Nine Months To Tame The Tycoon by Chantelle Shaw, Annie West

CHAPTER TWELVE

DAYSLATERTHEYwere on the island of Aegina and Cora couldn’t stop smiling.

Since leaving Athens things between her and Strato felt different. He was as attentive and passionate, as charming and as much fun. But there was an unspoken undercurrent that fed her excitement.

She didn’t try to label it, for it had been scary enough, naming her feelings for him. She didn’t want to con herself into believing he felt more than he did, or build too much upon his various kindnesses. Or the fact he’d asked her to stay past the agreed month.

It had been that night when they’d left Athens. Cora was sprawled, boneless, across Strato’s big frame, his heart beating beneath her ear, when he’d asked her to stay. Not for a set time, but simply to stay.

Eagerness had vied with practicalities, like worries over her stalled career and the need to see her father, but her biggest concern was of digging herself deeper into an emotional hole.

What if Strato never returned her feelings?

Yet Cora hadn’t been able to say no. She knew this man, enigmatic as he could be, was the man for her.

Add to that her father was well and had help at the hotel. Strato had also promised to sail back so she could check on her father in person instead of via her regular calls.

As for her career as a marine biologist, that was harder. She’d left work to help her father and there weren’t many other positions around. She should be looking but for now she couldn’t think past the present and Strato.

It was a shock to realise they’d been together just over a month.

A month during which she’d had no period.

They stood before the beautiful Temple of Aphaia, high on a hill overlooking the Aegean Sea, the scent of pines and sea salt wafting on the breeze. Strato was beside her, strong and solid. Just as well, for she rocked back on her heels as realisation hit.

Frantically she recalculated the weeks, flicking through dates in her head, and with each recalculation shock edged further along her bones, like the shadow of a cloud creeping across the sun.

Her periods were clockwork-regular.

Which meant...

‘Cora, are you okay?’

Sea-green eyes met hers and a warm hand gripped her arm. The concern she saw in Strato’s expression calmed her.

‘Yes, absolutely fine.’

There was no need to panic.

This had been the most amazing, unusual month of her life. Would it be so surprising if her body didn’t follow its usual rhythms? She didn’t feel different physically.

And even if there was a reason for her delayed period, she and Strato weren’t passing strangers. They’d moved on from their original insta-lust. Pregnancy might even be the impetus for acknowledging a deeper relationship.

Yet, thinking the word pregnancy sent a quiver of shock through her.

She’d assumed that when she had a child she’d be in a secure relationship like her parents had shared.

But she was getting ahead of herself. First she had to find out if there was a child.

Would the small town where they’d come ashore sell pregnancy test kits? Cora took a slow breath, trying to calm her racing thoughts. She’d have to get to a bigger town and find out if she was pregnant.

Then, well, she’d think about what came next if it happened.

Strato stood on his private deck, a cold beer in one hand. Where was Cora? Usually she’d joined him on deck by now. The sun was low in the sky.

He felt restless because, after their early morning sightseeing trip to the temple, he’d devoted himself to work while Cora took a hired car to the other side of the island. Usually they explored together. This was the first time they’d been separated for any length of time, apart from that afternoon in Athens.

Strange to think he’d become so accustomed to her company that he noticed an absence of a few hours. He sometimes worked alone in his study and that didn’t bother him.

Because always she’d been nearby. Accessible.

His glass stopped halfway to his mouth then lowered. Suddenly the taste in his mouth wasn’t the tang of beer but something bitter and dank.

He wasn’t becoming obsessive about her, was he? Needing to know where she was every moment? Needing to control her movements?

His belly clenched as if in response to an invisible blow. His stomach curdled.

Strato waited for logic to reassure him. Obsession was impossible. It had to be. Because he, of all people, knew how dangerous it was. His skin prickled and searing pain shot through his shoulder, even though the scar tissue there was old.

Again he swallowed.

Could such a fatal flaw run in families? He’d told himself it couldn’t, not if you did everything you could to guard against it. And Strato had done everything to prevent that happening.

