by Jennie Lucas
Xerxes Novros stared at him for a moment.
Then with a nod, he signed the papers with a flourish.
“You gave in too easily,” the man said, handing the contract back to Rafael with an insolent grin. “I would have accepted less money for the property in Paris.”
Rafael took the signed contract and put it in his safe. “And I would have sold this house for a single euro.”
The other man stared at him, then snorted. “So we’ve both done well, then.” He lifted his chin, looking around the study. “How long will it take your people to get your possessions out of my house?”
“A week.”
“Fine.” Novros rose to his feet, then stopped at the door. “I suppose your little housekeeper is the mistress you took to my island?”
Rafael tensed. It irritated him that the man guessed that—and that he’d even noticed Louisa! “You find that so hard to believe?”
“Not now that I’ve seen her.” Novros paused, then said evenly, “Just be careful.”
“What?”
“With her history.”
Rafael stared at him. Novros knew something about Louisa that he, Rafael, did not? “What about it?” he bit out.
“Do you not know? Your Miss Grey used to work for a friend of mine in Miami. She lured him on, got an engagement ring out of him by keeping him out of her bed. Then when he started to lose interest, she invited her younger sister to come stay with them. The sister immediately seduced him into her bed. He was so sex-starved, he didn’t even think to use a condom. She got pregnant, as they’d planned, and the man felt he was honor-bound to marry her.” An admiring grin spread across his lips. “It was quite a clever plan, really.”
A cold chill went down Rafael’s spine.
“I’m just telling you this,” Novros said casually, “from one free bachelor to another. Be careful.”
Rafael felt cold. Then hot.
This was Louisa’s secret? This was the big mystery of her past? Something so sordid—and clichéd—as gold diggers getting their hands into wealthy men by deliberately trapping them with a pregnancy?
He sucked in his breath as he remembered calling to check Louisa’s references. Of course her employer’s wife had given Louisa an excellent reference. The woman he’d spoken with was her sister!
“Get her pregnant, and she’ll play you for a fool,” Novros said lazily. He stroked the polished wood of the door frame thoughtfully. “She did do excellent work overseeing this house. A very clever girl—and beautiful to boot. Send her to me, won’t you, when you’re tired of her?”
After the man left, Rafael sat still at his desk, staring blankly at the wallpaper across the study.
Louisa had said she was on the Pill. He’d blindly believed her. He’d told himself Louisa Grey would never tell a lie. He, who trusted no woman, had trusted her!
Cold rage slowly built up inside him. Was everything Novros had said true? Had Louisa been trying to become pregnant?
She’d had ample opportunity. He hadn’t used a condom in Greece, either. In fact, she could already be pregnant now.
Placing his hands on his desk, he pushed himself to his feet. He took a deep breath, briefly closing his eyes as he clenched his fists. Then he went out into the garden.
He found Dominique waiting for him in the moonlight, pouting and smiling.
“Darling, I’ve been waiting for you for so long,” she purred. She shimmied toward him in her tiny gold dress. She reached up her arms, barely able to reach his shoulders as she gave a seductive laugh. “It took you so long.”
Coldly he pushed her away.
“Go home, Dominique,” he said. “The party is over.”
And leaving the pampered French starlet gaping behind him, he strode toward the terrace, where he saw the source of his desire, his suffering and his fury. Louisa.
Chapter Five
COLORFUL paper lanterns swung across the trees in the breeze, illuminating the dark garden above the black shimmer of the Bosphorus far below as Louisa cleaned the dishes from the terrace.
Dessert was over. Most of the guests had swiftly disappeared, returning to their rented villas or to nearby hotels, gorgeous women and wealthy men pairing off, seduced by each other and the exotic sensuality of Istanbul.
Louisa looked up when she heard a trill of low, feminine laughter. Dominique Lepetit’s laughter. She heard the murmur of Rafael’s low voice in answer.
