The Greek Billionaires Love-Child

His hand tightened on hers. ‘I think we have already proved that it is dangerous to jump to conclusions.’

The touch of his hand was enough to make her insides clench. ‘You walked out on me. There’s no way I’d be foolish enough to get involved with you again, Nikos.’

‘We are involved. The child you are carrying links us together.’

It was dark now, and the tiny fairy-lights illuminating the pub made the atmosphere magical. Behind them the masts of the boat clinked in the breeze and the air was filled with everything that was summer—garlic from the pub, the salt from the sea and the cool breath of wind.

‘This isn’t going to work, Nikos.’ Ella spoke softly, acutely aware of the curious looks they were receiving from other members of the department. ‘Why did you come here?’

‘If you don’t know why I came,’ he replied, ‘then you don’t know me at all.’

‘You’re right, I don’t know you. I spent six months with you and then discovered that you weren’t who I thought you were. You didn’t mention the money.’ She swallowed, not wanting to deliberately hurt someone but aware of the enormity of what they were dealing with. ‘You didn’t mention that you’d lost your wife.’

He was still. ‘You want to have this conversation here?’

‘I don’t want to have the conversation at all. We have nothing to talk about. We had an affair. Now it’s over. It happens. You can see your child, Nikos, if that’s what’s worrying you.’ She rubbed her hands up her arms, chilled even though the night was warm. ‘We’ll work something out.’

‘Theos mou, you stand there offering me visitation rights? You think that’s what I want?’ His voice was fierce and Ella froze, horrified at the thought that people might hear.

‘Keep your voice down. I don’t know what you want. I thought you wanted to see your child. But if you don’t—that’s fine, too. I suppose your latest girlfriend would take a pretty dim view of having a relationship with a guy who has a baby in tow.’

Nikos made an impatient sound. ‘I do not have a girlfriend. Since we parted I have been working in Athens at the children’s hospital. And that is enough talking about the past. We need to talk about the future.’

Keeping the lock and chain firmly on her dreams, Ella blinked back tears. ‘We don’t have a future, Nikos.’

‘Be careful…’ he gave a dangerous smile, his fingers trapping hers ‘…or I might just choose to prove you wrong in public.’

They stood for a moment, a host of things unsaid, and then Rose strolled across to them.

‘Your car is attracting quite a crowd, Nikos.’ She cast an amused glance towards the group of teenagers who were loitering on the street, gazing in awe at the sleek lines of Nikos’s high-performance sports car. ‘Dare I ask how the meeting with the hospital management board went? I suppose they turned you down?’

Dragging his hot, burning gaze from Ella’s face, Nikos turned his attention to Rose, visibly struggling to concentrate. ‘From next Monday the budget will cover three extra nurses for the summer months, one of them paediatric trained.’

Rose gave a gasp of shocked delight. ‘You’re joking.’

‘There is no humourous side to health service staffing,’ Nikos drawled, and Rose stood on tiptoe and hugged him impulsively.

‘You’re a genius. Oh, sorry.’ Embarrassed, she sat down and cast Ella an apologetic look. ‘It’s just that we’ve been so stretched and our numbers seem to go up every summer. What did you say to them?’

‘I appealed to their sense of reason,’ Nikos said silkily, and Ella rolled her eyes.

‘You bullied them.’

‘I was forcefully persuasive,’ Nikos countered, and Rose laughed.

‘I love that. Forcefully persuasive. Remind me to adopt that approach next Saturday night when the department is full of drunks. Forcefully persuasive.’ Grinning with delight, she wandered back to the table to pass on the happy news to the rest of the team.

‘So now you’re a hero.’ Her stomach churning, Ella abandoned all hope of relaxing. ‘Well—given that you’ve secured extra staff, no one will miss me if I leave. I’m going to hand in my resignation tomorrow.’

‘There is no reason for you to resign.’