by Lynne Graham
Letty strolled through a set of superb bedrooms crammed with toys. She was taken aback to note that even in Popi’s room there were no photographs of the children’s late parents and she mentioned that oversight in surprise to Leo.
‘I thought it was kinder not to remind them but there’ll be photo albums in the stuff I put into storage,’ he replied.
‘I think they should all have a photo. I also think that if you have a bedroom large enough and could bear the disruption,’ Letty whispered, ‘they could all sleep in the same room...just for a little while. I think it would help Popi relax more.’
It was a simple suggestion and not one Leo had considered. He hoisted his niece into his arms and asked her if she would like to share a room with her sister.
Popi beamed. ‘Oh, yes, it would be just like home then...’
‘You used to share with Sybella,’ he recalled.
‘Yes, but here in this house I’d like the boys too... I need to look after them,’ Popi told him, silencing Leo with that assurance.
Watching Juliet adjust the gauzy wings on Sybella’s fairy outfit and seeing the toddler come running back with a necklace she wanted to put on as well, however, Leo was content. He had brought the baby whisperer home, a kind and practical woman who would take the time and effort to work out what would make the children feel happy and safe in his house.
Lunch was served in a grand dining room. The same nannies appeared beforehand to whisk the children away. Evidently the children did not share their uncle’s meals.
‘For a first meeting that went very well,’ Leo proclaimed with satisfaction as the first course was delivered. His black hair was ruffled by Theon’s clutching hands, his stubborn jawline darkly stubbled, outlining the surprisingly full outline of his wide sensual mouth. As Letty looked, a tightness across her chest and butterflies dancing in her stomach, Leo glanced up, spearing her with narrowed dark golden eyes enhanced by thick black lashes. Those eyes were stunning, strikingly compelling, and heat flamed through her body without warning. She had to drop her attention back to her plate to gather herself again.
‘It’ll take time for the children to get to know and trust me,’ she pointed out, trying not to openly salivate at the sight of the tiny savoury tart and salad on the plate in front of her. ‘Don’t set the bar too high.’
‘Unlike the nannies, who have come and gone, for most of them don’t want the responsibility of four charges,’ Leo stated wryly, ‘you will be a constant in the children’s lives and that security is what they need most.’
It struck her that she had already given unspoken agreement to the marriage he had suggested and that shook her. That wasn’t how she operated. Even so, the children had touched her heart and Leo had already gone ahead and informed them that she was his intended wife. Consequently, backing out now wasn’t really a viable prospect, particularly when Leo had boldly reminded her that he was her only option. Suck it up, she urged herself impatiently. By marrying Leo, she could put her family’s life back on track and, eventually, she would be able to return to studying medicine. In any case, how could she possibly refuse an offer that would put her mother back on her own two feet?
‘All right, so I’m marrying you, but we still haven’t discussed that final stumbling block I raised at our last meeting,’ Letty reminded him resolutely. ‘Going into this, we both need to know exactly where we stand.’
Leo breathed in deep, knowing he couldn’t afford to tell her exactly how he felt about having a wife with a sex life separate from his own, a wife who slept with other men whenever she chose, an equal partner in every way to himself. He had never contemplated taking a wife who would enjoy such freedom and he honestly didn’t think he could live with that concept. ‘I suggest that we play that by ear. Why do we have to have a game plan?’
‘Rules agreed in advance ensure that things run more smoothly,’ Letty told him.
‘I’m more a spontaneous kind of guy,’ Leo quipped. ‘I don’t believe that everything can be laid out in black and white before we even know what it will be like to share our lives.’
There was a certain amount of sense in that statement but Letty preferred rules. Rules, as she saw them, prevented misunderstandings and provided firm boundaries. ‘I prefer black and white.’
‘You’re unlikely to get that with me,’ Leo admitted simply.
‘I disagree. I think you’ll want a prenup and other safeguards before we marry,’ Letty dared. ‘Or am I wrong?’
