The Greek Billionaire's Secret Baby (Contemporary Romance) (3 page)

He had always looked handsome, just like when she’d first met him. She’d been in Christopher’s freshman English class, and they’d been friends throughout their four years of Harvard.

It was after the graduation, when Christopher had introduced her to his mother, father, and Alex that the attraction surfaced. The then 31-year old Alex had enthralled Lauren, and whenever he touched her skin, shivers like none she’d ever experienced had traveled up her spine. She’d made her excuses and fled.  

But since both she and Christopher had accepted positions with the IBF, they’d kept in touch.  When both happened to be in-between field assignments eighteen months ago, they’d reconnected in
New York
. Christopher had brought Alex along and for Lauren, the rest was history.

She’d fallen hard and fast, making love to him that very same night. He’d cancelled all his appointments for the following few days and he’d never left her side. They’d hardly left the bed.

In less than a week Alex had swept her off her feet and she took a leave of absence from her job. For the next six months, she’d lived in a state of blissful adoration.
Until reality had crashed in
.

Alex’s cousin Theo had returned from
Greece
, and Theo had hated Lauren on sight. He’d undermined, threatened, even offered her money to leave. And Alex? He’d remained oblivious. His cousin Theo was like a brother to him. He’d insisted that Theo would never lie.

Seeing her life spiraling out of control as Theo’s threats increased, Lauren had cut her losses and left Alex for the first time. They’d tried once after that, and failed.

Pushing the hurtful memories aside, Lauren pondered Alex’s appearance. He’d changed. While he still looked better than most men his age, he’d appeared somewhat haggard, as if the endless treadmill of work and time were finally beginning to best him. His virility had remained intact.

Then again, she mused, she hadn’t seen him in almost eight months. Maybe her impression had been a trick of the late afternoon sunlight slanting through the dirty wooden plantation blinds. His lips, though, had been the same. No mistaking that full, perfect, and eminently kissable. She’d wanted to kiss him. The stuff of fantasies. As she contemplated that, she let her shoulders slump forward.

“Are you alright, senora?” Concern etched Lupe’s face, and contrariness mocked Lauren.

Of course she wasn’t all right, nor was she a senora. She was a single female caught between a rock and a hard place. She was pregnant and alone, with a small trust fund, but not enough to fight the Pappas family.

And moments ago she’d thought of kissing Alex’s. Her body would always want his like thirsty men craved water. He was her drug.

Hormones and stress formed a deadly combination, she decided, and then she remembered Lupe remained waiting. Lauren patted her stomach and attempted a reassuring smile. “I’m nearing full term, Lupe. Is it any wonder I’m tired and run down?”

Lupe’s gaze turned skeptical. “Everyone is worried about you, senora. You must take care of yourself and the little bambino. Nothing should be allowed to stress you, especially now.”

“I’m fine,” Lauren lied. “Nothing is going to go wrong with my pregnancy. I won’t let it.”

Lupe shook her head, her long black hair dancing around her waist. She frowned. “Senor Pappas should not upset you. I can get Jose to be here tomorrow for security if you’d like.”

Lauren didn’t need to make matters worse, and the presence of Lupe’s very righteous and oversized husband might do just that. “I’ll be fine, Lupe. Seriously. Don’t worry about me. Jose isn’t needed. I can handle Senor Pappas.”

Lupe scowled, disbelief evident. “I will say extra prayers for you tonight.”

“Thank you. But seriously, don’t worry. I’ve been in a lot worse situations than this one. My parents were missionaries. I grew up in some pretty scary places.”

“Hmm.” Lupe wasn’t comforted by that.

“Seriously. I’m good. You can go.”

Lauren watched as Lupe left the room and then she eased back in her chair. Her body ached and the baby kicked. Lauren pressed her hands to her stomach. She was worried.

No matter what happened tomorrow, a fateful die had already been cast. Wine, moonlight, and magic seven and a half months ago meant that she had a secret to keep, something Alex and his misguided family could never know.

