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Leaving her to sleep, he went to take a shower. Throwing on jeans and a fine-knit top, he went downstairs to call his uncle so he could arrange to go over to see him with Kimmie. He was confident that Uncle Theo’s genial nature would win her over when it came to joining the family.
‘I think you’re going to like her,’ he told his uncle. ‘Yes, it’s been a bit of a whirlwind,’ he conceded, ‘but, as you said, it’s what I need—and wasn’t it the same for you? Plus she’s already pregnant,’ he added.
He waited for his uncle’s reaction, which was more muted than anticipated. ‘Are you sure, Kristof?’ Theo said at last. ‘You know what you mean to me, and I couldn’t bear for you to be hurt again.’
‘I’m a big boy, Uncle.’
‘And ugly,’ his uncle teased, lightening up a little as he reminded Kristof of the running gag between them that had existed since Kris was an annoying youth and his uncle a patient mentor. ‘Don’t forget ugly.’
‘I won’t,’ Kris promised. ‘You wanted an heir for Kaimos Shipping and I delivered,’ he said, matching his uncle’s upbeat tone. ‘See you later. I’ll be interested to hear what you think.’
Kimmie stepped away from the door. Shattered. Shocked. Disillusioned. She hadn’t meant to eavesdrop. She’d been on the point of joining Kris in the breakfast room, where the friendly housekeeper had told Kimmie she’d find him, and had been a more than unwilling audience to his conversation. But what had been heard could not be unheard, and now she felt betrayed and stupid. He hadn’t brought her here to make love, or to discuss the future of their child; that appeared to be already decided—by him and his uncle. She was just a brood mare. She’d done her job, and now she’d do as she was told. Or so he clearly thought.
Her throat dried as she sat down at the foot of the stairs. Her heart was in pieces and her trust in Kris was shattered. The past couldn’t be rewound, or she’d wish herself anywhere but here. What to do now? She couldn’t just sit here like a lemon, waiting to see what happened next. Nor could she creep away when they had a child to discuss. She had to stand tall and get on with it, but what sort of man got a woman pregnant to satisfy a whim of his uncle, and then compounded the crime by asking that woman to marry him? And now she was going to be looked over like a cow in a country fair?
Choices: she could stay and brazen it out, or she could confront Kris first and then leave. She wasn’t the type to run away, so she didn’t have an option. These two men were the other half of her baby’s family, so she had to tough out the meeting with Kris’s uncle, and then confront Kris afterwards. Sucking in a deep, steadying breath, she stood up, crossed the hall, opened the door and walked in.
‘Good morning,’ Kris said brightly, as if there were no clouds on the horizon and only a reason to feel optimistic about another sunny winter’s day. ‘I trust you slept well.’
‘I trust you did too,’ she said mildly, ignoring the laughter dancing in his eyes and the wicked curve of his mouth. Kris had indeed every reason to feel pleased about the way things had turned out.
‘I’m going to take you to meet my uncle today. He said he’d like to meet the artist. I bought a few of your paintings—’
‘Mandy told me,’ she said curtly as she went through the welcome formalities of unfolding a crisp linen napkin and placing it across her lap. ‘Just some toast, please,’ she told the hovering attendant.
‘Certainly, Ms Lancaster. And fresh mint tea, I believe?’
‘Correct. Thank you.’ How the other half lived. She’d never fit in here.
But Kris’s potent charm was such that she couldn’t stare unseeing at the table for ever. Nor could she keep the hurt out of her eyes when she looked at him.
‘Are you okay?’ he asked, picking up on her mood immediately. ‘You’re not feeling unwell, are you? I’ve got a very good doctor in London, if you need one.’
‘No. Thank you.’ She had to look down to escape his penetrating stare. Heartsick. Head sick. Doubting her judgement when it came to men? All of the above, but nothing she was prepared to share with Kris until she’d met his uncle to see what kind of people these men were. ‘I just slept too heavily,’ she dismissed with a flick of her wrist.
‘And woke up grouchy.’
‘Not at all.’
‘That’s good to hear,’ he said slowly, seeming a little irked and unconvinced. And no wonder after the amazing night of passion they’d shared. He had to be wondering if she’d faked it and, ironically, if she was the one with something to hide.
‘When are we going to meet your uncle?’ Suddenly she was in a rush to get this over with—to get everything out in the open, so she could tell them what she thought of them both.
