by Kendrick, Sharon; Lawrence, Kim; Crews, Caitlin; Milburne, Melanie
But, unfortunately, Draco had been right.
The boy had crowed about how he’d bedded her and then joked about what a disappointment she’d been as a partner. The vernacular he’d used had made the insult all the more hurtful and shaming. It had taken her years to sleep with another partner. Years. And even the last time she’d had sex—which was so long ago she could barely recall what he’d looked like—she had worried he was judging her on her performance, filing away notes to laugh about with his friends in the bar later. Allegra had blamed Draco for it all because she had only gone after the boy after Draco’s rejection. The boy’s cruel taunts had seemed to echo Draco’s ego-crushing dismissal, further shattering her self-esteem.
Allegra looked across the formal room overlooking the terrace where everyone had gathered for drinks to wet the baby’s head. Her father was doing more than wetting his son’s head. She had lost count of the number of glasses of champagne he had put away. Was he worried about this merger or relieved it was now all sorted? He looked happy—the happiest she had seen him in years. But then, why wouldn’t he? He had his perfect little family now, and his left-on-the-shelf daughter of thirty-one was being married off to solve his business woes.
Elena caught Allegra’s eye and came over, carrying Nico in her arms. ‘I haven’t had a moment to speak to you in private, Allegra,’ she said, smiling broadly. ‘I can’t tell you how happy your father and I are about you and Draco. Your dad’s been so stressed lately but since he heard you and Draco are getting married it’s like a weight’s been lifted off him. You are happy about it, aren’t you? It’s just, you’ve been a little quiet and…’
Allegra forced a smile. Acting had never been her thing but there was no time like the present to learn. ‘Of course I’m happy. I’m just feeling a little overwhelmed. It’s all been such a whirlwind.’
‘Yes, but Draco never waits around for paint to dry, does he?’ Elena said with a light laugh. ‘I think it’s so romantic he wants to marry you as soon as possible.’ She glanced at Allegra’s abdomen. ‘I don’t suppose it’s because you’re…?’
Allegra avoided her gaze and looked at the baby instead, stroking a gentle finger down his tiny petal-soft cheek. ‘No. It’s just…we both have work commitments booked in months and months ahead and there’s only this small window of time available.’
Who knew she could be so good at lying?
‘But you do want children, don’t you?’ Elena asked, handing Nico over for her to cuddle. ‘I mean, when you’re ready? It would be awful to miss out. I thought I was going to until I met your dad and accidentally fell pregnant. I still pinch myself, you know.’ Her gaze went to Allegra’s father across the room and she sighed. ‘I still can’t believe he married me. I didn’t think I’d ever find someone to love me.’
But did Allegra’s father love Elena? The question seemed to hang suspended in the air like a cobweb. Whether her father felt the same love towards his young wife as she did towards him was questionable. He’d wanted a male heir, and he’d wanted a malleable Greek woman who wouldn’t question his authority and who would be content to stay at home and rear the children.
‘I’ve not really thought much about having kids. My career has always been my baby,’ Allegra said. She had never been the sort of girl to peer into prams or go gaga at the mention of a baby. Her career had been her entire focus. She had put everything before it. But holding little Nico made a cordoned-off corner of her brain wonder what it would be like to have a child of her own. Nico’s tiny rosebud mouth opened on a yawn and he stretched his little body, one tiny arm with its starfish hand flailing in the air. She captured his hand and pressed a kiss to each miniscule finger, marvelling at the perfect little fingernails.
Elena leaned in to straighten the hand-embroidered christening gown that had been in the Kallas family for over a hundred years. Allegra hadn’t worn it as an infant because the privilege was exclusive to sons, a tradition that had been another reason to make her feel an outsider. Draco had mentioned the possibility of a child but he’d been teasing. It made sense that he wouldn’t want any permanent legacies from their short-term union. And why was she thinking about having babies with him, anyway? She was supposed to be keeping their marriage in name only.
Good luck with that.
