‘Any decisions made will, of course, be reached by mutual agreement.’
‘Oh, please.’ Tina raked his features with evident cynicism. ‘Give me a break.’ Her gaze speared his. ‘How long will it take your parents to lodge an unfit parent complaint after the birth?’ She closed her eyes, then opened them. ‘Deny that’s the master plan.’
A muscle tensed at the edge of his jaw. ‘I doubt anything of the sort has entered Stacey’s mind.’
‘But it will, eventually.’
Her fierceness and her fragility were a contradiction in terms, something he found intriguing.
‘When I return to work and put the babe into a day-care nursery?’ She felt as if she were on a runaway train. ‘Employ sitters on the rare occasion I feel the need to socialise?’
‘It’s my parents’ intention to provide handsomely for the child’s welfare.’ He waited a beat. ‘The ball is in your court. Name your terms.’
‘And they’ll be met?’ She lifted a hand and ran it wearily over her hair. ‘Thanks, but no, thanks.’
He’d tabled each stumbling block and had a strategy for every one of them. It was just a matter of time…‘Perhaps you’d care to elaborate why?’
‘I don’t see how a one-night stand qualifies the right for the child to assume its deceased father’s name.’ If she’d hoped to shock, she gained no visible reaction from his expression. ‘Especially when I had no intention of making it my own.’
Nic’s eyes became hooded. ‘Vasili meant nothing to you?’
Tina took her time with the question. ‘We played the boyfriend/girlfriend game.’ She paused fractionally. ‘It was…convenient. For each of us.’ She had no obligation to relay why.
‘The age difference didn’t bother you?’
Her chin tilted a little and her eyes acquired a dangerous gleam. ‘Are you implying Vasili was my toy boy? We were friends.’
‘Yet you moved in with him.’
Explanations tended to become complicated. Yet Nic Leandros was entitled. How else would her decision make any sense?
‘I sold my apartment,’ Tina defended. ‘I was in negotiations to buy another. Vasili suggested I move in with him instead of securing a hotel room or renting short-term.’ It had seemed so logical at the time, and she’d insisted on contributing towards food and utilities.
‘And shared his bed,’ Nic accorded in a hateful drawl.
Her chin tilted a little, and her eyes blazed green fire. ‘Once.’
Dammit, that was all it took. Once. A little too much champagne, a friendly kiss that had become more, and somehow they’d ended up in the same bed.
She dimly remembered voicing a half-hearted protest as instinctive wisdom had fought against the persuasiveness of Vasili’s mouth, his hands. Then it had been too late. The sex had been less than noteworthy. Not that she’d had much experience to compare it with.
All the pent-up emotion of the past few weeks caught up with her. ‘I should disillusion your mother…sorry, stepmother?’ she offered the correction. ‘Your father? Paint a false picture of a relationship that was only friendship?’ She was on a roll, unable to stop. ‘Enlighten them that the conception of their coveted grandchild was a mistake? Dammit,’ she said forcefully, ‘a meaningless, forgettable mistake.’ She wanted to hit something, throw something. Anything to rid the impossible anger that burned within…at herself, for being so senseless.
‘Obviously there were no precautions taken.’
Tina heard the words, and only just refrained from hitting the man who uttered them. ‘Obviously.’
‘Yet you’ve taken no steps to abort the foetus.’
She drew in a sharp breath and pressed a protective hand to her waist. ‘No.’
Nic’s eyes narrowed. ‘Would you have, if my parents had been unaware of the pregnancy?’
Tina didn’t hesitate. ‘No.’
The insistent ring of a cellphone sounded loud in the silence of the room, and Tina watched as he withdrew the unit, checked the caller ID, and registered his irritation as he thrust the cellphone back into his jacket pocket.
‘Have you eaten?’
Her eyes widened. ‘Excuse me?’
‘Dinner.’ His voice held an element of impatience.
He was talking of food? ‘I don’t see that’s a relevant question.’
‘It’s relevant if you haven’t eaten.’
‘Why?’
‘I’m suggesting we share a meal.’
‘Again…why?’
She irritated and fascinated him at the same time. She was also the first woman in a long time to refuse his invitation.
‘Go change. I’ll make a reservation.’
Tina closed her eyes, then opened them and shot him a fierce glare. ‘Are you usually this dictatorial?’
He extracted his cellphone, and hit a speed-dial button. ‘I’m known to get what I want.’
‘Really?’ She was singularly unimpressed. And remained so at the ease with which he secured a table.
Nic regarded her steadily. ‘You want to argue with me?’
‘Heaven forbid any female would dare,’ Tina offered facetiously, and caught a glimpse of something that was almost humour in those dark eyes.
‘You being an exception?’
‘Count on it.’ She glared at him, then she crossed to the door. ‘I want you to leave.’
His expression remained unchanged, except there was a sense of innate power, a strength of will, evident beneath the surface.
Her gaze arrowed in on his, and didn’t waver. She could feel her spine stiffen…literally. ‘I don’t want to share a meal with you.’
‘Same destination,’ Nic stated. ‘Separate cars.’
‘That’s a persuasive ploy?’
‘A compromise. It’s almost seven, neither of us have eaten, and we’ve yet to reach a satisfactory resolution.’
‘My decision is made.’
‘One that concerns you. However, there’s a child’s life at stake. Your child.’ He paused slightly. ‘But indisputably also my brother’s child.’
She was hungry. In the past few days she’d developed a heightened sensitivity to the smell of food. The thought of ordering a meal of her choice that she didn’t need to prepare or cook was enticing. Besides, it was clear Nic Leandros wouldn’t let up any time soon.
‘Go wait outside while I change.’
‘And have you lock the door behind me?’ His expression held wry cynicism. ‘Collect what clothes you need and get dressed in the en suite.’
She wanted to kill him…or at best do him physical harm. Yet it was no contest. A venue they drove to in separate cars was preferable to the intimacy of a hotel suite.
At least she’d be free to walk out of a restaurant undeterred. Whereas here it would be a different matter entirely. And, while his presence was unlikely to pose a threat, she had the distinct feeling he’d play any game by his own rules.
‘There’s a problem?’
Tina sent him a scathing glare. ‘I’m deciding what method I should use to render