Chapter Ten
Archimedes stood by the wall in the crowded ballroom, watching the dancers in the middle of it, and one woman in particular.
It was at some interminable tech fundraising gala in one of Shanghai’s opulent towers and, as she’d promised him, Zoe had come along at his side.
This was the third function she’d attended with him and, like the other two, she’d worn the dress he’d chosen for her.
This one was like molten silver that poured over her body, clinging to every luscious curve, and he’d been delighted when she’d tried it on before the gala and clearly liked what she saw in the mirror.
The pleasure she took in the dress made him feel pleased too, especially because he’d chosen it for her.
That pleasure was draining away now, however, because she’d been asked to dance by a Spanish duke, and now she was there on the floor, revolving in the arms of a handsome Spaniard, and all he wanted to do was to punch the guy in the face.
You’re jealous.
He wished that wasn’t true, that he didn’t feel this anger seething in his heart, burning like a hot coal, but he did and he couldn’t lie.
It was jealousy. He’d thought he’d got past it after she went to MoMA without him, but no, apparently not.
He didn’t want her in anyone’s arms but his, and the feeling was getting worse and worse, no matter how many times he told himself he was being ridiculous.
He’d thought that telling her what he’d done after he’d left Banks’s house and what had happened to him, and why he had to be so careful around her, would have made things easier between them, yet it hadn’t.
Her response had been far more accepting than he’d expected and the way she’d looked up at him when he’d cupped her lovely face between his palms and told him that she didn’t judge him, that the fact that he’d managed to pull himself out was the most important thing to her…
Well, that had made his heart feel too big for his chest at the same time as it cut him to the bone.
He’d left her and never came back, and yet she had grace enough to accept his apology for that, as well as giving him understanding and compassion when he’d told her why he’d never come back for her. She was a better person than he was, a more giving, generous person.
He didn’t like that she’d refused to allow them to conceive their child in his bed, that she still wanted a fertility doctor to handle it, but he understood her reasoning.
She’d always had a bigger heart and a kinder soul than he ever had.
God, she was a better person, full stop, while he stood here, burning with possessive jealousy.
Over the past few weeks he’d tried to moderate himself, to keep hold of his escalating emotions, but it had been far more difficult than he’d ever thought it would be.
Their dinners hadn’t touched on anything too personal, but she’d told him more about her plans for the company she intended on starting up.
He’d loved the idea and told her so, because it was very her.
Helping people, wanting to put her skills to better use than what Banks had taught them, was Zoe to a T.
She’d asked him about Ares in turn, and he’d waxed lyrical about it, telling her all about his plans for it in intimate detail, the way he did when he was enthusiastic about something, and she’d asked questions, made some good points, and then confessed she’d been testing his firewalls and had found a backdoor that one of his developers had missed.
Only Zoe would have found a weakness in his programming and he loved that she’d spotted it.
It made him feel proud, even though he knew he had no right to be.
And then after their dinners, when he took her to bed, their passion burned bright, getting hotter and hotter, as if fuelled by something more than mere physical desire.
So much for putting boundaries around their relationship.
Tokyo hadn’t helped either. To stop his unreasonable feelings of jealousy, he’d decided to go sightseeing with her, showing her his favourite places—a noodle shop in Harajuku.
A temple with the most beautiful garden.
A warehouse with all the latest tech. She’d loved them just as much as he did, and her obvious pleasure made everything worse.
He wanted more of her, more and more, as if proving to him that she was a drug he couldn’t resist.
It was a problem and he didn’t see any solution to it. Or rather, there were two solutions. One, he sent her back to Greece and away from him. Or two, he kept her. He kept her forever.
It should have been an easy choice. Sending her away would definitely be the best option, but he couldn’t bear the thought of it.
He couldn’t bear coming back to whatever place they were living in and not having her in his bed waiting for him, or not even there at all.
Sure, he could have another lover easily enough, but that didn’t excite him.
That didn’t turn him on, not like she did.
Which meant the only other option—keeping her.
Yet that wasn’t any kind of solution either.
Zoe wasn’t a woman he could lock away in a glass case, or keep in a bank vault.
