The look was morphing, though, the shock wearing off.
His gaze rushed over me and he paled a little before his eyes narrowed. ‘What are you doing here?’ he bit out.
Despite its tension, the sound of his voice sent tingles down my spine.
I closed the gap between us by another few steps, my heart kicking against my ribs when his eyes dropped to my distended stomach.
‘I work for this company, remember? Unless those privileges have been revoked too?’
‘You know exactly what I mean. You should be resting. In Athens. Not...not...’ He stopped. Frowned.
‘Have you forgotten where you are?’ I asked. ‘You’re in Costa Rica...negotiating to buy the country’s second-largest airline.’
His frown intensified. ‘Thanks for the reminder. My statement still stands.’
‘Does it? Perhaps if you’d been at home I wouldn’t have needed to cross continents to have a conversation with you.’
His mouth worked and he swallowed noisily. ‘Sadie—’
‘No.’ I took another few steps, then stopped when his aftershave hit me like a brick of sensation. ‘You don’t get to speak. Not until I’ve said what’s on my mind. And even then, the jury’s out as to whether I want to hear what you have to say.’
‘This is the third time you’ve stormed my office since we met.’
‘It seems to be the only place where I can get through to you.’
A raw gleam lit his grey eyes before his expression tightened. ‘That’s not entirely true. But, parakalo, whatever you have to say to me, do it while sitting down?’
‘And ruin this superb effect I’m having on you?’
His fist tightened with the blatant need to bodily compel me to the sofa. ‘What do you want, Sadie?’
‘For you to come home. Or give me a divorce.’
He lost another shade of colour. ‘What?’
‘Two choices. Take one or the other. But I’m not leaving here without an answer.’
‘You dare to—’
‘Oh, I do. Very much. Because you know what? I’ve decided there’s nothing you can do
to me. Sue the mother of your child? I think not. Toss me out of your company? I’ll just find another job, because I’m good at what I do. But I don’t think you want to lose my professional skills either. Really, all that’s standing in our way is you.’
His breathing intensified and he looked, shockingly, as if he was on the brink of hyperventilating. ‘You think any of this has been easy, Sadie?’
The raw note in his voice caught at that vulnerable spot I’d never been able to protect, ever since our first meeting.
I stepped into his space, uncaring for my own heart, and glared with everything I had. ‘You walked away. And stayed away. You tell me.’
‘It’s been torture!’ he yelled. ‘I reach for you at night and you’re not there. I turn to throw a question at you in the boardroom and find some lame executive staring back at me. You’ve ruined me for everything! For everyone! You were supposed to bewitch me for a little while. Until I satisfied the craving you triggered. Instead you’re all I think about—every second of every day.’
My heart swan-dived right to my toes, then dared to beat its wings faster, to climb and climb and hope.
‘Keep...keep talking.’
‘That night, when you accused me of not moving forward, I couldn’t answer your charge because somewhere along the line I’d gone from holding you to a higher standard to recognising that I couldn’t meet those standards myself.’
‘What are you talking about?’