Chapter Ten
Chapter Ten
The following morning , Olympia floated down the stairs and into the kitchen as if she was lighter than air.
What a night, she thought, a wide smile spreading across her face as she located a couple of cups, then popped a capsule into the coffee machine and turned it on. She couldn’t recall one like it. She’d lost count of the number of times she and Alex had shattered in each other’s arms before falling into an exhausted sleep at some time around dawn.
There wasn’t an inch of his magnificent body that she hadn’t explored. The things he’d done to her—not just in the bed, but also in the shower and on the balcony—would be imprinted for ever on her memory. His muscles were like velvet encased steel. The smattering of coarse dark hair that covered his chest had tickled her skin and electrified her nerve-endings. When he’d set his mouth between her legs and lingered there a while she’d practically jack-knifed off the bed.
Not for one moment did she regret any of it. It had been so empowering. So deliriously thrilling. And not in the least bit reckless because, unlike on such occasions in the past, she’d given it her full consideration before taking what she wanted.
When he’d told her to go over and get him she could have simply succumbed to the predatory gleam that had appeared in his eye without a second thought. But she hadn’t. She’d paused. She’d looked at him across the table, her heart pounding, the excitement whipping through her more stimulating than any drug she’d ever taken, and had asked herself whether she was sure she was doing the right thing. Whether she was really ready to take this step.
Well, she was, she’d decided a moment later, because she’d spent the whole of supper realising that her self-worth didn’t lie in sex, so she had nothing to fear from it. She wasn’t being rash and impulsive. She was making a choice based on a number of well thought through arguments—and what a spectacular choice it had been. Her self-esteem was sky high, and not just because he couldn’t get enough of her body. The euphoria she’d experienced had been dazzling but not manic. She really felt as though they were making progress. The concept of being a team was no longer some pipe dream but a very real possibility.
She still had a lot to learn about him of course. Almost everything, in fact, because while she’d spilled practically the entirety of her soul to him last night he’d been frustratingly reticent in return. But now they’d taken the edge off their desire, there’d be more opportunity for conversation this morning, she was sure. The emotional connection she wanted with the father of her child was growing. Trust, even in its nascent form, truly was a wonderful thing.
A knock at the front door jolted Olympia out of her dreamy thoughts and she abandoned the coffee for the hall. Two minutes later she’d signed for two envelopes, one addressed to Alex, the other addressed to her. She placed his on the round marble table that dominated the space. Hers she took back to the kitchen to open, and shook out the sheaf of papers. It looked to be documentation relating to their marriage and that made her frown. Hadn’t he informed her in no uncertain terms that they were going to wait?
Maybe he’d reflected on the point she’d made the morning she’d moved in about implementing their plans right away and changed his mind. That could only be a good thing. Whatever the reason behind it, it proved his commitment to their baby. And to her? Well, it was early days for them and she mustn’t get ahead of herself, but the signs were there.
So did he have any ideas in mind about what format the wedding might take, and where? Or would he give her free rein? She’d have to ask. Not that she knew what she wanted. She’d never dreamed she’d ever marry. Although, they’d better do it quickly, because she wasn’t sure she wanted to wear a white dress with a massive bump on display.
But hang on. What was this?
Setting aside the contract, Olympia frowned down at the second document in the pack. It appeared to be a prenuptial agreement, which was bizarre when he’d never mentioned one, and money would never be an issue. Even more curiously, there seemed to be only one clause.
Bemused, she scanned it once.
Then again.
And it was on the third reading that everything fell apart.
In the event she messed up in some unspecified way, Alex would divorce her and seek sole custody of their child. She would rescind visitation rights. She would only see her child under a number of very specific circumstances and never on her own. Every decision to be made from there on in would be his.
It was very clear. Very concise. And absolutely brutal.
Olympia’s vision blurred and her heart was suddenly beating too fast and too hard. Somehow, she found a stool and managed to sit on it before her legs gave way.
The nightmare scenario she’d told herself couldn’t possibly happen the night before had materialised. He was planning on taking her child away from her. He didn’t trust her at all, she realised, beginning to shake from head to toe as the implications of the prenup sank in and she was filled with roaring emotion. He never had and likely never would. They weren’t a team. They weren’t anything. He’d even warned her he’d use any weapon at his disposal to get what he wanted, so she didn’t know why she was so surprised.
