuzzling the sensitive skin at the edge of her neck until the raggedness of their breathing slowed and evened out.

  Then he carried her into the bathroom, filled the spa-bath, and lifted her into the pulsating water before retreating to the bar fridge for champagne.

  Katrina sipped the chilled contents of her flute as he stepped in to sit facing her.

  ‘Salute.’ He touched the rim of her flute with his own, and her lips parted in a winsome smile.

  She felt almost in awe of the entire gamut of emotions invading her senses. There was love, its strength and tenure overwhelming. An intense awareness there could be no one else, ever, capable of taking his place in her heart.

  It was a knowledge imprinted in her soul. Inviolate.

  Nicos lifted a hand and trailed light fingers across her cheek, watched her eyes dilate as he traced the outline of her generous mouth.

  Her lips parted, soft and slightly swollen beneath his touch.

  ‘Thank you.’

  One eyebrow lifted slightly. ‘For what, precisely?’

  Her eyes were the darkest green, and incredibly eloquent. ‘You,’ she said simply. His tenacity, everything that made him the man he was. To consider, even for a moment, that he might have let her walk away filled her with pain.

  ‘You’re mine,’ Nicos said gently. ‘No other woman comes close to you.’

  It hurt unbearably that she had doubted him. Yet the purported facts had been damning, at the time his denial beyond proof. And Georgia had been very convincing. Such incredible lengths Nicos’s former mistress had gone to destroy a marriage.