Leo tensed, recognising that he was dealing with an astute woman. ‘No, on that score you are correct. But financial arrangements fall into a very different category. Financial rules and safety measures are only common sense.’
Letty ate with appetite because everything on her plate was a treat. She told herself off for eating the dessert, reminding herself that she would have to work it off at the gym.
‘Do you want your grandfather to stage and foot the bill for our wedding?’ Leo enquired levelly over the coffee cups. ‘He has already made that suggestion.’
Letty almost choked on her coffee. ‘Has he indeed? Very generous of him, I’m sure!’ she exclaimed, biting back further uncharitable words but only with difficulty. ‘He wouldn’t help us when we really needed his help, but if I’m doing what he wants suddenly he’s ready to open his wallet. Sorry, that sounds bitter.’
‘But understandable. I had to give you the choice, but I would prefer to organise everything for us,’ Leo admitted quietly. ‘Your grandfather would probably want to stage the wedding in Greece, which wouldn’t suit either of us very well.’
A little embarrassed at having spoken so freely, Letty merely swallowed hard and nodded because travelling to Greece for a wedding certainly wouldn’t suit her or her family. Her head was swimming a little from the awareness that she was discussing wedding arrangements with a man she had only met that week. It felt surreal.
‘I will be inviting friends and business connections,’ Leo declared. ‘You, of course, will have your own guest list and I imagine your grandfather will also have names he wishes to put forward.’
‘There won’t be many on my list. We don’t have any other near relatives living and only a few close friends worthy of an invitation.’
‘What about your mother’s parents?’
‘They died years ago without ever having forgiven her for bringing me into the world,’ Letty stated with a grimace. ‘My maternal grandmother was in her forties when she had Mum and, like my grandfather, Mum’s parents viewed my birth as a social embarrassment.’
‘Thankfully, few are as judgemental these days,’ Leo observed, reaching into his pocket to withdraw a small jewellery box and passing it to her without ceremony. ‘It would please me if you wore this. In so far as it is possible for your family’s benefit and that of the children, we should behave as though this is a regular relationship.’
Letty lifted the lid on a magnificent solitaire diamond ring and gasped in complete surprise. ‘Gosh! You want me to wear an engagement ring?’
Leo lifted and dropped a shoulder as if to suggest that, regardless of his polite assurance that her wearing the ring would please him, he was, in fact, quite indifferent. ‘I think your mother would appreciate the conventional touches, particularly when we are getting married so quickly.’
Letty slid the ring onto her finger, relieved that it fitted, her face warming with colour. ‘How soon do you expect the wedding to take place?’ she asked apprehensively.
‘Within a couple of weeks.’
Letty was aghast at that short time frame. ‘But—’
‘Now that we’ve agreed on how to move forward, why would we waste time?’ Leo incised. ‘I would appreciate it if you tried to spend some time with the children between now and then.’
‘Of course. I only have to give a week’s notice at work,’ Letty mumbled, flustered by the fast pace of events an
d feeling more than a little overwhelmed by the prospect of marrying Leo, even though it wouldn’t be a normal marriage, no matter how hard they tried to pretend otherwise.
‘I’ll organise a list of surgeons for you so that you can have your mother booked in for the procedure she requires. I would also suggest that you look at a list of properties I have available to choose accommodation that would suit your mother and brothers better than your current home,’ Leo added. ‘My lawyers will contact you with regard to the legalities of our agreement. Unfortunately, I’ll be in Greece over the next few days handling the amalgamation of your grandfather’s company with mine. If you need to contact me, you have my number.’
Letty breathed in deep and slow to steady herself. All of a sudden she was seeing that her world was about to be turned inside out and that while the end result might be a great improvement, it would also be even more challenging than she had expected.