‘Will you be all right with him for a moment?’ Elena asked. ‘I just want to pop to the bathroom and change my breast pads.’
‘Of course.’ Little Nico wriggled again then opened his eyes, looked at her and smiled a gummy smile. Allegra felt a wave of love so powerful it was like an invisible fist grabbing her heart. This was her half-brother and she was melting like honey on a hotplate. What would she have felt if it had been her own flesh and blood? She tickled the baby’s button-sized chin. ‘Hey, little guy, who’s been a beautiful boy while all this fuss is going on?’
Draco came alongside Allegra and, slipping his arm around her waist, offered the baby a finger, which little Nico grabbed with his tiny hand. ‘It’s hard to believe how small babies are—he’s like a doll.’
‘Yes,’ Allegra said. ‘I keep worrying I’m going to drop him. I suppose you get used to it when it’s your own.’
‘You’re a natural. You look like you’ve been holding babies all your life.’
She gave a wry movement of her lips. ‘Yes, well, I like the ones you can hand back. Do you want a hold?’
‘No way.’ He took a step back and held his hands up like stop signs, as if she were handing him a ticking bomb. ‘I’m no good with babies.’
‘Go on.’ Allegra kept coming at him with the baby. ‘You’re a big macho man. You’re surely not scared of a tiny, defenceless baby?’
Draco looked as though he was going to resist, but then his expression took on a resigned set. ‘If I drop him, then it will be your fault.’
‘You won’t drop him.’ Allegra came near so she could transfer the baby into his arms. The closeness of him stirred her senses into a swarm of longing. The fresh lime scent of his aftershave with its woody notes was intoxicating and alluring.
He took the infant, holding him slightly aloft, as if not wanting to get too close. But then Nico smiled and gurgled up at him, and Draco brought him against his chest and gently rocked him in his arms, looking down at the baby with a small smile. Allegra hadn’t expected the sight of him with a baby in his arms to stir her so much.
‘I’ve never been a godfather before,’ he said after a moment.
‘Nor me a godmother,’ Allegra said. ‘I’m not sure what sort of spiritual adviser I’ll make. Sometimes I feel I could do with some spiritual guidance myself.’
‘Don’t we all?’
She angled her gaze at him. ‘What? The invincible Draco Papandreou in need of advice? Wonders will never cease.’
He gave her a self-deprecating smile. ‘You’d be surprised. It took me a long time to get control of my life. I almost lost my way a few times.’ He looked down at the baby again, his smile dimming slightly. ‘Especially after my father was killed. I suddenly found myself all alone in the world.’
‘How old were you when your mother died?’
‘Six.’
Allegra had been twice that age when her mother had died and she still missed her terribly. How hard must it have been for Draco as a small child to lose his mother, only to lose his father a few years later? ‘It must have been awful for you when your father died so suddenly. Who looked after you?’
‘I looked after myself.’
She frowned at the cynical edge to his tone. ‘But how did you survive? Didn’t some relatives take you in?’
His expression reminded her of a suit of armour. She could see the outline of his face but only through a mask of steel. ‘What few relatives I had were not interested in a fifteen-year-old boy with an attitude problem.’
‘So what did you do?’
‘I fended for myself.’
‘How?’
His eyes took on a sardonic glint. ‘You really want to hear some of the wicked things I got up to? I might shock you.’
‘Try me and see.’
He glanced down at the baby and then gave Allegra an inscrutable smile. ‘Not in front of little Nico.’
Allegra was frustrated he didn’t trust her enough to tell her what his childhood and adolescence had been like. Was his tragic past one of the reasons he wanted to settle down now? It was all very well, her harbouring secret little fantasies about having a baby of her own but, even if Draco had wanted one, having a baby together would cause a whole lot of complications she could well do without.
She had acted for a number of women divorcing husbands from a different country, which made the care arrangements for children particularly complex, especially if the split was acrimonious—and of course many, if not most, were. It was a legal and personal minefield and one Allegra wanted to avoid at all costs. She knew enough about Greek men, and Draco in particular, to know he would not want to live apart from his child or children. He would want control. And he would do whatever it took to maintain it. Luckily, a baby wasn’t part of the deal.
