Page 13 of His Unexpected Heir

“How are you, Antonio?”

Antonio couldn’t believe her words. She’d left him high and dry after their one night together, ignored his phone calls then showed up at his home more than four months later looking more beautiful than ever. And all she had to say was, “How are you?”!

Fine! If that’s how she wanted to play this, then so could he!

He offered her a mocking bow. “I’m well. And you?”

Her lips seemed stiff as she smiled politely up at him. “Good. Thank you for asking.”

Was there a tinge of sarcasm in her words? He couldn’t see her soft, grey eyes, so he wasn’t sure. His fingers curled into fists at his sides in an effort to stop himself from pulling her into his arms. He wasn’t sure if he would shake her or kiss her.

Probably both.

However, he no longer had the right to do either.

“It seems that neither of us knew that we were signing a contract with the other.”

She shifted from one foot to the other and he noticed her fingers tighten around the straps of her bag. Was she uncomfortable? Good!

“Macie is my assistant. She handles the computer stuff, including the client-contract negotiations.” She lifted her free hand, pushing her sunglasses higher onto her nose. “Macie and I have been speaking with someone by the name of Helena with your company. She never mentioned your name.”

“Helena is my contracting agent.” He was impatient to get this initial conversation over with. “You look good.”

She was startled by his comment and he watched her soft, full lips open, then close.

“Thank you. So do you.”

Antonio didn’t have time for this. He had a million things to do.

He turned, gesturing for her to enter the castle. “Well, it was good to see you again. I’ll ask Eldora to ensure that you are comfortable. If there’s anything that she can do to make your efforts more effective, please don’t hesitate to ask.”

Unable to be in her company any longer, he turned and started for the stables.

“Antonio!” she called out.

He stopped and turned, wanting to…what? Kiss her popped into his mind. She’d gained a bit of weight and it looked good on her. Damn good! Her cheeks were fuller, rosier and there was a glow to her that he hadn’t noticed before. She looked…beautiful.

“Si?”

She took a step forward and he stiffened. The last thing he wanted was to be close to Astra. She’d rejected him. So why the hell was she looking like he’d just slapped her.

She hesitated again, obviously struggling to figure out what to say. Finally, she said, “We…need to talk.”

Talk? If she’d wanted to talk, she could have spoken to him that morning almost five months ago instead of sneaking out of his suite after the wedding. If she wanted to talk, Astra could have picked up the damn phone when he’d called her!

“We can talk over dinner tonight,” he snapped, then walked away. He was livid. How could she affect him like this after she’d rejected him so completely?

It was just…anger over her rejection. He was acting like a wounded schoolboy and that was untenable!

Instead of heading down to the stables, Antonio entered the castle through a side entrance, then walked into his office and closed the door. Looking through the window, he stared out at the small village, but he didn’t see the houses or the valley. He didn’t see the newly planted fields that had been plowed with the new equipment he’d had delivered to each farmer several months ago. He didn’t see any of it.

He only saw Astra as she stood on the sidewalk, surrounded by lush vegetation, looking lost and forlorn. What the hell was going on with her? Why did she look so…beautiful and lost?

“I don’t care!” he growled and turned around. Sitting down at his desk, he picked up the latest report on one of the companies he was considering investing in. It was a factory in the south of France, but he knew there were problems with the management. The products the workers produced were excellent, but did he want to invest in…?

Had Astra found her room? Did she need to rest? She’d most likely flown overnight, but he knew from experience that it was hard to sleep on commercial flights. He hadn’t been able to see her eyes because of those damn sunglasses, but she was probably exhausted.

Jet lag. She needed to drink plenty of water. Antonio flew all over the world these days, looking into companies in which he might invest. He knew all about the drudgery of jet lag and the best way to overcome that kind of exhaustion was to drink water. Plus, there was the time change. He knew that she lived in Philadelphia. That was a six hour time difference. To her body and mind, it was still the early hours of the morning. Was she sleeping?

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