‘Er... I hate to mention it,’ she muttered uncomfortably as she considered her family’s most pressing problem and the state of sleepless anxiety that same problem kept her mother in. ‘That loan—’
Leo studied her, dark golden eyes hardening to a bright diamond glitter. ‘That will be dealt with without your input. It will be settled, and those men will never bother you or your family again,’ he swore. ‘You will also have a security team protecting you from now on.’
‘For goodness’ sake!’ Letty began in disbelief.
‘And a car and driver to take you wherever you want to go,’ Leo completed as if she hadn’t spoken. ‘I want you to be safe. I don’t want to take the risk of anything happening to you. On our wedding day you will become my wife and Isidore Livas’s heiress and such precautions are, sadly, necessary in the world that we live in.’
‘I disagree,’ Letty protested.
‘You don’t have to agree with me. As of today, I am taking full responsibility for your safety and that of your family. You will no longer need to keep a cricket bat behind the front door,’ Leo informed her grimly. ‘Anyone who threatens you now will have me to deal with!’
‘Careful, Leo,’ Letty murmured after she had got her breath back, her eyes colliding with his shimmering angry appraisal. ‘Your crocodile instincts are showing...’
Leo expelled his breath in a hiss. ‘The sight of that cricket bat incensed me,’ he admitted grudgingly. ‘I will not have you living in fear any longer.’
CHAPTER FOUR
‘HE’S A LITTLE like a magician,’ Gillian Harbison contended as she looked out dreamily at the little garden of the ground floor apartment she had moved into the day before. ‘Leo, I mean. He just waves his magic wand and suddenly your wildest dreams come true.’
‘That’s Leo.’ Letty studied her mother, seated in her wheelchair by the patio doors that led out into the garden. The lines of stress and tension had eased on the older woman’s face. She was booked in for surgery at a private clinic the day after the wedding. Her sons would be staying with their father until she was back on her feet again and her best friend was moving in with her to support her during her recovery. The bright modern flat with three bedrooms and more space than Gillian had enjoyed in years was simply the icing on the cake. It was the moment when Letty accepted that any sacrifice had to be worthwhile when it made her nearest and dearest so much happier.
That was why she had bitten her tongue and surrendered to almost every demand that Leo had made of her. Accepting his generosity without complaint or protest, not to mention his insistence on security precautions, was a key challenge for her independent soul but seeing her family blossom in response was her reward. Furthermore, she couldn’t pretend to be a loving bride and fight with Leo at the same time, particularly when she was currently only able to fight with him on the phone, for Leo had been in Greece longer than he had expected. He had uncovered suspect financial practices in her grandfather’s company that required his immediate attention.
Letty had visited the children every day since Leo’s departure. She would go over in the afternoon, share an evening meal with them and then stay until bedtime. The night before, Popi had given her a hug after she had read her and Sybella a bedtime story. Slowly but surely the barriers were coming down as Letty became more familiar to the children. Since she had handed in her notice at work she had been incredibly busy, dealing with the wedding planner, shopping for a wedding gown and coordinating the million and one things that she now had to do. That had included searching for outfits for the children to wear at the wedding and dealing politely but firmly with her grandfather’s demand that he play a bigger part in the ceremony. Isidore Livas had been keen to walk her down the aisle but Letty’s mother was fulfilling that role in her wheelchair, having already confided that it would be the proudest moment of her life.
‘So, what are you wearing for the hen do tonight?’ Gillian asked with a smile.
Letty hadn’t wanted a hen party, but her friends and former work colleagues did and it had felt mean to deny them the chance of a good night out because once she had mentioned her plans to Leo, he hadn’t scrupled to organise that for her as well. He had obtained entry for all of them to a VIP section in an exclusive nightclub where their entertainment and their drinks would be free and, much as Letty had resented him taking over, she hadn’t had the heart to rain on everyone else’s parade.
‘We’re all wearing denim shorts,’ Letty revealed with a grimace. ‘I haven’t worn shorts since the summer before university and I had to buy a new pair because I’ve expanded since then. We’ll freeze.’
