Powerful Greek, Unworldly Wife Page 7

  ‘I’ll allow you the rest of the day to think it over.’ Having delivered what he obviously considered to be a considerable compromise, Leandro strolled towards the door. ‘I have a meeting in Paris. Feel free to fire the nanny and choose someone else. I will be back by tonight and you will give me the answer I want to hear. And after that I will be switching off my mobile phone. And if you feel even a flicker of a headache, I suggest you take a painkiller because I won’t be allowing that as a valid excuse.’

  CHAPTER FIVE

  WHY had he allowed her time to think it over?

  Surrounded by a room full of lawyers, Leandro drove the meeting at a furious pace, determined to close the deal that had been the main focus of his attention for six months. But he was aware that the timing was bad.

  His mind on Millie, he was impatient to return to London.

  He didn’t trust her not to vanish, taking the child with her.

  What evidence did he have that she was committed to their marriage? To the baby?

  None.

  On edge and impatient, he pushed through the agenda with supersonic speed, issuing orders, obtaining clarification on points he considered important, and ignoring issues that he considered irrelevant.

  Having condensed what should have been an all-day meeting into a few intense hours, he rose to his feet and paced over to the window that ran from floor to ceiling along one side of the spectacular boardroom that dominated his Paris office. ‘We’re done here. Finish off. If you have any questions, you can speak to my team in London.’

  The lawyer in charge of the deal picked up the thick pile of papers that had formed the focus of the discussion. ‘I wish everyone was as decisive as you. Clearly the abysmal state of the markets isn’t keeping you awake at night.’

  ‘No.’ Something else was responsible for that. His personal life.

  The man snapped his briefcase closed. ‘I must congratulate you, Mr Demetrios. You have a quite startling ability to predict and understand human behaviour. Somehow you have still managed to make quite extraordinary profits even though the markets are collapsing around you. You anticipated the shift in the market before there were any outward signs. Stock in the Demetrios Corporation actually rose yesterday and yet market conditions have never been more challenging.’

  ‘One person’s challenge is another person’s opportunity.’ Distracted, Leandro kept his eyes fixed on the Paris skyline, his mind on his fragile marriage. Was he mad, trying to save it? Or was it like rare china dropped onto concrete? Shattered beyond repair.

  In the past twenty-four hours he’d learned how little he knew about Millie.

  Either that, or she’d changed. She was more…assertive. Or maybe she’d always been like that and he hadn’t looked closely enough. Certainly there were plenty of aspects to her personality that he hadn’t seen.

  Leandro frowned. Had she really found him scary?

  ‘Speculation about the parentage of the baby doesn’t seem to have had an adverse effect on the price of your stock.’ The voice of the lawyer broke into his thoughts and Leandro stilled.

  ‘Our business is concluded for the day,’ he said coldly. ‘My assistant will show you out.’

  Aware that he’d committed a gross error of judgement in mentioning something so personal, the man turned scarlet and stammered an apology but Leandro didn’t turn.

  Perhaps he couldn’t blame Millie for believing the worst of him, he thought grimly, when the rest of the world was thinking it alongside her.

  His reputation had always been a matter of supreme indifference to him, but he was starting to realise that it was now coming back to bite him.

  The lawyers rose, like a room full of children drilled in classroom etiquette, almost comical in their desperation to absent themselves.

  Once the room was empty Leandro rolled his shoulders, trying to relieve the tension. He prowled the length of the boardroom, gazing through the floor-to-ceiling plate-glass window that allowed him to enjoy a view of the Seine as it snaked through the city.

  A sense of foreboding came over him. He really shouldn’t have left her.

  He ran his hand over the back of his neck and withdrew his phone from his pocket. He’d speak to her—tell her that he’d be home in the next few hours. They’d spend some time together. Tapping his foot, he waited for someone to answer.

  And it was a long wait.

  When the housekeeper finally answered the phone and informed him that both his wife and the baby had gone out, his tension levels increased tenfold. When he was told they’d gone out without a driver or a member of his security staff, Leandro abandoned thoughts of work for the rest of the day and ordered his car to be brought round to the front of the building.

