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‘It’s a suitcase, not a piece of fallen masonry. I can manage.’
‘I don’t want you to do anything which will harm the baby.’
‘My baby. My baby, Alekos! Stop calling it the baby. What if it can hear you?’ The tension exploded inside her, punctured by fears she’d been afraid to express even to herself. ‘What if it knows you don’t want it?’
There was a long silence during which he watched her with an intensity that made her heart race.
‘Don’t ever say that,’ he said thickly. ‘All right, I’m the first to admit that this wasn’t what I wanted—I wouldn’t have chosen this to happen—but it’s happened and it’s my responsibility. I’m not walking away from that.’
‘Forget it. I don’t want to drag you along behind the pram like some sort of prisoner of war. I’d rather do this by myself.’
‘Theé mou, I’m being honest, Kelly! That is what you wanted, isn’t it? If I said to you, yes, I’m thrilled about this baby, would you believe me?’
Choking back tears, Kelly bit her lip. ‘No.’
‘Exactly. I am telling you how I’m truly feeling. This has been a shock.’ The disordered mess of his usually smooth hair was an indication of how much of a shock. ‘But I will sort myself out. There is no way I would ever leave the baby without a father.’
‘My baby!’ Kelly yelled, putting her hands over her stomach protectively. ‘If you call it the baby again, I’ll punch you.’
Alekos drew in an unsteady breath. ‘How about our baby?’ he said hoarsely, and something unfamiliar glittered in his eyes as he stared down at her flat stomach. ‘How does our baby sound to you?’
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‘It sounds like a particularly tasteless joke.’ Not even allowing herself to go there, Kelly reached for the phone. ‘How do I buy a ticket on a plane? I need basic Greek.’
Alekos’s response to that was to gently prise the phone out of her fingers. ‘You have a basic Greek,’ he said dryly. ‘Me. And I have no idea how to buy a ticket on a plane. I’ve never bought one. And neither will you. You’re going to stay here until we work this out. And stop talking about leaving. If the baby can hear you, then he will be feeling really unsettled by now.’
‘What is there to work out? I’m pregnant and you don’t want children, no matter how much you kid yourself you’ll do the right thing. Why don’t you want children, anyway?’ Exhausted by the dilemma in which she found herself, Kelly shot him an exasperated look. ‘Is your ego really that fragile? What sort of selfish, self-absorbed, playboy billionaire are you that you can’t even bring yourself to be out of the limelight long enough to have a child?’
Alekos looked at her, his face surprisingly pale, his magnificent bone structure highlighted by the sudden tension that gripped him. ‘The sort who knows exactly how it feels to come second to a selfish, self-absorbed father,’ he said flatly. ‘The sort who vowed never, ever to mess up a child’s life. The sort who lived through hell.’
Breathe, breathe, Kelly said to herself, wishing Vivien were here waving a paper bag at her.
Still stunned by Alekos’s confession, she was now completely torn, her plan to get on a plane and fly home blown to the wind by his totally unexpected revelation about his own childhood.
Yet staying didn’t make sense, did it?
If ever a relationship was doomed, it was theirs.
But the memory of his strained features was stuck in her head. And those words: the sort who vowed never, ever to mess up a child’s life.
Torn, she sat for a minute, telling herself that all that mattered was the baby. She had to put the baby first. And yet…
‘Oh, for crying out loud.’ Kelly removed her shoes and walked barefoot across the tiled floor, where she’d slipped, and out on to the terrace. He’d said that if she wanted to talk he’d be outside.
Fine, they could talk—for five minutes. She’d just check he was all right and then she’d leave.
Her feet made no sound on the terrace and Kelly stood for a moment, puzzled, because there was no sign of him.
Then she heard a splash from the pool.
Glancing in that direction, she watched as Alekos powered his way across the pool, water streaming off his muscular shoulders as he swam, clearly trying to work off his frustration as he cut through the water with explosive force.
His body pulsated with strength and power, and Kelly gave a little shiver, remembering how it felt when all that power and passion was focused on her. Refusing to join him in the pool, she gritted her teeth and sat down on the edge of a sun lounger to wait.
The view was stunning, stretching across the gardens and down to the perfect blue sea. Normally the peace and tranquillity of her surroundings would have calmed her, but she was incapable of feeling calm in the current situation, with Alekos still within her line of vision.
Having swum endless punishing lengths, Alekos sprang from the pool, swept water from his face with his hand and prowled over to her.
