Chapter Six
Chapter Six
Well, THAT very nearly hadn’t gone according to plan, Olympia thought as she walked past Alex, into the house, nodding distractedly when he dropped her luggage and instructed her to give him a moment before disappearing. Although, to be fair, she hadn’t exactly had a plan. The minute she’d come up with brilliant idea of moving in, she’d messaged the firm that handled her family’s security. Once she’d had his address, she’d packed her bags and hopped in the car. There hadn’t seemed much point in hanging about. There never did.
When she’d swung off the main road and onto the drive, she’d taken one look at the house and decided that there were worse places to hang out for the next couple of weeks while she got to know the father of her child. On the ground floor, four windows extended out from either side of the elegantly pillared porch. On the first, nine windows spread across the entire width of the house. The symmetry was as soothing as the softly swishing trees that lined the drive, and the lush verdant lawns it bisected.
Of course, the pleasing sense of tranquillity had not lasted long. But in light of the conflict that had characterised every one of their encounters to date perhaps she should have anticipated Alex’s resistance. It wasn’t as if he’d ever made any secret of it, and it had been very much in evidence out there on his drive. At one point, she’d actually thought he’d been about to fling her luggage back into the boot, bundle her into the passenger seat and push her off. But he was the one who’d suggested marriage in little more than the blink of an eye. If she’d given it any thought she’d have assumed he’d got over the problem he had with her.
Evidently he hadn’t. Or perhaps he simply didn’t appreciate being caught unawares, which, if she was being brutally honest, hadn’t had to be the case. She could have easily got his number from the same security firm that had provided his address. It would have certainly smoothed the way. But, although the thought of doing just that had briefly flitted across her mind, in some deep dark corner of her psyche she was aware that interesting things happened when his guard was down. She found riling him thrilling. Had she forewarned him, she most likely wouldn’t have been presented with his semi-naked body, which would have been a shame.
When he’d stormed out of his house in nothing but black swim shorts, and a small white towel slung round his neck, she’d practically swallowed her tongue. Such broad shoulders. So many hard defined muscles. She’d taken one look at all that masculine perfection and been hit by an image of him in the pool from which he’d evidently emerged, scything magnificently through the water. She’d recalled how easily he’d lifted her against that wall in Switzerland, and had very nearly swooned all over again. When one mesmerising rogue droplet had trickled down his neck and then his pec, she’d wanted to lick it off and not stop there. And God, she could not wait to win him round and get her hands on him.
‘This is a spectacular property,’ she said, deciding to strike while the iron was hot when he returned to show her around, having disappointingly donned a shirt. ‘Have you lived here long?’
‘Ten years.’
‘And before that?’
‘An apartment in the city centre.’
As he took her through the myriad rooms on the ground floor she peppered him with more questions, which were also minimally answered. But her aim was to learn more about him and she was not to be deterred. ‘Where did you grow up?’ she asked in the second of the three reception rooms, which had French doors onto the terrace.
‘Not far from here.’
‘Do you have any siblings?’
‘No.’
‘Parents?’
‘They both died a long time ago.’
‘So you’re all alone in this world.’ She ran her fingers over the soft worn leather of a wingback chair, then glanced over to see how he felt about that.
‘I won’t be in seven months’ time.’
‘Neither of us will,’ she said, frustratingly unable to discern anything from his inscrutable expression. ‘It’s going to be quite an adventure.’
‘That’s one way of describing it.’
‘What if we mess up?’
‘ I won’t.’
At the inference that she would, Olympia felt a flicker of hurt, which was inexplicable when that was something she herself had implied, so she determinedly shook it off. ‘You might,’ she said, turning her attention to the books on the shelves, just in case her face reflected the lingering sting. ‘It happens.’
‘Not to me,’ he said with enviable confidence as he strode past her and opened the patio doors. ‘Whatever the personal sacrifice, there are no lengths I won’t go to for my child. I will do everything in my power to protect him or her. Of that you can be sure. Let’s move to the garden. I could do with some air. Mind the step.’
Later, as she unpacked her things in the light and spacious guest room Alex had shown her, before stalking off as if he had the hounds of hell snapping at his feet, Olympia reflected on the aspects of their conversation that had stuck in her mind.
If he followed through with his promise, their child would be lucky indeed. No one had ever looked out for her. She’d had to fight her own battles and she hadn’t done a very good job of it. He seemed as determined as she was that that fate would not befall her child. It strengthened her conviction that she’d done the right thing by coming here.
