From One Night to Wife

His silence seemed to answer her question and she ploughed on with her own arguments for being a single parent.

‘Can you love a child you don’t want?’

‘Do not question my ability to be a father,’ he growled, hardly able to contain his anger.

‘A child needs stability, a loving home. It doesn’t matter if it’s with one parent or two, so long as it has all it needs.’

Strength sounded in her voice and her face was full of determination as she looked into his eyes, challenging him with everything she had.

‘I’ve already made it clear that is not a problem.’ He knew his voice had turned to a low growl, full of anger, but her constant referral to his inability to provide for his child was more than he could take.

‘It’s your deceit, Nikos, that has made me think you can’t.’ Her face was stern as she looked at him. ‘Your lies haven’t changed anything just as your real identity hasn’t. I will not allow my baby to become a possession to be bargained over. Least of all by you.’

‘After your scheme to get pregnant you are not in a position to make demands on me.’

He felt the reins of control slipping, felt her gaining the moral high ground—especially now haunting images from his childhood were being rapidly unleashed.

‘That is so far from the truth,’ she retaliated hotly, then moved towards him, her voice softening. ‘This wasn’t planned, at all, and I cannot even consider giving away my baby.’

Suddenly he was a young boy again, standing on this very beach, looking out to sea, hoping the next boat that came in would have his mother on board, that she would change her mind and come home. He’d watched and waited for many years, before finally dismissing her from his mind, his thoughts and his heart. She was a cold and heartless woman and he’d accepted the fact that he’d never see her again.

‘But you want money?’

‘Nikos, this isn’t about money. I believed you couldn’t afford to raise a child—just as I can’t. It doesn’t mean I’m not going to try, though. I hadn’t planned on having a child, but I am certainly going to be there for him or her—all the time.’

Him or her. Suddenly the child she carried had gained an identity, an image in his mind. It would either be a little girl, with flame-red hair like her mother’s, or a little boy with a cheeky smile and plenty of attitude.

Then her words sank into his mind. Had she really thought he couldn’t afford to raise his child? The niggling suspicion that she’d known who he really was resurfaced. It wouldn’t have been hard for her to source information about him on the internet. His business acumen made him a much talked of man—as did his single status. He didn’t believe she’d only just found out.

She reached out for him again and he resisted the urge to draw back, strangely wanting to feel the heat of her touch.

‘I am having this baby, Nikos. With or without you.’

He snapped back his arm, suddenly not wanting to be touched by her after all, not wanting the hot sizzle that sparked through him to take over.

That was one thing he had to control: he couldn’t desire her.

* * *

Serena’s heart sank as he pulled away from her. He hated her touch, and the anger in his eyes worried her. Whatever else had gone before, and whatever was to come, they had created a new life together. They had to find a way to give their baby the best. Which meant agreeing on how that was to be done.

Images unwittingly filled her mind. Nikos at her side as she held a baby, its hair as dark as his and with the same deep blue eyes looking up at her.

The image of happiness ripped her heart in two. That kind of happy-ever-after was what she’d wished for herself as a child. She’d wanted nothing more than for her parents to be happy together, and most of all she wished they’d wanted her, their youngest child. Instead she’d had to face the reality that she’d been a sudden and unexpected addition to the family—one that had put pressure on the cracks that had already been showing between her parents.

‘Where do you propose the baby grows up?’ Nikos moved closer, his barely concealed annoyance clearly evident.

‘With me.’ Desperation echoed in every word and she saw him inhale deeply, holding on to the anger her words had provoked.

‘In England?’

The syllables of his words were broken, the sound staccato and harsh. She swallowed as she looked at him— anything else would show a weakness, one he’d exploit fully.

‘Yes.’

Serena thought of all the heartache her sister had endured, the number of times she’d hoped for a baby and the number of times her dreams had come crashing down. She had indeed discussed it with Nikos, and couldn’t believe he was now using it against her.

It was a really cruel twist of fate that it was her who’d fallen pregnant—and from just one night of unprotected sex. But it had been more than that—for her at least. That last evening on the secluded beach they’d walked hand in hand as the sun had set and shared a gentle kiss. It had rekindled the fire of passion they’d experienced in her small hotel room.

She reminded herself that from the outset Nikos had made it clear he didn’t consider theirs a lasting romance, but one that would end when she went home. She’d gone along with the idea, feeling secure in the knowledge that she could walk away, that it didn’t have to be more. But she’d fallen hopelessly in love with Nikos.

That night, as they’d reached the seclusion of the edge of the beach, surrounded by rocks and caves, he’d kissed her so passionately they hadn’t been able to stop. The urgency of their desire had forced them down onto the cool sand, but nothing had prepared her for his reaction afterwards—those cold words of dismissal, the demand that he should know if ‘consequences’ resulted. Well, they had.

‘So you would see our child grow up, hear its first words, watch its first steps, while I would be relegated to the background, lucky to catch a glimpse of it before it becomes a teenager?’

His voice brought her rapidly back to the present, and she swallowed down the lump in her throat as tears once again threatened.

The accusation in his tone speared her conscience and she wondered, not for the first time, if she really could do this alone. She’d thought his harsh words on the beach, after they’d made love in such an explosive and spontaneous way, had left her with little choice. He’d as good as told her he had no wish to be a father—that the very idea was abhorrent to him.

‘Don’t try and make it sound like you want this baby, Nikos.’ She almost hissed the words at him. ‘Not when you told me so coldly that you wanted to know of any “consequences.”’

