Restless Billionaire (9 page)

 
          
It
had been easier to unearth gossip about Sebastian’s prowess with women, much to
Aneesa’s disgust and humiliation. It was rumoured that he had lovers all over
the world
who
graced his bed whenever he called, and
he was never seen with a woman for more than a few dates.

 
          
When
he hadn’t even asked to see her again, despite his assertion that they’d only
have one night, he’d obviously relegated
her
far beneath those other women, and that realisation had
hurt
. But was she really so pathetic that she would have settled
for a few scraps from his table? A few furtive visits whenever he was in
Mumbai? With a feeling of burning shame, she knew what her answer to that might
have been.

 
          
Aneesa
looked down at her hands to where the henna tattoo had just about faded away
completely and wished that she could make the memory of Sebastian fade away
too. And then the niggling worry that had been getting stronger rose up again,
despite her efforts to push it to the back of her mind. Her period was late.
Very late.
She’d put it down to the turmoil of the past few
weeks and reassured herself that there was no way Sebastian’s condoms could
have failed in their protection.

 
          
But
even as she thought that, she remembered the sensation of warm release inside
her and her heart started to thump ominously.

 
          
‘JUST
make sure it’s done, Alain. I don’t want to hear about this problem again.’
Sebastian switched off his mobile phone and had to quell the urge to call his
senior hotel manager in Paris back to apologise. He’d been like a bear with a
sore head for weeks now. He knew the reason why, but as the implications of
this set in, Sebastian scowled, earning a quick glance from his driver through
the rearview mirror. His driver knew better though, than to engage him in
conversation when he was silent like this.

 
          
The
city of London slid past the car, as Sebastian tried desperately not to give
into the urge to think of her
again
.
It was getting worse. She’d invaded his dreams ever since
India,
and he’d conducted video conferences with his team in Mumbai rather than go
over there again. As if he couldn’t even trust himself to be in the same city.

 
          
His
fist clenched automatically in rejection of that thought but he ignored it.
Aneesa Adani was not like the women he sought out to be his lovers. She’d been
innocent, going through a traumatic time. She lived in India and had indelible
roots to the place.

 
          
And
she was the only woman who had managed to somehow sneak under his guard to a
place no one had reached.
Ever.
Not even
his own
family. And for that reason alone, she was danger
with a capital
D
.

 
          
Sebastian
had found out shortly after returning from India that his only full sibling,
his younger brother Nathaniel, had seen their prodigal oldest half-brother
Jacob when he had turned up at the opening night of Nathaniel’s latest West End
play after years of unexplained absence. Nathaniel had left the stage, which
had led to a sequence of events that had forced Nathaniel to seek sanctuary from
the press on Sebastian’s private island.

 
          
It
had sparked a revival in media interest in their scandalous family history, and
in the whereabouts of his and Nathaniel’s mother, something they could both
have done without. While Sebastian got on with most of his siblings, even if he
didn’t see much of them now, his relationship with Nathaniel was his closest
one, albeit largely from a distance. The relationship with his oldest
half-brother, however, had been
non—
existent for
years.

 
          
Once,
Jacob had been Sebastian’s only anchor in a dark and unstable world.
An adored and revered older brother.
By the age of ten,
Sebastian had witnessed more than any child of his age should have had to, and
had dealt with seeing his mother being sent to a mental institution.

 
          
He’d
always been the loner out of all his siblings, a cerebral child who had
struggled in isolation to comprehend the mercurial moods of their charismatic
father. But at a crucial point in Sebastian’s life, Jacob had left the home
with no warning and no explanation, and ever since then Sebastian had had no
one who’d cared enough to coax him out of himself. From that moment on, he’d
become even more withdrawn.

 
          
And
without the anchor of their oldest brother, all the Wolfe siblings had
inevitably drifted apart. Sebastian had buried the pain of that abandonment
deep inside him and had channelled all of his energy into a single-minded
desire to succeed.
Which he had done many times over.

 
          
Jacob’s
return now was precipitating a whole host of unwelcome emotions within
Sebastian, and so far he’d managed to avoid meeting him. However, Sebastian had
just agreed to let Nathaniel use his London hotel for his upcoming wedding, and
he knew that Jacob was due to attend, so even though he had no wish to avoid
the rest of his family, if Jacob was going to be there, then Sebastian was
planning on being unavoidably busy for the day.

 
          
Suddenly
he knew the best solution to distract him from unwelcome thoughts of Aneesa
and
his family: he would take a new
lover. He didn’t need to be reminded that he hadn’t slept with anyone since
Mumbai and in his own head vehemently denied that it was because
she’d
ruined him for anyone else. That
was a ridiculous thought. Bitterness gripped him—he was his father’s son. He
carried William Wolfe’s warped genes and his father had never found peace with
one woman. So why would Sebastian suddenly buck the trend? Or, worse, feel
inclined to?

 
          
He
picked up his phone again and made a call to a very persistent socialite he’d
met at a party some weeks before. He hadn’t been interested then, but suddenly
he was very interested.
Almost desperate, in fact.

 
          
* * *

 
          
Aneesa
sat nervously in Sebastian’s London office, in awe of the plush understated
luxury and the mile-high view which took in the London Eye in the near
distance. Her belly was tied in knots and she felt a semi-hysterical giggle
rising up to think of what else was in her belly:
a baby
.
Sebastian’s baby.

