Page 25 of The Tycoon’s Affair: Tempted By Desire

Alexio faced her across the expanse of the beautiful first-floor apartment living room, overlooking the Jardin du Luxembourg.

He was dressed in a steel-grey shirt and black trousers and Sidonie didn’t like the way she was so aware of his physicality.

The way she became even more aware of it each day as she grew stronger.

Alexio’s voice was low, deep, ‘I should have known Tante Josephine couldn’t keep it quiet. I asked her not to say anything until you’d had a few more days’ rest. But I didn’t want her to be worried with you out of work.’

Sidonie struggled to take this in—along with the reminder that Alexio and Tante Josephine seemed to have forged a mutual admiration society.

Sidonie had been in this apartment, which Alexio was renting, for almost a week now.

A week of Alexio being cool and solicitous.

The consummate host. Paying for a nurse to come every day to check on Sidonie.

Taking her outside to the Jardin du Luxembourg across the road to get some air.

He was seemingly unperturbed by her continued campaign of obdurate silence, which was more due to her wish to avoid this reckoning and his probing gaze than to anything else.

Her searing anger had been proving hard to hang onto, as if merely being in his presence on a daily basis was wearing away at it.

Except now it was back, and Sidonie welcomed it.

Her aunt had just left, to be taken home by Alexio’s driver, but before she’d gone she’d spilled her secret.

Sidonie had marched straight into Alexio’s office without knocking and declared, ‘We need to talk.’

He’d looked up from his papers and sat back, arching a brow. ‘ Now you’re ready to talk?’

Before she’d had time to regret her impetuous action Sidonie had turned on her heel and walked into the vast living room, not liking how intimate the office space had felt.

She had also been very aware that his assistant, who was there every day, had left.

Until now she’d been a master at staying out of Alexio’s way in the spacious apartment.

Sidonie crossed her arms over her chest and almost winced at how sensitive her breasts were. They had grown bigger. That awareness made her voice curt.

‘Answer my question.’

Alexio looked as immovable as a rock, tall and intimidating. At that very moment Sidonie had a vivid memory of lying naked beneath him, spreading her legs wide to accommodate his body, feeling the bold thrust of his arousal against her slick body. Her legs wobbled alarmingly but she held firm.

Thankfully Alexio spoke before Sidonie’s wayward memory could take over completely.

‘I have paid off all of the debts and ensured that your aunt’s mortgage has been paid in full.’

The sheer ease with which he’d been able to magic their debts away made her feel disorientated.

‘How dare you?’

Sidonie was trembling. But she was afraid it was more to do with his proximity than her anger.

Alexio’s eyes narrowed on her. ‘I dare because you are carrying my child and we are now family. Tante Josephine is as much my responsibility as you are—and the baby.’

Sidonie’s arms grew so tight she could feel her nails digging into her skin.

She spoke from a deep well of hurt and rejection at this attempt to muscle into their lives.

‘We are not your responsibility. I never came to you. I want nothing from you. As soon as I’m feeling better I will go and find work again and pay you back what we owe. ’

Alexio’s mouth went into a bitter line. ‘I think you’ve more than proved your point, Sid. You’d prefer to put our child’s health in jeopardy in order to save your pride.’

A lurch of hurt emotion rose up, strangling Sidonie for a moment. Then his words our child and Sid impacted.

When she’d gathered herself she said with quiet ferocity, ‘Do not call me that. My name is Sidonie. And the last thing I want to do is put my child in danger. I will keep working because, in case you’ve forgotten, you called me a hustler and I would prefer to work than to be accused of being that again. ’

To her horror, Sidonie’s voice had cracked on the last words and she turned now, facing blindly away from Alexio, breathing harshly, emotion getting the better of her.

She heard him move behind her and said rawly, ‘Don’t come near me.’

He stopped. Tears stung at Sidonie’s eyes; her throat ached. She hated him. And she repeated this to herself as she struggled to regain her equilibrium.

His voice came from behind her, tight. ‘Sidonie, we need to talk about this... I recognise that I was too hasty that day. I didn’t give you a chance to explain.’