Still he frowned. It was true his relationship with Cora had altered. She was no longer a casual sexual partner.

As if! From the first he’d felt anything but casual about her.

But he’d been sure that though she’d become a friend as much as a lover, she only occupied a specific part in his life. Strato had honed the ability to compartmentalise his world.

Yet today he’d found himself wondering what she was doing. Whether he wouldn’t rather be with her. Regretting their time apart.

Movement caught his eye. It was Cora, emerging on deck. He turned fully and was instantly swamped by his response to her.

Good old sexual desire. Admiration. Joy.

Surely they were all positives? Surely that negated the secret fear that his feelings verged on something dark?

‘You look fabulous.’ His voice was gruff with appreciation. Instead of her usual casual clothes she wore a bronze-coloured dress, gleaming like silk. Its narrow straps left her shoulders bare and its cut followed her body, cinching in around her narrow waist before spilling gracefully over her hips and thighs.

Beyond her stretched the green-blue sea and above it, at the top of the hill overlooking the coast, the white marble columns of the ruined temple.

The setting suited her. He’d first imagined her as a sea nymph, so much more than an ordinary mortal woman. Seeing her against that backdrop reinforced that feeling.

Cora was special.

Want rose in him, the familiar tide of desire, but something extra too. Something warm and tender.

Strato refused to analyse it. Instead he put his glass down and approached her, taking her hands in his. ‘I approve. You bought it today?’

She shook her head and for the first time in weeks he couldn’t read her expression. ‘I got it in Athens.’

She’d spent his money well.

‘And you waited till now to wear it?’ He bent his head and kissed her, slowly and thoroughly, only drawing back when he realised he was on the verge of sweeping her into his arms and straight to bed.

He was determined to prove he could control his feelings around Cora.

She shrugged and he realised that, despite the way she’d melted into his kiss, the movement looked stiff.

‘Have you spoken to your father today? Is all okay at the hotel?’

‘Yes and yes. Both are thriving. Thank you, Strato.’ Her expression eased. Maybe he’d imagined tension because he’d been distracted by his own troubling thoughts.

‘Good. Now, what would you like to drink?’

‘Sparkling water, thanks.’

He nodded and made himself release her, knowing that he’d much prefer to keep touching her. Again that tiny quiver of concern flickered through him.

Strange that the silence as he went to the bar and got her drink felt heavy. Usually he and Cora chatted easily but didn’t feel the need to fill every moment with talk. He turned, her glass in his hand, and saw he hadn’t imagined it. Something was wrong. Cora bit the corner of her mouth and her shoulders were hunched.

‘What is it, Coritsa? Is something wrong?’ He couldn’t imagine what. Things were good between them.

Yet to his dismay she nodded. ‘Not wrong exactly but...’ She drew a deep breath that made her breasts rise high. ‘We need to talk. Maybe we should sit down.’

Perhaps it was his unresolved tension from earlier, or a sixth sense for trouble, but Strato felt his own shoulders tighten. ‘Don’t prevaricate. Just tell me.’

She swallowed and finally nodded, her eyes not leaving his. ‘I’m pregnant.’

There was a crashing sound but Strato didn’t really register it. He was too busy watching the woman before him looking so earnest as her words, her unbelievable words, echoed in his brain.

Something inside him plummeted.

Had he really thought she was different?

Had he really believed in the happiness he’d found with her?

She’d prepared carefully for this moment, he realised, looking again at that slinky, seductive dress that was so different from her usual outfits. It turned her into a different woman. More like the others who’d tried over the years to catch him.

Had the woman who’d snared his interest on that tiny island, the fascinating, forthright woman who cared more about protecting sea turtle nesting sites than about jewels and his vast fortune, been an illusion? Had their chance meeting and her initial rejection been part of a deliberate ploy, to attract then hook him?

Pain stabbed his chest as his lungs failed.

How many times had a woman stood before him, claiming to carry his child?

Strato shut his eyes because even now the sight of Cora, gorgeous and tempting, messed with his head. As if what she said could be possible.

