Page 12 of The Heir Affair (Claimed by a Greek #1)

‘What do you mean , you want me to fix it? You fix it. The cruise-ship business was your baby…’

Xander splashed ouzo into two shot glasses and handed his irate brother one. He needed something stronger than water right now. A lot stronger.

‘And now I have another baby to worry about…’ he offered, before downing the traditional liquor in one gulp.

The aniseed burned his throat. Normally he would dilute the aperitif with water and ice, but right now he needed it neat.

His insides were churning, his emotions in turmoil, ever since he had spotted Poppy from the car.

Tomorrow he would have to figure out how to proceed—how to make the woman who was having his child do as he asked.

But tonight, he was forced to confront one essential truth.

Something had happened on that day in April, in Parádeisos, something more than just that instant physical connection that had made him act out of character right from the moment she had approached him on the beach and begged for a lift to his own island, her brown eyes glowing with purpose and passion.

His brother continued to scowl. ‘Why are you so positive the baby is yours? I’d want proof.’

He sighed. His brother was the ultimate cynic, a man who believed in nothing and no one—and was reckless and impulsive and followed his passions without regrets.

But then Theo had never known the stability of family life.

And those feral instincts had served them both well on the streets of Athens.

Domesticating Theo was an impossibility—which was why Xander had offered himself as Princess Freya’s groom.

At least, that was what he’d told himself at the time.

But having Poppy in his arms again, her lips softening under his mouth, her tongue tangling with his, had told a different story—of why he might have decided to finally agree to Andreas’ suggestion of an arranged marriage, the week after that day on Parádeisos.

Something about his reaction to Poppy had unsettled him.

Wasn’t that why he had prevented her from blurting out her name to him on the dock?

Why he’d been so determined to leave that night, and never look back again?

No one had ever made him feel the way she had that day. As if his dreams had always been too small, his ambitions for his life too pragmatic. She’d made him want for fanciful things, hope for a connection that could never be real, not for a man like him.

And now she was back and unsettling him all over again. But this time, they had a connection that he would never be able to break, never be able to walk away from. And that concerned him even more.

How would he ever get over her now? How could he ever get his life back on track? Back into that safe, secure place where he was immune to the opinions and approval of others?

‘It will be easier to test the DNA once the child is born. You know that,’ Xander murmured, even though he didn’t need proof.

Poppy hadn’t tried to blackmail him, hadn’t even asked for money, because that just wasn’t who she was—which only made her more disturbing to his peace of mind.

And more destructive to the wall he had never let anyone breach—least of all a wide-eyed girl with notions of romance and intimacy.

He poured himself another shot, but his brother grabbed the bottle neck.

‘Slow down on the ouzo,’ he said. He yanked the bottle out of Xander’s hand and slammed it onto the bar. ‘You need to tell me what exactly you’re expecting me to do to fix the situation with Prince Andreas and his daughter. Because I’ve never even met them.’

Xander flicked open the buttons of his shirt, because the neckline was starting to strangle him. And tried to get his aching brain to engage. But the truth was, he had no plan—nor did he have the bandwidth at the moment to even care about the problems his broken engagement was going to cause.

He’d seen the appalled look on Poppy’s face when he’d described his non-relationship to Princess Freya, the practical reasons for their marriage.

And for a moment she had made him feel ashamed.

Damn her. He was a pragmatic, ambitious businessman, and there was nothing wrong with that.

She had no right to judge him, when she knew nothing of the struggles he had had to overcome.

He swallowed, a ball of anger forming in his throat. Why was he defending decisions he had made for the right reasons in his own head? He forced himself to think about the problem of Freya and not think about Poppy’s shocked expression.

‘Contact the Palace tonight,’ he said. He glanced at his watch. And cursed—it was close to midnight. ‘You’ll have to contact them tomorrow. Tell them the engagement is off. And see if you can find a way to make the deal regardless. Perhaps we could lease the land, instead of purchasing it.’

Theo’s frown deepened. ‘That’s it? That’s all you’ve got? We’ve sunk close to a quarter of our capital into this venture. The first liner will be finished by the end of next year and now we’ve got nowhere to harbour the damn thing.’ He huffed. ‘Perhaps we should just sell the whole operation.’