For a moment, Louisa stared out blindly into the night. She blinked back cold tears beneath the cool breeze of wind coming off the water.
Then with a deep breath, she bent over to continue scrubbing the stone table. She gathered the silver coffeepot and dirty dishes back onto a tray. Some of the puff pastries remained, but all of her specialty caramel-macadamia brownies had been devoured down to the last crumbs. Rafael had never gotten his birthday brownie after all…
Louisa heard footsteps on the terrace and looked up.
A tall, dark-haired man stood alone on the other side of the terrace. He looked her over with an appre ciative glance.
“You are Miss Grey?”
“Yes.”
“I enjoyed those bars you made. What were they?”
She swallowed. “My secret recipe.”
“A secret. How delightful.” He wasn’t entirely handsome; he had a slightly crooked nose, and a cruel twist to his lips as he said carelessly, “And if I offered to pay you a million dollars?”
She lifted her chin. “I still wouldn’t give it to you. It’s mine.”
For a moment, he stared at her. Then he smiled. “Good for you.”
And with those incomprehensible words, the man left her. She stared after him for a moment, frowning as she lifted the tray full of all the dirty dishes, whiskey and brandy bottles and small plates of half-eaten desserts.
“What did he say to you?”
Rafael’s voice was harsh behind her.
Louisa almost dropped the tray as she whirled around. He took the tray from her grasp and set it back down on the stone table. His gray eyes flashed.
“What did Novros say?” Rafael demanded in a low, dangerous voice.
She shook her head, frowning in confusion. “Nothing.”
“You’re lying. I heard him speak to you. Did he offer you a job?” He grabbed her wrists and suddenly the expression on his handsome face was so hard and full of repressed fury, she felt afraid. “Did he offer you something more?”
Bewildered at his strange reaction, she shook her head. “No.”
“Then what?” he demanded.
She swallowed. “He didn’t make sense.”
His grip tightened on her. “Tell me,” he ordered.
She whispered, “He offered me a million dollars for my brownie recipe, then when I wouldn’t, he just said…‘Good for you.’”
Rafael’s jaw clenched. His impossibly handsome face looked like stone in the moonlight.
“Do you know what he meant?” she asked.
With a coldly furious expression, he shook his head.
She licked her lips nervously. Why was Rafael acting so angry? She felt a lump in her throat, a nausea right beneath her ribs.
He wouldn’t release her wrist, and a hard knot of anger grew in her own throat. She thought she’d known him—known all his faults. But she’d never seen Rafael so dark, so altogether brutal.
Ripping her hand away, she demanded, “Why are you acting like this?”
“You know why,” he growled.
Grasping at straws, she asked, “Did something happen to your business deal, Mr. Cruz?”
His lips twisted into a harsh, ironic smile at the Mr. Cruz. “An interesting suggestion. It’s always about money to you, isn’t it?”
He wasn’t making any sense—any more than that Greek man had! Louisa’s hand tightened into a fist as she picked up the wet, dirty towel she’d been using to scrub the stone table. She took a deep breath. “Miss Lepetit is no doubt looking for you.”
“Miss
Lepetit,” he ground through his teeth, “is gone. All the other guests have gone. We are—” his lips curved “—alone.”
“Oh,” she whispered, licking her suddenly dry lips. So this was her chance, then. Possibly her only chance to tell him she was pregnant…
But how could she tell him now, when he was acting so dark and strange?
She twisted the wet towel in her hands as she looked up at him nervously. “There’s something I need to tell you, Rafael,” she whispered. “It’s important.”
He grabbed her shoulders. Startled, she dropped the towel heavily against the stone terrace floor.
“What is it?” he demanded in a low voice.
She sucked in her breath, searching his gaze. Did he already know she was pregnant? Had he somehow guessed?
She licked her lips. “It’s not something I thought could happen. I denied it, even to myself…”
“Let me guess,” he said sardonically. “You’re desperately in love with me.”