Nico began to get restless and, as if tuned in to her baby’s needs by radar, Elena came back and took him from Draco. ‘Time for a feed, I think,’ she said. ‘You two make great babysitters, by the way.’
Once Elena left, Draco led Allegra out to a shaded part of the garden near a fountain where the tinkle and splash of water cooled the warm atmosphere. ‘There are some legal aspects of our marriage to deal with. Can you free up some time mid-week? I’ll be in London tying up some other business. I’ll set up an appointment with my London-based lawyer so we can sort everything out.’
Allegra had no problem with signing a pre-nuptial agreement. She had investments, property and other assets of her own she didn’t want to jeopardise when it came time to divorce. But it was a stinging little reminder of the cynical mind-set he had about their relationship. ‘Sure. Just give my secretary, Emily, a call and get her to put it in my diary.’
‘I know what you’re thinking. But I have shareholders to protect, and I’m sure you too have assets you don’t want to see compromised. It makes things less complicated when we wrap things up.’ He waited a beat before adding, ‘It’s not meant to be an insult to you, Allegra.’
‘I didn’t take it as one.’
He lifted a fingertip to the space between her eyes and smoothed away a puckered frown. ‘Then why are you frowning at me like that?’
Allegra forced her facial muscles to relax. ‘I always frown when I’m thinking.’ She moved closer to the fountain and trailed her fingers in the cool water. ‘It feels weird to think this time next week we’ll be married.’
His hands came to rest on the top of her shoulders, his tall, strong frame standing just behind her. The intimacy of his proximity sent a rush of fizzing heat through her flesh. She had to fight the urge to lean back into his embrace, to feel the stirring of his body. ‘Having second thoughts?’ he said.
And third and fourth and every number this side of a thousand.
‘It wouldn’t matter what thoughts I had, though, would it? I haven’t got any choice. I have to do this or watch Elena and Nico suffer.’
He turned her around and meshed his gaze with hers, his hands going to rest lightly about her waist. His gaze searched hers for a long moment, his expression containing a hint of a frown. ‘I know this has been difficult for you. Your father’s situation has made things far more time pressured than they could have been. Creditors are impatient people these days. But, in time, I hope you’ll come to see this as a good solution all round. For you especially.’
Why for her especially?
Marriage was such an enormous step for anyone, even when the two parties loved one another. But when neither of them were in love, then how did that bode for them? Sure, some arranged marriages seemed to work well, but surely that was good luck, or maybe one or both parties became so resigned to their situation they decided it was more tolerable to love rather than hate.
Allegra had felt such intense antagonism towards Draco for so long, she didn’t understand why she felt so attracted to him. Was it her frustrated female hormones playing perverse tricks on her? The more time she spent with him, the more she realised she had fashioned him in her mind as an archenemy.
Funny, but he didn’t feel like an enemy when he touched her. When he looked at her with those black-as-tar eyes with their unknowable depths. He didn’t feel like her opponent when he kissed her, when his tongue played with hers in an erotic mimicry of sex that made her blood sing full-throated arias through her veins. Nor when his hands cradled her breasts or held her lightly by the waist, as he was doing now.
His fingers tightened a fraction and he stepped closer—close enough for her to feel the need rising in him that mirrored the ache rising in her. His eyes went to her mouth in a sexily hooded way that never failed to get her pulse on the run. He lowered his head as if in slow motion, leaving her plenty of time to block the kiss if she wanted to.
She didn’t.
His lips were dry and warm on hers, just a brush stroke at first—a light touchdown of surface rediscovery. But then he touched down again, once, twice, and on the third time something restrained in him escaped and his kiss became one of passionate heat and urgency.
