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‘They’re waiting for you to admit or deny that you’re the father.’ Her gaze settled on his but he held that gaze, as if challenging her to doubt him.
‘Then they’re going to be waiting a long time because I will never feel obliged to explain myself to strangers. I’m surprised you left the house with him. Why weren’t you mobbed by journalists?’
‘Because I sent the new nanny out earlier with a decoy pram.’
‘A decoy pram?’
‘Yes. After you left I rang the agency and they sent someone round straight away. I really liked her. We talked about the problem and decide
d that it wasn’t fair for Costas to be housebound because of these people. So I suggested she leave the house with a doll in a pram. That’s what she did. And she walked fast and kept her head down, like someone with something to hide. And they all followed her. Poor girl.’ Still feeling guilty about that, Millie pulled a face. ‘But I think she’ll be all right. She’s very down-toearth.’
Leandro leaned his head back and laughed. ‘I’ve definitely underestimated you. Nevertheless, it has to stop. There are people out there who would use you and the baby to get to me.’
Millie felt as though her stomach had been dropped off the side of a cliff. ‘They’d kidnap the baby?’
‘I don’t want to frighten you. I receive threats occasionally—it comes with the territory,’ he said carefully, ‘and it’s the job of my security team to work with the police to assess the risk. From now on I want you to take basic precautions.’
Instinctively, Millie put a hand on Costas’s car seat and looked nervously out of the window.
‘He will be fine.’ Leandro leaned his head against the seat and closed his eyes, apparently undisturbed by the serious topic of the discussion. ‘The car is bulletproof and my chauffeur is an expert in defensive driving.’
‘What? You think someone’s going to shoot at us? This gets worse and worse.’ Millie was rigid on the edge of her seat, wondering how he could relax there with his eyes shut. ‘And you think we live in the same world? Where I come from I don’t need an armed guard to go to the supermarket.’
He didn’t open his eyes. ‘If going to the supermarket forms a high point in your day, I will arrange for them to open early for you. That way you can shop without a security hassle.’
Millie gave a choked laugh. ‘You mean I can have first pick of the food.’
‘If that’s what you want. I would have thought scouring the shelves of the supermarket is an overrated pastime,’ he murmured, ‘but I’ve never claimed to understand women. From now on I want you to discuss your itinerary with Angelo and he will do whatever needs to be done to ensure your safety.’
‘Who is Angelo?’
‘The security guard that my team has selected for you. He’s ex-special forces.’
‘So he’s going to abseil down the side of the house every morning in a black ski mask and bring me breakfast in bed?’ Her caustic remark drew a wolfish smile from him and his eyes finally opened, like a predator who has discovered that there is something worth waking up for.
‘No, agape mou. If he goes anywhere near your bedroom, he’s fired. When you’re naked between the sheets, I’ll do the protecting.’
Trapped by the molten sexuality in his dark eyes, Millie felt her heart pound and her stomach tumble. Breathless, she dragged her eyes from his, only to find her gaze trapped by the hint of dark body hair visible at the base of his bronzed throat. Looking away from that had her noticing the width of his shoulders and in the end she just closed her eyes because the only way not to want him was not to look. And even then the delicious curl of awareness that warmed her belly didn’t fade. Help, she thought desperately. Leandro possessed monumental sex appeal, and he knew it.
‘Leandro.’ Her voice was a croak of denial. ‘It’s been a year…’
‘I know exactly how long it’s been,’ he purred softly, and Millie glanced at him and then immediately looked away, shaken by the look of sexual intent in his eyes.
‘I don’t know why you want me back,’ she muttered, and he gave a soft laugh.
‘You’re my wife, Millie. And I expect my wife to stand by my side, no matter what.’
No matter what.
What was that supposed to mean? That she was supposed to overlook his affairs? Was that what he was saying?
Her stomach churned and the sick feeling rushed towards her, the same feeling she’d had when she’d seen him with her sister.
He was expecting her to spend a lifetime overlooking the fact that he had other women. Looking the other way while he took another woman to his bed. And she knew that every time she thought he was with someone else, a little piece of her would die.
Millie stared straight ahead, her expression blank.
What self-respecting woman would say yes to those terms?