That only made things worse because the idea of him fathering a child was the stuff of nightmares. Clammy heat crept across his skin and nausea welled.

He snapped his eyes open.

At least he was spared that horror. He’d made sure there’d be no children. He was the last of his family.

But that meant Cora was lying. Like those others who’d tried to snare him in marriage.

He hauled in a rough breath.

He didn’t want to believe it. Not Cora.

But Strato knew about betrayal. He knew it so well it was inked onto his very bones, etched on his skin.

He understood you could rely on no one but yourself.

How had he forgotten the lesson that shaped his life?

Yet watching Cora, as all the good things he’d experienced with her crumbled into dust, felt like a blow from which he’d never recover.

Because he’d let her get under his skin. Let himself be tempted into feeling too much.

It was his fault as much as hers.

Cora watched the glass drop to the deck and shatter but Strato didn’t seem to notice.

The concern in his eyes died, replaced by the shock she’d expected and something else. It looked like pain.

She frowned, heart hammering, trying to gauge his response. It couldn’t be pain. That made no sense.

Then he shut his eyes, breathing deep, nostrils flaring and hands curling at his sides. He looked like a man struggling with strong emotion.

Cora wanted to go to him, touch him, connect with him. But she stood rooted to the spot. Something about the starkness of his features and the lines ploughing his forehead held her back.

Then he was staring at her again, eyes narrowed and hard as chips of stone.

Not a delighted father-to-be, then.

‘You’re the third.’ His voice was barely recognisable. Raw and rough and once more she sensed pain. Yet his eyes were frigid with accusation.

‘Third what?’

His mouth stretched wide in a humourless smile that made her heart twist.

‘Third woman to tell me she’s having my child.’

‘You’ve already got children?’ Her hand went to her throat in shock. It was only when his gaze lowered that she realised her other hand had gone instinctively to her stomach, as if comforting the new life deep inside.

Even now, hours after confirming her pregnancy, Cora reeled from the revelation. It didn’t seem real. Her body felt the same as ever.

Yet, in the short space of time since she’d learned about the baby, it seemed she’d acquired protective, maternal instincts. Instincts that urged her to retreat from this big man.

Except she knew Strato. Knew he’d never hurt her or their baby.

Nevertheless, his tight smile perturbed her. She’d never seen him like this.

‘No, I don’t have kids. I told you, I’ll never have a family.’

Cora waited for an explanation but none came. Had the babies died? Horror filled her. ‘What happened?’

‘Nothing. The women left when I wouldn’t marry them.’

She shook her head. ‘The babies! What happened to the babies?’ She felt as if she were underwater, sounds blurred and distant, struggling to make herself understood.

‘There were no babies.’ He flicked a glance at her abdomen once more then back to her face. ‘One woman wasn’t even pregnant. The other was, but to someone else.’ His lips drew back in something like a snarl. ‘They made a mistake thinking they could lie their way into a share of my fortune.’

Shock slammed into her. ‘You think I’m lying? You think I invented this?’

After what they’d shared, not only their bodies but the growing emotional intimacy, Cora felt sick at his implication.

‘I know you’re lying.’ Before she could protest he went on, his expression grim. ‘I should have known. Believe it or not, I thought you different.’ He shook his head and she almost believed she saw sorrow on his face.

‘Listen, Strato, I know this is a shock. I was stunned too when I found out today.’ Cora told herself it wasn’t surprising a man who’d faced false paternity claims should react badly, though something within her shrank at his forbidding expression.

‘You only found out today?’ He shoved his hands into his trouser pockets. ‘How convenient that you happened to have a sexy new dress to wear while you announced the news.’ His tone dripped sarcasm. ‘What did you expect? That I’d be so overcome by lust that I wouldn’t care you’re lying? That I didn’t mean it when I said I’d never have a family?’

The shivers rippling across her flesh became shudders and she folded her arms, partly for warmth and partly in anger at his hurtful accusations.

‘I don’t know what I expected. But it wasn’t this...viciousness.’

