More than a Convenient Marriage?

by Dani Collins

  A screen door creaked, drawing his glance. Pressure filled his chest as Adara appeared on the veranda and lifted a somber hand.

  He didn’t deserve her or any of this, but he’d do anything to keep it.

  * * *

  Adara’s emotions were all over the place and that look of intense determination on Gideon’s face as he looked up at her gave her a chill near her heart. He seemed so ruthless in that second, exactly as her mother had just accused him of being. She could clearly see the man who’d said, Whatever it took, I had to amass some wealth and take control over my destiny.

  But maybe her vision was colored by everything she was dealing with. When she started down the stairs, he met her at the bottom, his scowl deepening as he took in her red, puffy eyes. His arm was tender as he crooked it around her and drew her into his solid presence.

  “Pretty rough, huh?”

  She began to shake. Until the last few weeks, she’d had to keep her sorrows or worries inside her where they ate like acid. Now she had Gideon. Her mother was so wrong about him. He wasn’t cold and heartless like her father. Not at all.

  “Can we stay out here a few minutes? I feel like I haven’t had air in weeks.” Not that the summer heat held much oxygen, but he obliged, ambling beside her as she took a turn around the pond. “This would have been a great place to grow up if my father had bought this earlier. And things had been different,” she mused, imagining a swing set and a sandbox.

  “If Nic had been your father’s, you mean?”

  Adara choked on a harsh laugh, voice breaking as she said, “Mom asked me if this baby was yours.” Her hand moved to protectively cover their unborn child’s ears. “What prospective grandmother has that as a first reaction?”

  “I don’t have any doubt he or she is mine,” Gideon said with quiet resolution. “But even if you told me right now that it wasn’t, I’d stay right here and work through it with you.”

  Adara checked her step, startled, thinking again, whatever it took... “You wouldn’t be angry?”

  “I’d be angry as hell, but I wouldn’t take it out on you and the baby the way your father tortured you and your mother. I wouldn’t push you out of my life to fend for yourself, either.”

  The way his mother had had to make her own way. Adara’s surprise and apprehension softened to understanding. He might have a streak of single-mindedness, but there was a marshmallow center under his hard shell.

  “You’re a bigger person than me. Maybe it’s the miscarriages and fear of infidelity talking, but I don’t know if I could stay married if you had a baby with someone else.”

  “You’re not sure you want to stay married, as it is, and the only woman having my baby is you.”

  Adara pivoted away from that and continued walking, startled by the shaft of fear his light challenge pierced into her. It would seem her ability to dissemble around him was completely gone. He knew every thought in her head, every hesitation in her heart.

  “My mother said she’d understand if it wasn’t yours,” Adara said with a sheared edge on her tone, recalling how that conversation had spun into directions she hadn’t anticipated any better than this one. Holding on to her composure had been nearly impossible as her mother had tried to find parallels in their two lives. “My parents had had a fight and the engagement was off. That’s why she slept with Nic’s dad. Olief was a journalist flying back to Europe. She had a layover. It was just a rebound thing. The sort of affair all her flight attendant friends were having. Then my father called and the wedding was back on.”

  “Even though she knew she was pregnant?”

  “I guess paternity could have gone either way. She loved my father so she married him and deluded herself into believing Nic was his.”

  At least you’re not in love with your husband. I’ve always been proud of you for having that much sense, but children are a mistake, Adara. You have no idea how much power a man has over you once babies enter the picture.

  Adara had recoiled from her mother’s words, finding it distasteful to be accused of having no feelings for Gideon even though that had been her goal for most of her marriage.

  “I wanted her to be happy for us and she just took off on a bitter rant about my father.” Hearing her mother refer to her grandchild as a “mistake” had been the greatest blow of all. Her entire childhood, void as it had been of parental pride and joy, had crawled out from under the bed, grim and dark and ready to swallow her.

  “She’s sick,” Gideon reminded her.

