The Greek Billionaire's Love-Child (6 page)

She was nothing to him, that’s what she was.

His eyes grew suddenly cold. ‘You are the mother of my child. Don’t cheapen yourself!’

‘You’re the one who did that,’ Ella said hoarsely, ‘by sleeping with me when you were married to another woman. You cheapened me, Nikos, and you cheapened our relationship. If you’re so rich, why didn’t you just use some of that money to fly her over from Greece to satisfy your red-hot sex drive?’ She was trembling with hot, stinging emotion but he simply watched her in silence, his cool control a stark contrast to her fiery outburst.

‘You are jealous.’

‘To be jealous I’d have to care about you and I don’t care about you, Nikos. I stopped caring when you didn’t even have the guts to end it face to face.’ Her voice cracked and she stopped talking, afraid to say more. But already it was too late. He was rising to his feet. Walking across to her with the same sense of purpose that characterised everything he did.

‘For a woman who claims not to care, you are
extremely
upset.’

Tension sizzled between them and she took a step backwards, rejecting the immediate response of her body. ‘Leave me alone, Nikos. We’ll work together for now because we have to, but we don’t have to talk about anything personal. You’re angry with me and frankly I’m angry with you, too.’

Most of all she was angry that she still cared.

She didn’t want to feel what she was feeling.

‘When you’re angry, your eyes go darker.’ His eyes
shielded by impossibly thick lashes, he locked his fingers with hers, trapping her hands in his. ‘The same thing happens when you are really, really aroused. Yes, we’re both angry. We are both passionate people. Passionate people experience strong emotions.’ His hands moved over hers and Ella gritted her teeth because those strong, knowing fingers were as skilful at arousing a woman as they were at healing a patient. Excitement slammed through her body, replacing anger with a much more dangerous emotion.

The air around them seemed stiflingly hot and suddenly she couldn’t think or breathe.

Where had the anger gone? She needed it. She needed it back.

‘Why did you come here, Nikos?’

His response to that was to lower his head and capture her mouth, using his intimate knowledge of her to drive her straight from earth to paradise without a pause. He kissed her with merciless skill and erotic expertise, his possessive hands capturing her face and holding her while the sensual lick of his tongue robbed her brain of thought and her legs of strength.

Despite her best intentions, her arms wound themselves round his neck, her fingers dug into his sleek, dark hair and Ella moaned in desperation as she felt his weight press her hard against the wall. Her body melted into the demands of his—soft against hard, compliant against aggressive.

‘
Theos mou
, you turn me on,’ he breathed against her mouth, and Ella felt her senses spin, and every one of her brain cells fuse.

They were so lost in each other that neither of them heard the door open.

‘Dr Mariakos?’ Rose didn’t get any further than his name before muttering an embarrassed apology and slinking out of the room, but her interruption was enough to break the fierce passion that had held them in its grip.

‘Nikos…’ Groaning his name, Ella pushed against the hard muscle of his chest, but he was apparently in no hurry to release her. His hands rested on the curve of her bottom, his mouth lingering on her neck. ‘Nikos—for goodness’ sake. Stop.’

Slowly he lifted his head, terminating the embrace in his own time. ‘What’s wrong?’

Ella suddenly felt sick because he was so sure of himself and she was so confused about everything and he’d just made things a thousand times worse.

‘Damn you, Nikos.’ Her voice was hoarse. ‘How
dare
you do that? I work here. I have a reputation.’

‘Kissing the father of your baby has no impact on your ability to heal the sick.’ Unapologetic, Nikos straightened and there was a flicker of satisfaction in his eyes as they lingered briefly on the tell-tale jut of her breasts under the blue scrub suit. ‘Your breasts are fantastic.’

‘You know what?’ Boiling with rage, every part of her body throbbing, Ella glared at him. ‘If that uncontrollable sex drive of yours is bothering you, then next time phone your wife and make some arrangement with her. I’m not interested.’

He stepped away from her, his expression cold.

‘Next time you pick up a magazine, take the trouble to read the words that go with the pictures.’ His face was oddly pale under his tan. ‘Those photographs were taken sixteen years ago, on my wedding day. And they were published a few months ago to commemorate the anniversary
of an accident. My wife is dead, Ella. She was killed fifteen years ago, along with my baby daughter.’

