Behind the Palace Walls
Page 11
“You need a doctor,” Alexei said, whipping his phone from his pocket.
She was too tired to fight him. “This is normal, Alexei. Pregnant women get sick. Not all of them, but apparently I’m one. Lucky me,” she finished on a whisper.
His eyes were hard, his expression determined. “You will need a doctor for the flight.”
Alarm bells sounded in her head. “What flight? I’m not going anywhere. I have work to do, Emma’s coming home in a couple of hours and we’re watching a movie together on television tonight.”
His handsome face was an impersonal mask. “I am leaving for St. Petersburg in two days. You are coming with me.”
Paige tried to get up, but her stomach roiled in response. “I’m not going anywhere with you! My life is here.”
“Not any longer. If this baby is truly mine, then your life is with me.”
CHAPTER NINE
THE VORONOV PALACE was exactly as she’d last seen it, except that it was perhaps more beautiful now that spring had arrived. She’d never thought to see this place again. She’d certainly never thought to return as the new mistress of the manor. She glanced again at the three-carat rock on her right ring finger—Russians wore their rings on the opposite finger—and her insides squeezed tight.
She was married. To a prince.
And everything about this marriage was broken and wrong.
Paige let Alexei help her from the helicopter, then snatched her hand away as soon as she could do so. He showed no emotion at the defiant gesture. He’d been as cold as stone since the moment he’d informed her that she was coming to Russia with him.
She’d threatened to call the police, threatened to scream bloody murder, threatened him with any number of impotent gestures that he’d shrugged off as if they were nothing more than annoyances.
Which they had been. The all-powerful Prince Voronov could and would do whatever he wanted to do. Including ordering her life as if he had a right to do so. She’d been determined to resist, but he’d undercut all her protests with a single promise.
He’d promised to take care of Emma’s future. Her tuition would be paid in full, and he’d buy her an apartment of her own—or the house they were living in if she wanted it. Emma would never have to worry for money again.
Paige had trembled at the choice, but she’d known what she was going to do from the moment he said it. She told herself that she hadn’t refused because she was afraid of what the alternative would be. If Alexei could be gracious when he got his way, she imagined he would be formidable when he did not. She had only to think of what had happened to Chad and Russell Tech to know it was true.
So long as she lived, she would never forget Emma’s face when her sister returned home that evening and saw Alexei in their house. She hadn’t known who he was, but when he’d introduced himself, she’d recoiled as if he were evil incarnate.
And when Paige explained that she was pregnant, and the baby was Alexei’s, she’d thought her sister would never get over the shock of betrayal. Emma began to cry, begging Paige to tell her it was a joke, that it couldn’t be true, that she would never have done something so stupid and so wrong as to sleep with Chad’s nemesis.
Paige had tried to explain, but Emma refused to listen. And then she’d run to her room and slammed the door. Paige had turned to Alexei, her eyes blurring with tears, and asked him if he was satisfied.
He’d been like a marble statue, cold and unfeeling. She’d wanted to claw his eyes out, to make him feel something. He’d merely watched her with those rain-cold gray eyes, awaiting her answer.
The next two days had been a whirlwind. Alexei had arranged for her to have an ultrasound that afternoon. He’d sat in the exam room stony-faced and silent. Until the technician began the process. Then he’d leaned in close, watching the monitor as if he were searching for the secret to eternal youth or something equally as precious.
Paige hadn’t known she could get so emotional over the sight of a little tiny sac that contained nothing that resembled a baby in the least. But she had. She’d been flooded with wonder, protectiveness and overwhelming love. She’d been too scared to glance at Alexei, so she’d focused resolutely on the screen as the technician made a series of clicks on the computer. Her eyes had filled with tears. She should be here with a man who loved her, holding his hand while they saw their baby for the first time instead of with a cold stranger who disliked her.
“You’re six weeks and three days exactly,” the technician had finally said.
Alexei’s sharp intake of breath was audible. And then he’d asked if she was sure. The technician had gone on to explain that pregnancies were dated from the date of the last menstrual cycle rather than the date of conception, and that yes, Paige was exactly six weeks and three days—which meant the date of conception was right around the time they’d been together.
Paige had wanted to die of embarrassment. He’d sounded as if he weren’t certain he was the father and needed confirmation, which she imagined had caused the technician to explain as she had. Paige had felt as if he’d come right out and said she was a slut who slept around and that she was trying to fob off someone else’s child as his.
What should have been a beautiful moment was ruined by his cold-blooded arrogance. Yet when she’d gotten up from the table, he’d reached out to steady her. And then he’d kept his hand on her back the entire way out to the car. His touch burned her like a brand and, in spite of her wish it was not so, her body reacted to him. Hot need softened her inner core, made her long to turn and bury her head against his chest.
She had not done so, of course. How could she want love and comfort from the man who’d stolen those things from her in the first place? Her life had been just fine, if a little boring, before he came along. And now he’d taken her sister and her home away. Her life would never be the same. But for the sake of her child, she would endure.
