A deep sigh moved through her as the wind whipped her hair around her face.
She’d spent the last few days in a storage facility, going through her family’s possessions, and she felt wrung out but also a little lighter. As if a weight was finally lifting off her shoulders.
She faced the sea again and tried to ignore the dull pain that dogged her every step. Maks. Every time she thought about him she forced her mind away again. But, like a well-worn groove, her mind kept going over all the reasons why she was so reluctant to contact him and reveal the truth about her pregnancy: he’d never promised her anything but a finite affair; he believed t
hat she’d betrayed his trust, which just confirmed how little he’d really thought of her; he didn’t want a relationship or a child or a family.
And, even more damningly, she now knew why he’d appeared on her doorstep in London.
He hadn’t really wanted to verify her guilt or innocence. He’d been there to see if she was pregnant. Because the last thing he wanted was more adverse publicity.
She cursed herself again for letting him close enough to hurt her. Devastate her. Fatally.
No, she told herself now. Not fatal. She was still here. Whole. Pregnant.
She would have to tell him sooner or later and deal with the fact that he would be in her life in some capacity for ever...but not today.
Zoe turned around to walk away from the sea, back up towards the hotel where she was staying while she went through her family’s things.
She’d only taken a few steps into the lobby when she heard her name being called.
‘Zoe.’
She stopped. The voice was deep. Hypnotic. She didn’t want to turn around. It couldn’t be. And yet no one knew her here.
She turned around. Maks was standing a few feet away in dark clothes. He’d never looked more beautiful or sexy.
Zoe felt weak. ‘What are you doing here? How did you know where I was?’
Maks took a step towards her. She stepped back—a self-protective reflex. She saw his jaw clench and felt ridiculously like apologising.
‘I went to your flat in London. Your neighbour told me you’d moved out and that you were taking a trip to Dublin. It wasn’t hard to track you down.’
Not for a billionaire with means at his disposal, Zoe thought to herself. She could feel herself responding to his proximity. She wanted to drink him in. She wanted to reach up and pull his head down and feel that hard mouth on hers. Every part of her body tingled with awareness and she vaguely wondered if it had anything to do with being pregnant.
Pregnant.
She wasn’t ready. Not today.
Coward.
Feeling desperate, she asked, ‘Why are you here, Maks? I thought we’d said all we had to say.’
‘Can we go somewhere more private?’
Zoe looked around. People were practically tripping over themselves when they saw Maks Marchetti in this very mediocre hotel lobby. Zoe felt like rolling her eyes. He literally was too beautiful to be out in public without causing an incident.
‘You have a room here?’
Zoe’s mind seized at the thought of him in her small suite. But there was nowhere else private and, as much as she didn’t want to tell him about the pregnancy, she knew she had to.
Reluctantly she walked over to the elevator, without waiting to see if he followed her. But she could feel him behind her. Tall. Powerful. His scent was exotic. Musky. Sexy.
The tension crackled between them when they were in the elevator—so much that Zoe got an electric shock when she pushed the button for her floor. It was a relief to get out and walk down the short corridor to her room.
She went in and immediately went over to the window, crossing her arms, looking at Maks warily as he followed her in. She noticed more now. His hair was longer. Jaw stubbled. He looked tired. Dishevelled.
Her heart squeezed with an unbidden urge to know if he was okay. And then she lambasted herself for being weak. She hated him. His betrayal of her was far worse than anything she’d unwittingly done to him.