Greek Affairs: Tempted by the Tycoons: The Greek Tycoon's Convenient Bride / The Greek Tycoon's Unexpected Wife / The Greek Tycoon's Secret Heir. Кейт Хьюит

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      And, most importantly, what was going to happen?

      Theo watched her, his eyes bright. Rhiannon tried not to let his stare unnerve her, even though her throat was dry, and she felt as if she would choke on her own words.

      Finally Lukas returned, his face blank. ‘Rhiannon, may I speak with you? In the study.’

      ‘You can say it here,’ Theo protested, his tone angry even though his words were halting. ‘Is Christos the father?’

      ‘I will speak to Rhiannon first. Excuse us, Papa.’

      Woodenly Rhiannon followed him to a dark, wood-panelled room, with bookshelves lining all the walls except for a picture window that looked out directly onto a rocky outcropping, an unforgiving line of shore.

      ‘That was Christos on your phone, wasn’t it?’ she said into the silence. ‘Did he say …?’

      ‘Yes, he did.’ Lukas thrust his hands deep in his trouser pockets. ‘He admitted everything. Meeting Leanne, using my name, taking her to Naxos. He repeated the story you told me almost exactly, and I hadn’t even told him what you’d said.’

      ‘It’s not as if he would make it up,’ Rhiannon said, her voice sounding stilted, unnatural. Why did this hurt? she wondered. It was no more than either of them had expected.

      ‘I wouldn’t put anything past Christos. He was adamant, in fact, that he had used protection, but mistakes can happen.’

      ‘Annabel is not a mistake!’ Rhiannon looked up, a fierce golden light in her eyes. She realised she was trembling.

      ‘Not to you, perhaps,’ Lukas agreed. ‘But to Christos she is nothing more than that. As soon as possible I will begin adoption proceedings. Christos is delighted with the solution.’ His mouth tightened briefly, and Rhiannon had a flickering of perception that Christos was not the kind of person who expressed his delight. No doubt he’d expected Lukas to take care of his child … his bastard. Thought it was Lukas’s responsibility, as Lukas himself did.

      ‘Obviously such action will require help on your part. As Annabel’s current legal guardian, you will have to go through court to sign such rights over to me.’

      Rhiannon stiffened. ‘I told you, I’m staying in her life. I’m not signing anything over.’

      Lukas sighed. ‘Rhiannon, the last thing I want is a custody case. But Annabel is my great-niece—my blood relation.’

      ‘Blood is so important to you?’

      ‘Of course it is!’

      Rhiannon shook her head, refusing to admit just how backed into a corner she was. ‘Christos hasn’t taken a paternity test yet—’

      ‘No, but it is a mere formality now. He will take one when he returns to Athens.’

      ‘Then we have a little time to work something out,’ Rhiannon said. She drew herself up, met his gaze full-on. ‘Because I don’t want a court case either, Lukas, but I’m not bowing out simply because you feel you have more rights. Leanne didn’t come to you when she thought you were the father. She came to me. That says something.’

      ‘Oh?’ Lukas was still—dangerously so. Rhiannon already knew what ran deep beneath those still waters. His eyes were a lethal silver, his expression like that of a predator right before it snapped open its jaws, devoured its prey. ‘What does it say to you?’

      ‘That Leanne trusted me to love Annabel.’

      ‘Yet you were going to give her away.’

      She refused to be drawn. ‘I’ve already explained why I was prepared to do that—and, as I’ve said, things are different now. I’m staying.’

      Lukas raised his eyebrows. ‘For ever?’

      Rhiannon swallowed. For ever was a long time. Yet she could hardly walk away when Annabel was older and more attached to her. She could hardly walk away at all.

      ‘You haven’t thought this through, have you, Rhiannon?’ Lukas jeered softly. ‘You’re full of big ideas about loving Annabel, but you’re not quite sure how it works out in the details. The duties.’

      ‘I …’

      ‘Because if you want to be her mother, if you want to love her, then you have to stay. You’ll have to make your home in Greece. You’ll have to live in the Petrakides pocket. You’ll have to—’ he finished with heavy emphasis ‘—become my responsibility … if I’m prepared to accept it.’

      Rhiannon’s mouth opened, and after a moment of silent struggling she finally choked out, ‘I will never, ever, be someone’s responsibility again.’

      ‘It’s not your choice.’

      ‘It is my choice,’ she countered fiercely. ‘And just because you have an overdeveloped sense of what you’re required to do in life it doesn’t mean I have to fall neatly in with those plans! I’ll stay in Annabel’s life, but on my own terms, and not in “the Petrakides pocket”, as you so snidely put it! I will provide for myself, live by myself, be completely independent …’ She trailed off, running out of self-righteous steam at his look of blatant disbelief.

      ‘That,’ he said with quiet, final derision, ‘is not going to happen. Do you actually think for one second that you can set up house somewhere and have me visit at weekends? My dreaded sense of duty requires a bit more action than that.’

      Rhiannon pushed her hands through her hair. She wanted to slow down her whirling mind—knew she couldn’t think through real solutions when her head felt as if it was spinning and her heart burned within her. ‘I could be her nanny …’

      ‘That is not your decision to make.’

      ‘You can’t cut me out of her life like this!’ Rhiannon cried, her voice jagged, desperate.

      ‘I can do whatever I want,’ Lukas said bluntly. ‘If you want to drag this through court, you can. But you will be bankrupted and vilified in the process. I will win any case, Rhiannon. Be assured.’

      ‘Would you be so cruel?’ she whispered, and he shrugged.

      ‘I have Annabel’s best interests at heart. I want to provide her with a secure, stable environment, and frankly I’m not sure you fit into that picture.’

      Rhiannon shook her head. ‘I’m not leaving until Christos takes the paternity test. We have some time to think of a plan that is beneficial to everyone.’

      Lukas nodded brusquely, his face tight. ‘Very well. We can speak about this later.’

      Rhiannon nodded. She would have to think of a better game plan—a clearer idea of just how she could remain in Annabel’s life without being beholden to Lukas Petrakides. How he would let her.

      Right now, it seemed impossible.

      She opened the study door, saw Theo outside, and realised he’d probably heard every word. She couldn’t summon enough emotional energy to care. Jerking her head СКАЧАТЬ