Aristide's Convenient Wife

by Jaqeuline Baird

  Leon eased his weight off her and leant on one forearm looking intently down into her beautiful face.

  ‘Finally defeated,’ he stated huskily.

  Her mellow mood shot to hell with two words, Helen shoved at his chest and he fell onto his back and she sat up. ‘I was not defeated; I never asked you.’

  It was her turn to stare down at him, breathless but infuriated by his arrogant assumption, the fact she had been going to ask him conveniently forgotten.

  ‘You grabbed me,’ she declared hotly and he had the nerve to laugh out loud.

  ‘I meant I was admitting defeat, which you may not realise is an unheard-of occurrence for me.’

  ‘Oh.’

  Leon admitting defeat was too incredible for words. He was sprawled back on the bed with his hands behind his head. His black hair sexily tousled, a sensuous smile on his face. Anyone looking less defeated would be impossible to find, she thought wryly. He looked what he was: a supremely confident, sexually sated man.

  ‘Though I suppose,’ he drawled musingly, ‘in the interest of married harmony we could call it a draw. I seem to recall you begging me not once, but twice.’

  His dark eyes lit with laughter twinkled up at her and she could not help the laugh that bubbled out.

  ‘You are impossible, and if we don’t get dressed and downstairs our guests are going to come looking for us.’

  ‘Okay.’ He sat up and slid an arm around her shoulders. ‘Are we okay now?’

  Helen noticed he said ‘we’ and not ‘you.’ And for a moment she wondered if Leon really did care.

  ‘If you have to think of an answer, forget it.’

  ‘No, I mean, yes, we are fine,’ she admitted blushing scarlet.

  ‘Good.’

  He gave her a brilliant smile and a swift, hard kiss on her mouth before leaping off the bed gloriously naked.

  ‘Give me a couple of minutes and you can have the bathroom.’ And she had the strongest feeling he was relieved by her answer.

  ‘Hurry up, you lot,’ Leon yelled from the foot of the steps of the aircraft. ‘The holiday is over; get on board.’

  ‘Is that any way to speak to our guests?’ Helen demanded, walking up to him, Chris, Mary and the nanny bringing up the rear with the four lively children.

  His dark eyes smiled wryly down at her as he snaked an arm around her and tucked her possessively against his broad shoulder. ‘Probably not, but, much as I have enjoyed our holiday, I have discovered friends and family can seriously curtail one’s sex life. The next time we go away we are going on the honeymoon we never had when we married.’

  ‘That sounds promising,’ Helen murmured, her heart singing as he bent his head and kissed her.

  The last few days had been a revelation. Everyone had thoroughly enjoyed themselves; the days had been warm and fun with the children, the nights still cold in April, but hot for the adults in bed at night. Leon relaxed and loving was a sight to behold. Helen was almost sure it was love, though he had never said the words, but then neither had she.

  ‘Yucky,’ a little voice cried. ‘I’m never going to kiss a girl.’

  And the adults were all laughing as everyone boarded the aircraft.

  ‘I have to get up,’ Leon groaned.

  ‘I rather thought you just had,’ Helen returned wickedly, leaning up to rest her arms on his broad chest, her legs straddling his strong thighs.

  ‘You, madam, are getting very risqué,’ he chuckled, and in one deft movement Helen was on her back and Leon was looming over her. ‘Not something I expected from the innocent I married.’ His deep dark eyes smiled into hers. ‘But then I never expected to…’ And he stopped.

  ‘To what?’ Helen asked, lazily running her hands up over his broad chest.

  ‘Nothing. I have to go.’ He leapt off the bed, and paused for a moment to stare down at her. ‘There is something I have to tell you, but it can wait until tonight.’

  ‘You sound serious.’

  ‘I am about you.’ Bending over, he brushed a tender kiss across her brow. ‘Tonight.’

  Spinning on his heel, he headed for the bathroom.

  Helen hoarded his words like a treasure in her heart. She was sure he was going to tell her he loved her. Amazingly he had said he was serious about her, and after the last three weeks of what she could only describe as sheer bliss what else could it be?

  Hopefully it would be the icing on the cake to a perfect day, Helen thought dreamily as she washed and dressed with care in a slim fitting natural linen skirt and matching short fitted jacket. On her feet she wore high heeled tan sandals and carried a matching purse. She was not taking Nicholas to school today, the nanny was, as Helen had an appointment at eleven.

  At first when she had begun to feel tired and slightly nauseous she had put it down to the change in country, in food, and the much hotter weather in Greece than she was used to. It had been Mary who had pointed out that it could be something else. Helen hardly dared to hope, but she had made an appointment with Mary’s gynaecologist for this morning.

  She asked the driver to wait, and entered the private clinic.

  Dr Savalas was a woman in her fifties with three children of her own, and immediately Helen felt at home with her, and told her the story of her accident and apologised in advance for probably wasting her time.