But a desire to defend and protect might not be the only thing they had in common, she thought as she hung up a dress. Could he be as troubled by loneliness as she was? Was professional success enough or did his chest sometimes ache with emptiness? He had no one, she had everyone, yet she’d never felt as alone as when she was surrounded by people. So perhaps this marriage could be good for them—not just as prospective parents but also as individuals. Perhaps, in time, they could provide each other with companionship. That was something she’d never had before. Had he?
But oh, she had to be careful, she reminded herself as she carried her toiletries into the bathroom and decanted them into the vanity unit. She must not make the mistake of reading more into this than there really was. The marriage proposal, agreeing to cohabit and his solicitousness over the step into the garden weren’t for her benefit. She didn’t matter to him. The baby did, as he’d pointed out in no uncertain terms, and it would do her no good at all to forget it.
The sound of her phone ringing jolted her out of these oddly turbulent ruminations and she returned to the bedroom to fish it out of her bag. It was Leo, her eldest brother, calling, no doubt, from Santorini where he built luxury yachts—and lived with his wife, Willow, and their two daughters—and quite honestly, his timing could not be more perfect. She could apprise him of the situation before he found out some other way. She could take the opportunity to spin what had happened as that whirlwind fairy-tale romance she’d decided on yesterday, ostensible proof that she was capable of a mature relationship with someone who wanted her, instead of the rather tawdry truth that was a regrettable one-night stand and faulty contraception. As long as she remembered to keep her feet firmly on the ground, where was the harm?
Dropping into the armchair that sat in front of the large window, overlooking the inviting pool and verdant gardens, Olympia swiped right.
‘Hi, Leo,’ she said brightly, all in all really rather satisfied with the way the morning was playing out, given the circumstances. ‘How are you and Willow and my gorgeous nieces?’
‘We’re all fine.’
‘Great. Good.’ She shifted in the chair and braced herself. ‘I’m glad you rang,’ she said, her heart beating a little faster than usual, even though she totally had this. ‘Because I have news.’
‘That you’re pregnant and getting married?’ her brother said dryly. ‘I heard.’
She stilled and frowned, the world momentarily tilting on its axis. What on earth? Surely that wasn’t possible. It had been less than twenty-four hours and she hadn’t told a soul. ‘How?’
‘I just had a call from Alex. I would offer you my congratulations, but as I understand the situation, it’s not that sort of an arrangement. I’m ringing to find out if you’re genuinely all right with it. He seemed to think you were, but say the word and I will ruin him.’
Her frown deepened and her blood chilled, the wind whipping from her sails as she absorbed this information. Alex had called her brother? Why would he have done that? How did he even have his number? She’d wanted to be the one to tell her family her news, dammit. The needy attention-seeking kid she’d once been, traces of whom still lurked deep inside her, had been looking forward to Leo’s reaction. To her version of events, which presented her in the best light—not the truth, which didn’t.
‘What did he tell you?’ she asked, trying to keep her voice steady, although confusion, distress and her rising anger at Alex ripping the rug from under her feet made it hard.
‘That you’d had a one-night stand, which has resulted in a pregnancy, and you’d both agreed to get married for the sake of the baby. I must admit it came as quite a shock.’
Olympia’s throat tightened and her head buzzed. ‘Well, you know me,’ she said, just about managing to inject some faux levity into her voice. ‘Reckless, impulsive, always getting into trouble. Surely you couldn’t have been that surprised.’
‘I didn’t mean that,’ Leo said with what sounded like a tut. ‘Your personal life is none of my business and none of us escaped our upbringing unscathed. As the youngest you must have suffered the worst of it, but you’re really turning things around. It’s impressive. And don’t forget, Zander knocked Mia up after a one-night stand so your predicament isn’t exactly unique. What I meant was that I haven’t spoken to the guy in twenty years. It was quite the blast from the past.’
Oh. Right. Well, it was good to know that she wasn’t being judged for what she’d done, although she was rather taken aback by the notion of Leo thinking her impressive. But, hang on a moment… A blast from the past?
‘Do you know him?’ she asked, her curiosity piqued despite the volatile emotions swirling around inside her.
