The Greek Billionaire's Secret Baby (Contemporary Romance) (15 page)

Lauren walked out in the living room but Alex had already retired into his study. He’d closed the door. That meant he was handling business.

She walked towards it and raised her hand to knock. Before striking the door, though, she lowered her hand. They’d shared an idyllic few days and some mind-blowing sex. But his family business had again reared its ugly head.

Her missionary father had been a workaholic. He’d never been around for her or her mother, breaking promise after promise when one of the members of his congregation would need him. His work, his calling, had always come first even to the point he’d risked death and lost.

But maybe she should try. Perhaps she did have weapons with which to fight. She opened the door and stepped inside.

Alex sat in his desk chair his head back and his eyes closed. They flew open as she dropped to her knees and forced his zipper.

“What?” He tried to push away her seeking hands.

She hadn’t fought for him last time but instead had run away. She’d let Theo win. Well, she wasn’t allowing that to happen this time.  She could reach Alex and allow him to find peace and solace with her.

He gave in to her roving hands, and edged forward as she drew forth his member.  Her lips encircled him and he jerked. She had the power to change things. No longer would she be passive. If she wanted business to be less of a priority, she had to step it up. But her reasons got lost as she lathed and sucked, lost in giving his man she loved the ultimate pleasure. He tried to make her stop, but she refused until he gave a great cry and she felt him shudder. Then, business forgotten, he cradled her into his arms and took her to bed.

*****

Chapter Eleven

Lauren awoke with a start the next morning. They’d made love all night. “Alex?” She wrapped a robe around her.  One glance around the living room told her he’d already left the hotel suite.

Disappointment filled her and she went to Nick’s crib and gazed at her son. He was awake and waving his fist in the air. “I see you’ve been a good boy and let mommy sleep for a little while longer while you amused yourself,” she said.

Nick’s eyes grew brighter and she picked him up. She rubbed his downy soft head. He’d lost all his birth hair and the new hair coming in showed he would have dark hair like his father’s.

“So what shall we do today?” Lauren asked her son. “It’s supposed to be gorgeous today so what about a long walk in Central Park this afternoon? How does that sound?”

Nick simply gurgled at her and Lauren smiled. “I love you too.” She gave him a kiss.

The morning disappeared fast and it was after a late lunch that Lauren finally decided to venture out for the walk. She readied the diaper bag and called the front desk to have her pram brought up from storage.

The knock on the door told her that it had arrived.

“Wonderful,” she said opening the door. “Thank you so much. It’s such a beautiful day and…”

She stopped short. Instead of the bellman with the pram, Theo Pappas stood there.

“Hello, Lauren,” Theo said. He did not wait for an invitation but simply stepped past her and into the foyer. “I hope you don’t mind that I’ve come to speak with you.”

Lauren eyed Theo warily and deliberately left the door to the suite open. She stepped toward where Nick wiggled and kicked on his activity blanket. “I do mind. This is not a good time. The baby and I are on our way out for a long walk.”

“Ah, the bastard Pappas,” Theo said. He walked slowly over to the child and bent over. “Babies are always such ugly little creatures, aren’t they? Faces only a mother could love. So disproportionate. Their little arms barely go over their heads. Yet you women seem to like having them. My wife has had four.”

Lauren reached down and picked Nick up. “We have places we need to be. If you would please excuse us, we need to reschedule.”

Theo straightened and his knee popped with an audible crack. His face then turned deadly serious. “Let’s get right to business. This whole unfortunate matter has dragged on past its prime. How much will it take?”

“Excuse me?”

Theo gestured to the sofas. “Please sit, Lauren. I’ve wasted enough time on you already and this time you are going to listen to what I have to say and heed my advice. Ah, here’s your pram. I’ll get it.”

Seeing her escape cut off as Theo tipped the bellman, Lauren sat. The bellman gave her a friendly wave as he left.

“I will give you five minutes,” Lauren said.

