Illegitimate Tycoon (7 page)

 
          
He
suspected Leila did the same with her modeling. That was her escape, or perhaps
her triumph and celebration, over her bout with anorexia.

 
          
His
gaze lifted to La Croisette and the cluster of fans, paparazzi and celebrities
moving about. The tents crowding the beach were the same, though the lights
were more subdued. More intimate.

 
          
At
one time they’d have enjoyed the nightlife. Now he selfishly wanted Leila to
himself. The question remained if she was still eager to be alone with him.

 
          
“Would
you like to take in the sights before turning in?” he asked, stopping well
before the flood of lights spilling from the Palais du Cinéma.

 
          
She
looked at the active scene they’d soon walk into and shivered. “No. I’ve no
interest in becoming one of the hundreds in the nightclubs.”

 
          
He
released a sigh of relief. “What about the secluded beach? Just us walking,
like we used to do.”

 
          
Music
danced on the balmy night air, but he felt the shift in her mood from tense to
relieved.

 
          
“I’d
enjoy that, as long as it takes me away from the spotlight.”

 
          
He
couldn’t agree more, and was relieved she felt the same. There was a change in
Leila that he’d never seen before, and wasn’t quite sure how to deal with. But
part of her seemed closed off even to him. Distant. What had happened this past
year while they had been embroiled in their careers to put those shadows in her
vibrant eyes?

 
          
Rafael
certainly intended to find out once they were alone. He eased them past the
barriers that served to keep the onlookers out and took a trail that wound to a
secluded stretch of sand. It wasn’t wide and it wasn’t pretty, but it was
quiet.

 
          
“I
applaud you for avoiding the paparazzi and the guards,” she said, pausing to
slip off her heels before they started down the warm sandy coast.

 
          
“I
was lucky.” Just like he’d been all the times he’d sneaked into Wolfe Manor so
he could play with his half brothers and sister, defying his father’s edict.

 
          
He
shook off those old painful memories and held on to the good ones. He’d made a
solid connection with his siblings over the years, though he didn’t keep in
touch with all of them. But then his family had remained fractured, with each
of his half siblings emotionally or physically scarred by their father.

 
          
Rafael
had worried that he would not be able to love another person up until the day
he’d met Leila. Even during that first year of marriage he’d wondered if what
he felt was real. If he’d awaken to discover it had all been a dream.

 
          
He
glanced down at Leila now, whose features seemed suddenly lighter, freer. He
surrendered to his own smile, for there was something about defying the norm
that made his own adrenaline surge.

 
          
“Feeling
better?” he asked, twining his fingers with hers as they struck off down the
beach.

 
          
“Much.
The air is so refreshing.”

 
          
He
made a sound of agreement, though every breath he took drew her sweet scent
deeper into his soul. The tension of being the object of so much attention
began easing, yet he sensed Leila hadn’t let go of it yet.

 
          
“I’ve
missed this,” she said at last.

 
          
“The
beach?”

 
          
“The
peace and quiet with you.” The exact opposite of her lifestyle. Right now at
this moment their separate worlds were miles apart. But if they didn’t put a
stop to this madness they’d lived with for a year, their marriage would surely
suffer. Perhaps it already had.

 
          
“Why
push yourself so hard in your career now?”

 
          
“If
I don’t fight to stay on top of it I could end up on the fringe of this
business outside of a year.”

 
          
Rafael
suddenly felt tension seep into his bones. Surely this would happen anyway once
they started the family they’d agreed on? Or had that changed?

 
          
“It
sounds as if you intend to keep working.”

 
          
“I
do,” she said without hesitating. Was she serious?

 
          
He
wanted a wife and the family he’d long to have. A home. A normal family that he’d
always been denied.

 
          
He
wanted Leila back in his life now, not off somewhere on a shoot dragging their
children along. Leaving him behind. Lonely. Forgotten. Rejected.

 
          
“And
what about children, Leila? I thought we’d agreed that when we started a
family, you would be a full-time mother. You’d place our children above
everything, and most certainly above your career. Are you telling me now that
has changed? “

 
          
RAFAEL
held on to his emotions as silence roared between them, obliterating the
soothing sounds of the surf washing over the sands and the excited beat of
music pulsing in the warm night air.

 
          
He’d
asked a simple question, one they’d agreed upon before they’d gotten married.
The answer should be instant, in keeping with her promise.

 
          
“Many
mothers work as well as look after their children, Rafael,” she said, which
sounded like she was building up to an admission that she’d had a change of
heart.

 
          
He
bit off a curse and jammed his hands into his trouser pockets when every cell
in his body goaded him to shake sense into his wife. The last thing he needed
to do was lose his temper. He had to remain calm. Rational. Or as rational as
he could be when his dreams of a family were teetering on the edge.