Sidonie let out a half-choked laugh at that understatement and said bitterly, ‘No, you’d obviously made up your mind and couldn’t wait to see the back of me.’

She heard him sigh. The shadows outside were lengthening into dusk. His voice was gruffer now. ‘The chef has left some food for us. Let’s eat and then we can talk...okay?’

Like a coward, she felt herself wanting to make up some excuse, say that she was too tired, but in truth she felt fine. She turned round, arms still crossed, and faced him. His eyes were intense and her skin prickled. She couldn’t keep putting off the conversation.

‘Okay, fine.’

Within minutes Alexio was serving them both a light chicken casserole in the dining room off the kitchen area. They ate in silence, but tension was mounting inside Sidonie as she tried to avoid looking at Alexio’s large hands and remembering how they’d felt on her skin.

Sitting here eating like this was bringing back memories of that first night in London.

The sheer fizzing exhilaration of anticipation.

And as if her body was some dumb appendage—an assortment of limbs that wasn’t attached to her brain—that same fizzing anticipation was rushing through her right now. Gathering force.

She was uncomfortably aware of every erogenous zone. Her breasts felt tender, sensitive. Swollen. She couldn’t stop imagining Alexio’s mouth lowering towards one thrusting, naked peak...

With a spurt of agitation, Sidonie let her knife drop with a clatter to the plate. Alexio looked up, that gaze narrowed on her flushed face.

Sidonie stood up, feeling feverish. ‘I’ve had enough. Food.’ God . She couldn’t even articulate a sentence.

Alexio looked as cool as a cucumber while Sidonie felt a bead of sweat trickle between her breasts.

He wiped his mouth with his napkin and said, ‘Coffee?’

Sidonie seized on the chance to escape that incisive gaze and nodded her head. ‘Some herbal tea, maybe...the housekeeper brought some today.’

Alexio got up and left the room. Cursing herself for this very unwelcome resurgence of desire, Sidonie went back into the drawing room to stand at the window. Praying for control. Praying that the butterflies in her belly would cease.

She put her hand on her belly and was half frowning at how strong the sensation was when she suddenly realised something. She gasped out loud.

A voice came from behind her, concerned. ‘What is it?’

Sidonie whirled around, alight with her discovery for a moment, forgetting everything else. ‘For a few days I’ve been feeling butterflies, but I thought it was—’

She stopped dead, because she’d been about to blurt out just your effect on me .

She blushed and said, ‘It’s the baby. I can feel the baby moving...’

Alexio was holding out a cup towards her and she grabbed it before she could see the effect of her words on his face.

She had a sudden image of one of his hands splayed across her belly and said quickly, ‘It’s not strong enough yet for anyone else to feel...’

Sidonie took the cup and moved away, taking a sip to hide her burning face.

Alexio gritted his jaw at how Sidonie moved so skittishly away from him, that golden hair looking so much shinier and thicker now, down and shielding her face from him.

In the space of only a few days of rest and being well fed she was already looking so much better.

The hollows of her cheeks were filling out.

He felt as if he was going to snap soon with the tension building inside him. With every second that passed he wanted to turn into a feral animal and strip Sidonie bare and take her, sating himself and drowning out the recriminatory voices in his head.

But he couldn’t. She was pregnant. And she hated his guts.

She looked incredibly young now, in leggings and a loose T-shirt. Of course she’d refused his offers to get her some clothes, so her Tante Josephine had brought her some.

When he could finally move his gaze up from those slim shapely legs and over her belly, hidden under the loose material, to her face, she was looking at him with that aquamarine gaze, something determined in their depths.

‘Why did you have me investigated?’

Alexio put down his coffee cup onto a nearby table. Sidonie had her hands wrapped tightly around her own mug.

He looked into her eyes. He owed her this.

‘Because what happened between us made me nervous. Because I’d never taken a woman to Santorini before. Because for my whole life I’ve been cynical and when I was with you I forgot to be. And it freaked me out enough to think that by investigating you I’d still be in control.’