He chuckled, a deadly, sinister laugh of a man gone mad. “I am so sick of your repulsive spirit. No wonder you’ve whipped Alex. A man should not let a woman best him. My wife and mistress both learned that long ago.”

“Five minutes,” Lauren repeated.

“I’ll take as long as I need,” Theo said. His gaze narrowed sharply. “I’ve been dealing with the fallout from your actions long enough, so you can be on my timetable for once. I’d suggest you humor me.”

Despite her IBF training, Lauren bristled. “I don’t put much stock in humor. And this is my home, and here my time is my own. You do not control me.”

Theo gave a dry laugh designed to demean. “Such hackles. I assume they forgot to teach you some manners in the jungle or wherever you were living. And as for controlling you, I have no desire to control you. I only want what rightfully belongs to me. Half of Pappas Foods.”

Lauren suppressed her shiver as Theo put his cards on the table. So that’s what he was after. “I need to take my son on his walk.”

“Ah yes, your son.” Theo dragged the S on son and rolled his eyes heavenward. “Is that boy even truly a Pappas? Or is he just your meal ticket, a way to snare an extremely rich man who thinks with the wrong part of his overactive anatomy?”

Lauren stood up and Nick whimpered. “I will not tolerate this discussion. It is over. Either you leave or I will.”

Theo stepped towards Lauren, his body a deliberate block to her flight. “My dear stupid girl, I always have considered myself a reasonable man. I’d hate to start being otherwise now. Please sit back down. I’ve already had to use extreme measures to get you out of my life once. I don’t wish to have to use them again, or worse, have to up the ante.”

Lauren sat. “I do not give in to extortion.”

“Two chances to go and you refused,” Theo said with a bitter cluck of regret. “You were to rot in that jail.  Clever, calling Alex. I didn’t expect that. Why couldn’t you have taken the money and gone like a good girl? It would have solved so many problems.”

“That was you who set me up.”

“Of course.” Theo seemed quite pleased with himself.  “Someone has to save Alex from his idiocy and indiscretions. His father is too incapacitated to handle anything. Alex should not get all of Pappas. The other half is mine.”

Lauren tamed her hackles by stroking Nick’s back. She did not want her son to sense her growing agitation. As she figured, Theo wasn’t finished.

“We protect our family members and our family interests in whatever ways are necessary,” Theo added. “It’s not wise to cross me.”

“I have faced greater threats than you, Theo.”

“You don’t have Christopher to run to anymore and it’s not wise to underestimate me. I admit, I must give your female talents credit. You aren’t Christopher’s type of woman; yet, you managed to lure him with your worldly charms. You even had his child, thus ensuring your claim to the Pappas fortune. So since I cannot buy you out of his life anymore, perhaps I can finally convince to leave by telling you it’s the only way to save Alex. And your son.”

“Save Alex?”

“From himself from you. From losing the business he loves.  Do the right thing for once or I will.”

“You don’t scare me. I doubt Alex will scare either.”

“Then you are a fool.”

Fear began to claw at Lauren as Theo stepped toward her. “You may want to put the child away, Lauren.”

“Don’t do this, Theo.” Lauren stared at him. Was he truly for real? A look into his coal black eyes indicated he was deadly serious about whatever he had planned.

She leveled her chin so that she could stare straight at him. Her brain frantically tried to determine just what he was planning.

“Just stop, Theo. There is nothing you can do to me in New York City. This is not Mexico. You cannot have me jailed by bribing officials.”

“All the world’s a stage and we are merely players,” Theo quoted Shakespeare and glanced at his Rolex. “Time to get this show on the road. You have read
Othello
, have you not?”

“Years ago and what’s that got to do with anything?”

Although, she knew. Iago, the evilest villain in all of Shakespeare’s dramas. Oh God. She’d dealt with madmen before, but none like Theo. He advanced and towered over her. His voice was devoid of all emotion.