‘I thought after breakfast, if that’s okay with you?’
There’d be no more passion. Neither of them had to say a word about that. The mood between them had changed completely. They both knew that today would be a very different day, a serious day when serious matters would be discussed. But first the meeting with Kris’s uncle.
‘Just be you,’ he said when she sat fretting.
Putting his coffee cup down, Kris gave her a long, level stare. ‘If you’re having second thoughts—’
‘About meeting your uncle? I’m not. I’m looking forward to it.’
‘You could sound a little more enthusiastic,’ he remarked before he asked for more coffee.
‘I’m really looking forward to it,’ she gritted out. If she had them both in one room she could wipe the floor with them, and then leave with her head held high.
And the baby?
Forget hurt and pain. Most of all, forget anger. She had to listen to what they had to say. Her unborn child was infinitely more important than her pride. She would just have to be as wily as Kris and his uncle as she attempted to, as they would no doubt put it, cut the best deal for her baby.
Cut the best deal?
She felt sick and faint inside.
‘Drink some more water,’ Kris prescribed as she put a hand to her suddenly clammy forehead.
She drank the glassful down gratefully, and then refused a top-up. ‘I feel much better now, but thank you. I’ll go and get ready,’ she said, turning to face a concerned-looking Kris. Pinning the best smile she could to her trembling mouth, she excused herself from the table, and left the room.
* * *
Kris’s uncle lived in the most glorious mansion overlooking Regent’s Park. Kris had driven them there in the SUV and a man in a smart black suit, seemingly anticipating their arrival, came out of the house and took charge of the vehicle. Opulence embraced her like a scented cashmere throw as a butler swung the double doors wide and she stepped into a very different world indeed. More structured and traditional than Kris’s luxurious town house, this was old money—and lots of it.
‘I need a minute,’ she told Kris, feeling suddenly overwhelmed at the prospect of taking on not just one but two powerful men, and on their own territory, which was so utterly alien to her.
‘Of course. I’ll wait for you here,’ Kris reassured her as the butler ushered Kimmie across the marble-tiled hallway.
This was going so badly wrong, she thought as she leaned for support on the glorious maple surround of a cast concrete sink that was clearly a work of art in its own right. Lifting her chin, she stared at herself in the mirror. She couldn’t stay in here all day. So the situation was new. And the surroundings were new to her also, but her inner core of steel remained the same and that was steadfast in its resolve to do the best for her child, always.
‘Better?’ Kris enquired as she joined him.
‘Much better,’ she said lightly.
‘Then I’ll take you to meet my uncle.’
/> Another surprise awaited her. Far from the fiend who’d urged his nephew to seek out a brood mare, Theo Kaimos turned out to be a charming and amusing man. It didn’t take long for her to be completely won over, albeit unwillingly. How had that happened, when she had come here expecting a fight?
‘You remind me of my late wife,’ he said, holding up a photograph. ‘She was a little quirky too, but she made me the happiest man on earth, and we were married for almost forty years. It was a great love affair. Possibly the greatest.’
‘She was very beautiful,’ Kimmie commented as she stared into the eyes of a woman who seemed calm and happy, and maybe a little bit of a dreamer, as she was.
‘The most beautiful,’ Theo Kaimos assured her as she handed the photograph back, as only a man who had adored his wife could say with such passion. ‘I’m so pleased you came to see me,’ he added. ‘It’s been a long time since I’ve met someone like you.’
The emotion of that statement hung in the air between them, moving Kimmie almost to tears. Far from disliking Kris’s uncle, she could feel his loneliness as if it were her own. She didn’t even notice when Kris quietly left the room.
‘Stay with me for a while,’ Theo urged hopefully. ‘You make me feel young again, and I want to hear what you have to say.’
This proved easier than Kimmie could possibly have imagined, and soon the truth was coming out unabridged—all her hopes and fears for the baby, and for herself, and even her feelings for Kris. She’d had no one else to confide in for far too long.
‘I just don’t know yet,’ she admitted honestly. ‘I don’t know what to think. I overheard his conversation with you on the phone.’
‘Listeners never hear good of themselves,’ Kris’s uncle told her with a rueful smile on his face. ‘And are you sure that what you heard was everything? To my mind, you could only have overheard one side of the conversation. Won’t you give him another chance?’
‘Because of the baby?’
‘Why not? Is it so wrong to want the father to take a full part in your child’s life?’
