Ruthless Magnate, Convenient Wife

‘Didn’t it occur to you that we weren’t that far away from the Aegean coast?’

‘No, geography was never my strong point. Sergei, where on earth are we going?’ she demanded, desperate to know what the surprise was.

‘To see your sister and her husband,’ Sergei revealed.

Alissa, who had already considered and dismissed that possibility, spluttered, ‘You can’t be serious!’

‘I’ve got to meet Alexa some time. Why not now?’

‘But she’s pregnant,’ Alissa protested vehemently. ‘She mustn’t be upset.’

Sergei gave her a surprised glance. ‘She’s not pregnant any more. I assumed your mother would have told you but perhaps she doesn’t know yet either?’

Alissa stared at him in consternation. ‘Alexa’s lost her baby—how did you find that out?’

‘Harry told me. Your mother gave me his number and I’ve spoken to him a couple of times to arrange this meeting. Your sister doesn’t know we’re coming. Alexa’s been what Harry calls…temperamental and I think he’s hoping that seeing you will improve her mood.’

Outside a smart white villa with a glorious view of the marina and the sparkling Aegean waters far below, Alissa climbed out. She was as taut as a bowstring. The sun was warm on her shoulders and, with her heart heavy at the news that her sister had lost her baby, she was keen to see Alexa and offer what comfort she could. ‘You can’t say anything about that contract or the money,’ Alissa warned Sergei anxiously. ‘Promise me you won’t say anything because Harry knows nothing about the whole business.’

Sergei nodded acquiescence with an inhuman cool that made Alissa even more suspicious and on the alert. He had breathed fire like a dragon over Alexa’s deception, yet now he was being calm and non committal. A stockily built attractive man with fair hair, Harry ushered them out to a shaded terrace where Alexa was reclining on a lounger. Her twin gave them a stunned appraisal and then she leapt up with a delighted smile. ‘Alissa…I don’t believe it!’

Alissa managed to say how sorry she was about the baby in an undertone before Alexa switched her attention straight to Sergei. Alissa watched as her twin relaxed into surprisingly copious giggles when Sergei said something droll and her tension began to evaporate. In turn she made an effort to talk to Harry.

‘How has she been?’ she asked.

‘This is the brightest I’ve seen her,’ Harry revealed. ‘I hoped that seeing you would do the trick. I know how close you girls are.’

But Alissa could only be disturbed by the reflection that times had changed and she no longer felt so close to her twin. Although she felt as though too much water and too much hurt had gone under the bridge, her strongest urge was still a wish to ease her sister’s pain over the loss of her baby. She had also decided that she would not mention her own pregnancy in case it proved too distressing a reminder for Alexa of the child she had miscarried.

Chapter Ten

ALEXA wasted no time in curving a managing arm round Alissa to march her indoors for a private chat. ‘If we’re heading out on the town tonight I need to get changed.’

‘Sergei says the yacht club down at the marina isn’t that fancy.’

‘Don’t you know that the yacht club is the place to be seen? It’s where all the rich yachties and celebrities hang out. They’re calling Bodrum the new St Tropez,’ Alexa informed her drily. ‘My goodness, you’ve been putting on the weight, haven’t you?’

‘Do you think so?’ Alissa, who had not stepped on a set of scales in many weeks, gave her figure an anxious inspection in the mirror and belatedly noticed the way her breasts seemed to swell even in the comparatively modest neckline she was wearing today. She wondered whether the chocolate or the baby was responsible. ‘Sergei likes curves,’ she heard herself say defensively.

‘Oh, men always say that when you ask them,’ Alexa retorted with derision. ‘But when they dump you, they always go off with someone half your size! So, tell me, what’s it like being married to Sergei?’

Alissa perched on the edge of the bed while her twin rifled through a packed wardrobe in search of an outfit. At that leading question she went pink. She did not want to incite her sister’s scorn by launching into a panoply of praise that might even include the recent development of Sergei hurling his clothes in the direction of a chair instead of the floor. ‘It’s easier than I expected,’ she breathed stiltedly. ‘But I’m more concerned about you—when did the miscarriage happen?’

‘When did the…miscarriage happen?’ Alexa repeated, turning to stare at her sister with a frown of bemusement. ‘Don’t be silly, Allie. That story was only for Harry’s benefit. There never was a baby. I was sure you would have worked that out for yourself by now.’

Alissa stared back at the slim blonde woman in stunned disbelief, for Harry had not been the only person affected by that inexcusable pretence. Alexa had even used the threat of an abortion to pressure Alissa into taking her place as Sergei’s wife. ‘Never? You were never pregnant? I’m sorry, I find that very hard to believe after some of the things you said to me.’

‘It suited me to pretend I was pregnant,’ Alexa told her defiantly. ‘And the worse thing about all this is that now even Harry suspects that I was lying all along.’

‘My word, does he?’

‘After a shotgun wedding, what man wouldn’t be suspicious? I told him I had had a very early miscarriage that didn’t require medical attention, but I’m not sure he’s convinced.’

Alissa was sincerely appalled at the ease with which Alexa had lied and misled even her own family, behaviour that did not appear to have awakened her twin to either guilt or regret. ‘Why on earth did you get us all involved in your lies? How could you have wept in front of me and told me how much you longed to marry Harry and have his baby when there never was a baby?’ she gasped in condemnation.

‘For the money, of course!’ Alexa gave her a look of scorn. ‘You do ask crazy questions sometimes. Once I found out I’d have to get pregnant to fulfil that contract with Sergei, I knew there was no way I could ever face going through with it and that I would have to hand over the opportunity to you. I mean, even the thought of ruining my figure with a pregnancy turns my stomach!’

Listening to that frank confession, Alissa only contrived to hang onto her temper with the greatest difficulty. A fierce and bitter sense of betrayal gripped her at the knowledge that she could so easily have been taken in by the twin she loved and had trusted. Until Alexa had admitted the fact, Alissa had had no idea that her sister was revolted by the very concept of pregnancy. ‘So all that stuff about you being pregnant was simply a lie to pressure me into marrying Sergei in your place?’