 
          
But
then the reality of what faced her made her sober up again fast. The irony of
getting pregnant on her non-wedding night, and to another man, hadn’t been lost
on her.

 
          
She’d
known for some time now and, in that time, had developed an indelible bond with
the tiny being inside her. There was no question, but she was having this baby,
no matter what the fallout, and she’d known well that her career most likely
wouldn’t survive this. The equanimity she’d felt when faced with that prospect
told her that she’d definitely started to move on from the Bollywood world.

 
          
And
in the past two weeks her suspicions had been proved right and events had led
her here, to Sebastian’s office in London. She’d tried the hotel in Mumbai
first, but they’d told her that Sebastian had no immediate plans to come back
to India. Aneesa had quashed the suspicion that that was because of
her
. Surely he couldn’t want to avoid
her that badly? Even now that thought made her feel ill inside. And then … with
everything that had happened at home, she’d had no real choice but to leave
India, so she’d taken the opportunity to come to England and tell Sebastian
face to face.

 
          
A
noise outside and the familiarly deep rumble of a voice made her heart stop. A
clammy sweat broke out over her skin. The door opened and she sat frozen on the
couch as she watched the tall and achingly familiar figure of Sebastian stride
in.

 
          
He
didn’t see her at first as her seat was partially hidden behind the door but as
it swung shut she gathered all her courage and stood.

 
          
‘Sebastian.’

 
          
That
distinctively husky voice, the beguiling hint of an accent, had Sebastian
whirling round, half terrified his dreams were haunting him by day now. And
when he saw her, he reeled.

 
          
Aneesa
gripped her hands tight together. Sebastian looked as if she’d just driven a
stake through his belly. For an awful heart-stopping moment she thought he didn’t
even recognise her. But before she could say anything he issued a curt, ‘How
did you get in this time? Did you materialise through another service elevator?’

 
          
Hurt
lanced her and Aneesa fought not to quail at the clear evidence of his hostile
reaction to seeing her. ‘No.’
She
flushed. ‘The
security guard downstairs recognised me and when I explained I was looking for
you he took me up here to wait. There was no one outside so he brought me
straight in.’

 
          
She
didn’t want to go into the way the Indian guard had balked at the notion of
someone like her waiting for Sebastian anywhere other than his office. Aneesa
had surmised grimly that the news of her infamy hadn’t reached as far as
England yet. Blistering energy crackled off Sebastian for a long moment and
Aneesa had to consciously not let her eyes drop and take in that gorgeous body,
but even peripherally she could see the way his exquisite suit hugged his
powerful frame. Heat washed through her and her belly tightened.

 
          
Abruptly
Sebastian relaxed visibly and ran a hand through his hair which Aneesa noticed
had grown longer since she had last seen him. She could see now that he looked
slightly weary, with faint lines around his mouth and eyes that she hadn’t
noticed before. And it looked as though he’d lost weight.

 
          
‘I’m
sorry,
there was no need for me to be so rude. It’s
just … a bit of a shock to see you here. That’s all.’ Even now Sebastian had to
wonder if he was going mad—was he imagining
this?
Had
he inherited his mother’s mental
instability?

 
          
Immediately
Aneesa felt obliged to rush and explain. ‘I know we agreed that it would be one
night only, that we’d never see each other again …’

 
          
She
drove down the hurt again at his reaction and steeled herself. Her life was about
taking responsibility now and she had to keep going. ‘But I’ve come to tell you
something.’

 
          
He
looked at her, head back. Aneesa’s heart was racing. He wasn’t making this easy
for her at all. She took a deep breath and then said in a rush before she could
lose her nerve, ‘I’ve come to let you know that I’m pregnant … with your baby.’

 
          
Sebastian
blinked. Aneesa didn’t disappear. She was still there, in front of him, flesh
and blood.
In tight jeans and a T-shirt, a soft
figure-hugging leather jacket.
Her hair down and her
face pale and devoid of make-up.
Almond-shaped eyes
huge.
And utterly, utterly beautiful.
For a
second he’d thought she was about to say that she’d come because she hadn’t
been able to forget about him, and even amidst the shock he felt a bubbling up
of something which felt suspiciously like joy.

 
          
And
then what she
had
said impacted on
him, like a delayed reaction.

 
          
His
eyes narrowed, he cracked out, ‘Pregnant? You’re pregnant, and it’s mine?’

 
          
Aneesa
looked hesitant.
Unsure.
And Sebastian had to drive
down the immediate need to reassure her. This was too huge. Well-ingrained
cynicism surged. He asked again when Aneesa didn’t respond immediately. ‘Is it
mine?’

 
          
‘Well,
of course it’s yours … you’re the only …’ She faltered. ‘I’ve not been with
anyone else.’

 
          
On
a reflex Sebastian’s eyes dropped to Aneesa’s waistline where there was only
the slightest hint of a belly.
Which could be nothing, or
could be something.
His baby
.
He felt dizzy. He sought refuge in rising anger
which he knew had something to do with the fact that she hadn’t just made this
trip because she couldn’t forget him and wanted to see him again.