“Put the bastard down, Lauren. I don’t want to have to hurt it, but believe me, I have no problem doing so. That child means nothing to me but a means to an end.”

Lauren set Nick on the activity blanket.

“You are Alex’s weakness, and I cannot let him continue to indulge that weakness. He foolishly believes he loves you, even now after your vile betrayal. You have blinded him to his heritage and his family. We Greek men don’t marry for love. We marry Greek women who can provide us strong sons. And since you have refused to leave my cousin alone and have dug in your cat-like claws, you have left me no option.”

The IBF had taught her never to surrender unless it was the last resort, to always find the escape route if there was one. Theo’s hand snaked out, his fingers encircling her wrist like a vise. Although trained in martial arts, his actions tossed her off balance, and he crushed her to him. He turned so that his back was to the door. “Such sacrifices I have to make,” he hissed, before his cold and icy lips descended on hers.

Lauren bit him. She tasted blood and saw stars as his fist smashed into her ear. She clawed at him, but he slapped her again and bound her hands to her.

“You bitch,” he hissed, before grinding his lips on hers and forcing her to the couch. Her knee caught and she fell backward, his huge body falling into her.

She heard a door open and then…

“
Eleimosini
!” The curse word Alex shouted into the room resounded clearly through the huge expanse of the suite. Theo pushed Lauren away from him. Straightening he used the back of his hand to wipe his lips. She lay splayed on the sofa. She scrambled to her feet, grabbed Nick, and backed a safe distance away.

She’d just remembered the plot of Othello.

The scene played out in Technicolor slow motion.

“Cousin, I, she…” Theo began, his hands up in a gesture of innocence.

Alex’s fist flew into Theo’s nose, drawing a trickle of blood. His voice hissed out in a clear, pure unadulterated rage. “I will deal with you, cousin, later.”

“She is a whore.” Theo did not give up and continued his platform of persuasion as he reached for a handkerchief. He mopped his nose. “Look at her face. See how red it is? From brother to brother to cousin. Can she not keep her legs closed? She came after me, cousin. I would never dishonor you!”

“Go!” Alex shouted. His finger betrayed his shakiness as he pointed toward the open door.

Theo used one hand to hold the handkerchief and the other one straightened his tie. “I will go, Alex. Whore,” he shot at Lauren.

Lauren clutched Nick to her chest and ran her fingers over his downy hair. Dear Lord. An unbearable silence ensued until the door slammed behind Theo. Lauren involuntarily flinched at the sound.

“Alex, it’s not what you think…”

Alex held up his hand, stopping her. His tone was resigned and drained. “You finish Christopher’s work. You visit his grave. You hold his son. You betrayed me once, Lauren. I come in and see with my own eyes what can only be a kiss between you and my cousin. That was not a platonic kiss.”

All the world’s a stage
…

Lauren’s lower lip quivered. A weak woman would shout, “Are you blind? Are you stupid? Can’t you see the truth? He had me jailed! He hates me!”

A weak woman would protest.

A strong woman would fight. Lauren squared her shoulders and looked Alex straight in the eye. He flinched and turned away. Still, she continued.

“Look at my face Alex. See the blood on my lips? I’ve told you about Theo’s lies before. I never slept with your brother. I never once betrayed you. Nick is yours. Your son. Not Christopher’s. Even your mother knows the truth. Ask her. Take those seeds of doubt and investigate them. Discover the truth before it is too late.”

The sound from Alex’s mouth was harsh and hollow. “The truth? After all this time you claim Nick is my son? If so, then you’ve been lying to me. What your definition of truth, Lauren? I find that I can believe nothing that you tell me. You shattered my trust the day I saw you with Christopher, just like I saw you with Theo today. I will marry you as planned so that Christopher’s child will have his name. After that, I am going to go to Greece. Alone. I can’t take any more of this.”

“Alex!” The cry wrenched from Lauren’s soul. “You will not leave me and Nick.”
Not when I love you. Not when what I speak is true
.