He still thought of her as the wild child she’d once been. She’d never leave her past behind. It would follow her, tainting everything she did, for ever, no matter how much progress she made. And to think that last night she’d actually imagined they’d turned a corner. Just how big a fool was she?
She knew the only person to blame for what had happened here was her. She’d allowed herself to believe that he valued her as an individual rather than just the mother of his child. And a white wedding? Really? What had she been thinking ?
But God it hurt. Her throat was sore and tight. Every cell of her body ached and her heart felt as though it had cleaved in two. She wanted to curl up and cry and then to hit the city. To find the nearest twenty-four-hour club and lose herself in the music. To obliterate the pain with champagne and a line or two. But she couldn’t, because she was pregnant and she didn’t do that anymore and she would never give him any cause to enact the prenup even if she did sign it.
So she was going to have to deal with this bruising development in a different way. And while it would be the easiest thing in the world to walk out on Alex and his lack of trust, to take her chances and go it alone, her baby needed her to meet the challenges she faced head on. She would not let herself revert to her old ways and descend into a seething pit of misery and self-doubt. She could drive herself mad second-guessing what he’d been thinking with this prenup, and those days were over.
Instead, she would bury the anger and pain, channel the determination and tenacity she didn’t need him to tell her she had, and find out what he had to say.
* * *
Upstairs in the ensuite bathroom, Alex stood beneath the shower, the hot water going some way to ease the pleasant ache in his muscles, and thought that taking Olympia at her word had absolutely been the right thing to do. Twelve hours ago he’d been a man at the end of his tether but now, the mad lust having been dampened, he was back on an even keel. He had no doubt that from here on in the desire would be manageable.
Furthermore, while she’d slumbered beside him, he’d revisited their conversation before supper, finally managing to apply the analysis he was supposedly famed for. He now understood her a whole lot better than he had before. He could see where her insecurities and vulnerabilities stemmed from, and he had renewed admiration for the way she’d pulled herself back from the abyss. Going forward, he would be able to handle whatever she threw at him calmly and objectively. He was back in control of this relationship—and himself—and that was the way things would stay.
Satisfied that he’d one hundred per cent succeeded in the mission he’d embarked upon the night before, and indescribably relieved that she’d sorted out her issues with self-worth, Alex switched off the shower and reached for a towel. He rubbed it over his head, then tied it round his waist and returned to the bedroom—where he found Olympia, sitting on the edge of the bed instead of in it, disappointingly clothed and wearing a blank expression that sent a shiver down his spine.
‘What’s wrong?’ he asked with a frown. When she’d announced she was off to make some coffee she’d had a smile on her face. He was sure of it. He’d put it there only five minutes before.
‘While you were in the shower, the paperwork for our marriage was delivered.’ Her voice was cold and flat and her body was rigid. ‘The contract and your prenup. I gather you’ve changed your mind about the timeframe. Not that it particularly matters, because I’m signing neither.’
Alex stilled. White noise rushed in his ears and his stomach clenched. He recalled the instructions he’d given to his lawyers back when he’d considered her a loose cannon, and he knew instinctively that this could be bad. Very bad indeed.
‘I’d forgotten all about that.’
She stared at him for a moment, pale, stunned, and then her eyes blazed and she shot her feet. ‘You forgot that you’ve decided to weaponise our child?’ she asked, blasting him with the full force of her hurt and anger. ‘To cut me out of the picture if I make a mistake? How could you be so cruel? What sort of man does that?’ She gave her head a sharp furious shake, no longer pale and stunned, but incandescent. ‘I can’t believe I actually thought we were in this together. I can’t believe I thought you trusted me. You even told me you wouldn’t hesitate to use my past against me if I dared to defy you. I really am the biggest idiot alive.’
‘No,’ he said abruptly. ‘Stop that. I can explain.’
‘How?’ She planted her hands on her hips as her chin shot up. ‘How can you possibly explain what you’ve done?’
‘I ordered the prenup to be drawn up the morning you showed up here and turned my life even more upside down than it already was. At the time it made sense. You’d just told me how vulnerable you were, and the security of our child was my number one priority. You’d said you recognised the danger of relapse. I couldn’t risk you taking off on a whim or cutting me out for good.’
