Emily averted her gaze to focus on her hands resting on her thighs. ‘I know he’s a little locked down, but I’m just starting to peel back his layers. He’s my baby’s father and he wants to marry me, and with everything else that’s been going on I can’t see how I can say no now. I don’t want him to be compared to his father.’
She looked back up at Allegra. ‘I want people to see the Loukas I see. The one Draco knows as his best friend. He’s a good man, a decent and honourable man. I want to get closer to him, and marrying him would be a good way to do it. Does that make sense?’
Allegra leaned down to press one of her hands on Emily’s, her gaze warm with concern. ‘Are you in love with him?’
Emily did her bunny-rabbit twitch, a habit she’d had since childhood when she’d first started wearing glasses and had to winch them back up her nose. She wore contacts now but the habit remained. ‘I like him, otherwise I wouldn’t have slept with him. I’m not a one-night-stand person. But I’m not in love with him.’
But how long before you are?
I’m not going to fall in love with him.
Ha-de-ha-ha-ha.
Allegra gave her hand a little squeeze. ‘I hope it works out for you, Em. I really do. But, just in case it doesn’t, remember I’m always here for you. Whatever you decide to do.’
‘Thing is, Loukas doesn’t want a big wedding, so we’re having a quiet ceremony to keep the press interest down.’
‘Won’t you be terribly disappointed?’ Allegra asked, frowning again. ‘You’ve been talking about weddings ever since you first came to work for me. You were so excited about being my bridesmaid. Surely you want to have more than a civil ceremony?’
Emily shrugged to disguise her niggling sense of disappointment. She had been picturing her dream wedding since she was a small child. Being the only child of a single mother who was staunchly against the notion of marriage had had the opposite effect on her. But if she married Loukas that dream would have to be relinquished. One of many she would have to let go. ‘A big wedding will take months to organise and by then I’ll be showing. No, it’s better this way.’
‘What does your mother think of all this?’
Emily grimaced. ‘I told her I was in love with Loukas.’
Allegra’s brows lifted. ‘Did you, now?’
‘It was easier than explaining everything. She wanted to do an astrology chart for him but I didn’t know his birthday. I felt like such an idiot.’
‘Was she excited about being a granny?’
Emily snorted. ‘Can you picture my mother knitting booties? One thing I do know. There’s no way she’ll want to be called Granny or Nanna. She’ll want to be called Willow.’
Allegra’s brow furrowed. ‘I thought her name was Susannah?’
Emily gave her a welcome-to-the-crazy-world-of-my-mother look. ‘She did a “Names and Their Influence on Your Success” workshop a couple of months back. Apparently Willow has a better vibe or something. I just count myself lucky she didn’t do that workshop before naming me. I dread to think what she might have come up with instead of Emily Grace.’
Allegra gave a wistful smile. ‘At least you still have her.’
Emily felt a jab of remorse for harping on about her wacky mother when Allegra had lost hers when she was twelve. Allegra’s children would only have one grandfather, Allegra’s father, to whom she wasn’t all that close, as Draco had lost both his parents when he was young. ‘Sorry. That was a bit insensitive
of me.’
‘It’s fine,’ Allegra said with a closed-mouth smile. ‘My mother and I weren’t all that close anyway. Have you got time for a coffee and a choc-chip muffin?’
Emily put her hand over her mouth and gulped. ‘Ack! Don’t mention food.’
CHAPTER SIX
LOUKAS GOT BACK to the hotel to find the suite empty. He went through every room, even going so far as to open the wardrobes, but there was no sign of Emily. He whipped out his phone and dialled her number but it went through to the message service. Panic gripped him by the throat, tightening his airway until he could barely snatch in a breath. Where was she? Was she ill? Had she been taken to hospital? Had she gone outside and been hounded by the press? Perhaps chased down the street? Got hit by a bus? Kidnapped? The list of possibilities rushed through his brain like a toxic fever. His heart hammered so hard it was as if a construction site were inside his chest.
He called the front desk, asking if anyone had seen his fiancée. He felt a fool for having to ask it. ‘No, Mr Kyprianos,’ the receptionist said. ‘Perhaps she’s gone shopping for the wedding. There are three bridal stores and two florists on this block. This area’s very popular for brides-to-be.’
Loukas put down the phone and wiped the back of his hand over his clammy brow. He had to get a grip on himself. There was probably a perfectly good explanation for why Emily had disobeyed his instruction to stay in the suite. The sense of powerlessness was sickening, reminding him of the day of the accident when so many lives had careened out of control.
Why had Emily gone? Where had she gone? Was she coming back? Or had he scared her with his insistence on marriage? Sure, it was a big step to get married. He might not be perfect husband material but it wasn’t as if he was some boorish oaf who wouldn’t look after her. He tried her phone another time but it went to message service again. His hand tightened on the phone until he thought the screen would crack. Should he do a ring-around of the hospitals to see if she’d been admitted? Ask the hotel to run the CCTV tapes to see if she’d left the hotel with someone?
The door suddenly opened and Emily came in. ‘Oh...you’re back.’