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There was something going on here. Something beneath the surface that I couldn’t quite put my finger on. Again, questions surrounding the reasons why he believed he couldn’t father children crowded my brain.
Resolutely, I pushed them away and accepted the status quo. For now. ‘Only to prove I’m not a liar.’
I held my hand out for it but he hesitated, his jaw working for several seconds before he said, ‘You should know that this is merely a preliminary test to confirm your pregnancy. A test for paternity will be necessary when the time is right.’
My hand dropped, something hot and sharp lancing my chest. ‘You really are something else—you know that?’
‘Ne, I’ve been told.’ His stance didn’t change.
‘If you think I’m going to harm my baby just so your suspicions can be satisfied, you can think again.’
Emotion, heavy and profound and almost sacred, gleamed in his eyes. ‘So you’ve made up your mind? You intend to keep it?’ he rasped, his voice shaken.
‘You think I flew three and a half hours on a cramped middle seat, next to a passenger with a rabid aversion to good personal hygiene, to tell you I’m pregnant, only to go back and get rid of it?’
Neo’s gaze dropped to the hand I’d unconsciously jerked up to cradle my still-flat stomach.
‘You think I don’t have other things to do? I have a life to be getting on with. A mother who needs me to take care of—’ I shut my mouth, but it was too late.
The moment his eyes narrowed I knew he was about to pounce on my unguarded revelation. ‘Your mother needs taking care of? What’s wrong with her?’ he demanded sharply.
‘It’s none of your business.’
‘I beg to differ. If this baby is mine—’
I swatted the rest of his words away. ‘Enough with the ifs. Here—hand it over. I’ll take your precious test.’
Grim-faced, he held out the pregnancy test. I took it, then followed the tall, imposing body that hadn’t diminished one iota in the drop-dead-gorgeous stakes in the last two months down a wide private hallway adjoining his office to a sleek, dark door.
The bathroom was another sty
lish masterpiece—naturally. Gleaming surfaces held exclusive toiletries, polished floors echoed my nervous tread and the wide mirror faithfully reflected my wan features.
I diverted my face from it, hurried into the cubicle and took the test.
A little over three minutes later, I stepped out.
He stood, square and true, five feet from the door, his gaze piercingly intent on the stick in my hand. For a single moment—knowing what this meant even if he doubted me, knowing I was perhaps about to change Neo Xenakis’s life—something moved in my chest.
Then he ruined it by holding out an imperious hand for the test.
I handed it over.
His gaze dropped to it and he swallowed hard.
He seemed to rock on his feet—a fascinating feat to watch, especially for a toweringly powerful man like him. He didn’t speak, only held the stick as if it was a magic wand that had the potential to deliver his most heartfelt wish.
Afraid I would succumb to softening emotions again, I hurried to speak. ‘As you can see, it indicates how many weeks along I am. I can give you the date of my last period too, if you want?’
It was meant to be sarcastic. It fell far short simply because I wanted him to believe me. Wanted to take away his doubt once and for all.
Because I wanted to hurry to the part where, despite the evidence, he’d conclude that fatherhood wasn’t for him after all. That this was a mistake. That I wasn’t worthy to carry his child.
He didn’t respond immediately. When he lifted his gaze his eyes were a stormy, dark grey, the pupils almost black. ‘This is sufficient for now,’ he finally said, his voice gravel rough.
Then he turned and walked away.
CHAPTER FIVE