‘Well, I did , once upon a time,’ Leo replied. ‘We used to be friends. Best friends, in fact. But then our mother had an affair with his father and that put an end to that. You probably don’t remember the summer I was so angry with Selene that I deliberately dashed her favourite yacht against the rocks. I was sixteen. You must have been about six.’
Olympia racked her brains, a process that was hampered by the impact of this major new piece of information Alex had never thought to mention. ‘That does ring a bell,’ she managed eventually, dimly recalling the one and only time their father had raised his voice, a remonstration against his eldest son and heir for his unacceptable display of irresponsibility.
‘I’m not surprised Alex cut me off,’ her brother continued. ‘I’d have done the same in his shoes. Still, it took me a while to get over it. Strange how our paths haven’t crossed since. I guess they will now. I’m pleased old wounds have healed.’
But had they? she wondered, her head now spinning with questions as the implication of Leo’s revelations registered. What if she’d been wrong about Alex’s issue with her? What if it had nothing to do with her reputation and nepotism and therefore wanting her against his will and everything to do with her surname? Was he the type to bear a grudge? Could he be out for revenge? Was she simply a pawn in some greater game?
Or was she getting carried away, her imagination going into overdrive? It had been twenty years. Surely it was all water under the bridge. He couldn’t be that Machiavellian, could he? There was only one way to find out.
‘Well, I appreciate the call,’ she said, surging to her feet and stalking across the bedroom to the door, her heart thumping hard. ‘And rest assured I’m fine with everything. Please give my love to Willow and the girls. But right now, I really have to go.’
* * *
If Alex had known how disturbing giving Olympia a tour of his house was going to be he would never have suggested it. He’d have left her to figure out what was where on her own, because almost immediately the reality of having her in his house had hit home.
First, there’d been questions about his family to head off. He didn’t want to dwell on the past. He didn’t want to think about the beautiful villa where he’d grown up, which had been built by his great-great-grandfather one hundred and fifty years ago, in his family ever since and then lost in the divorce. He had no doubt that with her determination to get to know him there’d be many more questions to come, and he did not relish the energy he’d have to expend in deflecting them.
Then, there’d been the surge of curiosity he’d experienced at the idea of her feeling as on her own in this world as he did. How was that possible when she had family and friends galore? Surely she was anything but lonely. And why did it warm something cold and hard inside him to know that if she was, then they had something in common beyond the baby they’d created? It made no sense. He wasn’t looking for any sort of emotional connection. It was deeply unsettling.
Last but by no means least was the way she’d moved around his space that, up until that moment, had been his sanctuary, his escape from the demands of the city and other people. When she’d run her hands over the furniture, he’d imagined them on his body. She’d examined the books on the shelves and the art on the walls and he’d wondered what she thought of them. After successfully avoiding the Stanhopes for two entire decades, there one had been, pregnant with his child, nosing around his things, and it should have felt like a gross invasion of privacy, a betrayal even, but it hadn’t. It had felt somehow right. And that had sent him into such a spin of bewildered appal that he hadn’t been able to get the tour over and done with fast enough.
As soon as he’d parked her in a guest room tucked away at the far end of the house’s east wing, he’d buried his alarming response to her presence here, which he didn’t understand, and turned to the practicalities of the situation, which he did. He’d instructed his legal team to get cracking with the paperwork required for their marriage and the prenup that would protect his child—and him—against any future whim of its mother. He’d then requested that Elena send him a contact number for Leo Stanhope, and when it had come through a mere couple of minutes later he’d called it.
The ensuing conversation had been unexpectedly difficult, he reflected with a frown as he set about making some much needed coffee. He’d embarked upon it with the intention of delivering the news, dealing with any fallout and moving on. He had not anticipated being bombarded with memories of that time. Or, horror of all horrors, feelings .
When the affair had come to light all those years ago and his family had begun to implode, he’d been battered by a wide range of emotions. Confusion at what was going on. Guilt over the fact that he’d introduced Selene into his family by way of his friendship with Leo. Resentment that his life had been upended because, regardless of how it had started, his father hadn’t been strong or honourable enough to put his marriage and his family above such basic, primitive lust. And then anger, grief and despair as the repercussions continued.
He’d assumed he’d let go of everything apart from the deep burning hatred for the woman he held entirely responsible for it all, who’d casually ended the affair when someone else caught her eye, and still wafted about in this world causing chaos while his parents lay cold in their graves. But the minute he’d heard Leo’s voice on the other end of the line, the emotions had flooded back, suddenly bubbling away so dangerously close to the surface that he’d very nearly hung up. He hadn’t resorted to such theatrics, of course—he was far too in control of himself for that—and he’d imparted the news as intended, but he’d nevertheless been disconcerted enough to agree to a drink and a catchup.