Her reasons were so strong and so just that even Christopher, who had been devoted to his older brother with a dog-like adoration, had agreed to perpetuate her terrible lie, much to his disgust.

Christopher had wanted her to tell Alex the truth, but Theo’s threats against her life had made that impossible. She’d also known Alex wouldn’t believe. Not after seeing her in Christopher’s bed. And now, Christopher had taken to his grave any chance for the truth to be told.

Alex thought Lauren had betrayed him seven and a half months ago when he’d caught Lauren and Christopher watching TV in bed they’d done for years in college.

They’d always been platonic friends, and despite their pajama-clothed state, when Alex had seen Christopher draw her into his arms for a hug, Alex had immediately assumed the worst. He’d thought she and Christopher….

Alex’s jealousy had been a seed Theo had planted and nurtured, like Iago in
Othello
, and trusting his cousin, Alex hadn’t believed the truth that Christopher and Lauren’s friendship was only platonic. Theo had told him they’d been lovers for years.

Alex’s misguided outrage and distrust had been the final straw, and the ensuing fight she’d had with Alex had been the catalyst for Lauren’s escape to freedom.

When she’d discovered the pregnancy test had two lines, the IBF had already come through and transferred her to
Mexico
, to Christopher. Ironic, that Christopher had planned on marrying her and fulfilling his older brother’s role, just as Alex was ready to do now.

Christopher had been her best friend, a compatriot. He’d avoided the family business himself and believed Lauren when she’d told him about the money Theo had offered, and the threats that had followed when she’d turned him down. Christopher had believed, unlike Alex, who had blatantly refused to listen to a foul word against his beloved cousin.

Finally, Christopher had understood why Lauren couldn’t return to
New York
, why she couldn’t tell Alex and make things right. She needed her freedom. Babies needed to be raised in a loving environment, not a political dynasty.

Despite Christopher’s strong reservations, he’d agreed to help her, even though it meant perpetuating the affair falsehood Alex believed to be true. After all, either way her baby was a Pappas.

But Lauren didn’t carry Christopher’s baby. She carried the Pappas heir. The first-born son of the first-born son. The one the entire family estate would settle on. The baby she carried was Alex’s.

*****

Chapter Three

“You look sucker punched.”

“It’s hotter than Hades outside.” As Alex stepped into cool confines of the small hotel’s finest suite, he sidestepped Theo’s unspoken question. Alex reached for the ice-cold bottle of water that his forty-year old cousin handed him. “Thanks. It’s been a long and tiring trip.”

“I can’t believe Christopher ever came to this place,” Theo said. His proud face darkened suddenly. “When he told us eighteen months ago that he was returning here, we shouldn’t have let him. He should have taken his place in the family business, not come to this,” Theo gestured erratically, “this place. What good was he here when we needed him on our side when the Favazza family tried to move into our territory? What did coming to this infernal place get your brother? Nothing but an early grave.”

Alex strode to the sliding doors. The boutique hotel sat high on a hill, and from his windows and balcony, he had a spectacular view of the village below. The IBF had been in the village the past twenty years, and the hotel had been built a few years back when a reality TV show had spent six months filming nearby.

From Alex’s current vantage point, he could see why Christopher had stayed. There was a sense of peace to the small town, a serenity long missing from the hurry-hurry, get rich world of
New York City
that Christopher had always despised. Lauren had also hated the city. She’d grown up all over the world, and despite the high ceilings of his two thousand square foot apartment, she’d been a bird in a cage.

Alex turned and faced Theo. “What’s past is past. As much as even I’d like otherwise, the past can’t be undone. Christopher came here, and he was happy.”

“My apologies.” Theo humbled himself and backed away slightly, deferring to Alex’s family stature. “I shouldn’t speak ill of the dead. The bus accident was a terrible tragedy. You lost a brother and I lost a beloved cousin. Twenty-seven is too young to die.”

