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She’d allowed herself to fall in love with a ghost. A fantasy replica of a monster.
‘I saw you searching those faces tonight. And I know it hurt when you didn’t find what you wanted. Believe me, I’ve had that all my life. But, Zeph, why won’t you see what’s right in front of you?’
‘Another trick?’
Something shattered in her chest then. Her love might have been new and precious. But it was also deep and abiding. Until it’d twisted beneath his rejection.
‘No. Not a trick. But I fear you won’t recognise it until it’s too late. Maybe never. You’re just too blind. Your acolytes have paid their respects. You can sleep soundly tonight knowing you’ve been welcomed back with open arms.’
She turned away, heading blindly for the door. His cold voice stopped her.
‘You’re not walking away that easily. Not when there’s the very real matter of you possibly carrying my child.’
Every cell in her body froze. ‘What?’
‘Last night, when we woke up in the middle of the night, we had sex. Without a condom. It skipped my mind until this evening.’
Her knees sagged and she reached for the nearest chair back.
They’d both been half asleep, had reached for each other with that blind, all-consuming hunger that sparked to life with very little effort on their parts and had fallen into a wild coupling that had left them panting for breath in the aftermath. It’d been glorious.
And it might be the one mistake that would spell her doom.
‘Okay, thanks for letting me know,’ she managed to bite out.
‘Excuse me?’ he roared.
She lifted her chin. ‘You heard me. I’m not going to stand here and let you denigrate my character any longer. You’re probably looking for a way to blame me for the lack of protection, too. Go back to Athens, Zeph. Do your worst. It’s not like I’m not used to it. I’m sure you’ll let me know the consequences of my actions in due course.’
She whirled away from him.
He caught her wrist, detaining her. ‘Don’t walk away from me, Imogen. We’re not done.’
‘You may not be. But I am. I’m tired of being everyone’s punching bag. No more, Zeph.No more.’
His face slackened for a nanosecond before he caught himself. Reasserting that formidable tycoon aura that left men quaking.
But she was done shaking in her shoes for this man. She was done, period. ‘What are you going to do, Zeph? Take Callahan from me? Go ahead. I fought for it because it was the last real thing that meant family to me. But it was just a pipe dream. I never really had much of a family for you to ruin in the first place.’
He held her gaze for several long moments, before his eyes dropped deliberately to her belly. As he’d done earlier this evening.
‘What about the family you might be carrying? Does that not matter to you either? If not, I’d like that in writing so there’s no dispute when the time comes.’
She gasped, the blood draining from her head when she grasped his meaning. ‘When the time... You’d take a child away from its mother?’
‘I’d fight heaven and earth to keep what’s mine. As I always have.’
The words flayed her open, but she was damned if she would let him see her gaping wounds. ‘Don’t hide behind double meanings. Say what you mean.’
‘Very well. If you are carrying my child, then you won’t be going anywhere. Forget six months. Forget three-year agreements. Our marriage will be permanent. Is that plain enough for you?’
‘Yes, I understand. Welcome back, Zeph. And congratulations. You’re officially still a Grade A monster.’
He nodded as if taking it as his rightful due. ‘But I’m a monster who gets what he wants. And what he wants is for his wife to return to Athens with him in the morning. You will smile and cling to my every word. Because, baby or no baby, Imogen, we’re still married. And you still have an agreement to fulfil.’
In all corners of his life, Zeph relished being proved right. A well-placed ‘I told you so’ was even warranted here and there, when a point needed driving home further.
Right in this moment, he wished every one of his senses to hell for the repeated warnings he’d hoped wouldn’t come true. For the suspicion that whatever Imogen was withholding from him would be monumental. For the even greater suspicion that only she held the key to freeing him from the haunting loneliness in his life.