  “I know, but—” But you lied to him, she had wanted to say. Maybe her father wouldn’t have twisted into such a cruel man if his wife had been honest from the start.

  There was no use trying to change her mother at this point though. Challenging her, arguing and judging, were incredibly misplaced. Her mother wasn’t just sick, she was dying.

  “We’ll do better by our child,” Gideon vowed, pausing to turn her into him. He lifted her hand to graze his lips across the backs of her fingers. The ring he’d given her yesterday winked at her.

  At the same time, his eyes held a somber rebuke. Gideon was a patient man, but this time he wasn’t going to let her avoid his silent question. Even as she absorbed his earnest statement, her mother’s voice whispered again, You have no idea how much power a man has over you once babies enter the picture.

  But she wasn’t her mother. There weren’t any lies between her and Gideon. The secrets and recriminations that had surrounded her growing up, forcing her to close off her heart out of self-protection, were old news. Their child, unpolluted by any of that, gave her a chance to love cleanly and openly.

  This fresh start with this man, who already stirred her so deeply, was a chance to build a truly happy life. If she dared believe she was entitled to it and opened herself to letting it happen. It was a huge leap of faith, but she’d taken one in marrying him at all. Maybe she was putting her heart at deep risk, but again and again he’d proven himself to be a man she could trust.

  “We will, won’t we?” she said in quiet promise.

  Relief and a flicker of deeper emotion was quickly transformed into his predominant mask of arrogant confidence. For a second, he’d seemed moved, which made her heart trip, but now he was his typical conqueror self, nearly smug with triumph—which was familiar and oddly endearing, making her want to laugh and ignore her old self trying to warn her that she might be giving up too much too quickly.

  But if she had a soupy, awed look on her face, he wore one of fierce tenderness.

  “You’re so beautiful.” The kiss he bent to steal was as reverent and sweet as it was hard and possessive.

  Her lips clung to his as he drew away.

  “Don’t get ideas,” he chided, breaking contact from her look of invitation. “We’re cut off until you deliver.”

  “That’s you being overcautious. Karen didn’t say we couldn’t.” She was still aggravated that they’d shared a bed last night but hadn’t made love. She was nervous about doing anything to jeopardize her pregnancy, but they’d been making love without consequence until now.

  “Karen doesn’t know how insatiable we are once we get started. Just do me a favor and don’t make this harder than it is.”

  “Pun intended?” She drifted her gaze down his front to the bulge behind his fly.

  “This is going to be a very long pregnancy.” He gritted his teeth, making her laugh as he guided her inside for an early dinner before driving home.

  CHAPTER TEN

  AFTER YEARS OF being the one who micromanaged to ensure everything met her father’s impossible standards, Adara was forced to let go and trust others to pull off top-notch work with minimal input. It wasn’t easy, but she eased up and was pleasantly surprised by her very efficient teams. Despite her working from home for months, only checking in electronically, they were
managing great things without her.

  Staying away from the office had a drawback, however. Moving through the ballroom decorated in fall colors of gold, crimson and burnt umber, she couldn’t help congratulating people on putting together a brilliant event to celebrate the Makricosta chain’s thirty-fifth anniversary. They all reacted with great surprise and when Adara met up with Connie, a woman she’d worked closely with for years, she realized why.

  Connie rocked back on her four-inch heels. “Wow, I’ve never seen a woman as pregnant as you act so happy and outgoing. When I got that big, I was a complete cow.”

  “Oh, I...” Adara didn’t know what to say. Had her personality been frozen for so many years that a bit of friendly warmth was remarkable? Or was she really as big as she felt?

  “That’s meant as a compliment,” Connie rushed to say, glancing with horror at Adara’s guardian angel, Gideon.

  They’d learned to give each other space in the confines of the penthouse as they worked from home, but tonight he was right beside her, his ripped masculinity nearly bursting out of his tuxedo. He didn’t complain about their abstinence nearly as much as she did, but he spent a lot of time expending sexual energy in the weight room. It showed, making his presence all the more electric, while Adara’s insecurity ballooned to match her figure.