However, at least it was done. And he could easily get out of any social engagement, he assured himself, noting a shift in the air and glancing up to see Olympia marching into the kitchen, her jaw set and her dark eyes flashing in a way that was becoming only too familiar. He and Leo might have been best friends once, but those days were long gone. He had no interest in rekindling the relationship. He didn’t do friends now anyway. He had far too much on his plate with work.
‘All settled in?’ he asked, ignoring the perverse thrill he felt in response to her evident and intriguing umbrage.
‘Yes.’
‘Do you have everything you need?’
‘The room is very comfortable. Your baby thanks you.’
‘It’s welcome,’ he said and stamped out the part of him that unfathomably wanted her gratitude too. ‘So what’s wrong?’
She came to a stop at the enormous island that stood in the middle of the room and hopped onto a stool. ‘You called my brother and told him I was pregnant and we were getting married.’
Ah. Right. He should have guessed that Leo would be straight on the phone to his sister. He’d always been the loyal, protective sort. Alex had lost count the number of times the guy had got him out of sticky situations when they’d been friends. He recalled that Leo had once told him he’d rescued a five-year-old Olympia out from the bottom of a pool when she’d fainted during a swimming gala and no one had noticed. Earlier, his former friend had demanded to know if he—Alex—had somehow forced his sister into this marriage, which was so far from the truth it would have been laughable if any of this was remotely amusing.
‘I did,’ he said with a short nod as he leaned back against the worktop, folding his arms across his chest. ‘Is that a problem?’
‘Yes, it’s a problem,’ she said tightly. ‘It was my news to share—not yours—and I had a plan.’
‘How could your plan have differed to mine?’
‘Yours was the truth, mine was not.’
His eyebrows rose. ‘You were planning to lie to your brother about us?’
‘You don’t have siblings,’ she shot back, her colour high and her shoulders stiff. ‘You wouldn’t understand the dynamics.’
‘Try me.’
‘I’m the youngest. The screwup. The one who’s always courting trouble and attracting negative headlines. But I’ve been trying to change, to put my past behind me, and I’ve been doing a very good job of it. And, all right, so I slipped back into old habits with you and what we did, and now there’s this—’ she waved a hand in the direction of her abdomen ‘—but when life gives you lemons you have to make lemonade, right? I was planning to turn a negative into a positive and dress this up as a fairy-tale romance in which I came out looking good. It was going to be a chance to cement my reputation as a mature adult capable of real responsibility. You just ruined that.’
Ignoring the flare of curiosity triggered by the brief insight into her history, Alex focused instead on the chill that was settling over him. With everything else going on he’d forgotten her capacity for creating drama. Her addiction to the limelight seemed to be embedded in her DNA. Her willingness to manipulate the situation to suit herself made him think of her mother and the destruction she’d caused. If he’d needed a reminder of the importance of keeping Olympia at arm’s length, here it was.
‘I apologise.’
‘It’s too late for that,’ she said tartly. ‘The damage is already done. Would you like people knowing you knocked someone up in a hotel stairwell? How would your clients take that, do you think?’
He felt the urge to tell her not to speak of what had happened like that, but because he had no clue why he ignored it. ‘They’re all about the bottom line and I’m not remotely bothered by what people think of me.’
‘Hmm. Well. Aren’t you the lucky one?’
‘Luck doesn’t come into it. I’ve worked insanely hard for everything I have.’
‘And I haven’t, I suppose.’
‘Have you?’
‘I’m trying . And anyway, you’re hardly one to cast judgement on honesty.’
‘What do you mean by that? I’m not the one distorting the truth to further my own ends.’
‘My mother and your father. Why didn’t you ever mention they had an affair?’
He frowned, his blood icing over in the way it always did when that particular memory was jogged. She didn’t know? How was that even possible? ‘I assumed you knew.’
‘I was six at the time, apparently. Why would I know?’
‘Were there no arguments?’