‘Being a father is not something I had planned.’

He moved away from her, raking his long tanned fingers through his hair, and she sensed his frustration with every nerve in her body.

‘Which is why I will return to England and bring up our baby alone.’

She seized on his declaration before he could say anything else, but thoughts of telling her sister almost choked her. How could she tell a woman who wanted a child so desperately that she had made a mistake? That she now had that most desired thing? How could she destroy her sister like that?

Anger sparked from his eyes, making her step back away from him, her footsteps faltering in the sand as she stumbled. Before she knew what had happened she was in his arms. The breath seemed to be sucked from her body as the all too familiar scent of Nikos invaded every part of her, setting free yet more memories.

She bit down on her lower lip, anxiety making her brow furrow and her breathing quicken as she looked up at him. His unusual blue eyes sparked with a fiery mix of anger and desire, making her stomach flutter.

‘I might not have planned to be a father, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to turn my back on my child.’

His words made her heart beat faster, and again the idea of living happily ever after with him flashed before her. Then it was gone, drowned by the reality of their situation. How could they possibly raise a child together? How could they ever be happy after his cold disregard and his lies to conceal his true identity?

She shook her head. ‘It will never work, Nikos. Never.’

His hold on her arm tightened, his fingers pressing into her as he pulled her close. She could feel his breath on her face and fought hard against the overwhelming need to close her eyes and press her lips to his. It was as if she’d stepped back in time, back to the first moment they had met, to the spark of attraction that had leapt to life between them instantly.

She became aware of her phone ringing inside her small handbag and the magic around them evaporated, disappearing to leave stark reality. He let go of her, stepped back, his eyes hard and narrowed, full of suspicion. As the phone ceased its insistent ring an ominous silence settled around them, one so heavy that even the waves seemed to have quietened, stilling in anticipation of what was to come next.

‘I am not allowing my child to be brought up in another country. My child will be raised to know its Greek heritage, its Greek family and most importantly its father.’

Each calmly spoken word caressed her face, and even if he’d spoken in Greek she’d have been sure they were words of passion. But she wasn’t fooled—they were words of control.

‘So where do I fit into that?’ She pulled back from him, needing the space to think.

‘That is what you must decide.’ Again it was said in an almost seductive whisper.

‘And if I want to go back to England?’ The question came out as an unexpected hoarse whisper, the pain of it hurting so much.

‘Then you must do so—once the child has been born, here in Greece, where it will remain.’

She gasped in disbelief. ‘You can’t force me to stay. Or expect me to leave without my baby.’

Who was this man? Where had the man she’d fallen in love with gone? This cold, hard and angry man was a total stranger.

‘I’m not forcing you to do anything. The choice is yours.’

‘No, Nikos.’ She stood tall, strength rising up through her. Although she really didn’t want her child to grow up with just one parent. She wanted her baby to have all that onlookers thought she’d had: two loving and happy parents.

‘We will, of course, have to be married.’

He glared at her, hostility emanating from the blue depths of his eyes, and she was thankful they weren’t having this conversation in daylight. She didn’t want to see the full force of that hostility. At least now it was masked by the quickly descending darkness.

Her phone began to ring again, and her heart hammered loudly as he glanced down at her bag.

‘Perhaps you should answer that.’

‘No. I can’t.’

It was all she could manage as the full implications of what he’d just said hit home. Was she referring to the phone or to marriage? She had no idea, and the words he’d said raced inside her head, confusing her further.

They would have to be married.

* * *

Exasperation mixed with fury and fizzed inside Nikos, threatening to explode as he looked down at Serena. Her gorgeous red hair, blown by the warm wind across her face, had created a veil—one she could partially hide behind as she glared back up at him.

‘What do you mean, no?’

Nikos thought of the deal he was about to close for the cruise liner company and the effort he’d put into it. Now, trying to reason with Serena, he realised that the deal was a picnic in the sun compared to the negotiation of this deal and what was at stake. His child—something he’d never thought he’d have because he’d never allowed himself to want the impossible. He couldn’t turn and walk away now. If he did he’d be worse, far worse, than his mother and father.

‘I don’t know...’ she said, shaking her head.

Damn the woman—she was forcing him to strike a deal for his child.

‘Well, you’d better think fast.’

He watched her face, saw the ever-changing expressions, holding her captive with his glare.

‘Did you ever consider marriage when we had our romantic fling in the summer? Our holiday affair?’

Her voice was sharp and strong, but it was her pale face that told him she was having as much difficulty with this as he was. So she should. What woman would consider giving away her child? One just like his mother.

‘You don’t even love me.’

‘Love has nothing to do with it.’ He moderated his tone, aware of his anger rising once more.

‘So why do we have to get married?’ The disbelief in her voice was more than clear.

‘Marriage has never been on my agenda.’

That much was true. After living in the shadow of his parents’ marital breakdown he’d written that idea off as a young man, preferring to enjoy the company of woman without complication and commitment. He only sought the pleasure of a woman’s company for fun. Purely carnal. Nothing more. Which was exactly what he’d been doing with Serena during her stay on the island.

‘And being a father?’

She dropped the question so lightly between them he almost didn’t hear it.

‘I will be a father to my child.’ He evaded her question and the truth that lay buried within him. He wanted to be a father—to have his child grow up in a world of love and happiness—but he was sceptical that such happiness actually existed.

‘Make no mistake, Serena. My child will not be shuffled between countries like an unwanted Christmas present.’

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