Page 49 of Modern Romance Collection May 2024 Books 1-4

Ajax shrugged. ‘Let’s cross that bridge when we come to it.’

‘Our contract will have to be drawn up again, to reflect your desire to have a relationship with Ashling.’

‘We’re in no rush. I trust you.’

Erin absorbed that. It was huge. She literally had a contract signed by them both, stating that he was giving her full custody. She could go back to the States with Ashling and refuse him access. He’d have to take her to court to renegotiate.

But of course she wouldn’t do that.

As if reading her mind, Ajax said, ‘I know you wouldn’t use that against me.’

‘No,’ she admitted, ‘because I’ve worked for you, and all I can say is I’m glad I was on your side.’

Ajax widened his eyes. ‘I’m a pussycat.’

Erin snorted. ‘You’re a shark.’

He smiled, showing his teeth, but all that did for Erin was remind her of how he’d nipped at her bare skin in intimate places. She squirmed on the chair, glad he couldn’t see into her mind, which seemed to be stuck on one track:Ajax.

After revealing that he wanted to have Ashling in his life, Erin felt newly exposed. As if a layer of protection had been taken away. That was something she couldn’t unpick now. Not while Ajax was looking at her.

‘So, both your parents are still alive?’ she asked.

Ajax nodded. ‘My father handed over the reins of the business to my brother, and then to me when Demetriou died. Essentially, he’s retired now.’

Erin was curious. ‘He wasn’t that passionate about the family business, then?’

Ajax’s mouth flattened for a moment with distaste. ‘The only thing he’s passionate about is whoever his current mistress is. All very discreet, of course. She won’t be at the family gathering.’

‘You don’t approve?’

‘It’s disrespectful. He was the one who had affairs first, and I could see what it did to my mother, even though she’d deny it to her death. It made her vulnerable. Brittle. It pushed her further from us, her sons, because her life became all about competing with my father to try and make sure he knew she wasn’t hurt.’

‘But it sounds like shewashurt,’ Erin observed. ‘Maybe there were feelings there after all.’

Ajax didn’t respond to that.

Erin couldn’t help asking, ‘Did Sofia have affairs...?’

‘Yes. Of course. We didn’t share a bed.’

‘Oh.’ Erin hated how that made her feel lighter. ‘But surely you weren’t going to live your life celibate?’

‘To be honest, I was consumed with Theo. I didn’t think too much beyond him for the first couple of years. Sofia and I had already made an agreement that after a respectable amount of time we’d quietly divorce, and I would get full custody of Theo.’

‘She was willing to hand him over?’ Erin knew she shouldn’t be shocked after her own experience.

Ajax shrugged. ‘I told you—women in my family don’t really do mothering well. They’re not expected to.’

‘I know not everyone automatically feels that rush of love—for some parents it can be incredibly complicated—butyoufelt it...and you weren’t even Theo’s biological father.’

Erin was surprised when a waiter appeared to clear their plates—she hadn’t even noticed that they’d been served starters and had eaten them. Ajax seemed to have an effect on her that meant she was in some sort of bubble, where the world didn’t impinge. Dangerous. Seductive.

She’d had to be responsible for so long, due to her father’s scattiness, that she’d never really had the luxury of taking her foot off the pedal. But here in Greece she felt as if she was having the first holiday of her life.

Albeit along with the rollercoaster effect of Ajax on her body, mind and emotions.

No, refuted a voice.Not emotions.

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