She’d lost the only family she’d ever had twice, once when her parents had died and once when he’d left, and he knew she wanted one.
That conversation about the baby back in New York was evidence enough of that.
Except he would never be able to give her the family she wanted.
He wasn’t made to have a family of his own, a wife and children, a contented life.
He was too restless, too driven, and unable to stay in one place for too long.
And his control over himself had to be absolute, it had to be, and how could he do that with a family?
It was hard enough when it was just him alone.
It was just such a shitty dilemma. If he kept her, he’d deny her the chance of the family he knew damn well she longed for, because he was possessive and jealous, and he couldn’t bear the thought of her finding happiness with someone else.
There’s only one option then, isn’t there?
He tensed, watching as the Spaniard’s hand moved lower, to the small of Zoe’s back.
She was looking up at the man and smiling that precious Zoe smile, the one that should be for him and only him.
And he was moving before he knew what he was doing, shoving himself away from the wall and heading straight towards her.
‘I’m cutting in,’ he growled at the Spaniard, almost shoving the man aside as he took Zoe in his arms. The man stared daggers at him but stepped back, which was just as well because Archimedes was in no mood to be disobeyed.
‘What’s wrong with you?’ Zoe asked, glaring at him. ‘I was enjoying talking to Julio.’
‘I don’t care.’ He slid his own hand down to the small of her back, spreading his fingers out possessively, urging her closer, feeling the jealousy in him calm. ‘You’re my trophy wife, not his.’
She gave him a searching look. ‘Please don’t tell me you’re jealous, Demon.’
Archimedes was in no mood to pretend either. ‘And if I was?’
Her cheeks went pink. ‘Why? You’ve got no reason to be.’
‘You were smiling at him.’
‘I was being polite.’
‘I don’t want you to be polite.’
Zoe rolled her eyes as they turned slowly around the room. ‘I smile at you too, if you remember.’
His shoulders ached, tension crawling through them.
Her body was warm against his, the scent of her driving him insane.
He’d had her all night the night before, so he shouldn’t be so hungry now, yet he was.
He was beginning to think that he’d always be hungry for her, and he hated how he had no control over that.
‘This can’t go on,’ he said abruptly.
Her eyes widened. ‘What can’t go on?’
‘You. Me. Us.’ He gripped her delicate fingers. ‘I shouldn’t want you the way I do, and I shouldn’t be so fucking angry every time I see you with another man.’
She blinked, her mouth opening in surprise.
‘There are only two solutions, Zoe,’ he went on, because now the words were out of his mouth he might as well continue. ‘Either you go back to Greece, the way we originally planned, or you’re mine and mine completely until one or other of us decides it’s over.’
Her gaze flickered and she shut her mouth. He couldn’t tell what she was thinking and it frustrated him. It frustrated him that he even wanted to know but, as he was learning, she was the exception to every rule, and he couldn’t make it otherwise.
‘What do you mean, I’m yours and yours completely?’ she asked carefully.
‘We continue the way we’re doing now, you being with me and in my bed every night. You remaining my wife.’
‘But I’m already doing those things.’ Her voice was calm, and that rubbed against his already raw anger like a burr. It felt as if she was placating him.
‘Don’t try to manage me, Zoe,’ he growled. ‘It’s not a joke.’
‘I know that,’ she said in the same calm tone, which only enraged him further.
He stopped in the middle of the dance floor and released her, only to keep a hold of her hand, then he turned and pulled her through the crowd and down a hallway, until he came to a deserted and shadowed alcove. Then he pushed her into it, caging her against the wall with his arms.
‘I said it’s not a joke.’ His voice was low and rough, and he couldn’t keep the demand from it.
Her gaze had gone wide, but as she looked up at him, a crease had appeared between her brows. She stared at him a moment before reaching up to cup his face, her palms cool against his hot skin. ‘I’m not going anywhere, Demon,’ she said softly. ‘I’m not going to leave.’
Was that all he needed to know? He wasn’t sure. All he knew was that the hunger inside him was screaming for her as if she was his new drug and he was desperate for a fix.
‘You should go back to Greece,’ he said, forcing out the words. ‘You should get away from me.’