 
          
“Most
women with children hold down a job because they have to. You most certainly do
not need to work.”

 
          
“I
disagree with you,” she fired back. “Many women work because it gives them
purpose.”

 
          
“You
think being a mother won’t do that?”

 
          
He
wished he could see her face, but the velvet night swallowed up the details.
The tension he felt rocketing through her though was very real, and very
telling.

 
          
“I
can’t think of anything on earth that would be as soul-satisfying as having a
child,” she said at last, her voice breaking a bit with genuine emotion. “But
that doesn’t mean I couldn’t work in moderation. I love my career, Rafael.
Through it, I’ve been able to help other young girls who suffer with eating
disorders. I’ve made a difference in their lives.”

 
          
He
was well aware of the clinic she’d established in Rio and he was proud of all
she’d achieved. He was aware, too, that of late she’d suffered a financial
setback there. A setback that he could have easily funded for her. But when he’d
offered to secure her clinic under his business umbrella in March, she’d
thanked him before she’d flatly refused his help.

 
          
He’d
not brought the subject up again, but now he had to know. “What about your
business manager? Doesn’t he oversee those issues for you?”

 
          
“Yes,
but I have final say. Especially with the clinic. It’s important to me that I
keep a close watch over it,” she said.

 
          
Leila
had as much pride as he. She was also clearly set on having control over her
career as well as her charity.

 
          
He
understood that, for he was the same. But of late he suspected that her drive
to make crucial decisions in her life had edged to the extreme. It wasn’t just
the little things she needed to evaluate. She was micromanaging
everything
.

 
          
Their
marriage and future family as well?

 
          
She
couldn’t give up her career, and she wouldn’t put the management of her charity
into anyone else’s hands. She insisted she could keep a finger in her work and
still be a mother—which she was obviously again trying to put off starting.

 
          
He
sucked in a breath, then another, but his nerves were still snapping like
ribbons in the wind. He knew full well how part-time work could eventually suck
up all the hours in a day. He knew, too, how devoted—no, driven—Leila was with
her career.

 
          
Which
made the thought of her being a working mother all the more troubling. A baby
could easily be shuffled off while she was busy on a set, cared for by
strangers.

 
          
Just
like his youth? Passed from one neighbor to another while his mother cleaned
houses for a meager living. And later, when he was left alone in their small
flat when his mother couldn’t support them and her various causes with just one
job.

 
          
Rafael
ground his teeth in annoyance, for he’d vowed at an early age that no child of
his would endure that type of life. His children would have a home and two
parents to come home to every day. They would know they were loved. Wanted.
Cherished.

 
          
He
took her hand and lifted it to his mouth, placing a light kiss on her fingers.
A shiver rocketed from her into him, telling him she wasn’t immune from him at
least.

 
          
“Leila,
I am tired of us being apart and waiting to start a family,” he said. “I want a
wife who lives with me again. I want a home and children.”

 
          
He
heard her clear her throat, felt another tremor skitter through her. “God knows
I’ve missed you. But what you are asking me to give up right now is
unreasonable.”

 
          
“No,
I am speaking from experience,” he reasoned softly. “I lived with a mother who
worked all her life, not one but two jobs. I know what it is like to be alone,
and I will not put our child through the same.”

 
          
Before
she could answer, a couple’s low laughter intruded on them, followed by a
barbed comment from a man. He glanced at the sound, noting with irritation that
two couples were coming their way, all close to being lost to drink, he’d
guess.

 
          
“Let’s
return to our suite,” he said, pulling Leila away from the approaching group. “Gladly.”

 
          
By
the time they’d wended their way through the crowd and into their hotel in
brittle silence, Rafael’s emotions were stretched to breaking point. At this
rate any further conversation about children would likely end in an argument.
Yet how could he rest until he knew what had changed Leila’s mind?

 
          
Dammit,
they’d made these plans long ago. Had he simply deluded himself into thinking
their marriage and their love was strong?

 
          
“It
is clear to me that you need to decide what you want,” he said, his voice
sounding suddenly cold. “A family with me. Or your career.”

 
          
“Perhaps
it is fate’s choice to make and not mine.”

 
          
There
was something in her tone that chilled him. Something heart-wrenching in the
shadows lurking in her eyes.

 
          
Without
another word, she slipped into the bedroom. Instead of following, he stood
there alone, dreading that there was far more to her prophetic comment than he
would like.

 
          
Leila
jolted awake at the tinny ring of the alarm. She fumbled to turn it off, then
sprawled in bed, staring at the ceiling.