  ‘So, let me get this straight, Mrs Aristides: you think you might be pregnant, but at the age of fourteen you had an accident. The doctor in Geneva told you the operation to repair your fractured pelvis was a success. Then added he was sorry but it was unlikely you would ever have a child. Have I got that right?’

  Helen nodded her head.

  ‘Well, give me his name, and let’s see, shall we?’

  An hour later Helen sat looking at Dr Savalas, her eyes swimming with tears of happiness. ‘I really am pregnant?’

  ‘Most definitely. I have checked with your doctor in Geneva and there is no real medical reason why you should not carry the child to full term. Though your pelvis has been weakened and you are quite small. To err on the side of caution, they suggest and I agree you should not attempt to have a natural birth, but opt for a Caesarean delivery.’

  Helen floated out of the clinic on cloud nine, and climbed into the waiting car, a smile a mile wide on her face. When the driver asked her where to, without a second thought she said the bank. She had to tell someone or she would burst and Leon had the right to know first.

  She skipped out of the car twenty yards from the bank, and told the driver to take a lunch break and she would call him later if she needed him. She felt like laughing out loud, but controlled the impulse, but could do nothing about the broad smile on her face.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  ‘WELL,WELL ,SOMEONE looks happy, and very pleased with themselves.’

  Helen looked up in surprise at the handsome man who had stepped in front of her. ‘Hello, Takis.’

  ‘Let me guess, you’re on your way to see Leon and the lawyers to collect the inheritance Delia left you.’

  ‘No, with a bit of luck I am going to try and persuade Leon to take me out for lunch,’ she said with a smile. After what Leon had told her she was wary of the man, but nothing could dent her euphoric mood today. Though she was slightly surprised by his comment. Why would Takis know anything about Delia’s will? Not that it mattered. As far as she was concerned the inheritance was for Nicholas, full stop.

  ‘You’re a lucky lady and soon to be a very wealthy one. But nowhere near as lucky as Leon. He has control of everything and you as a beautiful bonus. I have got to hand it to him—he is brilliant and ruthless when it comes to business.’

  There was something in his golden eyes that looked very like envy, and his less-than-flattering description of Leon dimmed her smile somewhat.

  ‘I’m sorry, I have no idea what you are talking about,’ she said slowly.

  ‘Oh, come on, Helen, you may be blonde, but you’re not an air-head. You must know that old man Aristides died b
efore his daughter. Which meant Delia inherited forty per cent of her dad’s fortune and according to my information she left eighty per cent of her estate to her son, and the rest to you. Surely you must have realised you and the boy stood to gain a heck of a lot more than if Delia had died first, much to Leon’s dismay.’

  Helen’s smile vanished along with her sense of euphoria. ‘What exactly are you trying to say?’ she asked with a queasy feeling in the pit of her stomach.

  ‘You don’t know, you really don’t know.’ Taking her arm, he urged her towards a small pavement café. ‘Join me for a coffee and I will explain.’

  Over a cup of coffee Takis did just that.

  ‘Leon and his father have always kept the majority of shares in Aristides International in the immediate family. They always had Delia’s voting rights, though it might have been different if she had lived long enough to inherit the ones her mother had left her at twenty-five. But after the double tragedy and the discovery of Delia’s will and her illegitimate child—you, Helen, became the wild card in the pack. As executor of the boy’s estate Leon would not have had a problem, he could simply vote the child’s shares the way he wanted to. But you could be a real problem for him.’

  ‘This is all way over my head,’ Helen muttered, taking a sip of her coffee with a growing feeling of dread.

  ‘It is quite simple: you inherited twenty per cent of Delia’s estate which includes eight per cent of the company shares from her father. I hold some, as do a host of other people whose family members have been involved in mergers in the past or simply bought them. The rest are held by big investment companies that are more than satisfied with Leon’s leadership. To give the devil his due he has a phenomenal business brain. But technically if we all joined together Leon would now no longer have a majority and your holding could be instrumental in voting him out of office.’

  ‘I see.’ Helen nodded.

  ‘Don’t get me wrong, Helen. You are a very beautiful woman, but you are in a very strong position, particularly as the child’s guardian.’

  ‘Leon is as well,’ she cut in swiftly, and saw the look of pity in Takis’ eyes.

  ‘Are you sure about that? Check with your lawyer. I think you will find Leon is an executor of the boy’s estate, not his guardian.’ He shrugged his shoulders. ‘It is not important. You’re a lovely lady, and I hate to be the one to tell you but Leon had very compelling reasons to marry you, and not just for the boy. Your inheriting Aristides shares posed a threat—a very slight threat, it is true—to his absolute control of the bank. You must know what a control freak he is. So be careful.’ And with that he up and left.

  For a long time Helen simply sat and stared at the table with sightless eyes, Takis’ revelation running though her brain, not wanting to believe the evidence before her. She recalled the appointment Leon had set up for her with Mr Smyth. He had congratulated her on her inheritance and on her forthcoming wedding and told her Leon was the executor of Nicholas’ estate along with her and suggested he read the will in its entirety. But she had been in a hurry to go and buy her wedding dress, and refused his suggestion. She had told him she wanted to give the money to Nicholas. And then she recalled he had advised her to hold back on any decision until the will had passed probate. Had he been trying to warn her?

