by Lynne Graham
When the curiosity, the unanswered questions and the need to know whether or not they had a problem rose to a critical level, Leo refused to wait to hear from Grace any longer. He gave his driver her address and compressed his lips, annoyed that Grace was forcing him to confront her. How could he walk away and hope for the best? How could he possibly risk marrying Marina without knowing for sure? The answer to both questions was that Leo could not ignore the situation, being all too well aware of the likely repercussions should Grace prove to be pregnant. On a deeper level, however, Leo could simply not believe that his legendary good fortune with women would crash and burn over something as basic as a sperm and an egg meeting in the wrong womb.
An hour later, Leo was considerably less naïve, having struck a blank at Grace’s former address. The frigid blonde in her forties who accepted his business card changed her attitude a little once she noticed his limousine and became more helpful but Leo still couldn’t get away fast enough. He really wanted nothing to do with a woman who had thrown out the mother of his future child—a phrase with a shocking depth he could not quite digest at that moment—like some pantomime little match girl and who had earlier in the dialogue referred witheringly to Grace in unjust terms that had implied she was some high-living veteran slut.
Thee mou, he was going to be a father...whether he liked it or not. Leo breathed in slow and deep, traumatised by the concept, and rang Marina straight away.
‘Oh, dear,’ Marina sighed with what he rather suspected was bogus sympathy. ‘That rather tops my misbehaviour with my married man, doesn’t it? What do you want to do?’
‘We’ll meet up and talk.’
‘No, I suspect that right now you need to be doing that with the baby’s mother, not with me,’ Marina remarked heavily. ‘What a ghastly mess, Leo!’
Leo ground his teeth together but there was nothing he could say in his own defence. He felt as though his smooth, perfectly organised life had been violently derailed without warning. Were all his carefully laid plans about his future domestic life to come to nothing now because his contraception had let him down? he questioned bitterly. He swore under his breath and gave the driver the second address he had acquired while wondering exactly who Matt Davison was and what his connection was to Grace. It was not that he was possessive, of course, it was solely the unpleasant awareness that Grace Donovan was very probably going to be the mother of his first child and the nature of her character mattered much more now than it had the night they had met.
Was he already travelling down the destructive path his father had trodden before him? His bitterness hardened. No, he was not going to marry one woman for her wealth while another, poorer one carried his child and thankfully love didn’t enter the picture in any way. Anatole Zikos had married Leo’s mother while loving his mistress and had never conquered that craving. Leo prided himself on being infinitely more down-to-earth and less emotional than his father. While his situation with Grace might be starting out as a mess, he would swiftly organise the threatening chaos into something more acceptable that both he and Grace could live with.
Grace was humming under her breath while she cooked supper, grateful that the smell of the chicken and vegetables didn’t stir up nausea the way the scent of anything fried seemed to do. At least her studies hadn’t started yet. She was at the start of a reading week, set aside for home study.
The doorbell went and she wondered if Matt had forgotten his key. Her friend’s parents had died when he was eighteen, leaving him with the means to buy his own apartment. She was comfortable living in Matt’s guest room but, concerned that she was taking advantage of his good nature, she had taken over the cooking and the cleaning to demonstrate her appreciation of his hospitality.
Barefoot, she padded out to the hall, a slim, casually clad figure in skinny jeans and a striped navy and white sweater, her vibrant long hair restrained in a braid that hung halfway down her back.
‘Leo...’ she pronounced numbly, shattered to find the leading character in her daydreams in the flesh on the doorstep.
‘Why didn’t you answer my text?’
‘I’m afraid I didn’t have an answer for you at the time.’
Leo was so close to Grace that he could tell she was wearing no make-up and the sheer glow of her creamy cheeks and bright pale green eyes knocked him flat. She was even more beautiful than he remembered and a fleeting memory of her pale hands stroking down over his stomach gripped him, resulting in a stirringly strong surge of lust that he very much could have done without.
‘Your aunt threw you out.’
‘So, that’s how you found out where I was living! My uncle came to see me the day before yesterday. He asked me to come home with him but I don’t want to cause trouble between them, so I can’t,’ Grace admitted, distinctly overpowered by Leo’s proximity because she wasn’t wearing heels and without them Leo towered over her, all broad shoulders and long powerful legs, arrogant dark head tipped back to gaze down at her. And looking up at that moment seemed a definite mistake because his brilliant dark golden eyes were framed by black curling lashes as long and striking as any she had ever seen on a man. He had absolutely gorgeous eyes that froze her to the spot and made her stare while her heart rate accelerated, her mouth ran dry and a knot of undeniable excitement tightened and then unfurled in her chest.
It’s just attraction, you dummy, she scolded herself a split second later, her skin already cooling with dismay at the strength of her reaction to him. But Leo Zikos was an extraordinarily handsome man and it was hardly surprising that she was reacting to that reality, particularly when she had already slept with him and knew that below his business suit he was even more incredibly fanciable and impressive than he was clothed. That last inappropriate thought struck Grace with such effect and so much embarrassment and self-loathing that her pale skin flamed scarlet, mortified heat crawling over her entire skin surface.
