The Maid's Best Kept Secret (The Marchetti Dynasty 1)

‘Image is everything in your world, you mean,’ she pointed out tartly.

‘It’s your world now, too. Yours and Daniel’s.’

She seized on something. ‘I can’t go to this function with you—what about Daniel?’

‘I’ve arranged for some nannies to come tomorrow morning for you to interview. You’ll have to get used to leaving him.’

The speed at which Nikos was turning their lives upside down made Maggie feel panicky. ‘I’ll only leave Daniel if I feel I can trust someone.’

Nikos looked as if he was about to argue, but then he said, ‘Fair enough.’

As if on cue there was a cry from the sitting room. Maggie welcomed the distraction from their disturbing conversation and hurried back to the main living room. It was more like a vast luxurious waiting room, with big modern canvases on the walls and low glass coffee tables covered with big books featuring photos of beautiful people, beautiful houses, beautiful scenery.

Nikos had followed her into the room and stood near the open French doors leading out to the terrace, watching as she tended to Daniel, settled him to feed.

She suddenly stopped and looked up. ‘Is it okay to feed him in here?’

‘Of course. This is your home now too, Maggie.’

She privately wondered if he’d still say that if he knew that Daniel might quite easily upchuck all over the expensive fabrics, but the baby was restless, fussing, and she needed to feed him. He latched on with unerring accuracy, making her wince slightly.

‘Does it hurt?’

Maggie looked up again. She’d preserved her modesty by placing a muslin cloth over Daniel’s head and her breast, but she still felt as if Nikos could see right through it.

She was surprised at his question. ‘No, not really—I’ve been lucky. Some women can’t breastfeed at all. But it’s just...a little sensitive.’

He said, ‘You should make a list of things you need for Daniel and I’ll give it to an assistant.’

Maggie nodded, but she was distracted by her view of Nikos, with the backdrop of Paris behind him. She could just see the top of the Eiffel Tower. He had his hands on his hips and he couldn’t have looked less domesticated. He looked like what he was: a titan of industry with all the natural attributes of a sex god.

Fresh panic hit her at the thought of how easily he affected her and at the enormity of living this new life.

‘We don’t have to stay here, you know. I’m happy to stay somewhere else with Daniel. It’s a bit grand for us.’

Nikos’s gaze narrowed on Maggie. He’d caught a glimpse of voluptuous breast before she’d started to feed the baby, and even that very un-inflammatory view had sent his blood spiralling downwards.

He cursed her silently for the ability she had to reduce him to some sort of horny teenager.

She was looking at him, waiting for a response to what she’d said. Either she was the world’s greatest actress or she really was something he couldn’t understand—an unmercenary person. But then his cynical reflexes kicked back into gear... No matter what happened between them, she was made for life.

The insidious thought that she might prefer to avail herself of his wealth but not have to spend time with him was rejected outright. She wanted him. He knew that much. And she knew they would have to put on a united front.

A memory assailed him before he could push it away. His father, visiting him in Athens at his grandparents’ house when he’d been about eight. Nikos had asked why he couldn’t return to Paris with him, and his father had replied, ‘I have a new family there. You’re better here with Mama’s family. You want for nothing—don’t be greedy, boy.’

After he’d left Nikos had watched the empty driveway for a long time, with an ache in his chest and a tight throat, wondering what it was about him that made everyone want to push him away...

A chill wind skated over his skin and Nikos pushed the memory down deep. It was a long time since he’d thought of those days. He’d become expert at insulating himself against them with a lot of noise and activity to drown them out.

He folded his arms across his chest, noting how Maggie’s eyes darted to his biceps. A shard of lust went to his groin and he welcomed it as an antidote to that memory.

‘You’ve agreed to be my wife,’ he said. ‘We live together, not apart.’

Maggie expertly switched Daniel to the other breast without revealing any flesh. She said, ‘I’m just saying that we don’t need all this...’

‘It comes with the territory, I’m afraid. You’ll get used to it.’

She couldn’t not get used to it. It was human nature. He almost lamented the fact that he was going to corrupt her.