‘None at all. There never were about anything. My parents barely spoke to each other. They were hardly ever in the same room. How they managed to produce the six of us is a mystery. And it’s not as if such a thing would have raised any eyebrows. Selene had affairs all the time and still does. Your father was one of so many I couldn’t even begin to count them all. Leo mentioned crashing a boat, which I do vaguely recall, but I don’t remember if your name came up. He said you cut him off. Why did you do that? What happened wasn’t his fault.’
To some extent, Alex recognised the defensiveness in Olympia’s tone, evidence of the same protective streak that Leo possessed, but it barely pierced the white noise rushing through his head. All of a sudden his heart was beating fast and hard. His chest was so tight he was struggling to breathe. An event that had been cataclysmic for the Andinos had caused hardly a ripple for the Stanhopes. While his life had been falling apart they’d just carried on as usual, and now she was hammering questions at him as if he were to blame for the fallout.
His vision blurred and a wave of nausea rolled through him. He wasn’t ready to talk about it. He never would be. Not with her, not with anyone. He couldn’t have her digging around in his psyche. He didn’t need her opinion or her censure. He had to de-escalate this before he wound up telling her everything and exposed himself to carnage.
‘It happened twenty years ago,’ he said, ruthlessly suppressing all the roiling emotion until his pulse had slowed and he could breathe more easily. ‘I was seventeen. Little more than a kid. I can hardly recall anything about it either.’
She tilted her head and narrowed her eyes at him. ‘Are you sure?’
‘Why wouldn’t I be?’
‘Selene’s left a trail of angry spouses in her wake. Why not a clutch of angry children? Maybe you’re using me to somehow get back at her. I do look like her, after all.’
‘That’s ridiculous,’ he said, choosing to ignore the fact that the resemblance had occasionally spooked him. ‘What’s going on here has nothing to do with then, and if I’d wanted to get revenge, which I don’t, I’d have done it a long time ago.’
‘Right. Lincoln Masters and Naxos Capital Assets.’ She looked at him shrewdly for a moment before nodding. ‘All right. Fair enough. I did think it was a bit of a stretch. I mean, twenty years would be insanely long to bear a grudge.’
Not in his opinion. Not when it fuelled his drive to succeed, his abhorrence of drama and his determination to avoid commitment at all costs. ‘And let’s not forget,’ he said, refusing to consider for even a second that she might have a point, ‘ you seduced me .’
‘Does that happen often?’
‘Never.’
‘No wonder you were so angry and ran away in such a hurry.’
‘I did not run away,’ he said with a grind of his teeth. ‘I simply don’t like losing control.’ His jaw clenched tighter when a faint smile curved her gorgeous mouth. ‘What’s so amusing?’
‘You must admit there’s a certain symmetry to it.’ An unsettling glint lit the dark brown depths of her eyes. ‘I mean, your father and my mother, then you and me, all this time later.’
‘It’s not the same thing at all,’ he said, a cold sweat breaking out at the thought of being sucked into her orbit, swallowed up and spat out when she was done with him. ‘What happened between us was strictly a one-off.’
‘Why? I agree that there are a lot of unknowns about this whole arrangement, but you know as well as I do that the sex would be great. I mean, the way things ended notwithstanding, that encounter in Switzerland was scorching. And we still share an uncommonly intense attraction. It was there yesterday and it’s here now. So why fight it? Are you a fan of celibacy? I’m not.’
Well, no, of course he wasn’t. But lust had got him into this mess in the first place and he was never succumbing to it again. Prioritising their child and avoiding screwing it up through reckless and selfish indulgence was the whole bloody point of this. He would fight the attraction—that unfortunately he couldn’t deny—until his dying breath.
So his body, which was all for closing the space between them and spreading her out on the island, could forget it. And Olympia should abandon any designs she might have on him too. Perhaps she assumed she could wrap him around her little finger, as no doubt she had with countless other men, but if she did, she was dead wrong. She might be as dangerously beautiful as Helen of Troy and as doggedly persistent as Genghis Khan, but he wasn’t a toy to be played with or a land to be conquered. And she was obviously used to being indulged and getting her own way, but not this time and not by him. He’d built an empire out of nothing. He’d overcome bigger hurdles and faced down tougher opponents than her. He would not be swayed. He would never yield to her allure, no matter how loudly the voice in his head demanded it. He would never be that weak.
‘Further complicating an already complicated situation is a terrible idea,’ he said in a tone that even he could hear brooked no argument. ‘We owe it to our child to stay focused. To give it one hundred per cent. So there will be no sex. Either now or in the future. And that’s final.’