  She’d left.

  She’d run again.

  What had he expected?

  ‘An astonishing ability to predict and understand human behaviour’—wasn’t that what the lawyer had said?

  Leandro gave a humourless laugh. Where had that ability been when it had come to understanding his own wife? If he’d studied her as closely as he studied the stock markets and company portfolios, he would never have left London.

  At every turn, she surprised him. He hadn’t expected her to show up at the house, he certainly hadn’t expected her to offer to care for her sister’s baby. And as for their relationship, he’d made a number of assumptions—assumptions he was now beginning to question. Her humble confession that she was ‘ordinary’ had revealed a depth of insecurity that he’d been unaware of. And the fact that he’d been unaware of it made him realise just how little he knew of her. But he intended to rectify that.

  If he wasn’t already too late.

  ‘Do you like this one? Shake it and it plays a tune, touch this bit and it’s soft and furry, this bit is rough.’ Millie held the toy over the pram. ‘And you can chew the rings on the end. The book says you’re going to want to start chewing fairly soon.’

  Baby Costas gurgled quietly to himself and Millie leaned over and gently tucked the blanket more firmly around him. ‘I suppose we’d better be getting back. I need the rest of the afternoon to get ready. Believe me, it takes me that long to look even vaguely presentable. And even then I won’t look good enough for Leandro. If I’m going to tell him that I’ll stay married to him, I need to look the part. Don’t pull that face at me.’ She smiled down at him. ‘You try being married to someone who looks like him. It’s hard work, trust me. Especially when you start off with a face and body like mine. Come on—I’ll just pay for these and then we’ll wander home.’

  She put the toy down on top of the pram. On impulse she added a little outfit that caught her eye. Then she made her way across the shop to pay. Standing in the queue, she stared down at Costas, automatically searching for a resemblance to Leandro.

  ‘Oh, my—just take a look at that.’ The girl in front of her in the queue gave a wistful sigh. ‘What are the chances of my losing ten kilos in the next five seconds?’

  ‘Forget it. Your best bet is to hope he likes curvy women,’ her friend said gloomily, pulling in her rounded tummy.

  ‘His type always go for the skinny sort.’

  ‘With blonde hair.’

  ‘Straight, long blonde hair.’

  ‘He is truly spectacular. If I had him in my bed I might actually decide that sex was a more attractive option than sleep.’

  ‘He’s coming this way.’

  ‘I’d give a million pounds just to be kissed by him once.’

  Sensing the shift in the atmosphere and interested to know what kind of man could induce such enthusiasm among the members of her sex, Millie glanced up idly and saw Leandro striding purposefully across the store. Like a lion wandering into the middle of a herd of gazelle, the women all stared at him, transfixed.

  Millie gave a whimper of horror. What was he doing here? Wasn’t he supposed to be in Paris? She hadn’t expected him to return to the house until dinnertime at the earliest. When they’d been together before,
he’d frequently missed dinner, working late into the evening. But here he was, in the middle of the afternoon, clearly looking for her.

  How had he known she was here?

  Aware that any moment now he was going to spot her and even more aware that she’d spent absolutely no time on herself since he’d last seen her, Millie slid out of the queue, turned her back and walked quickly towards the door.

  The thought of him seeing her when she wasn’t prepared filled her with horror. Even the ‘natural’ look took her hours to achieve.

  Furtively she glanced over her shoulder, taking a roundabout route via cots and prams so that he’d be less likely to notice her. She didn’t want him to see her like this.

  She’d planned to spend the rest of the afternoon getting ready to face him. Ready to give him her answer. True, her outward appearance wasn’t going to make any difference at all to the eventual outcome of their relationship, but she knew she’d have more confidence with him if she was at least looking her best on the outside.

  Another glance over her shoulder showed him frowning around the shop and Millie melted quietly out of the door, pondering on the fact that to be so ordinary as to be unnoticeable could be a blessing. In this instance, it had worked to her advantage, but once in a while it would be nice to be so beautiful that every man in the shop was staring at her.

