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‘I don’t need kisses to get what I want.’
He moved closer to her, forcing her against the wall, but she held her ground and maintained eye contact, even though inside she was quaking.
Those hard words had suffocated any lingering illusions of love she’d had. He didn’t care about her. He didn’t care about the baby. This was all about getting what he wanted.
‘So what is it you want?’ she asked haughtily, testing him. Would he openly admit to being that callous, that cold?
‘I want you to come to Athens with me, Serena.’
Each word was full of determination, softened only by the accent that she found so sexy.
She shook her head. ‘That’s not going to happen, Nikos.’
‘Then why are you here?’
She stepped up to him, lifting her chin and glaring angrily at him. ‘I came here to tell a fisherman he was to be a father—to tell him that no matter what I’d never stop him from seeing his child. But that fisherman is not you.’
Memories came unbidden to her mind of that night on the beach—the night they’d made love without any thought of contraception. The night they’d created the new life she now held within her. The life whose future she could determine by her choices now.
‘It’s just as well that I am not that fisherman, because now I can give you what you want—but only if you become my wife. No child of mine will be born illegitimate.’
‘You think you have all the power, don’t you, Nikos? But you can’t drag me up the aisle.’
Unnerved by his certainty that he could get what he wanted, she moved away from him and to the door of her room, opening it wide in the hope that he’d leave.
That hope faded instantly.
* * *
Nikos remained resolutely still, biting down hard against the anger that coursed through him. How dared she think she could calmly dismiss him from his child’s life? He hadn’t wanted to be a father, but there was no way he would turn his back on his child—allow it to grow up wondering where he was.
As the challenge of her actions settled around them he knew exactly how he was going to handle this. Serena would be his wife—his willing wife—no matter what. His child was going to be born without the stigma of illegitimacy.
He ignored the waves of anxiety rushing through him at the thought of commitment. And he didn’t even know if Serena would stay and go along with his plans or if she’d be just like his mother—too selfish to care—and walk away.
‘You will be my wife. The child you carry is my heir and I will not allow you to keep me from it.’
Hostility poured off her as she stood, rigid and tall, by the open door of the hotel room. With each passing second she was challenging him further, pushing him to limits he’d never thought it possible to go to.
‘What are you going to do? Force me to marry you?’
The curtness of her tone irritated him further, and he crossed his arms and glared coldly at her.
‘I’m going to make you an offer you can’t refuse.’ Dominance in the boardroom was something he was used to, but overpowering a woman—one he still wanted and desired—was a totally new concept.
‘You don’t have anything I want, Nikos.’
The hint of confusion in her voice made him raise a brow in speculation. Surely she was curious to hear the terms of his deal?
‘If the baby is mine—’ he began, but halted as she gasped loudly, her delicate brows furrowed, her soft lips open and her hand against her stomach.
‘How dare you suggest it isn’t?’
‘I have no evidence that it is.’ He snapped the words at her, feeling her anger as she glared at him, her green eyes sparking.
She spun round so quickly to reach for her handbag that he thought she might fall. She pulled out a small black-and-white photograph.
‘Here.’ She thrust it at him. ‘The evidence you want. That is what you mean, isn’t it? Conclusive dates to match the date of that night on the beach?’
‘This will do for now, but I would like you to see a doctor here in Greece.’
What kind of fool did she think he was, simply to take her word that she was carrying his child?
He’d seen men cheated into bringing up other men’s children, and whilst he would stand by his child he had to know that it was his.
Even as the thought entered his mind he knew that it was. She’d been a virgin when she’d met him. He remembered vividly the moment he’d realised the truth. He had cursed aloud, the look of shock on her face forcing him to quell his reaction as he’d focused on giving her as much pleasure as he’d felt. Now all he felt was guilt about questioning her.