What had possessed her to come for a drink when she didn’t feel in the least bit sociable?

Tense, jumpy and unbelievably upset, Ella sat on the harbour wall outside the pub, nursing a glass of orange juice as she stared at the boats. The night was still warm, and behind her The Lobster Pot was alive with laughter as locals and tourists spilled out of the open doors.

The pub on the water was a favourite meeting spot and the team from the emergency department had observed their usual Friday night tradition and were gathered around their favourite table, overlooking the harbour.

Ella had been persuaded to join them and hadn’t been able to come up with a ready excuse, even though she’d known she was going to be lousy company.

One drink
, she promised herself,
and then she’d leave
.

She’d changed back into the same shorts and shirt that she’d cycled to work in and the cool stones of the wall scraped against the back of her legs. But she had no inclination to join the rest of them at the table.

She didn’t feel capable of making conversation or talking about her day.

Her head was still in a spin.

His wife was dead?

She’d had no idea.

Of course she was only human so she’d sneaked off to the computer and typed her question into a search engine—something she would have done months earlier had she not been so sure that she already had the answers.

Remembering what she’d discovered, Ella gave a sigh.

No wonder the man locked himself away emotionally.

He’d lost a wife and a child.

Her thoughts a confused and tangled mess, she watched the tourists wandering along the harbour, eating fish and chips from the paper. Below her, on one of the little boats, a couple with young children were eating hot dogs and laughing together.

Ella envied their happiness. They made family life look simple. Straightforward.

But it wasn’t that easy, was it?

Looking at the father, she wondered what secrets he was hiding behind his benevolent smile.

How long before revelations tore this perfect family unit down the middle?

Her fingers tightened around her glass and she thought of Nikos, and of how angry he was with her.

They’d been together for six months and yet he’d never mentioned his wife and child.

She’d thought they were close.

With a bitter laugh, she took a sip of her drink. Physically, they’d been close. But not emotionally. He hadn’t confided in her.

And she hadn’t confided in him either, had she?

Ella rubbed her aching forehead with her fingers, wondering why life always had to be so complicated.

At least she wouldn’t see him again until tomorrow. She had time to think about what to do for the best. The truth was she didn’t want to let Ruth down and she didn’t want to leave her job. But today had proved that she wasn’t capable of working with him.

‘Unless you want lots of questions, you should smile.’ Helen joined her, a heaped bowl of crisps in her hand.
‘You look as though you’re contemplating jumping head first into the water. Judging from your expression, I’m guessing the reunion wasn’t what you were hoping.’

Her stomach churning, Ella refused the crisps, aware that she was the object of speculation. ‘You’ve heard that he’s here, then. Is everyone gossiping? Do they all know?’

‘That you’re involved with the gorgeous Greek? Of course. He was kissing you as though it was your last moments on earth. I have to say that if a man ever kissed me like that it probably would be. I’d die of ecstasy. The sparks have been crackling between the two of you all afternoon. It’s like pouring water onto chip fat.’

Ella stared at her friend. ‘What are they saying?’

‘Well—you know what the department is like.’ Helen was obviously searching for the most tactful response. ‘Everyone is desperate for light relief. It probably took less than four seconds for everyone to find out that the two of you are involved. From then on they were drawing straws as to who could go and help out in Paeds Emergency so that they could spy on the situation.’

‘Great.’ Every muscle in her body was tense, her head ached with endless thinking and her senses still hummed from a day spent within touching distance of Nikos.

Helen was steadily munching her way through the crisps. ‘I told them you moved down here first because Nikos couldn’t get away from London and that you didn’t mention it because you didn’t want people feeling awkward.’

‘Thanks. That was kind of you.’ Ella picked a piece of ice out of her glass. ‘I’m sorry I yelled at you earlier. You’ve been so good to me. I didn’t mean to be a grouch. I overreacted. I know you were only trying to help.’

‘
I’m
the one who’s sorry. Sorry for what I did.’

‘I didn’t tell you the whole story, so in a way it was my fault.’