  “It’s true,” he said with a disturbing slide of his hand beneath the fall of her hair. His touch settled in a light, caressing clasp on the back of her neck, making her follicles tighten. “The pregnancy glow isn’t a myth. You’re gorgeous.”

  “I look like the Queen Mary,” Adara sputtered. Her reports from Karen continued to be good, and weight gain was to be expected, but playing dress-up for this evening hadn’t been as fun as it used to be. Her hair had developed kinks, she was too puffy for her rings and wearing heels was out of the question. Growing shorter and pudgier while her husband grew hotter and sleeker was demoralizing. All her excitement in having a date night deflated.

  “I only meant that you seem very happy. When are you due?” Connie prompted.

  Adara couldn’t help brightening at the topic of delivering a healthy baby, her misgivings from early in the pregnancy dispelled by her baby’s regular jabs and the closing in of her due date. Nowadays her fears were the natural ones of any mother, most specifically that her water would break while she was in public.

  But a few minutes later, when Gideon interjected, “We should start the dancing,” and guided her toward the floor, her self-consciousness returned. He must have felt her tension. As he took her in his arms, he chided, “Are you genuinely worried about how you look? Because I was being sincere. You’re stunning.”

  Biting off another self-deprecating remark, she chose to be truthful. “We haven’t been going out much, so I guess I wasn’t expecting so many stunned expressions at how huge I am. And look around, Gideon. Wait, don’t. There are far too many women with teensy waistlines and long legs and—”

  “None with breasts like yours. Do you think I’ve looked anywhere but down your dress tonight? Unless it’s at your lips. You’re not wearing lipstick, are you? That’s all you, ripe and pouty and pink. You’re sexy as hell.”

  Said lips parted in surprise. Everything seemed to taste funny these days, lipstick included, so she’d opted for a flavorless lip balm and yes, had noted that even her lips looked fat. She might have bit them together in an attempt to hide them, but his wolfish fixation on her mouth sent tendrils of delight through her.

  With a little moue she said, “Really? You’re not just saying that?”

  With a low growl, he stopped dancing and claimed her mouth with his own.

  The kiss was devastating, making her knees want to fold so he had to tighten his hold on her, shifting her to an angle to accommodate her bump. That tilted her head just enough to seal their lips with erotic perfection.

  He didn’t keep it to a quick punctuation to prove a point, either. Adara put up a hand to the side of his head, thinking, People are watching, but he gave her tongue a wicked tag and she couldn’t help letting the kiss deepen and continue.

  Oh, this man could kiss.

  A cleared throat brought her back to reality with a thunk that she felt all the way into the flats of her feet. A woman’s amused Irish lilt said, “Don’t interrupt them. They’re adorable.”

  “Nic,” Adara breathed in recognition of her older brother and his wife, growing hot with embarrassment as she realized what a show they’d been putting on. “Hi, Rowan. It didn’t sound like you’d make it.”

  Her brother and his wife were beyond star power, Nic in a tuxedo and Rowan showing off her lithe dancer’s body with an off-the-shoulder figure-hugging green gown.

  “Evie got over her cold and we wanted to see you again,” Rowan said.

  Nic leaned in to kiss Adara’s cheek before he shook hands with Gideon.

  Something passed between the two men that she couldn’t quite interpret and didn’t get a chance to study. Having kept up via webcam, she and Rowan had become tight friends and that gave them plenty to talk about. The rest of the evening passed in a blur of catching up while also going through the routine of photo ops and speeches for the anniversary celebration, partaking of the buffet, and finally returning to the penthouse exhausted but still keyed up.

  “That went well, don’t you think?” she asked Gideon as she removed her earrings. They were enchanting cascades of diamonds commissioned to match her ring. She’d almost ruined her makeup when he’d presented them to her before they’d left earlier in the evening, she was so affected by his thoughtfulness.