  Except that she didn’t want every man in the shop, did she? She just wanted Leandro.

  A hand closed over her shoulder. ‘Excuse me, madam. I have reason to believe you’re in possession of goods you haven’t paid for.’

  Millie froze. Several people passing turned to stare and she felt the hot singe of mortification darken her cheeks as she noticed the items she’d selected still sitting on top of the baby’s pram. ‘Oh, no.’ She turned and looked at the uniformed security guard. ‘I’m so sorry. I—I completely forgot that I’d picked them up.’

  ‘Don’t waste your time thinking up excuses.’ The security guard’s expression warned her that he was no soft touch. ‘I’ve been watching you for a few minutes. You were behaving in an extremely suspicious manner. Instead of taking a direct route to the door, you took a roundabout route, ducking down and quite obviously trying not to be seen.’

  ‘I was trying not to be seen,’ Millie said quickly and saw his expression harden. ‘I—I don’t mean by you. I was…’ Realising how much trouble she was in, she pressed her fingers to her forehead and the security guard’s mouth tightened.

  ‘We have a very strict policy about prosecuting shoplifters. I’d like you to come with me.’

  ‘I’m not a shoplifter!’ Her tone urgent, Millie put her hand on his arm, affronted that he’d think that of her. ‘It was a genuine mistake.’

  He withdrew his arm pointedly. ‘If you just come back into the store, madam, you can explain it to the police.’

  ‘No!’ Millie was aware of the crowd gathering and wanted to disappear into a big hole in the ground. Why was it, she wondered desperately, that people were so fascinated by other people’s misfortunes? What pleasure did they gain from standing around, staring? Not one of them had stepped in to support or defend her. She was on her own. ‘You don’t understand.’ She licked her lips and tried one more time. ‘This was an oversight, nothing more. I saw something—someone—’

  ‘She saw me.’ The deep masculine voice came from behind her and Millie suppressed a groan. She didn’t need to look to know who it was. So much for not drawing attention to herself.

  Great. Now her humiliation was complete. Not only was she looking a complete mess but she’d been behaving like a criminal.

  ‘You know this lady?’ The security guard squared his shoulders. ‘She walked out without paying, sir.’

  ‘And I’m afraid I take the blame for that.’ Leandro’s tone was a mixture of apology and smooth charm. ‘She was up in the night with the baby. I’d given her strict instructions to rest today and not leave the house. Do you have children…’ his gaze flickered to the man’s identity badge ‘…Peter?’

  ‘Two,’ the man said stiffly. ‘Boys.’

  Leandro smiled his most charismatic smile. ‘And I’m sure they’ve given you a few sleepless nights in their time.’

  ‘You could say that.’ Under Leandro’s warm, encouraging gaze, the man relaxed slightly. ‘There were days when the wife walked around in a coma. I remember she left the bath running one morning and flooded the entire house.’

  ‘It’s unbelievable that something as apparently small and innocent as a baby can cause so much disruption,’ Leandro purred sympathetically. ‘And unbelievable what sleep deprivation can do, Peter.’ Having personalised the conversation, he put a hand on Millie’s shoulder and kissed the top of her head. ‘This is all my fault. Tonight, agape mou, I will take my turn with the baby and you will catch up on some sleep.’

  There was a collective sigh among the crowd and the security guard looked undecided.

  ‘I still have to take her back inside and call the police. That’s my job.’

  Millie opened her mouth to defend herself again but Leandro brought his mouth down on hers in a gentle but determined kiss that effectively silenced her. It only lasted seconds but when he lifted his head she was too flustered to do anything except gape at him.

  He gave her a smile and pulled her into the protective circle of his arm, taking control of the situation. ‘I understand that it isn’t part of your job description to make individual judgements so I’m more than happy to be the one to present the details to the manager of the store and the police. I’m sure they’ll understand. And perhaps we could talk to the local paper.’ Leandro’s voice was smooth as polished marble. ‘It’s ridiculous that you aren’t allowed to exercise judgement on individual cases like this one. You should be allowed to take responsibility for your decisions.’

