shouldn’t believe him?’ she challenged. ‘That he was lying to me? He was my father—’
‘Whereas I was only the man you slept with. The man you gave your virginity to.’ His mouth curved cynically and Iolanthe battled a rising wave of fury.
‘And you made it very clear what you thought of that ill-fated gift,’ she snapped. ‘Trust me, I don’t regret anything more.’
‘I can say the same.’
‘Well, then.’ She was breathing heavily, her chest rising and falling in agitated breaths as she glared at him. This was not the way she’d wanted to conduct this meeting.
‘Well, then,’ Alekos repeated mockingly. He inclined his head, that cynical smile still touching his lips. ‘It seems we have nothing more to say to one another.’
‘But we do.’ Iolanthe glared at him in frustration. ‘You can’t do this, Alekos—’
‘So you’ve said before, but you’ll find that I can.’
‘Why?’ She heard the ragged note of tears in her voice and swallowed it down. She had no time for tears, and she was quite sure Alekos didn’t either. Not hers, anyway. ‘Why destroy my father’s company, my son’s livelihood, for something that happened years and years ago? So he designed something you were trying to. He beat you. Can’t you just let it go?’
‘Yes, he beat me,’ Alekos returned, a savage note entering his voice. ‘He did that.’
Iolanthe eyed him uncertainly. ‘Why are you so angry still?’
His face cleared of emotion, his voice toneless when he spoke. ‘In any case, it’s hardly as if you’ll be out on the street. I estimate that your forty per cent, when liquidated, will bring in enough profit to leave you far from destitute.’
‘I don’t want money,’ Iolanthe cried. ‘I want my father’s company for my son. It’s his birthright, Alekos—’
‘Then perhaps your husband should have taken better care of it.’
He was so implacable, so terribly cold. ‘Damn you,’ Iolanthe choked, and she pressed her fist to her lips as she struggled for control. She had to tell Alekos about Niko. Even now, especially now, she shrank from the idea, from the prospect of Alekos’s disbelief or, far worse, his rejection of his son.
Or, she acknowledged sickly, an even more terrifying possibility...that Alekos would want some say in his son’s life. In her life.
She didn’t know which option scared her the most. And so she stayed silent, her back to Alekos, her fist still pressed to her mouth as she drew several deep breaths.
‘I really don’t see why you care so much,’ Alekos said and she stiffened. ‘Your son is what? Seven? Eight?’
‘Nine,’ Iolanthe whispered.
‘A child,’ Alekos stated. ‘He will be well provided for with the money that remains. You don’t need to worry about that. Or is it just that you don’t want me to have it?’
Iolanthe turned around slowly. ‘I don’t want you to destroy it,’ she clarified. ‘Can’t you understand that?’
Alekos stared at her, unmoved. ‘No, I can’t. It isn’t as if it was your business. All it did was fund your lifestyle.’
Iolanthe drew back, stung by the scornful words. ‘My lifestyle?’ she repeated. ‘And you know so much about that?’
He shrugged. ‘A town house in the Plaka, a private island...’
Iolanthe let out a hollow laugh. ‘You are listing my husband’s assets, not my lifestyle.’
Alekos folded his arms. ‘All I’m saying is you won’t be inconvenienced. Your lifestyle won’t change, or at least not too much.’
She stared at him in disbelief. ‘My husband is dead, his company is about to be destroyed, and you think my lifestyle won’t change? You are either the most unintelligent or the most insensitive man I’ve ever met. Maybe both.’
‘I’m sorry.’ A muscle flickered in his jaw before he set it. ‘I was not referring to the death of your husband. Just the company.’
‘Oh, okay. That’s fine, then.’ Iolanthe let out another laugh, this one ragged. Alekos had no idea about her life, how quiet and simple it had been. Clearly he thought she was some pampered princess, a spoilt heiress enjoying society life.
How could she tell Alekos about Niko? Yet how could she not? Petra Innovation was everything to Niko. He lived for the day he’d be able to take the helm. But what if telling Alekos the truth didn’t change his mind?
And what if it did?
‘It seems there is nothing more to say,’ Alekos said flatly.
Iolanthe took a deep breath. ‘Actually, Alekos, there is.’ Another breath to fill her lungs; she felt as if she were jumping off a cliff, stepping out into thin air. How long would she freefall for? And how hard would her landing be? ‘Niko isn’t Lukas Callos’s son, Alekos. He’s yours.’
ALEKOS HEARD THE words as if from a great distance. They echoed in his head as he stared at her in nonplussed confusion. Finally he managed, ‘You must really be desperate.’
She flinched, her eyes flashing, courage and fear together. ‘You don’t believe me.’
‘Why should I?’
‘Why would I lie? It’s easy enough to prove.’
Her calm certainty unnerved him as much as her initial statement had left him reeling. ‘You mean a paternity test.’
Silver eyes flashed again, and she pressed her lips together. ‘That’s exactly what I mean.’
For a few seconds Alekos was left completely speechless. ‘Why would you keep such a thing from me?’ he finally asked, his voice low and vibrating with suppressed emotion—far too much emotion to process. He didn’t know what to feel. Anger at Iolanthe for keeping something this huge from him? Wonder that he had a child? Incredulity was easier.
‘I tried to tell you back then,’ Iolanthe answered. Her voice shook but she kept his gaze. ‘When I came to your flat.’
‘You tried? You didn’t say anything of the sort!’ He took a deep breath, recalling that brief, tense interview. He’d been so angry, still smarting from her father’s shameful treatment of him, suspecting her part in the deception. And she... She’d been afraid. He remembered how she’d trembled, how her eyes had looked huge in her pale face. He’d told her to leave and she had, fleeing from the room as if he were chasing her out with a stick. ‘I asked you,’ he said, recalling that too. ‘I specifically asked you if you were carrying my child.’
‘And then you said if I wasn’t, I should leave immediately,’ Iolanthe fired back. ‘Hardly the friendliest of exchanges.’
‘We’ve never been friends,’ Alekos returned coolly. ‘But I expected an honest answer to my question.’
‘Why should I have answered you at all?’ Iolanthe demanded. ‘You clearly despised me.’ She took a deep breath, pressing a pale hand to her forehead. ‘But I don’t want to talk about that now. I want to know if you’ll keep Petra Innovation for Niko, since he’s your son.’
‘You have no compunction in showing your hand,’ Alekos observed. ‘The only reason you’re telling me he’s mine is because of the company. Because of what you want from me.’
‘Yes.’ She was completely unabashed. ‘I want Niko to have his birthright.’
Alekos’s lip curled. ‘How is it even his birthright, if