‘I’ve never seen anyone blush that deeply,’ Leo confided in wonderment, watching the flush trail down her long white throat and dapple that fine skin with a warmer colour.
‘You’re supposed to pretend you didn’t notice, not embarrass me about it further,’ Grace told him roundly. ‘I used to go through agonies blushing when I was a kid. It’s the fault of my fair skin—it’s very conspicuous.’
Leo didn’t know where the conversation had gone, but then he hadn’t come with a prepared script, and as she strolled back into the kitchen to tend a steaming wok a key sounded in the front door and someone else arrived. Leo wheeled round to inspect a fresh-faced young man in his twenties with brown hair and bright blue eyes behind earnest spectacles.
‘Matt...meet Leo,’ Grace said quietly.
‘Oh, right...er...’ The hapless Matt managed to smile at Grace and then deal Leo a very different look of angry disapproval. ‘Of course, you’ll want to talk. Take him to the living room. I’ll take charge of whatever you’re cooking.’
‘Thanks, Matt,’ Grace said comfortably, pressing open a door off the hall and waving a guiding hand in Leo’s direction.
Leo’s talent had always been reading other people and he clearly saw Matt’s suppressed hostility and Grace’s complete unawareness of it and probably of its most likely source.
‘What’s Matt to you?’ Leo asked the instant Grace closed the door.
‘A good friend...and thank goodness for him. At such short notice the university couldn’t find me decent accommodation anywhere but a hostel, so I was grateful for Matt’s invite,’ Grace proffered truthfully. ‘Matt and I are on the same course.’
‘Why did your family throw you out?’ Leo enquired baldly, stationing himself by the window of the small room, which was cluttered with books, many of them lying half-open.
Grace gave him a wry glance. ‘I think you already know why.’
‘But that news should have come from you directly to
me,’ Leo told her grimly. ‘I had a right to know first!’
‘And perhaps you would’ve done were we in a relationship,’ Grace countered quietly. ‘But since we’re not, the situation is rather different.’
Even greater tension filled Leo, stiffening the muscles in his broad shoulders, his clean-cut strong jawline hardening at her stubborn reminder of facts he considered to be more destructive than helpful. ‘If you’re pregnant, we definitely have a relationship,’ he contradicted.
Grace wrinkled her nose. ‘Well, I am having your baby,’ she conceded reluctantly. ‘But we don’t have to have any kind of a relationship!’
‘And how do you work that out?’ Leo gritted, becoming steadily more annoyed by her dismissive attitude.
‘I can manage fine on my own. I’m very independent,’ Grace informed him. ‘I’ll continue with my studies, hopefully have the baby during the Easter term break and give it up for adoption.’
‘Adoption?’ Leo was thoroughly disconcerted and stunned by her solution, that being a possibility he hadn’t even considered. ‘You’re planning to have our child adopted?’
Grace pleated her slender fingers together to conceal the fact that her hands were trembling while she battled to tamp down her distress. ‘I know it won’t be an easy decision to make when the time comes, Leo. I don’t want to give my child up but I was brought up by a single parent until I was nine years old and my mother really did struggle to meet the demands of that role.’
‘But—’ Leo clamped his lips shut on an instinctive protest while he fought to master emotions he had never felt before. Of course her reference to adoption had taken him very much by surprise. Even so, the very thought of never knowing his own child and not even having the right to see him or her genuinely appalled Leo. Even his own instinctive rejection of her proposition was a revelation that shocked him. ‘I don’t think I could approve that option.’
‘As far as I know you don’t legally have any say in the matter,’ Grace retorted in an apologetic rather than challenging tone. ‘Only married fathers have those kinds of rights.’
‘Then I’ll marry you.’
Grace groaned at that knee-jerk reaction. ‘Don’t be silly, Leo. Strangers don’t get married.’
Leo lifted his dark head high and surveyed her with glittering golden eyes that were mesmeric in their intensity. ‘I don’t care how we go about it but while you may not want our child, I do and I am prepared to raise that child, should that become necessary.’
It was Grace’s turn to be thrown off balance and she paled. ‘When it comes to my preferences, it’s not a matter of my wanting or not wanting the baby...it’s much more a matter of what I can offer my child and how best I could meet my child’s needs. And the truth is that as a student with no home of my own or current earning power, I’ve got very little to offer.’
‘While I on the other hand have a great deal to offer and could help you in any way necessary,’ Leo cut in succinctly. ‘And in the short term I think it would be best if you came to live in my London apartment.’
‘Your apartment?’ Grace echoed in disbelief. ‘Why on earth would I move into your apartment?’
‘Because that’s my baby you’re carrying and I intend to be fully involved in giving you whatever support you need until our child is born,’ Leo declared without hesitation.