‘Well, I’m still sorry.’ Helen pulled a face. ‘
Obviously
when I wrote that letter I didn’t think for a moment that he’d actually take a job here. Hospital management must have thought it was their lucky day, finding a doctor of his calibre.’

‘I’m sure they did.’ Ella thought about his clinical skills—about the way he was with every child he treated. ‘And maybe you did me a favour. At least now I don’t have to spend another night agonising about whether to tell him or not.’

‘So how did he take the news that he’s going to be a dad?’

Ella tightened her grip on the glass. ‘Well, it was hardly a loving reunion, if that’s what you’re asking.’ And she was still shocked by how angry he was.

She’d been naïve, she realised, to think he might have apologised.

He wasn’t the sort of man who ever felt the need to apologise because he never entertained the possibility that he could be wrong about anything.

Helen put the bowl of crisps carefully down on the wall. ‘Ella, he came after you. What’s the situation with his wife? Did you ask him? Are they heading for divorce or something?’

Ella glanced at her colleagues, all laughing at something Rose had said. ‘His wife is dead. She died in a car accident fifteen years ago along with his daughter.’

And she was still reeling from the discovery.

He’d lost his family.

No wonder he was cold and emotionally detached. It was probably the only way he could survive.

‘Oh, my God, that’s terrible.’ Helen lifted her hand to
her mouth. ‘How can he work in the emergency department? Doesn’t it remind him?’

‘I’ve no idea. I don’t know the details. He isn’t exactly given to talking about his feelings.’ And that hurt more than she could have imagined possible.

A relationship without trust was just sex, she thought numbly.

‘So why did that magazine publish wedding photographs?’

‘It was the anniversary of the accident, or something. I think he gave money and opened a children’s hospital in Athens.’ She gave a twisted smile. ‘Unfortunately I didn’t bother reading the words that went with the photos, so I missed the bit that mentioned the accident.’
And she’d hurt him.

‘That’s really sad,’ Helen said quietly. ‘But it was obviously a long time ago. He must be over it now, Ella.’

‘Is he?’ Ella thought about what she knew of him. ‘I don’t think so. And do you ever really get over something like that? I’m not sure you do. You live with it. You cope, because you have to. It explains a lot about the way he is—the fact that he won’t commit to anyone. I’ve looked him up on the internet.’ Ella kept her voice light. ‘He has a reputation for moving around. He doesn’t stay in the same place for long, or with the same woman.’

Helen touched her arm in a gesture of female solidarity. ‘Ella, he came to find you. That has to mean something.’

‘It means a great deal of inconvenience.’ Ella toyed with her glass. ‘One of us is going to have to leave.’

‘That’s a bit extreme, isn’t it? You work really well together. You’re a fantastic team.’

‘We
were
a fantastic team.’ Ella corrected her softly. ‘We
were
a lot of things. But the only thing we are now is over. I honestly don’t think I can work alongside him. I feel dreadful about his wife and daughter, of course I do. But he kept so much from me, Helen. He kept a whole life from me. I can’t be with a man like that. At the moment I can’t even bear to talk to him.’

‘Well, if that’s really the way you feel then things are about to get a little awkward,’ Helen muttered, her eyes fixed on a point further round the harbour wall. ‘That deliciously sexy man of yours has just parked his equally sexy car on the street and is striding towards us as we speak. He isn’t exactly the hesitant sort, is he? Oh, my—I’d forgotten just how breathtaking he is to look at. If I had him in my bed I’d keep the lights on and my eyes open. I’m sorry, Ella, but it’s really hard to feel sorry for you. Rich, clever and a body to die for. The gods tripped when they made him and spilt all their gifts in one place.’

Ella turned, saw Nikos, and the glass of juice slipped from her hand and shattered. Mortified and exasperated with herself, she stooped to retrieve the pieces only to find herself hauled to her feet by strong, determined hands.

‘
Theos mou
, do you want to cut yourself to pieces?’ Incredulity and concern lighting his dark eyes, Nikos raised a hand and attracted the attention of one of the bar staff. A young girl with a cheerful smile and a blonde ponytail immediately hurried over to deal with the glass while Helen tactfully melted away and joined the group gathered around the large wooden table.