Julian (Members From Money Book 31)

by Katie Dowe

  “Will I at least get the chance to see my nephew and have him call me aunt?” she asked him in a subdued voice.

  “Please give me time. The press is going to be all over this—

  “And the secret of me being your bastard sister might come out,” she interrupted him with bitterness in her voice.

  “I'm sorry,” he said abruptly. “I'm doing the best that I know how.” He walked over to her and pulled her into his arms. She didn't resist him.

  “Okay,” she murmured into his chest. “What’s she like?”

  “She's beautiful,” he said immediately and to his surprise realized that it was true. She was a beautiful woman. “She's also independent and smart.”

  Lina eased away from him and looked into his face. “You care about her.”

  He shrugged and moved away from her. “I suppose I do.”

  “So make it work.”

  “What do you mean?” he asked with a frown.

  “Marry her Julian, and give her your name.”

  “I'm not ready to get married.”

  “Julian Gessner you are my brother and I love you world without end, but you can be so stubborn! She is pregnant with your son and you care about her. The next step is to marry her and be a family.”

  “Marriages have a way of not working.”

  “Your parents—”

  “My dad cheated on my mother and had another family without her knowing,” he interrupted her bitterly.

  “And you're afraid that you'll do the same thing,” she said quietly.

  “Maybe,” he said with a shrug.

  “You are your own person. You are not our father and you make your own decisions. I'm sure you can make this thing work if you put your mind to it.”

  He stared at her for a moment and then went to get his coat. “I'll see you before I leave.”

  “I love you Julian,” she said quietly.

  “I love you too,” he said with a smile as he headed out the door.

  *****

  “Darling there you are!” Elena Gessner cried, holding out her hands to her son as he entered the room. She put aside the book she'd been reading as she reached for him. “I am so happy to see you.”

  “I have news Mother.” He bent to kiss her cheeks. She looked very well and so happy.

  ‘Tell me,” she said as he took a seat next to her.

  “I've been seeing someone.”

  “I read about your exploits in the papers. I don’t think any of those girls are right for you.”

  “Not here Mother,” he told her with a gentle smile. “I met her in the USA.”

  “Oh! When am I going to meet her?”

  “I don’t know yet. She's carrying your grandson.”

  Her eyes widened as she stared at him. “She's pregnant?”

  “Yes. She's due next month.”

  “Oh my word! I cannot take this in. I'm going to be a grandmother at long last! Why didn’t you tell me before?”

  “I wanted to wait and be sure,” he lied.

  “Will the child be born here?”

  He had thought of that but he didn't want her to travel at this stage, and besides he didn't think she would want to be uprooted from her country. “No.” he said briefly. “But I'll make sure you get to see him. His name will be Dominick Matthias.”

  “Beautiful names,” she searched his face. “You're not getting married?”

  “I'm not thinking about that right now Mother.” He squeezed her hands gently.

  “I wish you would. Every woman likes the security of marriage, especially when there is a child involved.”

  “Not all women think like that mother.”

  “I'm sure that this woman is already in love with you.”

  He laughed at that. “Why do you say that?”

  “You are a very handsome man darling, so much like your father. The minute I saw him I knew I was in love with him.”

  His expression changed abruptly. “Love has a way of complicating things.”

  “What a strange thing to say darling. Love has a way of making things so much better.”

  “Does it?” The bitterness unconsciously seeped into his voice.

  “Darling, is there something you want to tell me?”

  He shook his head slightly and kissed her cheek. “No, Mother. I'm just not ready for that kind of commitment yet.”

  She rested a slender hand along his jaw and kept it there. “No matter what I never regretted marrying your dad.”

  His expression was bleak as he thought of what she would say if she knew what he'd done.

  *****

  He had told her that he was transferring her to Dr. Whittingham’s private facility. He had come back two days after leaving and had told her that he wouldn't be leaving again until the baby was born. The press had gotten hold of it and it was all over the papers. Her staff had whispered and gossiped and Lorna was the only one who came right out and said something to her.