‘I’m perfectly comfortable here with Matt.’ Grace groaned, her brow tightening with stress because Leo was saying things and offering options she had not anticipated and she had already spent several days anxiously worrying over her alternatives before coming to the conclusion that adoption was the most sensible answer to all her concerns. Now Leo was demanding a share of that responsibility and complicating the situation with his own ideas.
‘Staying here with Matt is unwise,’ Leo murmured drily.
‘In what way? He’s a very good friend.’
‘But that’s not all he wants to be,’ Leo incised. ‘Matt is in love with you.’
Grace was aghast. ‘That’s complete nonsense!’
‘A friend would be relieved when the father of your child arrived to take an interest in your predicament. But a would-be lover feels threatened and annoyed and that’s what he is,’ Leo spelled out impatiently. ‘You’re not stupid, Grace. Your very good friend wants you living here with him because he’s in love with you.’
‘That’s completely untrue.’ Strikingly taken aback by his contention, Grace turned away in an uncoordinated half-circle. She was picturing Matt, his behaviour and his caring ways while wondering if it was possible that she could have been so blind that she had not noticed the depth of his feelings for her. ‘What would you know about it anyway?’
‘I only know what I saw in his face once he realised who I was,’ Leo said grimly. ‘You’re really not doing him any favours staying on here...unless of course you’re planning on returning his feelings?’
‘Er...that would be a no,’ Grace muttered guiltily while recognising the terrible unwelcome truth in Leo’s arguments. If it was true that Matt wanted more than friendship from her, it was equally true that there was no prospect of her offering it. The intensity of her attraction to Leo had concluded for ever any prospect of her trying to make more of her relationship with Matt. From the instant Leo had taught her of her own capacity to feel so much more mentally and physically than she had ever dreamt she could feel, her former conviction that she and Matt would make a great couple had died.
‘Then move into my apartment where you will not be under pressure,’ Leo advised softly.
Grace wanted to slap Leo for cutting through all her possible protests by employing the one credible argument calculated to make her think again. Matt spent a lot of time with her. Matt was always there for her, eternally helping her and discussing her worries, but she was doing Matt a disservice by living with him if he was hoping for more than friendship from her. In that scenario the sooner she got out of Matt’s home and put some distance between them, the better, she reasoned guiltily.
‘When?’
‘I see no point in wasting time. Why not now? You can’t have that much stuff to pack. You’ve only been here a couple of days,’ he pointed out smoothly, reining back any hint of satisfaction in his demeanour.
Matt was threatening to get involved in a situation that was none of his business and Leo wanted him eliminated before he interfered and caused trouble.
Waiting in the small reception room, he listened to Matt raise his voice and Grace mute hers as she explained that she was moving out. The mother of his child, historically not a happy role in his family experience, but if adoption was in the offing he needed to come up with a viable alternative. Grace hadn’t even paused to consider the idea when he’d suggested marrying her. Cynical amusement filled Leo because he was too clever to cherish illusions about what made him so appealing to the female sex in general: first and foremost his great wealth followed by his looks and his sexual prowess. Yet Grace had thumbed her nose at that winning combination, doing what no other woman had done before in rejecting him. Although she had not rejected him the night when it all began, Leo savoured with an appreciation that was yet to pall in spite of the news he had received earlier.
A battered suitcase, two boxes of files and a pile of books now littered the hall. Matt insisted on helping them transport Grace’s possessions out to the waiting limousine and Leo’s driver climbed out in consternation to whisk the case out of his employer’s grip while two of his bodyguards grabbed up the boxes.
‘Look after her...don’t hurt her,’ Matt breathed in a charged and warning undertone before Leo could climb into his limousine.
‘I won’t,’ Leo countered, his accented drawl curt and cool, his ego challenged by the tone of that advice.
‘I can’t believe I’m doing this,’ Grace lamented, because she was already suffering second thou
ghts. Leo had extracted her from Matt’s flat at the speed of light.
‘Right now, you need time out to decide what you want to do next,’ Leo told her levelly. ‘A few days...a few weeks, whatever it takes. You shouldn’t be trying to make life-changing decisions virtually overnight.’
‘You don’t want me to go for adoption?’ Grace said, her slim frame tensing, her fingers folding together tightly on her lap.
‘Adoption entails you cutting me out of the situation entirely. Why would you want to do that?’ Leo queried softly. ‘I am willing to help in every way possible. There are other options and I think you should consider them.’
Grace breathed in slow and deep, fighting the sense that he was putting her on the spot because she knew that was unjust. She was in a highly stressful situation and any decision she made would put her under pressure. ‘This year of my degree I have to spend a lot of time working long unsocial hours in hospitals. Coping with that while pregnant will be a challenge.’
‘We can find some way to work around the problems. I’ve made an appointment for you with a doctor, who’s a friend of mine,’ Leo told her quietly. ‘We’re calling in with him first—’
‘A doctor? Why, for goodness’ sake?’ Grace demanded impatiently.
‘I want confirmation of your pregnancy and the reassurance that you are in good health,’ he admitted quietly.
Grace breathed in deep, suppressing her frustration. He had a right to that official endorsement, she reasoned ruefully.