Strato folded his arms too. On him the gesture didn’t look defensive but aggressive, showcasing the formidable strength in his arms and upper body. ‘Lady, you have no idea if you think this is vicious. Be thankful you don’t.’

Her chin hiked higher. ‘I have no wish to see it. This is bad enough.’ She swallowed hard. ‘I understand you’ve had bad experiences but I’m not lying, Strato. When have I ever lied to you?’

For a moment she wondered if she might have got through to him. Until he spoke.

‘That’s one of the things I admired about you, Cora. That you were honest. Or appeared to be. But I know this is a lie because I can’t have children.’

‘Sorry?’

‘I had a vasectomy. I’ll never have children.’

Cora stared, trying to take this in. Her sense of unreality, which had begun with the news of the pregnancy, then crested when Strato turned into a man she didn’t know, battered at her.

‘But I’m pregnant. The baby is yours.’ He said nothing, merely lifted one eyebrow haughtily. ‘You used condoms against pregnancy.’

‘No, I used them because I’ve had multiple partners. It’s a common-sense health precaution.’

Cora reeled. That put her in her place. One of his multiple partners. Her skin crawled. She’d actually begun to believe they shared something special!

Then the implications sank in. He’d had a vasectomy and used condoms and still she’d got pregnant? What were the chances?

For a second she was tempted to think maybe he was right and there was a mistake. Except she’d bought two test kits, two different brands, and each time got the same result. Plus there was that time weeks ago when the condom broke.

‘That’s silenced you, hasn’t it?’ Strato’s voice was flinty, yet she imagined she heard something more than anger there. She peered up into his eyes, but could see no softening.

It was like looking into the face of a stranger, a stern, disapproving stranger.

Incredible how much that hurt. So much that she felt it as a searing physical pain right through her middle. The change in him, from caring, fun, attentive lover to brooding enemy was too much to take in.

‘No, Strato, it hasn’t silenced me, because I’m telling the truth.’ She gulped a deep breath and focused on keeping her voice even. ‘I bought a couple of pregnancy kits today and took multiple tests to be sure. Because, believe it or not, pregnancy wasn’t in my plans. At least not yet. I can show you the results.’

Still he said nothing, just looked down that straight nose at her as if he were a judge and she a criminal.

She’d been right to be nervous about breaking the news. So nervous she’d taken refuge in fancy clothes, hoping to boost her confidence. From his expression it wouldn’t matter what she said, Strato wouldn’t believe her.

She was torn between outrage and sorrow. It was obvious she’d deluded herself, thinking he might return her feelings.

‘I haven’t been with a man in years.’ Not since Adrian, who’d hurt her so badly. ‘Until you.’

Her eyes flickered shut for a second. The pain Adrian had inflicted was nothing to the damage Strato was doing now.

Oh, she could sure pick men! Her lips pulled back in a grimace. First Adrian and now another arrogant rich man, who, it seemed, didn’t care for her either.

Why, oh, why hadn’t she followed her instinct and refused Strato?

Because from the start he fascinated you. Because with him you felt like a stronger, better, happier version of yourself. Not the cautious, hemmed-in person you became after Adrian.

Much good that had done her!

‘It’s no good, Cora. Whatever so-called proof you have, I know it will be manufactured. It won’t stand up to scrutiny.’

‘But you can’t brush it off like that! Not after what we’ve shared. This is a baby, not a con! You’re going to be a father.’

She’d hoped to crack that icy control and she succeeded. But not in the way she hoped. Strato didn’t soften. He didn’t offer to submit to a paternity test. Instead that cold stare turned to flashing fire and a look that scorched her to the soles of her feet.

‘If you think to appeal to my emotions, you’ve mis-stepped, Cora. I can’t think of anything that horrifies me more than the idea of fathering a child.’

Her throat constricted, making it difficult to swallow. There was no trace now of the charismatic man she’d fallen in love with. No tenderness. Only harsh, horrible words and a terrible blankness in his eyes.

‘Now get out of my sight. I’ll arrange for you to leave in the morning.’