  “You could have told me,” she had said accusingly.

  “There was nothing to say.” Sydney had gone to pack up her things and officially start her maternity leave. A housekeeper had been hired and would be staying at the house so she didn't have to live alone. Her brother had accused her of keeping things from him, but she had told him that she didn't want to talk about it.

  “We had a thing and that was it. Picture you and Marco.”

  “I don’t want to picture that, thank you,” she'd said dryly. “Honey, this is Julian Gessner, billionaire banker extraordinaire!”

  “Are you working on depressing me even more?” she had asked her friend.

  Now, sitting in the doctor’s sumptuous office as she waited while he wrote her a prescription, she felt as if she was in another dimension. Julian had greeted the man as if they were old friends and they probably were.

  Since that night when he'd come to her apartment and they'd made love, he hadn't touched her and she had a feeling that he was creating boundaries and making her know that she was just the mother of his son and nothing else.

  She was in love with him. She suspected that she had been in love with him that time when he had touched her and even before. Being with him in the same space and having to be at arm’s length was killing her.

  “Sydney, I've told Julian that it’s best if you come in a day before your due date. I always like to make sure that the mothers are comfortable and relaxed up to the point of delivery,” the elderly man smiled at her genially. He had read up her files and noticed that everything was okay. He had also done his own checks.

  “Thank you,” she said politely as she struggled to get to her feet. Julian walked over swiftly to take her hand to help her up and let go as soon as she was on her feet.

  “We'll see you in another week, Henry.”

  *****

  The housekeeper had left by the time they got back and the house was as silent as a tomb. He walked with her into the room he'd given her. Another large room next to it that had been turned into a nursery. Whenever he was at the house he was holed up in his office and would sleep in one of the other rooms. She had too much pride to beg him to be with her but she would spend the night twisting and turning and unable to sleep.

  “Are you hungry?” he asked her abruptly as she made her way towards the bedroom.

  “Yes,” she said suddenly even though she wasn't. Anything to keep him with her longer.

  “What would you like?” his voice was polite and distant as if he was talking to a stranger.

  “A chicken sandwich is fine.”

  He nodded and turned to go into the kitchen.

  “How about I prepare it for both of us?”

  *****

  He turned to look at her. She looked lovely in a soft floral blouse and light blue pants, with her hair caught up into a ponytail at the nape of her neck. His eyes drifted to her belly and he felt the familiar stirring of desire. “Are you sure?”

  “I am,” she told him and walked towards the kitchen with
him following her. She made quick work of preparing the sandwich and found a jug of lemonade in the fridge. He nodded when she looked at him and she poured the juice into glasses. “Tell me about Zurich,” she said suddenly as she climbed onto one of the stools opposite him.

  “Why?” he queried as he broke off a piece of bread.

  “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe because the man I'm having a child with is from there?” her tapered brows rose and he felt a glimmer of a smile on his lips.

  “What do you want to know?”

  “Not what I've read on the internet.” She leaned forward and her blouse gaped open, revealing the swell of her breasts. He tore his eyes away and concentrated on his drink. He told her about the country’s vastness and its beauty and that it was considered to be the financial capital of the world. He told her about the place where he'd grown up but with little emotion in his voice. They'd finished their sandwiches by then. “Would you like some coffee?” Sydney asked.

  “You are not allowed—”

  “I'm drinking tea,” she told him hastily. “And one cup of coffee isn't going to harm our son.” His eyes flared at that and went to her belly as she climbed off the chair slowly.

  *****

  The kitchen was vast and very modern. With the housekeeper there she wasn't allowed to explore. She was happy the woman was off today and had decided to go to visit her sister in New York. She could feel his eyes on her as she prepared the tea and the coffee for him and her skin tingled in awareness. She handed him the mug and got back onto the stool to blow on her tea.

  “How's your brother?” he asked her abruptly.

