Innocent in the Ivory Tower

‘I’ve dealt with the bare necessities. There’s nothing that can’t be cleared up tomorrow.’

She realised he had left things unresolved to return to her. Before she could enjoy the feeling she remembered Carlo Santini. She remembered all the women.

Yet here he was, in bed with her.

Maisy drew the covers more securely around her neck. She was so cold, and it wasn’t going away. She felt cold to the bone.

‘I had an amazing time tonight,’ she said quietly into the dark. ‘I want to thank you.’

Alexei’s head shifted. His eyes welded with hers. ‘You were happy,’ he said. It wasn’t a question, it was a statement. Then he frowned. ‘You’re shivering.’

His whole body shifted then. He lifted the covers and literally dragged her into him, and she was engulfed in Alexei. Cold shower or not, his body was like the sun. He exuded heat and comfort, but she couldn’t relax.

‘Talk to me,’ he murmured into her hair. ‘Tell me about how you came to be at the Kulikovs’.’ When she was silent he prompted, ‘You met Anais at school?’

Maisy didn’t want to go near the Anais and Leo question. He had reacted so strongly the other night she didn’t want to risk it. But with her cheek pressed against his firm, warm chest she felt a little safer to talk about it. It wasn’t as if he’d tip her out of bed, would he?

‘Anais came to St Bernice’s when we were fourteen. She was a skinny beanpole and I was a chubby little swot.’ She said it lightly, but it was forced.

Alexei smoothed his palm over the curve of her hip. Maisy felt something inside give a little, because he’d made it extremely clear since they’d met that the womanly aspects of her body were what he found desirable.

‘You were close?’

‘I was bullied a little, because I wasn’t from the right sort of background, and Anais fought those battles for me. I’ll always be grateful to her for that.’

‘So what happened at the end of school?’

‘Anais went modelling and I—’ Maisy took a deep breath. She had never told a soul this story and it felt strange doing so now. But the dark helped—and the heavy solidity of Alexei wrapped around her. ‘My mum got sick. I looked after her.’

‘I see.’

But he didn’t see. He couldn’t know what a slow descent those two years had been. She’d been on the verge of her adult life and it had all been taken away.

‘Your mother is dead.’ He said it bluntly.

Maisy looked up at him. ‘How do you know? Oh, the investigators.’ She tried to put a little room between them but he refused to let her budge.

‘No, I didn’t get them to dig that far. I know because you haven’t made any phone calls to England. All girls call their mothers at some point.’

‘Even if my mum was alive I probably wouldn’t be ringing her,’ said Maisy frankly.

‘She did a job on you?’ He propped himself up so he could watch her telltale face.

‘She was a single mum. She was only sixteen when she had me. She always told me I’d ruined her life. Then she got cancer and she needed me.’

Alexei rubbed his thumb over the pulse at the base of her throat. ‘Then what happened?’

‘I ran into Anais in a department store in London. It was just weeks after Mum’s funeral. I was—numb. And suddenly there she was. She was pregnant with Kostya and she wanted me to move in with her and help. She didn’t have any sisters and her mum was a bit of a nightmare.’

‘You had that in common.’ He was brushing the hair out of her eyes. She loved it when he did that, felt cherished by him. ‘And you stayed with her thereafter?’

Maisy was silent. She suddenly felt tremulous. He was straying very close to dangerous ground.

‘You never thought about going back to school?’

If there was an implied criticism in there she couldn’t detect it, and it gave her the courage to answer honestly. ‘After Mum died I thought about university. I’d got in, but I couldn’t go because of Mum. And then Anais appeared and I made my decision. I can’t regret it.’

‘Surely Leo could have got you a job in one of his companies? I know you, Maisy. You’re a smart girl.’

It wasn’t the use of the description ‘smart’ that pleased her. It was the assertion I know you. He didn’t, but the assurance he had that he did made her feel warm inside. Wanted.

‘I had a baby to look after. It doesn’t give you much room for a social life, let alone a job.’

‘So tell me about this one lover, one time.’

He spoke so casually, just slipped it in, his fingers sliding gently through one of her long curls. But Maisy wasn’t fooled. He was marking his ground.