While the accusation grated a little, I couldn’t allow it to dissuade me from forging ahead. ‘From this moment forward consider that status reversed. You will have access to me day or night.’
Curiously, her breath caught, and I glimpsed something that looked like excitement in her eyes—which, perversely, triggered a stronger chain reaction within me.
Her trite reply attempted to disguise her reaction. ‘Others might find that offer beyond tantalising, but I don’t think much communication between us will be necessary after today...’
Unbidden, my lips twisted in genuine amusement, causing her words to trail off.
‘I fail to see what’s funny.’
Wonder. Apprehension. Raw anticipation. Panic. The cascade of emotions was threatening to send me off balance.
‘You’re carrying my child, Sadie. A Xenakis.’
Her eyes widened. ‘So you believe the baby is yours?’
Betrayal’s curse bit hard—a timely reminder to exercise caution. But for now I needed to buy myself time. After the accusations I’d hurled at her, and her reaction, these negotiations needed to be handled carefully while still keeping her under scrutiny. Because I didn’t intend for history to repeat itself.
‘In utero paternity tests carry unacceptable risks. We will wait until the baby is born.’
‘And how do you know that?’
I clenched my gut against the searing reminder of how wrong I’d been before, how blind trust had almost decimated me.
‘That doesn’t matter. What matters is that we’re in agreement that the health of this baby is the priority.’
She frowned. ‘I don’t need you to tell me that.’
‘Then you’ll stay a little while longer? Have lunch with me?’
Her eyes widened, then grew suspicious. ‘Why?’
‘You need to eat, do you not?’
Memory darkened her eyes and swept the most becoming blush across her skin. She was recalling what had happened after our last meal together. When her long lashes drifted down to veil her expression, I forced back the wild need to nudge her chin up, to see the evidence of the chemistry that heated the very air around us.
‘Doesn’t mean I have to eat with you,’ she murmured.
For some absurd reason I bit back another smile, and the urge to keep tangling with her spiralled through me.
‘I won’t sully your meal with my presence, if that is your wish.’
Surprise jerked her gaze back to me. ‘You won’t?’
‘I have a few more business matters to deal with. You can eat while I take care of them.’
The knock on the door at that moment drew her suspicion.
‘You’ve already ordered lunch, haven’t you?’
I shrugged. ‘On the off-chance that you’d agree to stay, yes.’
‘There’s nothing “off-chance” about anything you do, but nice try,’ she sniped.
As she headed to the sofa and I returned to my desk, my smile turned resolute. She had no idea how accurate her words were. How meticulously I intended to seal her completely into my life.
If this child was mine—and, Christos, I would burn the world down if I’d been fooled for a second time—then nothing in all existence would stop me from claiming it.