The Pregnancy Shock (14 page)

That night she barely slept for excitement. He didn’t love her but she loved him and knew it would break her
heart to stand by while he married someone else, as he inevitably would should she refuse him. Her heart ruled her, even though her head warned her that the path ahead would be twisty and stony. She joined him in his private dining room for breakfast.

‘Your answer?’ Alexei enquired silkily.

‘Yes, I will marry you,’ Billie pronounced, watching his wide sensual mouth curl with satisfaction. ‘Are you surprised?’

‘No, as I have already said, I have enormous faith in you,
khriso mou,
’ Alexei confided, sending a sharp pang of guilt and regret through Billie’s slender body. My gold, my treasure, he’d called her. But for how much longer would he see her in that idealised light?

T
WO
and a half weeks later, Billie studied the exquisite emerald engagement ring on her finger.

It was a slim elegant ring mounted with a deep green stone of surpassing beauty that complemented her small hand; Billie had to keep on checking it out to convince herself that she had not accidentally stepped into a dream. When she was holding onto so many secrets, how could planning her wedding feel real? First and foremost, Alexei respected her for her ability to tell the truth. Finding out that she had lied and lied again would be a very unpleasant surprise for him.

‘You have to tell him about Nicky
before
you marry him,’ Hilary pronounced without hesitation.

‘If I do, he won’t marry me,’ Billie muttered feverishly.

Unmoved by that view, Hilary shook her blonde head. ‘That’s a risk you have to take.’

But Billie’s courage had failed her on that score. Even two weeks after the proposal, wedding bells were still pealing inside her head. She finally had the magical right to hug the guy she had fallen in love with, although
opportunities to do so had been few because he had hardly been around since the day he had proposed. Billie had stayed on Speros to organise the wedding while Alexei was abroad on business. Even so, her world had suddenly become a place of infinite promise and happiness, and confessing up to the deception of the year over their son, Nicky, had little appeal. Indeed her dishonesty hung over her like a giant black rain cloud that carried the threat of imminent doom.

Her face very pale, Billie murmured tautly, ‘Alexei might try to take Nicky away from me.’

Hilary frowned. ‘Why would he do something like that?’

‘Because he’ll be so angry. He’s a control freak. I’ll have let him down, hidden the truth from him…and he
hates
lies. An illegitimate child will also embarrass his family. He’ll blame me.’

‘Of course she can’t tell Alexei about Nicky until she’s got that wedding ring safely on her finger!’ Lauren broke in, shooting her younger sister a look of angry derision that dismissed her advice. ‘He’s a Drakos and as slippery in the wedding stakes as a man can be. He’s very wary of marriage—of course he is…his father did have four wives! Give Alexei an excuse this big and he’ll call it off!’

As her mother voiced her daughter’s deepest fears Billie shifted uncomfortably in her seat because her conscience was absolutely writhing. It had proved impossible to keep the truth from Lauren once the wedding was being planned and, in some ways, her mother’s understanding of Billie’s predicament and mood was superior
to Hilary’s, whose moral compass was less yielding. Lauren totally appreciated that Billie’s greatest apprehension was losing the chance to marry the man that she loved. At least if they were married, Billie thought fearfully, she would have the chance to work on the damage she had done to their relationship. Unmarried and living apart, what opportunity would she have to persuade Alexei to calm down and see her viewpoint?

In addition, Lauren saw no reason why her daughter should shoulder all the blame for the fallout caused by Alexei’s amnesia. That disastrous accident could not be laid at anyone’s door. But Alexei had then swiftly got tangled up with Calisto in what had appeared to be the romance of the century and it was for
his
sake rather than her own that Billie had remained silent. Her mother had deemed that decision ‘plain stupidity’.

‘Right now, Billie has to keep quiet and save her big announcement about Nicky for when they’re married,’ Lauren declared in a tone of flat conviction. ‘Having carried on the pretence this long, what do another few days matter?’

‘What matters is that Billie’s relationship with Alexei has changed beyond recognition since he proposed,’ Hilary argued vehemently. ‘And if she doesn’t tell him now, it’ll make her look calculating.’