  The man straightened his shoulders. ‘In some circumstances I can make my own decisions, of course, it’s just that—’

  ‘You can?’ Leandro looked impressed. ‘Then it’s lucky for us that you were the one on duty today. Someone as experienced as yourself will be able to tell the difference between a genuine mistake committed in a state of exhaustion and an attempt to steal.’

  The security man flushed under the attention and then gave a nod. ‘If you’ll just take your purchases to the till, sir, I’ll report to my superiors that this was all a genuine misunderstanding.’

  ‘You’re more than generous,’ Leandro murmured, lifting the items from the top of the pram and glancing at Millie. ‘This is all that you wanted, agape mou?’

  Swamped with humiliation, still stunned that the brief kiss had affected her so much, Millie nodded mutely and stood there, clutching the pram for support while Leandro strode back inside the store with the security guard.

  ‘Don’t worry, love,’ one of the women said to her, ‘I was the same when my Kevin was born. Didn’t get a wink of sleep for two years. I was so tired that I once found my car keys in the washing machine. At least you’ve got a gorgeous man willing to chip in. Mine didn’t lift a finger for the first seven years of their lives. Now, if I’m lucky, he’ll kick a football with them.’

  Millie moved her lips to reply but she could still feel Leandro’s mouth on hers, the latent sensuality in that brief kiss enough to have reawakened something she’d tried desperately hard to bury.

  Nothing had changed, she thought helplessly. He still had the ability to turn her to a quivering wreck. Only this time things were a thousand times worse, her insecurities a thousand times deeper.

  Leandro appeared by her side. He shot her a questioning look and then gave a knowing smile that indicated that he knew exactly why she was looking so dazed. Without comment, he handed her a bag and then guided her down the paved street towards the main road.

  Desperate to escape from what felt like a hundred pairs of eyes, Millie stared straight ahead and then saw a burly man standing next to a sleek black Mercedes.

  He sprang to attention as Leandro strode tow
ards him and opened the rear door with military efficiency. ‘If you take the baby, sir, I’ll deal with the pram.’

  Reluctant to be trapped with Leandro in a confined space, Millie stopped dead on the pavement but the firm pressure of Leandro’s hand urged her towards the car. ‘Inside, now,’ he ordered, ‘before you draw any more attention to yourself.’

  ‘Does everyone always do exactly as you tell them?’ Arching her back to free herself of his lingering touch, she stumbled into the warm cocoon of leather and luxury, shockingly aware of him. He slid in after her, holding the baby safely in the crook of his arm.

  Only then did Millie notice the baby car seat.

  With surprising gentleness, Leandro laid the baby in the car seat and strapped him in carefully. Then he sat down next to her, the length of his hard thigh brushing against hers.

  The driver slid into the car, locked the doors and then pulled into the stream of traffic.

  Millie shifted sideways in her seat. ‘I wasn’t expecting you back so soon.’

  ‘Is that a complaint?’

  ‘More of an observation. Since when did you work halfdays?’ His eyebrow lifted in mockery. ‘Since you made the rules.’

  ‘I said it would be nice if you were home at some point before the middle of the night,’ Millie muttered, stifled by how near he was, ‘not halfway through the afternoon.’

  ‘Is this going to be one of those conversations that a man can’t possibly win?’

  She flushed, realising that she sounded completely unreasonable. ‘You shouldn’t have kissed me in front of all those people. Why did you do that?’

  ‘To stop you saying something that would have landed you in even more trouble. Every time you opened that mouth of yours, you dug a deeper hole in which to fall.’ Leandro’s gaze cool and assessing. ‘What did you think you were doing?’

  ‘I—I wasn’t thinking. I’m sorry I embarrassed you. I just forgot to pay.’

  ‘I’m not talking about the shoplifting episode, I’m talking about the fact that you were walking around central London on your own.’