The Mills & Boon Ultimate Christmas Collection. Kate Hardy
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Название: The Mills & Boon Ultimate Christmas Collection
Автор: Kate Hardy
Издательство: HarperCollins
Жанр: Контркультура
Серия: Mills & Boon e-Book Collections
isbn: 9781474095891
isbn:
And every man at the table studied Pixie as though she had landed on it wearing wings and carrying a flaming sword of justice.
‘If Apollo is unfaithful he has to suffer for it,’ Pixie completed with satisfaction, wondering why Apollo wasn’t looking impressed that she had finally spoken up and behaved as a real bride-to-be surely would have done.
Apollo compressed his firm sensual mouth and studied the table. In point of fact billionaires who married penniless women didn’t expect to suffer in any way when they finally got bored, least of all financially. Was this Pixie’s clever way of trying to increase her divorce settlement? It had to be the money she was thinking about, the profit, he reasoned and then he glanced up and Pixie nailed him with grey eyes like volcanic rock and he realised that the issue of actual fidelity was one he had completely forgotten to discuss. Breathing in deep, he suggested a break for coffee.
Shown into an empty office, he studied Pixie. ‘I wasn’t planning to be faithful,’ he admitted bluntly.
‘Then this arrangement dies now. I’m not willing to have sex with a man at the same time as he is having sex with other women!’ Pixie declared in a wrathful undertone of ringing disgust.
‘You’re forgetting that this is a business arrangement.’
‘Business arrangements don’t normally include sex!’ Pixie shot back at him defensively.
A faint line of colour accentuated Apollo’s supermodel cheekbones. ‘We have an extraordinary arrangement.’
‘But you don’t get to sleep with other women and me at the same time!’ Pixie told him doggedly. ‘That’s immoral and I refuse to be part of it.’
It was what was called an impasse and Apollo had very rarely met with anything similar. Just when he was within an ace of making the first move towards his goal of regaining his birthright too! He gritted his teeth. ‘I’ll try to be faithful,’ he framed in a roughened undertone of frustration.
But Pixie was seriously disappointed in Apollo. She hated cheats and had even less time for married men who played away. And Apollo might not love her and she might not love him but it was not unreasonable for her to expect him to treat her with respect.
‘It’s not going to look much like a real marriage if you’re still acting like the biggest man whore in Europe!’ Pixie flashed back at him, watching temper flare like burning flames in Apollo’s green eyes and watching him bite it back. And why had he bitten it back? Because she had only stated the truth, she suspected.
And eventually they signed the pre-nuptial agreement with an addendum that stated that the bridegroom would ‘endeavour’ to remain faithful but relations were strained right round the table, both legal teams well aware that wedding fever was at a low ebb just at that moment. Apollo was merely relieved by the knowledge that he was flying out to Athens that evening. He was also reluctantly recalling that Vito had warned him that Pixie could be hot-headed and difficult and wondering if only his haste had persuaded him to overlook that distinct drawback. What else could it have been?
But how could she be so naïve and unreasonable as to demand fidelity from him? He knew what he was, hell, even she knew what he was! But he had promised to try and he would try because he stuck to his word, even if it choked him. And on some strange level he was conscious that her stance had made him respect her. She had standards and nothing he could offer would sway her from them.
PIXIE TWIRLED IN front of the full-length mirror and smiled hesitantly because her glossy reflection was unfamiliar. Having enjoyed the attentions of a make-up artist and a grooming day at a salon recommended by Holly, Pixie had never before enjoyed such a level of sophisticated presentation.
‘I really did think you’d choose to wear white,’ Holly confided.
‘White would be wasted on Apollo,’ Pixie replied, wrinkling her nose and making Holly laugh. ‘If I ever get to have a real wedding, I’ll wear white.’
‘I still can’t believe you’re marrying him. I was really shocked when Vito told me.’
Pixie sat down on the end of the bed and studied her linked hands. ‘There’s still stuff you don’t know about the deal I made with Apollo,’ she admitted uncomfortably because she could not bring herself to admit that sex and conception were involved, fearing that Holly would think badly of her for being so desperate that she would agree to a demand of that nature.
Yet while remaining fearful of the judgement of others, Pixie had made peace with that condition on her own behalf. She had always planned to become a mother some day, to have a child who was absolutely her own to love and nurture and protect. To fulfil that longing while married and to be assured of a future income with which to raise that child might yet prove to be the best chance she would ever get to have a baby and give it the happy childhood she had personally missed out on.
After all, she was no great shakes at dating, she acknowledged ruefully. She had always had to force herself out of the door to even socialise with men and the few she had taken the risk of spending time with had turned her off the notion entirely. Consequently she had decided that, left to her own devices, it was perfectly possible that she would’ve stayed single and alone and would never have had the opportunity to settle down with a partner and have a family. On that basis, she had decided that her agreement with Apollo Metraxis might well have advantages she had initially overlooked because, however briefly, she would get to experience being a wife and, hopefully, a mother.
Apollo had shared the test results that had come back on one of his calls from Athens. They were both healthy and normal as far as the entry-level testing they had had could establish. There was no obvious reason why they shouldn’t conceive as a couple. He was still rather cool and clipped with her in tone because she had not seen him since they had parted at odds after that legal meeting, but Pixie had no regrets on that score. His fidelity while they were trying to conceive, as far as she was concerned, was non-negotiable. It wasn’t much to ask, she reflected with faint bitterness and resentment; shouldn’t it be a simple question of respect and decency? Apollo couldn’t escape every moral obligation by throwing the ‘business arrangement’ label at her. But how hard would he ‘endeavour’ to meet her expectations? As a promise, it might well not be worth the paper it was written on.
‘Well, you’ve finally told me about Patrick and there can’t be anything worse than the mess he’s got himself into, so I fully understand why you’re doing this,’ Holly said, squeezing her friend’s shoulder soothingly. ‘But you should’ve come to me for help.’
‘Patrick’s my problem, not yours,’ Pixie pointed out with a hint of fierceness because her friend’s desire to be generous with her money seriously embarrassed her. ‘And this way I won’t owe anyone anything. Apollo needs me as much as I need him and I prefer it like that.’
‘It’s a pity he’s so…so…’ Holly struggled to find a word, her cheeks colouring because it was occurring to her that now Pixie was marrying Apollo, even though it wouldn’t be a proper marriage, possibly a little tact was required.
‘He’s been very good to Hector,’ Pixie murmured thoughtfully. ‘You know, rich or not, I don’t think Apollo had it easy growing up either. Five stepmothers…what must that have been like for a little boy?’
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