Torn apart by the discussion, Billie went into her bedroom where the beautiful embroidered wedding gown she had purchased in Athens hung in readiness for her wedding day, which was now only forty-eight hours away. She had prayed that Alexei would recall the night they had spent together without her interference. While
she had been in Athens she had even consulted a psychiatrist about Alexei’s amnesia. She had received cold comfort in response. Alexei’s memory had only misplaced a few hours of the very distressing day when he had buried his parents. Some day he might recall those hours or missing fragments of them, but the longer time went on, the less likely that would be. Furthermore, filling in that gap in his memory for him was unlikely to help him to recall events for himself.

In truth, Billie didn’t need anyone to tell her what she ought to do. She knew that with every day that passed she was sinking deeper into the quagmire of her own deception. She already knew what was right and what was wrong. She knew the difference. She had no fancy excuses to hide behind.
Tell him,
a little voice shrieked in her conscience, but she had seen very little of Alexei since he had asked her to marry him and what she had to say could scarcely be passed on during a phone conversation. He was due back at the villa for dinner that very evening. Once again Billie began mustering her courage in an effort to bite the bullet and confess all.

Garbed in a dark green knee-length strappy silk dress, Billie walked into the Drakos villa. Anatalya greeted her with warmth. While Billie was not quite as popular as an island girl born and bred on Speros would have been as Alexei’s future bride, she was the nearest equivalent and, as far as the locals were concerned, infinitely preferable to a stranger. Billie glanced at her reflection in a tall mirror. She had done a fair amount of shopping in Athens, recognising that Alexei expected her to dress up for her new role in his life. For a young
woman who had once had no particular interest in fashion or her appearance, she had made a big effort. Her hair was trimmed into a more sleek style and her nails were manicured.

Anything to make herself more attractive, anything to please, she ruminated with a frown of growing self-loathing. She had once thought that her appearance didn’t matter that much. Now, instead, she thought of Calisto and her well-groomed predecessors and cringed at her naivety. A homespun unadorned woman was unlikely to appeal for very long to a male with Alexei’s sophisticated tastes. His standards had to become hers.

That same week she had signed a pre-nuptial contract that ran to fifty pages of small type. She had given up on reading it about halfway through, having only registered that Alexei was promising to give her an enormous allowance every month. Lauren had urged her to consult a lawyer in Athens but Billie preferred to trust the guy she was about to marry and in any case there really wasn’t enough time left before the wedding to start negotiating clauses.

As Billie recognised the sound of a helicopter flying in over the bay, she drew in a steadying breath. She was going to do the right thing: she was going to tell him and bear the consequences, whatever they were. She was not a coward. She was not by nature a liar either.

Alexei stared across the big airy salon at his bride-to-be. The green colour of the dress threw her white alabaster skin into prominence and accentuated her jewelled eyes. How had he ever believed she wasn’t beautiful?
How had he ever considered that vibrant coppery hair unattractive? Smooth wine-red wings of hair curving to her cheekbones, eyes bright, mouth a sultry peachy pink, she looked amazing. He extended a hand to her in invitation.

‘I—I thought I should give you the chance to change your mind if you want to…about marrying me,’ Billie stammered nervously as she crossed the room to his side.

‘I haven’t the slightest intention of changing my mind,
moraki mou,
’ Alexei fielded, his wide sensual mouth flashing an amused smile as he closed a hand over hers and strode across the hall and down the bedroom corridor. ‘I’m very pleased with the decision I’ve made. I also authorised a press release about our engagement today. We’ll have a peaceful wedding day. Unless one of my relatives blabbers, which is of course possible, the press won’t be expecting us to get hitched so quickly after the announcement.’

Having entered his bedroom, Alexei released her and jerked loose his tie. ‘I need a shower before dinner. Tell me about your week.’

‘There’s so much important stuff that we haven’t talked about, Alexei,’ Billie said apprehensively, marooned in the centre of the carpet in the large room.

Shrugging off his jacket and embarking on the buttons on his shirt, Alexei strolled with predatory grace towards her. ‘We have the rest of our lives to talk. This marriage is going to last. My aunt, Marina, sends her best wishes. She approves of you; she said she didn’t know I had so much sense.’

‘I’m flattered…’

‘Then try to be a little less insecure,’ Alexei advised drily. ‘I’m not good with needy women.’

In receipt of that criticism, Billie reddened unhappily and stiffened. ‘We haven’t even discussed…er…having children…’

Alexei quirked a questioning brow, brilliant bronzed eyes pinned to her. ‘Some day, but
not
some day soon. I don’t want children for a few years yet,’ he confided without hesitation.

