Page 14 of Christmas Baby with Her Ultra-Rich Boss

‘Great, thanks,’ she lied. ‘How’s Noomi?’ she asked, referring to the crying baby whose conception had prompted Thom and his wife, Freja, to quit their jobs at the remote Ice Hotel and move to Stockholm.

After a few minutes of catching up, Lena finally found the opportunity to ask the question that had prompted her call. ‘You remember Annika?’

‘Sure. Why do you ask?’

‘I was just wondering if you remember why she was sacked. It was before my time and all I’ve heard are rumours—I figured you’d know the truth.’

‘She was sacked for gross negligence.’ Thom proceeded to relate the exact same story Konstantinos had told her. ‘What were you told?’

‘I’d heard she was sacked for being pregnant.’

He snorted. ‘Total rubbish but I get why people might have believed it—Mr Siopis ordered the circumstances of her sacking be kept quiet for reputational purposes. I was only told because I got her job but as far as I know, I’m the only one and I never shared it with anyone.’ A strange note entered his voice. ‘This is all history. Why is it concerning you now?’

‘Curiosity. Anyway, thanks for satisfying it. I’ll let you get on.’

There was a moment of silence before he said. ‘Freja and I have a spare room if you need it. Anything you need, call us, okay?’

It was the compassion she heard in his voice and the realisation that she wasn’t quite as alone here as she’d believed that had the tears spilling down her cheeks before she’d put her phone back on her desk. Burying her face in her hands, Lena let it all out.

Her tears were cathartic and once they were all purged, she felt a little better in herself.

The worst was over. Konstantinos knew about the baby. She had no control over what he would do next and to tie herself in knots about it achieved nothing. She still had a job to do and unless she wanted to give him an actual valid reason to sack her, it was best she got on with it.

Rummaging in her bag for a tissue to blow her nose in and for her emergency makeup bag, she masked the blotchiness of her cheeks as best she could with foundation and blusher, and added fresh mascara and the fawn lipstick she favoured. Reasonably happy that she no longer completely resembled the bride of Frankenstein, she woke her computer from the sleep it had fallen into and got to work.

It was 8 p.m. by the time Lena finished. Exhausted in all senses of the word, she trudged on her skis through the falling snow to her cabin at the far end of the complex where all the staff accommodation and facilities were located, set far enough from the guest cabins to make it a private—if much less plush—complex within the complex. As she passed the fir trees the guest cabins were dotted amongst, she made sure to keep her gaze fixed ahead and not peer through the trees to the super-posh cabins. She didn’t know if she could bear seeing the light on in Konstantinos’s. Or bear seeing it switched off.

Finally safe inside the warm confines of her cosy cabin, she thought briefly of food. She’d hardly eaten anything all day. Having no appetite, she decided to shower first and then decide if she had the energy to trundle to the staff canteen, but once she was clean and dry, fleece pyjamas on and her thick cream robe wrapped around her, she stared unenthusiastically at the ready meals stuffed in her tiny freezer. Before she could decide whether to stick macaroni cheese or spaghetti meatballs in the microwave, a sharp rap on the door made her freeze and the hairs on the nape of her neck rise.

When the door remained unopened, Konstantinos knocked again. He knew she was inside.

The handle turned, the door opened a crack, and Lena’s face appeared.

His heart caught in his throat. ‘Can I come in?’

She hesitated before stepping back to admit him.

Standing with her back to the wall, her dark eyes watched him warily while he went through the usual rigmarole of removing his outdoor clothing. Maybe it was because she’d clearly just showered and was dressed for bed in the un-sexiest nightwear he’d ever seen, but there was a vulnerability to her, a fragility he would never have associated with his firm-but-fair Ice Hotel general manager, as if one more blow could shatter her.

As angry as he still was with her, it sat badly with him that he was the cause of this fragility.

She waited until he’d stored his outdoor clothing in her heated cupboard before tucking her damp hair behind her ear and quietly asking, ‘Does your being here mean you believe me?’

Konstantinos held her stare.Didhe believe her? Did he genuinely believe the child in her stomach was his?

He gave a sharp nod, and immediately that he’d made the gesture, the weight that had been lodged deep inside him lifted free.

He did believe her. He did believe he was the father of Lena’s child. He’d known it in his guts from the moment she’d lifted her sweater to reveal the small bump.

Her eyes closed and her shoulders slumped as if her own weight had been released. Then she straightened and, blinking rapidly, turned her face away and took the few steps to the inbuilt freezer all the staff cabins were supplied with. ‘Have you eaten?’

Thrown at the question it took a moment to answer. ‘No.’

Lena opened the freezer door. Her hands were shaking again. Her whole body was trembling. Konstantinos believed her. He was here. He believed her. The burst of relief had been dizzying but with it had come another welling of tears—she wouldn’t have believed she had any left after the bucketload she’d cried earlier—and suddenly it had become necessary todosomething, to keep her trembling body busy while it absorbed the shock of his unspoken admission. ‘Do you want to eat with me?’

‘Lena, we need to—’

‘Talk,’ she finished for him while keeping her gaze rooted to the meagre contents of her freezer. ‘I know. And we will. Just give me a few minutes to compose myself, okay?’

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