‘I would never have done that. I told you I needed your support. And I’m well aware of the importance of a stable environment for a child to grow up in.’
‘I didn’t know that then.’
Her eyebrows arched. ‘And you do now?’
‘After everything you told me last night, yes.’
‘Why should I believe you?’
‘Because it’s the truth. I meant every word of what I said.’
‘No,’ she snapped back. ‘That’s not good enough. You can’t expect me to simply take your word for it and just accept your compliments, when for all I know you were just trying to flatter me into bed.’
His jaw clenched. ‘I would not do that.’
‘So you say. But look at it from my perspective. You know practically everything there is to know about me, and all I know about you is that you own and control a billion-euro empire and you’re all alone in this world. You’ve told me nothing about yourself and I’ve asked time and time again. Your need for control puts your wishes so far above mine they’re on another planet. And I realise that I am nothing more to you than the mother of your child, but I won’t be able to live like that. I refuse to live like that. I deserve respect. So does our child. So if you can’t give us that we’d be better off on our own.’
At the thought of Olympia turning on her heel and walking out of his house and his life, something fierce and primitive roared inside him. That wasn’t happening. He had to fix this. He had to acknowledge that she had a point. With his reluctance to dive into the trauma of his past he had been thinking only of himself. He’d feared an emotional connection developing. Getting in too deep. But he was already up to his neck and that wasn’t going to change, so he had to accept he was fighting a losing battle.
She had every right to be angry and hurt. He’d caused her distress, unforgivably if unintentionally triggering her self-esteem issues, and he did not wish to exacerbate it further. He would do whatever it took to prevent her from leaving and taking his future with her, and if that meant talking to her as she had to him, then so be it.
‘All right,’ he said, folding his arms over his chest and steeling himself for an unpleasant trip down memory lane. ‘You wanted to know what the impact of our parents’ affair had on me, well, it was, devastating. My upbringing wasn’t like yours. It was conventional and uneventful. Until I introduced your mother to my father one school sports day and unleashed carnage. The divorce bankrupted my parents. The stress of it brought on the heart attack that killed my father and reduced my mother to a wreck. I was the one who had to pick up the pieces. I gave up my place at university and took a job that would make me a lot of money fast. Which I did. But it wasn’t enough to save the home that had been in my family for generations. And it wasn’t enough to stop the cancer that killed my mother two years later.’
‘The repercussions lasted years,’ he continued, noting that the fire was fading from her gaze, the tension ebbing from her shoulders as he pressed home his advantage. ‘I’ve spent two decades repairing the damage that was done and I won’t let history repeat itself by allowing our child to suffer the same fate because of us. So I’ll tell you more, Olympia. I’ll tell you everything. I’ll rip up the prenup and prove to you that you do have my respect. You can have your party and spin it how you wish. You can have whatever you want. But in order for all that to happen, you need to stay.’
* * *
What Olympia badly wanted right now was to cling on to the hurt and anger that she’d been wearing like a shield and tell him to get lost. She wanted to protect her damaged self-esteem and convince herself that his opinion of her didn’t matter, and that she and her baby really would be fine on their own. She hated and feared the volatility of these feelings that, if she weakened, could have her careening towards a destination she never wanted to revisit.
But she couldn’t just selfishly turn round and walk out. She still remained absolutely certain that their baby deserved two functioning parents. And try as she might, she had no argument against his claim that he’d simply arranged the prenup in response to what she herself had told him. She’d have done the same in his position.
In truth, his explanation had taken some of the heat out of her emotions the minute he’d given it. She had to grudgingly admit it had made sense. Now, she’d cooled down enough to realise that by opening the door to his past he’d heard her and afforded her the respect she’d demanded. Whether or not he meant what he said about having whatever she wanted remained to be seen, but he’d seemed to be serious about the party.
So she may have overreacted. She didn’t really think he’d flattered her into bed. He’d never given her any reason to doubt the truth of what he said. She had to focus on the last couple of days of this relationship, not the first, and let it go.
They were both taking major steps to make this thing work and she wasn’t going to give up the chance to further the emotional connection between them. On the contrary, she was going to do everything in her power to cement it. He’d opened the door to himself and she was going to stride on through.
‘Fine.’