The same hot-blooded urgency coursed through her from her mouth to the very centre of her womanhood. The sexy glide of his tongue into her mouth made her whimper in approval, her arms going around his neck to bring her body even closer to the glorious hardness of his. Draco’s hands came up to cradle her face, his head angled to one side so he could deepen the kiss, taking her on a journey of thrilling, pulse-thudding excitement as her need for him built to a level she would not have thought possible even a few days ago. She tangled her fingers into the thick pelt of his hair, her mouth feeding off his. His teeth nipped her lower lip and then his tongue swept over it like a salve. He did the same to her top lip, his nip and tugs so gentle, but they caused a tumult of sensations to rocket through her body and pool in a liquid, sizzling fire deep in her core.
‘Hey, break it up you two,’ one of Allegra’s father’s friends called out from some distance behind her. ‘Save it for the honeymoon.’
Draco set her from him with a smile at her father’s friend Spiro while keeping her by his side with an arm around her waist. ‘How’s it going, Spiro?’
‘Not as good as things are going for you, I’ll wager,’ Spiro said with a wide grin. ‘So, you two finally got together. He’s a good catch, eh, Allegra? You must be feeling pretty pleased with yourself, landing a man like him.’
Why’s that? Because I was rabid-dog ugly and left on the shelf and no one in their right mind would ever have offered for me in a thousand, million years?
Allegra ground her teeth so hard behind her smile she thought she would have to be tube fed for the rest of her life. ‘Actually, Draco is the one who got the prize catch, aren’t you, darling?’
Draco’s smile set off a smouldering glint in his eyes. ‘But of course, kardia mou. I’m the hands down winner in this union.’
Allegra’s back teeth went down another centimetre. But thankfully Spiro moved on to chat to other guests who had come out to the garden to enjoy the shade and light breeze coming in from the ocean. ‘You’re really enjoying this, aren’t you?’ she said out of the side of her mouth.
‘You know what Spiro is like,’ Draco said, leading her back towards the house with a firm, warm hand in the small of her back.
‘Yes, he’s a man who thinks all a woman wants is a man with a big bank balance. I find it so insulting. A man isn’t a financial plan. I know there are probably some women out there who are gold-diggers, but personally I would never marry someone
because of his wealth. It’s no measure of who he is as a person.’
He gave her lower back a circular stroke, making her legs feel as though someone had snipped her ligaments. ‘I agree with you. But, on the other hand, the fact that someone has had the discipline and drive to work and accumulate wealth must demonstrate some admirable qualities, surely?’
Allegra gave a snort. ‘I had a client a couple of years ago. She married a man who’d inherited a veritable fortune from his parents. He was the laziest, most obnoxious man I’ve ever met. He was abusive to his wife, both during and after their marriage, and he was so darn mean about supporting his own kids once it ended. Money does something to some people. It brings out the worst in them, and then people get hurt. I see it all the time in my job.’
Draco tucked her arm through his. ‘At least we come to this marriage as equals, or close enough to being equals.’
‘I would hardly call my wealth equal to yours.’
‘Perhaps not, but we’ve both worked hard for what we’ve got, and neither of us would like to lose it.’
There were worse things to lose…
Like my heart, if I’m not careful.
* * *
Emily was at Allegra’s office door before she’d even had time to put her tote bag away when she arrived back at work on Monday morning. She closed the door behind her and pulled out the chair opposite Allegra’s desk. ‘Okay, so give it to me. What the hell is going on? Do you have any idea how gobsmacked I was to hear you’re getting married?’
‘I told you—it’s a marriage of convenience,’ Allegra said. ‘My father’s got himself into a financial pickle and Draco is bailing him out with a merger.’
Emily’s brow puckered. ‘But how come he wants to marry you?’
Allegra dropped her shoulders with a ‘thanks for the compliment’ look. ‘Apparently he wants a wife and I tick all his boxes.’
Emily made an apologetic movement of her lips. ‘Sorry, didn’t mean to suggest you weren’t marriageable or anything. You’re gorgeous, and any man with a skerrick of testosterone would be thrilled to have you as his wife. But you’ve always been so against marriage—which to be frank is a bit of an occupational hazard around here. You broke out in hives before Julie’s wedding, remember?’