Page 31 of 2 Books in One Bundle

Perhaps he’d been thrown by the unusual intensity of the unpleasantness that had slithered into the pit of his stomach in an all too familiar way on seeing his siblings chatting away with each other so naturally.

How did they do it? he’d wondered queasily as he’d watched his younger brother Atticus laugh at something Thalia had said. They were twins, so that had always given them a special bond, he assumed, but what excuse was there for Leo to instinctively lean into Willow, his wife, when she touched him lightly on the arm? More bafflingly,whydid they do it? Didn’t they care about exposing their emotions to each other and risk being destroyed? Didn’t they realise how vulnerable they were making themselves?

These were questions he’d never been able to answer so, as usual, he’d buried them deep, profoundly relieved that he was so practised at hiding and dissembling that no one would have had the slightest idea what was going on, which meant that a far more likely explanation for blurting out that Mia was pregnant was that he’d been shaken to the core by his response to the heated moment they’d shared in the aftermath of Thalia’s unforgivably good memory.

For several long, heart-thumping seconds it had felt to him as though they were the only two people in existence. Overwhelmed with excoriating need, he’d been a hair’s breadth from kissing the life out of her in front of an audience, which had never been his thing, and he thanked God he’d come to his senses in time.

Either way, the news was now out, suspended in the ether, immobilising every animate thing. There was a stunned frozen silence, which lasted several thudding beats of his pulse and a full revolution of his stomach, then the room erupted into a flurry of excited activity.

‘Congratulations,’ said Leo, striding forwards, smiling broadly and clapping Zander on the back before introducing himself to Mia and kissing her warmly on both cheeks.

‘Will you be getting married?’ asked Atticus, to which Mia replied ‘No’ at the same time as Zander said ‘Yes’.

Then it was the turn of Willow, an artist with piercings and multicoloured hair, who shouldn’t have suited his tightly controlled older brother but somehow did. ‘How are you feeling?’ she said, addressing Mia, who was looking a little shellshocked by the hugs and kisses that were coming her way.

‘Anything I can do to help,’ added Zoe, another sister-in-law, Atticus’ wife, mother of one, soon to be two, ‘let me know.’

Zander accepted the congratulations automatically, waiting with his breath stuck in his throat for the incredulity, the doubts, the ribbing, because surely at least one of them would point out how unsuited to the role of father he was. But no one said anything. The subject of his perceived lifestyle—wholly incompatible with a baby, as Mia herself had pointed out—didn’t come up once. Of his self-centredness and lack of depth, not a word. Instead, to his astonishment, Leo insisted on a toast, of all things.

When they sat down to eat, two glasses of champagne and five minutes later, Zander was still waiting on tenterhooks for the other shoe to drop but, staggeringly, it didn’t. Conversation flowed from the children to the company to Daphne and Olympia—his two youngest sisters, who weren’t in attendance—and then moved on to their mother.

‘Have you heard the latest from Selene?’ said Thalia as she helped herself to some potatoes.

On easier to understand ground now, but nevertheless thinking that couldn’t possibly be it, Zander sat back and raised his eyebrows. ‘No. Why? What’s she been up to?’

‘She’s been arrested for cavorting topless on a beach. Not the done thing in the Maldives, apparently.’

‘Just what I need when we’re about to launch the new cruise line arm of the business,’ he said dryly. ‘Her timing is impeccable, as always.’

‘Don’t worry,’ said Atticus, head of the company’s legal department. ‘I’m on it. Any damage will be limited.’

‘You’d think a full-size nude portrait would be enough to satisfy even the most determined exhibitionist,’ Leo mused, topping up Mia’s water glass. ‘Although I suppose thatwassix years ago.’

‘I still haven’t got over it,’ Zander said with a wince and a shudder. ‘Talk about mortifying.’

‘Hey, that’s one of the finest pieces of work I’ve ever produced,’ protested Willow without rancour. ‘It launched my career.’

‘I went to one of your exhibitions,’ said Mia, who up to that point had hardly said a word, which was odd when she was not usually backward in coming forward. ‘In London. Three years ago. It was amazing. You’re incredibly talented.’

Willow beamed. ‘Thank you. I’d love to paint you if you’re up for it. I know I’m hardly one to talk, but the colour of your hair is highly unusual. Your skin is incredible. You’d look great in pastels. What do you think?’

By the look of things, Mia didn’t know what to think. Wide-eyed and pink-cheeked, she appeared to be struck dumb. She opened her mouth. Then closed it. When she did manage to formulate an answer, it was an unexpectedly tremulous, ‘I don’t know what to say.’

‘Say yes,’ prompted Willow.

Mia blinked. Then nodded. ‘OK,’ she said a fraction more firmly, with a small yet blinding smile. ‘Yes.’

‘Great! Maybe you could persuade Zander to pose too. That bone structure and that smile... The delicious hint of wickedness... I’ve been trying to get him to sit for me for years, but to no avail.’

At the thought of it a shudder ran through him. ‘I have a global multi-billion-euro company to run,’ he said, hiding his recoil of horror behind an apologetic grin and a what-can-I-do? sort of a shrug. ‘I hate to disappoint you, but my spare time is limited.’

‘I’ll make it happen one day.’

No, she wouldn’t. Because Willow liked to get to know her subjects by delving deep. Apparently, it added a certain depth and luminosity to her work. But if she dug around in his psyche, she’d find nothing luminous, nothing good, and the sense of worthlessness that lurked inside him wasnotfor public display.

‘Don’t hold your breath.’

To his relief, the conversation then moved on to other less troublesome topics, but for some reason he couldn’t stop thinking about Mia’s smile when she’d agreed to sit for his sister-in-law. Something about it had felt important. He couldn’t put his finger on what.

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