Page 21 of The Nicolaides Baby

Where had that come from? And why was he bringing it up now?

“Sierra told usmanyof your excuses, but I’d like to hear them from you.” She sat incredulously while he picked at his kung pao chicken, her anger rising as he laid his chopsticks aside and held her gaze. “I think you owe me that much.”

Her brows raised. “Excuses?” She tried to keep her voice down. “Myreasonswere never excuses. And, actually, no, I don’t owe you a thing.” She glanced around. No one was paying them any attention, but she leaned over the table with a heated whisper. “And why should it matter to you? It was one night a long time ago and we’ve both moved on.”

“I wouldn’t say it necessarily matters to me.” His features hardened before he leaned toward her. “But I would say I’m curious.” He raised one brow. “Especially about one thing. Do you make a habit of it?”

Heat crept up her neck. “Of what?”

“Moving on.” He narrowed his gaze on her, his low tone harsh. “You know, sleeping with one man then jumping into bed with another right away?” She took in a quick breath at his implication and then sat back in shock at his next words. “If you do, are you even sure who Mara’s father is?”

The stinging in her palm registered about the same time the sudden quiet of the other diners did. Even the woks went silent. She stared in dawning realization of what she’d done as a red bloom darkened Leo’s olive cheek.

“You bastard,” she whispered, clenching her tender hand as he kept his anger-filled gaze on her—his jaw working. They stared at each other while the other diners’ murmuring grew louder.

Rowan took several deep calming breaths before she felt ready to speak, saying succinctly, “I would appreciate it if you would take me back to the island… Now.” She congratulated herself on not yelling as she stepped down from the barstool-type seat and leveled her gaze on him. “And from now on, I’ll be traveling over with your family in the mornings to visit Lukas.”

She walked away, knowing the eyes of everyone in the establishment were watching her leave. She didn’t care. Just like she didn’t care if Leo had a reply or if he followed her. The bell over the door rang as she exited the restaurant and let it close behind her and then immediately rang again. She needed to get herself under control, so she headed down the walkway in front of the surrounding storefronts and restaurants lining the street in the dusky sunset, dashing away the few angry tears that had managed to escape. She couldn’t believe she’d struck him. She’d been tempted to do something similar in the past when someone had angered her, she’d never followed through.

It wasn’t her finest moment.

So, no, she wasn’t proud of the fact she’d slapped him. But thinking back on what he’d said, she could only tell herself he’d deserved it. Even if deep down she had this nagging sense of her own complicity in his accusation.

She’d lied to everyone about who Mara’s father was, and now she was facing the consequences. She shook her head, thinking Sierra would say it was karma biting her in the ass. And she would have been right. But because shedidknow the truth, it made Leo’s statement that much more hurtful—even if he didn’t realize it.

Why hadn’t she just told him when doing so wouldn’t have been so awkward? Well…less awkward. What was the worst that could have happened?

He could have insisted on having Mara with him part of the time.

That, or convince her to relocate to Greece—perhaps even to stay with him. And if their one night together had proven anything, it was the fact the man could probably get her to do anything he wanted. It was just a good thing hedidn’tknow it. God knows he’d manipulated her body to his will. So how much of a stretch would it be to think he could manipulate her in other ways. Good grief, she knew for a certainty if he’d asked her to stay that morning, she would never have been able to leave.

She’d even secretly hoped for some kind of chick flick moment where he’d stop the plane from taking off and declare he couldn’t live without her. She’d held onto that hope until the plane had left the ground.

For being known as the levelheaded twin, how naive was that?

“Rowan.”

She kept walking. If he thought she was ready to talk to him, he had another think coming. It was bad enough she’d be stuck with him until they got back to the island, but… Oh, God, how was she going to explain her neednotto be anywhere Leo was to his parents and sister? Libby might not notice any tension, but Charlotte and Gregorios definitely would.

“Rowan,” Leo said louder, jogging up beside her.

“Go away.” She didn’t look at him and kept walking, picking up her pace. “I have nothing more to say to you.”

“Fine.” He matched her step for step. “I don’t have anything more to say to you either, except you’re going the wrong way.”

She stopped short and took notice of her surroundings. She hadn’t even thought about her destination, just that she needed to rid herself of Leo and the rage coursing through her. She pivoted back around and headed down the walkway in the direction she’d come, with Leo walking beside her. The limo sat several hundred feet down from the restaurant, so she headed to it and got in before the driver could scramble out and open the door. Leo climbed in after her and waited while the confused-looking driver shut the door and got in the front.

A strained silence hovered between the two of them on the ride to the airfield and continued once they were airborne. It hadn’t ended by the time they’d arrived back at the Nicolaides’ villa well past dark and Mara’s bedtime.

Rowan barely let Leo’s Jeep come to a complete stop before she jumped out and dashed up the steps to the front door. She paused and took a deep breath before going in while the Jeep idled behind her. The house was quiet as she walked across the glossy marble floor in search of Mara. She needed to gather her daughter’s things as quickly as possible because she wanted to leave and get as far away from Leo as she could.

She searched through the main rooms downstairs with no luck. It was late, but not so late everyone would have gone to bed. So, where were they?

“Rowan,” Charlotte whispered, drawing Rowan’s attention to her coming down the steps from the upper level. “Mara’s asleep upstairs in one of the guest rooms.” She glanced up the stairs. “I think Libby and I wore her out this afternoon visiting the markets and then swimming. She ended up not getting her nap.”

The front door opened and closed while Charlotte spoke. Rowan tensed but didn’t turn around.

“How was Lukas today?” Charlotte asked, the smile on her face slowly disappearing as she looked between Rowan and wherever Leo stood close by. “Is something wrong?”

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