A Ring for the Greek's Baby

Emily shrugged and shifted her gaze to stare at the linoleum on the floor. ‘Aren’t all girls close to their mums?’

‘Have you told her about the—’

‘Not yet. But she’s not the maternal type, so the prospect of being a granny won’t have her rushing off for a pair of knitting needles any time soon.’

Emily suddenly noticed that the two women sitting opposite them in the waiting room were glancing in their direction. The woman on the left nudged her friend and pointed at Loukas. Emily wasn’t game enough to look at Loukas but she sensed him stiffening in the chair beside her. She sank a little lower in her chair, wishing she could disappear before the women asked for verification. How much had they heard of her conversation with Loukas? She’d kept her voice low, but what if they’d overheard her talking about their ‘engagement’ or the baby? She wasn’t used to being examined. Was this what Loukas had to live with? The constant scrutiny of his private life would be torture for someone as reserved as him.

The woman’s companion pulled up something on her phone screen and seemed to compare it to Loukas. ‘It’s Loukas Kyprianos all right,’ she said, loud enough for half the waiting room to hear. ‘The Greek billionaire friend of Draco Papandreou. Did you hear the girl with him say she’s pregnant? Quick—take a photo.’

The click of the camera phone was as loud as a rifle shot.

Loukas didn’t move. Emily cast him a covert glance but his features were schooled into an impassive mask, except for a tiny muscle in his jaw that was twitching as if it was being randomly zapped by an invisible electrode.

The woman who had taken the photo spoke again. ‘Let’s hope he doesn’t do what his jerk of a father did when he got his young girlfriend pregnant.’

‘Yeah, I read about that. Awful business, wasn’t it? But the girl got paid a fortune for that interview. Good on her, I say. Who wouldn’t want to be compensated after what that lowlife put her through?’

What awful business?

Emily’s ears weren’t just out on stalks but on scaffolding and in a high-wire harness too. What had Loukas’s father done to his pregnant girlfriend? He sounded like an absolute cad. Was that why Loukas was making such a big deal about marrying, so no one would think he was anything like his disreputable father?

The nurse called Emily’s name at that point and Loukas stood and guided Emily out of the waiting room with brisk efficiency. ‘What happened with your—’ she began.

‘Later.’ The word was clipped out through white, tight lips and he led her into the cubicle to wait for the doctor.

The curtain twitched aside and a doctor came, who did a double-take when she saw Loukas. ‘Oh, my God, Loukas? Fancy seeing you here.’

Was there anyone in the whole of London who didn’t know who Loukas was? Emily glanced at him to see if he was as excited as the young doctor but his face was blank. ‘I’m sorry, do I know you?’ he said.

The doctor’s smile faded a little. ‘We had a drink together at a charity function last year here in London. Don’t you remember? Maida Freeman’s my name. We were going to catch up later but I got called away to an emergency. I was on call.’ She rolled her eyes. ‘Story of my life.’

‘Of course I remember,’ Loukas said with a polite movement of his lips that didn’t involve his eyes or his teeth.

Dr Freeman turned to Emily. ‘Such a small world.’

Not small enough if I’m going to run into a host of his ex-or would-be lovers.

‘What can I do for you?’

‘I didn’t want to bother anyone but Loukas insisted on—’ Emily began.

‘Emily fainted this evening. Twice,’ Loukas said. ‘She’s...pregnant.’ He swallowed audibly between the two words.

‘That’s quite common in early pregnancy,’ Dr Freeman said. ‘Dizziness, light-headedness, fainting, nausea and vomiting, as the hormones do their thing. I’ll get the nurse to do some obs and we’ll take some blood to make sure you’re not anaemic.’ Her gaze honed in on Emily’s bandaged finger. ‘What happened to your finger?’

‘I cut it on some broken glass.’

The doctor’s gaze seemed to sharpen. ‘How are you feeling about the pregnancy?’

‘What do you mean?’ Emily asked.

‘Was it planned or...?’

‘Not planned but very much welcomed,’ Loukas said, reaching for Emily’s good hand and holding it within the warm cage of his.

Welcomed?

Emily did her best to disguise her shock.