The opening she had sought had suffered a landslide, cutting her off from that particular route. Right now Alexei didn’t want to be a father, which was fair enough because he still thought that he had a choice to exercise on that score. Only he didn’t have a choice, which was not a position he was used to occupying. She pictured Nicky, a healthy, livewire baby already learning to grab at objects and roll over while babbling in his own language. She adored her son, believing like all mothers that her baby was the very epitome of cuteness and appeal. It had never occurred to her that Alexei might react to the news that he had a child in a less than positive way and now as that risk did occur to her it glued her tongue to the roof of her mouth. What courage she had built up was steadily draining away.

Alexei’s shrewd gaze narrowed. ‘I just said the wrong thing, didn’t I? Are you really gasping to reproduce?’

‘No…er…no. It’s not that.’ Billie moved restively round the room in no particular direction.

Bare chested, his magnificent torso as well honed by his daily gym workouts as any athlete’s, Alexei moved into her path, his hands closing over hers to hold her entrapped
and draw her to him. ‘Good. Just the two of us appeals the most to me at present. Babies cry and demand a lot of attention,’ he pointed out, his breath fanning her cheek before he took her soft lips with ravishing force and urgency.

Her heart went bumpety-bumpety-bump, as if she were running up a steep hill and breathing were a desperate challenge but she didn’t want what she was feeling to stop—no, indeed. His hands released hers to search out more sensitive places and she strained eagerly against him as he pushed up the hem of her dress and ran long fingers up the inside of one slender thigh.

A violent trembling seized hold of Billie. Alexei groaned with hungry satisfaction when he reached the stretched taut silk barrier of her knickers and felt the responsive dampness there. He lifted his dark head, his black hair tousled by her clutching fingers, and told her exactly what he wanted to do to her. Her eyes widened in sheer shock at that bold and graphic description.

Engaged in teasing the hot, throbbing sensitivity of the silken flesh between her thighs, Alexei stilled only when he saw her expression. He felt like a firework ready to blaze a trail. She got him hotter and harder than any woman had in a long time and denying himself satisfaction was a challenge until he saw the surprised and self-conscious look on her face. Her lack of experience touched and shamed him. He wanted to give her more than a quick lusty coupling before dinner. Slowly, he withdrew his hand from her seductively responsive flesh and dropped the hem of her dress. He held her close
while the after quivers of unsated arousal continued to make her slender frame tremble feverishly against his.

‘Alexei…?’ she framed, weak-legged with need.

‘We have an agreement,
moraki mou,
’ he reminded her when she gazed up at him in a daze of confusion. ‘We’ll wait. It’ll be better for you that way…more special.’

Flushed and still shaken when he walked away from her into the bathroom, Billie breathed in deep. She would have lain down on his bed even without an invitation. Her body was a seething mass of pleading nerve-endings, greedily seeking the pleasure that he had given her before. Her face burned with mortification. Even sex, she suddenly appreciated, would now be a risky venture for her. He believed that their wedding night would be ‘special’. Did that mean that he was expecting her to be a virgin? It seemed that he did. Would he be able to tell the difference? Was she fated to have to tell the truth to him on their wedding night?
Oh, what a tangled web,
she thought miserably.

Over the meal, served out on the terrace to take advantage of the glorious view of the bay, Alexei asked her a question that startled her. ‘One of my relatives asked me who your father was and I realised that I knew nothing on that score.’

Billie tensed. ‘Well, you know about as much as I do. Lauren once told me I was the result of a one-night stand with a man she didn’t stay in touch with. There’s no name on my birth certificate. I’m not sure if Lauren even knew his name,’ she admitted in a wry undertone. ‘So I didn’t push her for any more information.’

Alexei talked business and then, with some amusement,
described the calls he had received from curious relations as word of the wedding invitations, made by telephone for discretion, began to spread round the family circle.

‘I’m sure that everybody thinks that you could have done much better by marrying a celebrity or an heiress or someone more—’

A fiery glitter in his dark golden eyes, Alexei covered her clenched fingers with his. ‘More…
what
? You suit me. How many other women would tolerate me being away for so long without complaint? Ask me intelligent questions about my work and then settle for a quiet dinner at home?’

A deep dark pain pierced her. ‘What if I’m not who you think I am, Alexei?’ she asked him sickly.