  She looked at him, surprised that he'd remembered. “He's doing much better.”

  Julian nodded.

  Sydney wanted to break the silence. If she didn't he would finish the coffee and leave. “How's your sister?”

  He looked over at her swiftly. “She's fine. She wants to meet you.” Sydney saw the indulgent look on his face and wished that it was for her.

  “Will I meet her?” she asked casually.

  “No,” he told her coolly and got to his feet.

  “Why not?” she demanded.

  “I don’t have to explain myself to you.”

  “I'm carrying your child—”

  “You think that gives you the right to know about my personal business?”

  “I know I mean nothing more to you than being the mother of your son, Julian, but the least you can do is show me some respect.”

  “I respect you,” he told her in an indifferent voice. “I suggest you go and get some sleep.”

  “No!” she cried out as she went after him.

  He turned back to look at her. “Pull yourself together. I don’t like scenes.”

  “Too damned bad mister, because you're in for one!” she told him, her dark brown eyes flashing as she stood there looking at him. “I've been doing things your way ever since I met you. You've ignored me and treated me like less than a person. You don’t touch me,” she continued raggedly. “You don’t touch me.”

  The silence that came after that sentence was so profound that neither of them moved.

  Suddenly he reached out and pulled her to him, his grey-green eyes stormy as he looked down at her. “I'm touching you now,” he told her hoarsely. He bent his head and took her lips with his. Sydney sagged against him, her hands going around his neck. He bent and lifted her into his arms, bearing her towards the bedroom. He placed her onto the bed and removed her hands from around his neck. He stood there looking at her for so long that she was afraid that he was going to change his mind and leave. But he started removing her clothes and dropping them onto the carpeted floor, his hands spanning the width of her belly before he bent his head and kissed it, his lips lingering. Sydney opened her legs wide as his hand drifted between them and started stroking her mound. She trembled and her lips parted as she panted, passion already swamping her. He stepped back and removed his clothes before joining her on the bed. He turned her onto her side and entered her swiftly. She turned her head to his and he reached for her lips. Sydney sighed inside his mouth as he thrust into her slowly at first and then increased the tempo.

  *****

  “No,” she whispered as he stirred behind her. She clung to the hand he wrapped around her waist and held on. “Please stay.”

  “I wasn't leaving.” He bent his head and soothed the bite marks he'd left on her skin. He had the habit of doing that to her and that was one of the reasons he stayed away. He lost control whenever he touched her and he didn't like it one bit. She lifted his hand and laid it on her cheek. “I love it when you're with me,” she murmured. “I know you don’t want a normal relationship Julian, but I hope that one day you'll realize that it can work between us.” She pulled his hand down and placed it between her legs. His semi erect penis came alive as she clamped his hand between her legs and started moving.

  “You should get some sleep,” he murmured hoarsely as he felt the desire fanning through his body.

  “I'm not sleepy,” she let her head drift back and he bent his to take her lips with his. Her tongue met his and he turned her around, his fingers brushing her mound and going into her wet warmth. She opened her legs for him, wide enough to give him access. His fingers were busy going in and out of her rapidly as his mouth devoured hers. She lifted her bottom up to meet his fevered thrusts and felt the cloying release clamoring through her. He pulled out suddenly and dragged his lips from hers but she purred in relief when he got between her legs. His dark brown head lowered until his mouth was touching her and his tongue got busy where his fingers had left off. “Julian,” she twisted feverishly. “Yes, like that. Oh God, Julian!” The words ended in a keening cry as his tongue touched her core. “I love you!” The words sounded like they'd been wrenched from her and Julian's body went stiff.