When they entered the palace, the same man who’d greeted them on that night a few weeks ago was waiting. He and Alexei exchanged a few words, and then he bowed and left. Alexei turned to her.
“Vasily is preparing a room for you. If you wish to wait in the drawing room, he will come for you when it is finished.”
Paige locked her hands in front of her body. She was surprised they weren’t sharing a room, but also somewhat relieved. How could she share a bed with him, knowing that her body craved his? The entire time she’d been standing next to him at the government office in St. Petersburg where they’d married, her body had been humming with electricity, and her mind had thrown images of the night they’d shared into her head.
She’d been determined to resist his sweet seduction when the time came, because she’d never imagined it would not.
But his announcement preempted her. Alexei was indifferent to her. She should have realized it considering the impersonal way in which he’d married her. Instead of a beautiful dress, flowers, happiness and friends, she’d been married in a sterile office by a public official who spoke a language she didn’t comprehend.
“I want to know what happens now, Alexei.”
She couldn’t stand the uncertainty. What was she supposed to do as his wife? Were they going to live together as a couple, or would he leave her here and continue his life as it had been? There were so many things she didn’t know, so many worries. She felt very far from home, and very out of her element. She felt as if her life had been stolen from her. A cold shot of fear dripped into her belly at the thought.
His arctic eyes glittered with heat. “You will go wait in the drawing room. There will be hot tea and a small lunch, if you can stomach it.”
She bit the inside of her lip to keep from reacting to the thought of food. Her queasiness was getting better since the doctor had prescribed antinausea medication, but she still reacted sometimes.
“That’s not what I meant and you know it,” she said softly.
“Yes, but I have business to attend to and no time for chitchat. You made a de
al, Paige. If you are finding it difficult to keep up with your end of the bargain, then perhaps you would like me to reiterate the consequences if you do not?”
Her temper sparked. “I understand full well what you are capable of, Prince Voronov. How could I not?”
“And what does this mean? Have I been anything but kind to you, Paige? Have I neglected you or left you behind to raise my child alone?”
She stamped her foot in frustration, uncaring what he thought about the gesture. “I would have been perfectly happy to raise my baby without you. I don’t need anything from you.”
For the first time since she’d opened the door and seen him on her porch, a flash of emotion crossed his features. He took a step toward her. She would have backed away, except that she suddenly knew what a trapped rabbit must feel like. Safer not to move.
“Oh, yes, you had no plans to tell me about my child, did you? You would let him go through life without a father, when I could give him so much more than you ever could.”
She sucked in a breath. He looked angrier than she’d ever seen him. The corners of his mouth were white, and she suddenly knew that what he’d been battling for the past two days—the reason he’d barely spoken to her—was anger.
How did he manage to make her feel petty and mean when he was the one who’d dragged her halfway around the world with him? The one who’d ruined everything with his greed? God, how she wished she’d never met him!
She tilted her chin up. “I didn’t think you’d want to know.”
It wasn’t a good defense, but it was the truth.
His laugh was not friendly. It was a broken sound that ended before it began. “Because you know so much about me.”
He punctured her indignation like a balloon, and her heart suddenly ached at the emotion behind his words. She was supposed to hate him, and yet she hurt for him. She’d been wrong to consider keeping the baby a secret, but she truly had believed he wouldn’t be interested.
“I know nothing about you, Alexei,” she said. “But I’d like to.”
She was surprised to find she meant it. He was the father of her child—her husband—and she wanted to know him. They’d shared a beautiful evening once, even if it had all been a sham. Though it hurt to think of how he’d used her, she knew this was a consequence he had not foreseen.
His mouth opened, and she found herself leaning forward, wondering what he would say. Would this be a rapprochement for them? A new beginning? She was surprised at how badly she wanted it to be. She could learn—they both could—to put their animosity behind them for the sake of their baby.
But then Alexei’s jaw snapped closed. He pivoted and strode down the hall.
***
Alexei felt as if he’d been standing beneath an oilrig when it had suddenly, and without warning, crashed down on top of him. He’d gone to Texas to examine his new acquisition and returned home with a wife.
A wife.
And not only a wife. From the moment he’d heard the voice of a nurse inform Paige about her ultrasound appointment, he’d known what lay down the road he was traveling.
She’d been a virgin. She was pregnant. He’d gone back over the night in his head, and he’d remembered the one thing he’d tried to forget. He’d fallen asleep beneath her, their bodies still joined. When he’d awakened, the condom was loose. It didn’t take a genius to figure out how she’d gotten pregnant.
He’d been careless, and now he was suffering the consequences.
Alexei put his head in his hands. He couldn’t concentrate on the figures in front of him any longer. He did not want a wife. He did not want a child. He’d already lost the people he’d loved, and he had no room to care for anyone again. It was not a risk he’d ever planned to take.
But already he felt a burgeoning protectiveness toward the child she carried.