  The adoption of Nicholas, which Leon had suggested and which had been instrumental in dissolving her resistance to him after only two days of marriage, suddenly took on a much more sinister light. If he was never the boy’s guardian, as Takis had said, it made sense for Leon to press for adoption, then he would have exactly the same rights has her. How could any man be so ruthless, so Machiavellian?

  ‘Would madam like anything else?’

  Helen looked up at the waiter. ‘No. No, thank you.’ And he gave her the bill. A bitter smile curved her lips. Takis had left her to pay.

  She walked through the streets of Athens her head bent and her mind in turmoil. When she finally reached the house it was after four. She heard the sound of childish laughter from the garden, and walked around the house to where the swimming pool was situated.

  ‘Hi, Mum, watch me swim,’ Nicholas yelled.

  She watched him, blinking back the tears. Marta, the nanny was in the pool with him while Anna was sitting at the patio table with the driver, and both were keeping a watchful eye on the boy.

  ‘Come on in,’ Nicholas shouted.

  ‘Not today,’ she called back. ‘I’m going upstairs to change.’ And waving, walked indoors.

  Not any day, she thought sadly, putting a protective hand on her still-flat stomach. Nicholas was Greek. Leon had been right about that. He was well looked after by people who adored him. He didn’t really need her, she decided sadly. She didn’t belong here, and she was going home.

  She stopped halfway up the stairs, appalled at where her own selfish thoughts were leading her. Nicholas was her child as much as the child she carried in her womb, who would also be half Greek. She had no more right to deprive the child of its heritage than she had Nicholas. They would physically be cousins, and, in her heart, brothers.

  She stripped off her clothes and flopped down on the bed and cried her eyes out. All her hopes and dreams shattered by a casual meeting and a few choice words from a man she barely knew.

  A long time later she stood up and walked into the bathroom. She was mind numbingly frozen. She stepped into the shower and turned on the tap and let the hot water rush over her. But she felt as if she would never be warm again.

  How could she have been such a blind fool? Such an idiot? she berated herself. She was still asking herself the same question when she sat before the dressing table in her bra and briefs to dry her hair.

  ‘Hello, sweetheart.’ Leon strode into their suite, a broad smile on his face. ‘Wear something glamorous—I am taking you out to dinner.’

  He wrapped an arm around her, pulling her gently up to her feet, his appreciative gaze sweeping over her scantily clad body, his eyes darkening as he would have pulled her close to kiss her. But Helen put her hands against his chest and pushed him away.

  The veil of love had been torn from her eyes, and at last she was seeing him as he truly was. The ultimate tycoon. Tall and powerfully built, clad in a perfectly tailored pearl-grey suit. His hard, angular face and high cheekbones exuded an aura of ruthless power and absolute authority. How had she been so blind? she thought, seeing the flicker of impatience in his eyes. He hated to be thwarted in business or sex.

  ‘I don’t want to go out to dinner with you,’ she said flatly. What should have been the most wonderful moment of her life was now a travesty. Scantily clad as she was, she wanted to get it over with and out of his sight as quickly as possible. ‘I am pregnant.’

  ‘You said you could not have children,’ Leon declared harshly.

  She stared at him. He didn’t look delighted at the prospect. His face was more austere than she had ever seen it, his heavy lidded eyes were narrowed suspiciously on her, and a muscle flickered in his tanned cheek. Why was she surprised at his response? He had told her he didn’t care about having a biological child; he probably did not want to split his wealth another way, she thought contemptuously.

  ‘I was wrong; apparently a fractured pelvis does not preclude me getting pregnant after all, though it will prevent me from having a natural birth. The doctor told me I must have a Caesarean delivery.’

  She could not believe she was talking to him so calmly when inside she was a seething mass of pain and fury. And she had been wrong about never feeling warm again; the few brief moments held against his long body had warmed her instantly, and she hated herself for it.

  ‘Is it mine?’

  That had to be the cruellest cut of all Helen thought savagely after a day that had seen her emotions go from dizzying happiness to absolute despair. She could not take any more.

  ‘Leave me alone.’ He disgusted her. ‘Just leave me alone.’

  She brushed past him. She had to get away. />
  ‘Sorry,’ he said roughly, catching her by the arm and turning her back into the warmth of his body. ‘Of course it is mine; I don’t know what I was thinking of. Put it down to my natural cynical nature and forgive me.’

  Held in his arms she could feel herself weakening. So what did it matter why he had married her? The irony of the situation suddenly hit her. In the beginning he had accused her of caring for Nicholas for money and the inheritance he had been sure she knew about, and had had the gall to call her the best paid nanny in the world. Yet all along it had been Leon who had been guarding his own incredible wealth.

  ‘Helen, please, I really am sorry for doubting you for a minute. I would trust you with my life,’ he said solemnly.