She nearly gasped. Then, looking up into his face, she told him the truth.
“Yes,” she whispered.
His face hardened. “For so long, you’ve been such a mystery. An intriguing problem to solve.” He brushed back tendrils of her dark hair the wind had blown across her face. “But now I understand you. At last.”
She shivered beneath his touch, closing her eyes.
Was it possible that everything she’d dreamed of for so long was about to happen? Was it possible he was about to tell her he loved her as well, and in a moment, when she told him shyly about their coming baby, he would take her into his arms and kiss her?
She could barely breathe…
“You’ve been setting me up,” he said harshly. “Just like you and your sister did with your last employer.”
Her eyes flew open.
“My…my sister?”
She felt Rafael’s fingers clench into her shoulders, and she gasped. He looked down at her with something close to hatred in his eyes.
“I thought I could trust you,” he said in a low voice. “But it was all just a trick, wasn’t it?”
“No,” she whispered. She shook her head. “You’re wrong.”
He gave a harsh, cruel laugh.
“I trusted you. Trusted you as I trusted no other woman alive. But have you spent the last five years of your life setting me up for a con?”
“What?” she gasped. Unshed tears stung her eyes as she shook her head fiercely. “I don’t—”
“Tell me the truth!” he said coldly. “Was I a fool to trust you? Did you lie when you said you were on the Pill?”
Horrified, Louisa sucked in her breath.
For a moment, silence fell. The cool breezes from the sea caused the colorful paper lanterns to sway amid the darkness of the garden.
Rafael’s jaw was set in a grim line as his hands tightened on her.
“I thought I’d done due diligence by calling your last employer personally. I spoke to his wife, not realizing she was your sister. Of course she gave you a glowing recommendation—she wanted to help you get your wealthy man, as you helped her!”
Louisa drew back, tears suddenly in her eyes as she thought of all the pain. “That’s not how it was!”
“No?” His lip curled. “Then how was it?”
Louisa took a deep breath. She didn’t want to speak of the past, but she had no choice. For their child’s sake, she had to make him understand that her pregnancy was an accident—not a trap!
“Five years ago, I fell in love with my boss,” she whispered, then stopped.
Rafael gripped her shoulders. “Go on.”
“I’d only been working as his housekeeper for a few months when Matthias asked me to marry him.” Every low, hoarse word felt painfully ripped from her. “But I wouldn’t go to bed with him. I told him I wanted to wait for our wedding night. I was so young, so young and idealistic. Then my little sister came to visit from college.” She looked up at him, blinking back tears. “The night of our engagement party, Katie told me Matthias was going to marry her instead. Because…she was pregnant with his baby.”
Staring down at her, he took a deep, shuddering breath. For a moment, she thought he meant to comfort her. Then his dark eyes looked at her with the fire of betrayal.
“Just as the two of you planned all along. You left him sex-starved, your sister lured him into her bed and he fell into her trap. Just as I fell into yours,” he said in a low, cold voice. “I trusted you, Louisa. Although I should have suspected something when I first took you to bed. There would be no reason for a virgin with no boyfriend to be on the Pill—”
“I told you, it was for cramps, to regulate my cycle—”
“I thought it was just an unfortunate coincidence,” he spoke over her ruthlessly, “that when I came home that night and found you crying in Paris, the apartment was out of condoms. You set me up so methodically, and I wanted you so badly, I was blind.”
Louisa stared at him in shock and grief.
She’d shared something of her past she’d never spoken about with anyone—but he didn’t give a damn. He was just determined to use her own words against her!
A slow burn of anger built inside her.
“I forgot to restock the condoms, but that wasn’t on purpose! Perhaps I had trouble—” she lifted her chin defiantly “—because you were going through boxes so rapidly.”
His jaw twitched. Abruptly releasing her, he folded his arms. “You lured me by acting distant, knowing that would intrigue me. Then you made sure I found you weeping, needing comfort, knowing there was only one kind of comfort I would offer.”