  Gideon made a noncommittal noise.

  “No?” she prompted, alarmed that he might have noticed a flaw she’d missed.

  “Hmm? No, it was fine. Perfect. Excellent. I’m a bit distracted. Look, you get ready for bed and I’ll be in soon. I’d like a nightcap.”

  “Oh. Okay.” Adara’s startled confusion was evident, but Gideon didn’t attempt to explain himself.

  He breathed a small sigh of relief as she disappeared and didn’t see the full measure of bracing whiskey he poured for himself or the rabid way he drained it. Despite the burn that promised forgetfulness, he wasn’t able to stop replaying his conversation with her brother.

  “I’d like a word,” Nic had said when both their wives had been drawn across the room by some fashion marvel.

  “Now is fine,” Gideon had said, keeping one eye on Adara, premonition tightening his muscles.

  “Understand first that I’ve always felt protective of Adara, even when the only thing she had to fear was a nightmare. Knowing what I abandoned her to, I’m sick with myself for not trying to contact her sooner. I’ll be on guard for her the rest of my life.”

  “Reassuring,” Gideon had muttered.

  “The way you two were arguing at the end of my driveway wasn’t,” Nic retorted sharply. “When you first arrived in Greece. Not reassuring at all.”

  Gideon knew better than to show weakness, but he flinched involuntarily. “I thought she was meeting another man. Tell me how you would react if you thought your wife was stepping out on you.”

  “She wouldn’t. But...” Nic shrugged, seeming to accept the explanation for Gideon’s temper that day. “Regardless, I’m a man who collects the facts before he reacts.”

  Gideon had spilled a dry laugh at that point, enjoying the euphemistic phrase “collects the facts.” “You mean you had me investigated.”

  “I don’t have to hire people to do my legwork,” Nic said disparagingly.

  “No,” Gideon snorted, wishing for a drink at that point. He’d known from the outset that Nic could be a threat, but he hadn’t expected this. Not now when he and Adara had both found such happiness. “What did you learn?” He surreptitiously braced himself.

  “What do you think I learned?” Nic asked, narrowing his eyes.
“Nothing. Which doesn’t surprise you, does it?”

  “Of course it does,” he’d lied. “I’m all over the internet.”

  “Gideon Vozaras is,” Nic agreed. “He’s never made a wrong move. Some of his early business dealings weren’t as clean as they could have been, but that’s every scrappy young man trying to make his mark. Those men don’t usually appear out of thin air, though.”

  Gideon had calmly stropped his knuckles on his jaw, trying to disguise that he was clenching his teeth. “I’m fairly protective of Adara myself, you know.” He flashed a glance from her laughing face to the vague resemblance of her features in her brother’s rigid expression.

  The other man wasn’t intimidated, but there was a watchful respect. He didn’t take the danger of Gideon’s temper lightly.

  “I can see that things between you are different from the way they first appeared,” Nic said. “But secrets destroyed my life. I won’t let that happen to Adara.”

  “It’s not secrets that destroy. It’s the exposing of them. You really want to do that to her when she’s found the first bit of happiness she’s known since you were children?” He jerked his chin toward the circle of women where Adara was holding court with a flush of pleasure on her face, allowing another woman to feel the baby kick. “Think about what you’re doing, Nic.”

  “No, you think about it,” Nic had retorted sharply. “Do you want to make it easy and give me a name? Tell her yourself before I get there? Because I will.”

  “You want a name? Start with Delphi Parnassus and happy reading.” He’d bit out the words and smoothly extricated his wife from the party, claiming she needed her rest.

  “Gideon? Are you all right?” Adara asked him, yanking him back to the apartment where she stood in the bedroom doorway, face clean of makeup. Her hair was brushed into sleek waves. She wore one of his silk shirts, the front crossed over her bulging tummy and pinned by her folded arms. Her bump shortened the shirt, offering such a tantalizing view to the tops of her thighs, he reacted like a drug had been injected into his loins.