Chapter Two #3
Of course, she didn’t know then that she wasn’t one of the Hamilton girls. Not a Hamilton at all. She kept people at a distance because growing up she had felt like an outsider, and she was scared that if she let them get close, they might sense what she was feeling. Maybe even agree with her.
She had earned her reputation for being aloof.
The triplet sisters, Carrie, Ruth and Kendall, had sleepovers and camp-outs and soccer shoot-outs on the beach, but aside from when she rode or danced, she was busy working, trying to hide that she was different—hard as a brunette in a family of blonds. Trying to earn her place as a Hamilton.
Later when she found out the truth and the difference was not simply a fear but a fact, she had fled. Because being at home made her feel guilty and fraudulent and alone.
But now she was in London.
Just another anonymous face in a megacity. Except here, she thought, gratitude and relief washing over her as she stepped into the elevator just as they did every time she walked into Milner’s offices in Fetter Lane.
She liked the building with its marble columns and wood panelling. Liked her colleagues, even Chloe. Liked her boss. Liked her job.
Even liked the coffee which everyone back in the States had warned her about.
Because for once, the pain of being an outsider, a fraud and a burden had receded. She was here because Milner’s wanted her. Because she was good at her job.
She even had proof. Her pulse did a tiny, triumphant dance.
She had been on her way to court to sit in on a particularly complex custody arrangement when Maggie, the legal secretary she shared with Chloe, had called to tell her that Mr Milner wanted her back in the office immediately.
Nancy was ill, and her client needed a prenup ASAP.
Willa felt a bubble of happiness swell against her ribs. Her client now.
Her first—in London anyway.
If only she had someone she could tell.
There was someone. Or rather she’d thought he might become someone.
Ares.
Her throat tightened. Maybe she didn’t know his surname, but there had been a connection with him that seemed to transcend the simple stuff of bodies and breath. Or that’s how it had felt at the time. And she thought he’d felt it too.
But waking just before six, the bed was empty. He was gone.
It was stupid to care, and she couldn’t explain why she did, even now, two weeks after it happened. It wasn’t as if they’d made plans or promises.
Staring straight ahead, she pressed her thighs together, remembering how Ares had shaped her with his hands, pulled her hands above her head and licked her breasts. She’d had sex before, but it hadn’t felt like that. Like wildfire lighting her up, consuming her and leaving her still smouldering.
She could have asked around to find out more about him. But that would have drawn attention to something that she wanted to stay private.
She had thought about searching for him online.
Her shoulders stiffened as she remembered waking alone in her hotel room. But why would she search for him?
He’d made it clear that he had gotten what he wanted. And what he wanted, all he wanted, was to use her body. But she had used his right back, so they were even.
‘There you are.’
Maggie was waiting for her as she stepped out of the elevator.
Willa grimaced. ‘Sorry, the traffic was a nightmare.’
‘It’s fine.’ Maggie glanced at her watch.
‘He’s here already, but Mr Milner said to put him in the Zen Den.
’ That was Larry’s nickname for the room used by the staff to discuss matters like prenups that needed a clear head.
‘He wants to speak to you first. Here.’ She held out a file.
‘You won’t have time to read it, but you need to look the part.
Mr Konstantinou’s family goes way back with the firm, so—’
So no pressure, then, Willa thought, her stomach tightening with nerves and excitement. But it was also more proof that Larry thought she had the chops for the job. ‘So what happened to Nancy?’ she said, tucking the file under her arm.
Maggie stopped midstride, clearly thrilled to be asked. ‘Her appendix burst this morning. She was rushed to A&E about an hour ago.’
Willa felt her jaw tighten. A little over five months had passed since she was taken to hospital with suspected appendicitis. She still had her appendix, but the repercussions of that day continued to haunt her now, and it took a fraction of a second before she could speak.
Fortunately, Maggie was so excited to be the bearer of bad news that she didn’t notice. ‘It’s awful, isn’t it?’
Grateful to be reminded of how a normal person was supposed to react, Willa nodded. ‘Awful. Is she going to be okay?’
She felt a pang of sympathy. Nancy was the partner who had sat in on her interview, and she’d liked her immediately.
She was maybe a decade older. One of those English women with a flawless complexion and a soft voice who was whip-smart, no-nonsense.
The kind of woman who in America would be called a tough cookie.
