Page 20 of Modern Romance Collection May 2024 Books 1-4

Ajax looked at her and came around the desk to take her arm. ‘Sit down.’

She did. Her legs were wobbly. He handed her some water. She took a sip. Put the glass down. Tried to get her head to function. Ajax was pacing.

She said, ‘I hadn’t even thought that far ahead...to the public knowing about you and the baby...but obviously it would have happened at some point.’

Or maybe not, she rebuked herself.

Hadn’t he said he wanted nothing to do with her? Maybe he would have denied being her father. It was the way it sometimes happened in celebrity circles, and then there was always a very public spat to force acknowledgement...

‘Erin?’

Ajax was looking at her. She said, ‘What did you say?’

‘That I’m sorry. I never intended it to come out like this. I was planning on announcing it far more discreetly and ensuring that you would both be well protected from the inevitable ensuing interest.’

The relief that he had intended to acknowledge his daughter, even if he still couldn’t seem to bring himself to use her name, was almost as destabilising as seeing those headlines.

He continued, ‘But now it’s out, and any attempt to control it will be like trying to put out a raging wildfire. By now there will be people in every newsroom tasked with finding out who you are and your entire life history.’

That didn’t bother Erin too much.

She shrugged. ‘They won’t find anything of interest.’

Her most outrageous behaviour had been in an elevator with this man. Her cheeks started to burn again. She took another quick sip of water.

As if she hadn’t spoken, Ajax was saying, ‘You’ll be hounded. You’ll have to leave your apartment and go somewhere else.’

Erindidmind that. ‘We can’t just leave. Everything we need is there. And my father is just around the corner.’

Ajax looked at her. ‘Your father won’t escape their scrutiny either.’

‘He’s a professor of advanced mathematics,’ Erin offered dryly. ‘I’m sure they’ll lose interest quickly. Surely if we hole up for a day or two they’ll lose interest?’

And then, even as she said that, she thought of the intense interest Ajax attracted whenever he appeared in public. The constant speculation if he was pictured with anyone. She’d been one of those people poring over his image recently, wondering who his date was, if it was serious.

He shook his head. ‘It’ll take longer than a couple of days. The photographers who took those pictures yesterday won’t be so discreet from now on. They’re probably gathering outside your building right now.’

Erin shivered at the thought of being at the centre of such scrutiny.

‘And it’s not just you. It’s the baby.’

Something cold went down Erin’s spine. ‘What do you mean?’

‘Now that it’s out who she is, she’s a target.’

‘Why?’

But even as she asked, Erin knew. She was the secret daughter of one of the richest men in the world.

Ajax was pacing again, saying almost to himself, ‘If I’d had time I would have made sure you were protected, but now...’ He turned around. ‘I’m due to go to Greece today for a month. A mixture of work and social events.’

Erin frowned. ‘Why are you telling me this?’

‘Because there’s only one solution, to contain this story and make sure you’re both safe. You and the baby are coming to Greece with me.’

CHAPTER FOUR

ERINCOULDSEEthe heat shimmering over the brown landscape as they descended onto an island bathed in the golden light of the rising sun. It was one of the Cyclades chain, strung like jewels across the Aegean Sea.

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