“I never thought you would come home early from your date and seduce me!”
“So you’re not pregnant?”
She sucked in her breath.
This was worse, so much worse than she’d thought. Why hadn’t she realized that her two-day stomach flu had totally ruined the effectiveness of the birth control? She’d never thought he might look at her past and imagine that she could be so devilishly clever.
If she were, she thought bitterly, she wouldn’t have slept with a heartless, suspicious playboy like Rafael Cruz!
Dark shadows and swinging red lights moved over his hard expression, making him look devilish. She sucked in her breath, trembling at the dark promise she saw in his eyes. It made her take an involuntary step backward.
She had to lie. There was no way she could tell him the truth now.
But the thought of denying the existence of her unborn child, the weight of telling such an awful lie, beat down upon her like golf-ball-size chunks of ice.
She felt incredibly hormonal and exhausted from being pregnant and traveling back from Greece. She felt tearful and emotionally drained from the roller-coaster ride of the last few days. Just yesterday, she’d been his adored mistress; today, she’d been ripped apart by the discovery of her pregnancy, and yet she’d been forced to hide her emotion, to serve him and his fancy guests while watching him flirt with another woman.
And suddenly, she’d had it.
Louisa took a deep breath. Slowly she looked up at him. She could live without his love. She could ball up her heart into a block of ice. She could ignore her feelings. She’d done it before.
But he had to love their baby.
If Rafael was cold to their innocent child and treated him badly through his whole life, letting their son or daughter know they were never wanted…No, she couldn’t let that happen. She would deny their child’s existence before she would risk causing her baby such endless grief!
He gently stroked her cheek. But his gaze was anything but gentle as he raked her soul with his fury and rage. She had the sudden feeling of being trapped. His body, his darkness, towered over her.
The heat between them felt like a cold burn. Like ice. Like a threat.
“There’s only one thing I need to know,” Rafael said in a low voice. “One thing that will determine if I was a fool to believe you were the last honest woman o
n earth. So tell me.” His dark eyes glittered in the swaying light of the red paper lanterns. “Are you pregnant, Louisa?”
Rafael’s muscles were painfully tense as he waited for her answer.
She wouldn’t meet his eyes.
“Could you love a baby?” she whispered.
He nearly growled at her. “Don’t change the subject. Answer my question.”
“If I accidentally got pregnant,” she faltered, “don’t you think it’s possible it could have nothing to do with money, and everything to do with…with…”
“Love?” He sneered.
Wordlessly she nodded. Her eyes were wide, limpid pools in the night. Wild. Desperate.
For a moment, his body instinctively wished to comfort her. It was the same way he’d felt when she’d revealed how she’d loved her last boss then lost him—to her sister. He’d almost pulled her into his arms, until he’d reminded himself that this might be part of her con. Her innocence, her pain, her supposed love—was it all an act to get him to marry her?
His stomach clenched. “A mere housekeeper does not go to all the trouble of getting pregnant by a wealthy man without expecting a payout.”
Turning pale, she gasped.
Then her lovely face hardened, in that aloof, cold expression he knew so well.
“So I’m a mere housekeeper now, am I?” she said in a low voice. Her dark eyes glittered. “Just what sort of payout do you think I want?”
He set his jaw. “Marriage.”
She sucked in her breath. “Marriage?”
“You know very well,” he said grimly, “if you were pregnant, I would have no other choice.”
They stared at each other in the shadows of the garden.
Looking down at her beautiful face, Rafael’s body hurt with tension and fury.
He’d always vowed he would never get trapped by any woman. It had happened to him once, and that was enough. At seventeen, he’d fallen for an older woman who’d callously dropped him to marry a wealthy man. When Rafael had pleaded with her to marry him instead, she’d laughed at his tiny diamond ring. The faded Cruz fortune wasn’t nearly enough to tempt her, she’d said. She liked his body well enough, but money was what mattered most to her.