‘She will be, but she’s not going to be coming back for at least three weeks, maybe longer.
Apparently, there was an abscess.’ Maggie’s eyes widened ghoulishly, enjoying the drama now that it was over.
‘Which means that her caseload is being shared between the partners. But Mr Milner thought you’d be a good fit for the Konstantinou prenup. ’
‘I did, indeed. Thank you, Maggie,’ said Larry Milner, in person.
Blushing, Maggie gave Willa a quick, encouraging smile, and then she was gone, heels tapping on the polished oak floorboards.
‘Thanks for getting back here so quickly.’ Larry gestured towards the end of the corridor. ‘I take it Maggie’s brought you up to speed on the Nancy situation.’
‘Yes. It’s awful,’ she repeated. ‘It’s supposed to be very painful.’
More painful than the cyst on her ovary that burst. The one she had mistaken for appendicitis.
But it wasn’t the pain she remembered from that day.
It was the furtive conversation between her father and the doctors and the tension in the air.
It had felt like a wave curling over, suspended above her, waiting to break.
And then it had, and everything she had thought to be true had been swept away.
She was swept away too, spinning and swirling in the foaming water, dragged far, far out to sea, so far that she didn’t know how to get back to land, to home.
Because she hadn’t realised then what she knew now. That her home wasn’t her home. It was just pretending to be a home like the set of a sitcom.
Larry winced. ‘The pain’s supposed to be terrible. Worse than childbirth, my wife said. And she’s given birth twice, so she should know.’
But she would never know, Willa thought, biting the inside of her cheek and forcing a smile.
Of course, Larry had no idea that his joke had sent her back in time to that Californian hospital and the doctor who had taken away her future just hours before she lost her past.
It didn’t matter how many times it happened, being reminded that she would struggle to get pregnant naturally was still a lot.
There were options. Surrogacy. Adoption.
IVF. All might give her a child one day, but maybe she wasn’t supposed to have one.
Maybe it was a sign, proof that she was meant to roam the earth alone.
Which sounded so like something her drama-queen, younger sister Ruth would say she almost laughed out loud, and for a few half seconds she felt the warm endorphin rush of being part of a tribe that was hardwired into the DNA of every human.
But the Hamiltons weren’t her tribe. If her dark hair and green eyes hadn’t made that obvious, finding out that her DNA was unrelated had. And the chances of her DNA being shared with anyone else, without a lot of intervention, were pretty much zero.
‘Maggie said you wanted to talk to me about the Konstantinou prenup.’
Hearing the excitement of her voice, she felt a ripple of panic.
It was a long time since she had allowed herself to show her feelings.
Caring too much about anything was a risk.
But this was different. This was work. So much had already been taken away from her. Work was her focus and her solace now.
‘That’s right. Nancy has set up a fine framework for the prenup, but obviously she is going to be indisposed, and this is a matter of some urgency.’
Willa felt her pulse stall as Larry stopped in front of the door to the luxurious office where the wealthier clients were taken to be interviewed. Now he turned to face her, his expression suddenly serious.
‘But also, some sensitivity. The client is a high net-worth individual, but he’s a friend. Our families go back a long way, so it’s important to me that we do this right.’
Willa ignored her somersaulting stomach. ‘That’s all I ever want,’ she said firmly.
‘Good. I know this must feel a little daunting, but I feel confident that you are a good fit for the client.’ Smiling, Larry opened the door. As Willa followed him into the room, she caught a glimpse of the seated man’s dark hair and broad shoulders.
‘Ares. I thought I’d drop in and say hi and introduce you to Nancy’s replacement.’
Ares?
Willa felt her smile freeze to her lips. Her heart was suddenly banging. Ares? She had probably misheard. It couldn’t possibly be her Ares.
Her Ares? She was still reeling from her use of a possessive pronoun in front of any name, let alone the man who had left her sleeping after sharing her bed for five feverish hours two weeks ago.
But then he got to his feet, and she saw the flicker of shock play across his features, and her heart stopped beating and the floor beneath her feet opened up and she was dropping into a sharp-edged void. Because it was him.
Ares Konstantinou was her one-night stand.
Only he wasn’t hers.
And now that she knew his surname, it all made sense that she had woken alone. Because this man wasn’t a keeper.
He was the runaway groom.
And he was furious.