Page 19 of Reunited By the Greek's Baby

‘Isla, it was for the best. I was protecting you—’

‘No!’ She raised her hand. ‘I’m not interested in explanations. It’s over. Like our relationship.’ She didn’t need excuses. She knew where she stood. Had known when he refused to see her in prison.

‘My point is you inhabit a world where it seems normal, maybe even reasonable, to threaten people into silence. That non-disclosure agreement I signed is an example. If you’d known me as well as you pretended, you’d have known there was no need for a legal document. That tells me something about the people you mix with and how you see yourself. You think you’re so important that everyone is eager to take advantage of a connection to you.’

Theo’s eyebrows scrunched together in almighty scowl and his jaw clenched in a hard line. He leaned back, arms crossed over his chest.

He looked powerful and forbidding, and to her horror, still appallingly attractive. What would it take to kill this weakness she harboured for him?

‘As for threatening me with the charge of harassment—’

He put his hands on the edge of the table as he leaned towards her. ‘I told you I didn’t know about that.’

‘It doesn’t matter whether you did. The fact is that your lawyer thought it necessary, he thought it reasonable to take such drastic action without checking. Clearly he believed you’d approve. That tells me that you and he expect the worst from people.’

Isla lifted her chin, holding his glowing gaze, challenging him to disagree. Of course he didn’t.

Finally he spoke, his voice soft. ‘Don’t forget I was in prison at the time. Things weren’t exactly normal and people were spreading untrue stories about me.’

A tremor passed through her. Regret? Sympathy? She’d tried for so long to blank this man from her mind and her heart because she felt too much for him. At one time she’d been frantic with worry for him. Now, hearing that hard, almost blank tone as he talked about being locked up and slandered publicly, Isla couldn’t help but feel sorry for all he’d gone through.

She looked from her hands, knotted in her lap, back to those remarkable eyes of dark amber flecked with gold. ‘I’m sorry. It must have been a nightmare.’

His gaze softened, or did she imagine it? His mouth rucked up at one corner, driving a cleft down his cheek and making him look far, far too appealing.

‘Thank you. It was...memorable. But it’s over now.’ He paused and she tried to read the expression lurking in his eyes. Surely not amusement? ‘Go on, you were saying?’

Isla blinked. How had the scandal and the wrongful arrest affected him?

The lazy way he leaned back in his chair, the rueful half smile and the vaguely bored look on his face almost had her believing he’d shrugged off the horrific experience. But she knew it wasn’t true. She might not know Theo Karalis as well as she’d once thought she did, but he couldn’t fool her completely. This was a man masking strong emotion.

Isla felt the snap and sizzle of his repressed feelings, the iron hard clamp of control. It both reassured, because it reminded her of the man she’d fallen for, and scared her.

She took another sip of water. ‘My point is that, since you expect people to try to take advantage of you, it’s out of character for you to accept my word that this is your baby.’

His eyes darkened as they dropped to her hand, now resting protectively across her belly. Isla felt heat flood her cheeks but refused to tug her hand away. The issue here wasn’t her but Theo.

‘Surely you want a paternity test?’

It was the sort of thing that went with non-disclosure agreements, surely? Like prenuptial agreements and the other legalities the mega rich used to protect their wealth.

‘You’re saying you left Athens and took up with another man?’

‘No!’

He was being deliberately obtuse. Isla was thankful he had no idea how totally unrealistic such an idea was. She couldn’t imagine any man ever affecting her the way Theo had.

Wasn’t that the saddest thing out of all this? Lots of women had their hearts broken. How many continued to hold a soft spot for the callous manipulator who’d dumped them?

‘Then I don’t see the problem.’

Isla narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms. It was a gesture of obstinacy, and of vulnerability, emphasising her too-slender frame and fragility.

Once again Theo felt a tremor deep beneath his carefully cultivated calm. As if with a simple gesture, she unsettled the sturdy foundations of his life.

No other woman did that to him. Just Isla. He hadn’t realised at first and by the time he did he couldn’t work out what to do about it. Except tell himself it was temporary. That it would fade once they went their separate ways.

But here they were face to face after months of separation and every accusation, every expression of hurt, felt like the rake of nails drawing blood.

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