And thirty-five isn’t old enough to deal with such a horrible loss.

Alex swallowed a sip of water to keep himself impassive. He’d broken down and cried for hours after learning the news of Christopher’s untimely and tragic death, but he’d never cried in the presence of another family member. Would he have cried in front of Lauren? Would he had found solace in her arms as he had so many nights?

Seeing her had exhausted his patience. Worse, he hadn’t been as prepared as he’d thought he was to see her again. Admittedly, pregnancy suited her. She had that female glow, and it wasn’t from equatorial heat. That moment he’d leaned on her desk, her citrus scent had permeated his senses, and he’d found himself shaken by immediate and powerful desire.

He’d hated his reaction—his body should have been seared cold from her betrayal. But then, he’d always found her a hot, sexy, fascinating woman. He’d wanted her from the very moment he’d first laid eyes on her at Christopher’s graduation, and when fate had placed her again in his path, he hadn’t wasted the second chance to claim her as his. He’d pursued, seduced, and found nirvana when he’d spilled himself inside her.

Alex finished his water, tossed the plastic bottle into a recycle box and chastised himself. He’d just reminded Theo about digging into the past and here he was doing the same. Pathetic. Alex focused on the present. Neither he nor his family had come to
Mexico
after the tragedy, but had sent representatives instead. This was Alex’s first visit to the area where his brother had died.

“The family will be happy to know that everyone revered my brother,” Alex told Theo. In addition to English and Greek, Alex also spoke fluent Spanish and he’d had no difficulty making conversation with the villagers. “Everywhere I went, they approached me and offered their sincere condolences.  Their love for him runs deep.”

“He was here four years,” Theo observed.

“Yes,” Alex confirmed. “Ever since college.”

“And…” Theo pressed.

Alex’s cheek muscle twitched. “And Lauren has been here for the past seven months.”

“She is as we heard? As the investigators reported? Pregnant?”

Alex gave Theo the information he fished for. “Definitely so.”

As Alex turned his attention back to the beautiful view, Theo wisely kept his mouth shut about what the family called “Lauren’s betrayal.”

“So when do we return to
New York
?” Theo asked. As head of security for Pappas Foods, Theo often served as Alex’s right hand man. Their fathers were brothers. Alex’s father had run the Pappas Foods while Theo’s had overseen other family interests. It had been Alex who had brought Theo on board.

“We leave late tomorrow night, with or without her,” Alex answered.

“Alex!” Sharp concern laced Theo’s deep voice. “That will not make any of the family happy. My father is very tired of this situation dragging on.”

Far below Alex, a woman on the street carried a large woven basket. A young boy about two years old raced by her feet. She called to the child, and he laughed as he grabbed her hand. Alex turned away to looked at his cousin.

“Theo, of all people, I am fully aware of how precarious a situation this is. I have heard all my life about how our family does not bear illegitimate children. I know my duty. But Lauren is stubborn. She has her own trust fund left to her when her parents were gunned down while she was in college. Convincing Lauren that I am what is best for her will take some time.”

“Perhaps I should talk to her? I can be very persuasive.” Theo offered.

“No!” The word shot forth from Alex’s lips like a bullet. Lauren had never liked Theo and Alex couldn’t risk another fight. “I will handle Lauren my way. She carries my brother’s child, and that makes this situation my problem and mine alone. I follow my own timetable. I know her best. She won’t be coerced.”

Theo shrugged. “Everyone has their price.”

“Not Lauren.” Alex studied his cousin for a moment. Like Alex, Theo was tall, but unlike Alex, he was stocky and gray marred his temples.

Theo’s lips thinned before he spoke. “She is your weakness, cousin. You are too involved, too close to this one. For you, this is personal. Despite the fact that Christopher was my cousin, to me, Lauren Andrews is simply a business matter. Give yourself some peace. Let me handle her. I will get her to say yes.”