And toward her.
Chert poberi!
She was a thorn in his side. She looked at him with those wide, dark eyes, with her emotions on her sleeve, and he wanted to take her in his arms and tell her it would be okay.
But it wouldn’t be okay.
How could he say it would? He’d said the same thing to Katerina, yet they had both known the truth. He would not do it again. He would not put his heart and soul on the line for life to crush. It was easier being alone. He understood how to be alone.
He did not understand how to be a husband and father.
Then why didn’t you leave her in Dallas?
He did not know why, except that he could not do so. She was carrying his child. He’d thought the Voronov line, the direct paternal line, would probably die out with him since each year passed without him taking a wife. But Paige had changed everything.
On the long flight home, when she’d curled up in the center of the big bed in his suite, he’d wanted to lie with her. He’d wanted to curl behind her, to pull her into the protective curve of his body and spread his hand over her abdomen. He’d wanted to feel her breathing, smell her summery scent and sleep beside her.
He’d done none of those things, though the impulse had been overwhelming. The thought of doing them horrified him. What was happening to him? How could he let one small woman get beneath his skin like this?
Alexei got to his feet. There was only one answer. He had to leave. He had to go somewhere else, had to leave her here at the Voronov Palace where she would be safe. She would grow big with their baby, and he would make sure she had the best care available.
But he would be elsewhere, running his business and building his empire even bigger and better than before. He would visit from time to time, make sure she was thriving, but he would not stay for long. And he would never touch her again.
Because he was afraid, if he did, he’d never want to stop.
“I have to return to Moscow on business.”
Paige’s head snapped up. She’d gone for a walk on the vast grounds of the palace and found a stone bench beneath an arbor. It was peaceful, beautiful. A cascade of pink roses spilled down the arbor, their blooms sweet and profuse. It was a vastly different landscape from a month ago. It had gone from wintery wonderland to spring garden in a short amount of time.
The air still had a slight chill. She’d worn a sweater, but her hot Texas blood was beginning to cool in spite of it. She was accustomed to a far warmer climate.
“Hello, Alexei,” she replied.
He loomed beneath the arbor, hands shoved into his trouser pockets, his broody face closed and dark. Her heart skipped a beat as she watched him. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t help but remember shoving his shirt from his body and running her hands over all that smooth, hard muscle.
“I will be gone a few days, but you will have everything you need. And if you do not, you have only to tell Vasily and he will see to it that you are taken care of.”
Her heart had sped up while he talked. “You’re leaving? So soon?”
She’d expected he would have to leave on business from time to time, but she hadn’t expected it would happen within hours of their arrival. He was the only person she knew in this country. How could he leave her when everything about this situation was still so new? Who would she talk to? What would she do all day? She was used to working, used to taking care of herself. How was she supposed to do nothing at all?
She felt as if she were suffocating, as if she’d left one life where she’d been obligated to the needs of her sister only to step into another where she was at the whim of a man. A man who wouldn’t want her if it weren’t for the child in her body. Everything she’d ever wanted for herself, every dream and every scrap of independence, had been taken away from her by this enigmatic man.
And now he was leaving, as if it were nothing. As if she were nothing.
Alexei shrugged. “My business needs me.”
“And you can’t work from here for a few days? We’ve only just arrived.”
He frowned down at her. “You cannot understand the pressures of my life.”
He snorted. “But not a good one, da?”
Paige gritted her teeth. It was just like him to take a swipe at her ex-boss. “I like Chad. He was always good to me, he paid me very well, and he loves my sister.”
“So you have forgotten his treatment of you.”
Paige got to her feet. “His treatment? Chad never treated me wrongly, Alexei. I’ve told you that time and time again. In fact, I think he’s treated me better than you have.”
He took a step toward her, his brows drawing down. His face was a thundercloud. “He treated you so well that he lied to you about his affair with your sister. In fact, if I seem to remember, they both lied. And you put yourself in danger because of their lies.”
“That’s not what I was talking about,” she said, her heart kicking up again.
“No, of course not. You forget that I helped you, that without me you would have been caught and abused by those men. But of course I am the one who has treated you wrongly.”
Paige pulled a tendril of hair from her mouth where the wind had blown it. His gaze seemed to linger on her lips, his eyes darkening slightly before he looked away again.
“I thanked you for helping me that night. But you’ve not done a thing with my best interests in mind since. You’ve done what was best for you.”
His gaze whipped back to her. “Do you think marrying you was best for me? That bringing you here is what I wanted to do?”
If he’d stabbed her in the heart with a jagged knife, he could have hurt her no worse. She knew he didn’t want her. But to hear it stated so starkly?
She would not cry. She didn’t need him. They didn’t need him.
“You made that choice, Alexei, not I. If you regret it so much, then why don’t you let me go home?”
“You are home,” he snapped. “For the sake of the child, you are where you belong.”
She folded her arms beneath her breasts, shook off a chill. “I sometimes wish we’d never met.”