Page 41 of Christmas Baby with Her Ultra-Rich Boss

‘Of course I respect you! I offered you more than I have offered anyone!’

‘Oh, forgotten about Cassia, have you? Forgotten all the plans you made with her?’

‘That was different.’

‘How?’

‘You know how, but in any case, this has nothing to do with her.’

‘It has everything to do with her and you know it. I am not Cassia, and I am insulted you think I’m anything like her.’

Outrage further darkened the features now leaning into her. ‘I havenevercompared you to her.’

‘You’ve compared every woman you’ve ever met with her!’ she shouted back, stretching her neck so she could get into his face as much as he was getting into hers, close enough that every angry exhale he made landed on her skin like a blow. ‘It’s always in the back of your mind, isn’t it? That we’re only out for what we can get from you? The only thing I ever wanted from you, Tinos, wasyou.’

‘I told you from the start that I don’t do relationships.’

‘We’re having a baby!’ she screamed, now completely divorced from the composure her pride had tried so hard to force on her.

‘Yes, and that’s the only reason we’re even having this discussion.’

‘Have you not considered for the slightest moment that it’s the same for me? That you’re not the only one who’s backed away from relationships? You know I’ve been celibate foryearsbut having our baby and being with you has forced me to look at why that was because I damned well didn’t stay single consciously.’

The pulse on his jaw throbbed, a sign it sliced her heart to recognise. ‘The guilt you still carry because you walked away without a physical scratch,’ he said tightly. ‘A family is the thing your sister most wanted.’

She laughed manically. ‘See? You already knew the answer. In some ways, you already know me better than I know myself. I bet that terrifies you, doesn’t it, that you’ve gotten close enough to understand me?’

She laughed again at the clenching of his pulsing jaw. He knew her but she knew him equally well, and it was that knowing that destroyed her. ‘But yes, you’re right, and I’m pretty sure the fact you were my boss and a heavily committed bachelor played some small part in my letting myself go with you because those things made you unobtainable. And if it wasn’t for our baby there is no way I would have slept with you again no matter how badly I wanted to. God, Tinos, you would not believe how my heart would practically explode when a message from you pinged in my inbox, and then when I found I was pregnant with your child...’

It struck her then, the hopelessness of it all.

The anger draining from her, Lena cradled her belly and took a step back, her first step away from him.

‘It changed everything for me,’ she said simply. ‘I was terrified of your reaction. You know that. But always there was this small part of me that dared to hope that once our baby was born and you were satisfied he or she was yours, that you and I could at least try, for the baby’s sake. I knew it was a pipe dream but it was still there, but I know now that it is never going to happen. You won’t let it happen. Your offer...’ She shook her head and willed the tears she could feel burning the backs of her eyes to stay put just that bit longer. ‘It isn’t just a disrespectful insult to me but a disrespectful insult tousand everything we’ve found together. Our baby might have forced us together but what we’ve shared is all us, Tinos. You and me. You’ve made me the happiest I’ve ever been in my life and I know I’ve made you happy, too, and you’re throwing us away. You gutlesscoward.’

Hercowardwas whispered but Konstantinos felt the impact of it as hard as if she’d shouted it laced with barbed wire. It only fired the fury that had run amok in his veins since she’d hurled the contents of her glass at him and thrown his offer in his face.

With slow deliberation, he looked at his watch and then looked back at her ashen face. ‘It is time for me to leave,’ he said with equally slow deliberation that contained all the bite of his anger. He did not think he had ever felt such loathing for another human being. That Lena, of all people, should twist his own words and actions and accuse him of disrespect when he had given her more damned respect than he’d ever given anyone, enraged him, and that she was now standing there with the air of a martyr only added fuel to this.

Her face pinched on itself but she raised her chin. ‘Good.’

‘I think it best my solicitor deal with you with regards to the house purchase.’

Contempt flashed in her eyes. ‘I just bet you do.’

He glared at her with equal contempt.

Her chin remained risen. ‘Have you an intermediary in mind for me to keep you informed about anything baby related?’

‘Considering you never had any intention of me knowing about the baby until it was born, I am astounded you would think to ask.’ Placing his phone in his pocket, he patted it. ‘Message me. But only about the baby. I have no interest in anything else.’

Konstantinos left the penthouse with the burn of Lena’s disdain still scorching his skin.

Lena gazed out her parents’ kitchen window at the birds making themselves at home on the bird table her mum had made when Lena was still at school. She’d always loved their garden. Such happy memories. If she concentrated hard enough, she could see herself and Heidi practising their handstands and cartwheels, each determined to best the other. She supposed they’d had their own form of sibling rivalry after all.

Footsteps sounded behind her. A hand touched her shoulder; a kiss dropped into her hair. ‘Are you okay,älskling?’

She pressed her head against her mum’s. ‘I will be.’

---