  He waited until she was sleeping before he got up and went to the bathroom to stare at his reflection in the mirror. His hair was wild around his face and his eyes were bright with the passion that still burned inside him. There were marks on his chest where her fingers had dug into his skin as the orgasm swamped her. He'd also left a few marks on her otherwise flawless skin. He was constantly hot for her and there was another problem: she had told him that she loved him. Cried it out in the throes of her passion which probably meant nothing. He'd had women do that when they'd reached their peak and hadn't mentioned it to them because he knew it for what it was, but this was different. Sydney was carrying his child and he had a feeling that she'd never said that to another man before. He hadn't asked her about her personal life simply because he told himself that he did't care.

  What he knew about her was from her personnel files and he didn't want to know any more, or so he thought. He did not love her. He couldn't, because that would mean he wanted a relationship, which he did not want! He plunged his fingers through his hair and closed his eyes. His life was so complicated right now and that was the last thing he wanted or needed. He was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't hear her come in until she put her hands around his waist. His eyes snapped open and he waited a second before turning to her. “You're supposed to be sleeping,” he said gruffly. Her hair was tangled and her lips swollen. Her nipples were puckered and still wet from his mouth. “I didn't feel you next to me,” She murmured as she ran her fingers over his chest. “I love sleeping with you.”

  “If I come to bed will you go to sleep?” His palms cupped her cheeks.

  “Hmmm.” She looped her hands around his neck and leaned into him. “I'm not sure about sleeping now,” she murmured.

  “You're insatiable,” he said with a shaky laugh as he bent his head to her.

  “With you I am,” she whispered against his lips.

  *****

  She finally went to sleep curled up under his arms with her fingers clutched on his chest. He listened to her even breathing and could feel the movements of his son inside her, a smile playing around his lips. She'd interrupted his thoughts but
now they were back. She wanted marriage and he couldn't give it to her. They didn't know each other well enough and even so, marriage never really worked. What about your friends at the club, the voice came at him out of nowhere. He'd seen the love there. He had seen the way the men looked at the women they'd married. They were called the cookies and cream love match and even though it was said scathingly there was admiration there as well. Their marriages seemed to be working. He'd asked Alexander once what the secret was and the man had laughed and told him that it had everything to do with chemistry. “I touched Debbie and that was it for me. I knew then that there would never and could never be another woman for me, man.”

  He'd touched Sydney and he couldn't keep his hands off her. But he still had doubts.

  Chapter 9

  Elena Gessner was enjoying more than just days of lucidity. It had turned into weeks. The doctors had been amazed at her improvement and so was she and she was thankful. She'd given her personal maid the day off and when the woman had hesitated she had threatened to fire her. It was days to her grandson’s arrival and she wanted to maybe persuade her son to have her fly out. She was so excited about it, and besides she wanted to meet the woman who was carrying her son’s child. She went to her small office and wandered around, her eyes falling on a chest that had been pushed beneath a chair. She bent and retrieved it with a frown. It was locked and she wondered why. It had been years since she'd come in here so she had no idea what it was. She went to the desk and felt around until she found a set of keys and tried all of them until she came to the right one. The box sprang open and she looked at the stack of papers there. She sifted through and realized that they belonged to her husband. Tears fogged her eyes as she went through the papers. There were receipts dating back to several years ago. She brought the box over and sat at the desk. She dug a little deeper and saw several other receipts and then a frown darkened her brow as she picked up an official-looking letter. She opened the flap and took the letter out and started reading. Her frown deepened as she read. Erik Gessner was at the top and another woman’s name was there. It was a birth certificate that had a girl’s name: Lina Gessner. No! Her mind screamed. Her husband couldn't have had a child with another woman. A child who was five years younger than her son. A child that had been conceived while they were married. It couldn't be. She read the paper again until she was familiar with the names of the people involved. Her son had to know about it. He was the one the lawyers had dealt with when Erik had died. He was supposed to have loved her and only her, she thought in anguish. She sat there with the paper in her hands and tried to think back to those years, wondering if there had been trouble in the marriage, if she'd done something to cause her husband to stray. But she couldn't find anything. They'd wanted more children but it hadn't happened, but he'd been okay with them having just the one. Or so she'd thought.