‘No,’ Xander snarled back. ‘We’re not doing that.’

‘Why not? What the hell is the big deal with the cruise line anyway?’

He glared at his brother. Angry that he was going to be forced to admit what he’d skated around for over two years, while he’d nurtured this part of the business without his brother’s input. Or support.

‘We need this to finally escape from our past…’ he managed, reaching for the bottle again and topping up his glass without his brother’s interference. Because his brother was gaping at him as if he had lost his mind.

‘What the hell are you talking about?’ Theo said, sounding more confused than angry now.

‘I can still smell it sometimes,’ Xander murmured.

‘Stale urine, rotting garbage, cheap liquor…’ He contemplated his glass, the clear ouzo bought from the finest distillery in Greece somehow mocking him.

‘Those nights, when we would be sleeping in doorways, hiding… That’s what I remember most. The stench.

The reek of failure, of despair, of desperation.

It has a smell. And I don’t want to smell it on myself any more. ’

Then maybe he wouldn’t still be woken at night by the smell of his own fear. The stale sweat of his nightmares. Those terrifying anxiety dreams, that he wouldn’t be strong enough to save his brother, to save himself. To keep them together. To make them a family.

The cruise line had been his way of finally rising above the last echoes of that grasping poverty.

The container business had done so much for them both.

It was what they had always known from those first days as kids, running errands on the docks.

But their ships were still anchored in the areas of ports hidden from view, part of an industrial infrastructure that had no status, no class.

Theo stared at him. But instead of the contempt, maybe even the cynical mockery he had expected to see when he revealed the true reason he had invested so much in the cruise business, what he saw was shock. And sadness.

His brother released a heavy breath. ‘Okay, Xander,’ he said, his voice gruff with a depth of emotion he never usually revealed to anyone. ‘If that’s the way you feel. We’ll fix this.’

Theo placed his still full shot glass on the bar. Then clasped Xander’s shoulder. ‘ I’ll fix this. You have my word.’ His lips quirked into a rueful smile, breaking the tension. ‘But I’m going to handle it my way. And you’re not going to interfere. You okay with that?’

Xander didn’t like the sound of that. Given Theo’s propensity to think outside the box, and his willingness to break the rules if he couldn’t bend them, his solution to the problem of how to get a new land deal with Andreas was likely to be drastic and quite possibly unethical.

But, oddly, Xander found that he wanted his brother to take the reins now, and not just because he doubted Andreas would be receptive to any overtures from him after he had disrespected his daughter.

It was past time Theo took more interest in this side of the business.

They couldn’t continue to grow as a company restricting themselves to the container business.

And Xander’s full attention needed to be on handling his volatile reaction to the woman now fast asleep in the Sunrise Suite—and not micromanaging his brother.

He had to find a way to compartmentalise his feelings for Poppy, something he hadn’t been able to do even before he’d found her again and discovered they now shared a life-long commitment.

‘Whatever you need to do, do it. You have my full support,’ Xander said, forcing himself to let go of control.

Theo could be wild, but he was also smart and shrewd, and his ruthless survival instinct would mean he would find a solution. Maybe it would not be one Xander would have chosen, but he would have to trust his brother.

‘Okay. I’ll head back to Galicos tonight and stay at the Grande,’ Theo said, mentioning the hotel where they’d hired out the top floor so they had a business base in the principality—and somewhere to host the engagement party that wasn’t happening.

Xander winced. ‘We should cancel next week’s event,’ he murmured. ‘I’ll let Lydia know,’ he said, mentioning his assistant in Athens who was handling the arrangements.

‘Don’t worry about any of that. I said I’ll deal with it and I will.’ Theo’s rueful smile widened. ‘You need to concentrate on what you’re gonna do about your pregnant mistress.’

‘She’s not my mistress,’ Xander replied. But even as he denied it, the wave of heat swept through him again at the memory of Poppy’s astonished gasp before her lips softened beneath his.

‘Yeah, right,’ Theo said, not looking convinced. ‘See you around, Alex .’ He sent him a jaunty salute before he strolled out of the lounge.