‘Not with a limo ferrying you round,’ her mother said quietly. ‘Letty...you’re only young once. Enjoy it. You don’t get a rerun when you realise what you’ve missed out on. Go out and have a good time tonight with your friends.’
‘I will. I promise.’ Letty bent down to hug the older woman, annoyed that she had put a troubled furrow between her brows.
‘You are so lucky to have found Leo. I couldn’t be happier for you,’ Gillian confided. ‘He takes such an interest in all of us. I just don’t understand why you haven’t already moved into his home... I mean, you’re trekking back and forth to his house every day and I can manage fine on my own.’
Letty had coloured at her mother’s natural assumption that she was already sleeping with Leo. ‘Leo and I will be together soon enough... It’s only forty-eight hours until the wedding,’ she pointed out.
‘And you do love him, don’t you?’ Gillian pressed anxiously. ‘His wealth and those looks of his haven’t turned your head too much? Because neither of those things will keep you together if you don’t love him.’
‘Mum... I realise that I’m not the world’s most demonstrative person but believe me,’ Letty urged with as much conviction as she could muster. ‘I love him! It was practically love at first sight.’
Lust at first sight, she adjusted with an inner wince of embarrassment as she dried her hair in the new bedroom that would only be hers until the wedding. She hated lying to her mother, but she didn’t have a choice. And she felt guilty because she wasn’t seeing the children that evening. The chaos of moving to a new apartment and the hen party organised for the same night hadn’t left her a moment to call her own, even though Leo had sent professional house movers to smooth the way. The sheer speed at which Leo accomplished things still shook her.
Money talked, she thought ruefully—money definitely talked. Her grandfather had been positively warm when he called to congratulate her on her decision to marry Leo. He was elated at the prospect of his retirement from business, although, from a couple of stray comments he had made, she also suspected that he regretted that Letty, rather than his adored daughter, her Aunt Elexis, was to be the bride.
Letty rarely touched alcohol. When tensions were high in her mother and stepfather’s marriage, Robbie had resorted to drink and the scenes and arguments that had resulted had put Letty off alcohol. At least her stepfather had
never been violent, she conceded, seated with her friends and feeling ridiculous in her fake tiara and bridal sash. In truth she felt like the spectre at the feast. Her companions were having a whale of a time, but Letty was much too conscious that she wasn’t a true bride on the brink of marrying a man that she loved and it not only made her sad but also made her thoroughly irritated with her oversensitivity.
In response, she decided to have a few drinks and within an hour she was contriving to laugh naturally at the silly sex jokes that usually made her stiffen up, painfully aware of her own ignorance in practice. An hour after that, she was game for taking a turn on the pole on the podium, following the example of her two university friends, who were better at letting their hair down than she was. The three of them had attended pole-dancing classes for several years, relishing the strength, skill and flexibility they had gained from the experience.
Leo was travelling home from the airport when Darius phoned him. He had grown up with Darius, whose father had been his father’s bodyguard, and there was no one he trusted more to look after Letty. Yes, he had given way on the name because she refused to answer to Julie or Juliet or any other diminutive. And her opposition on that score had intrigued him because women rarely challenged Leo and, once he had got to know Letty, her name had mysteriously grown to fit her.
‘How’s the party going?’ Leo enquired with amusement against the backdrop of loud thumping music.
‘Your bride is having a blast,’ Darius replied. She’s waiting her turn to pole-dance. I tried to head her off because it’s a little too public here but she’s...well, she’s her own woman.’
Leo came off the phone, struggling to even picture Letty on a pole. At worst she would hurt herself, at best she would embarrass herself. He groaned out loud and raked an impatient hand through his black cropped hair. He had assumed she was too sensible to get involved in any kind of mischief and he most certainly didn’t want her photographed for posterity doing anything that would mortify her in daylight. Without hesitation, he told his driver to head to the club. ‘She’s her own woman,’ Darius had said tactfully, meaning that Letty was as stubborn as a mule and had dismissed his attempt to dissuade her.