just round the corner from the town house.
Could Calisto currently be living in Alexei’s Parisian home?
Or were the photos just a ghastly coincidence? His town house was, after all, situated in a very trendy and photogenic part of Paris. Was insecurity making her suffer from increasingly paranoid suspicions? Billie grimaced. Suspicions about the fidelity of a male whom every paparazzo in Europe nourished suspicions about? A guy to whom fidelity was a dirty word, if it came between him and a woman he wanted? Of course , she wassuspicious. Alexei might have married her, but he hadn’t come with any cast-iron guarantee of loyalty and there was every possibility that he saw her lies and deceit over Nicky as an excuse to stray. Hadn’t he already told her that they as a couple were over ?
Just how had she contrived to overlook that fact? We’re over, we’ve got to be , he had said before flying to London. Her mother, Lauren, who rarely suffered from rose-tinted glasses when it came to the male sex, had believed her daughter’s marriage was already over as well. Only Billie had been naïve enough to arrive at Hazlehurst, groomed within an inch of her life, in the foolish hope that Alexei, having discovered that Nicky was his son, might greet her with apologies, understanding and forgiveness.
Chapter Six
L ATER , before dinner that evening, Alexei called Billie on the house phone, told her that two of the business team were off sick and asked her if she would mind helping out for a while.
Billie was quick to agree and stayed only long enough in the bedroom to dress in casual clothes. In the ground-floor office suite, she stepped into the working role she had given up as if she had never been away and although the other staff were now somewhat overawed by her new position as Alexei’s wife she very much enjoyed being kept busy.
‘I miss working,’ she told Alexei when she joined him later for dinner, having finally donned her slinky evening trousers and blue top.
Supremely handsome in his dark suit, Alexei surveyed her slight figure and the bright hair flaming round her pale heart-shaped face and his wide sensual mouth compressed. ‘But you’re a mother now.’
‘Surely I could still work part-time with you?’ Billie prompted, longing for the closeness of that working relationship to be restored.
‘Not when I’m travelling,’ Alexei pointed out drily.
And Billie had overlooked that necessity when she’dcome up with her proposition. While she was ready to allow her son to be cared for several hours a day, she was not prepared to leave him for several days at a time or to disrupt his routine by taking him travelling round the world with her.
‘But your talent for efficient organisation and working well under pressure is much missed,’ Alexei conceded wryly.
‘I think I could still work several hours a day from the villa without Nicky suffering any deprivation,’ Billie responded with quiet determination.
His brilliant dark eyes lingered on the obstinate set of her small face and his lush lashes screened his gaze. ‘I’ll think it over.’
‘When you talk to me like that—as if I haven’t a brain or self-will of my own and I’m a possession—I want to slap you hard!’ Billie confided in a rush, pushing her chair noisily back from the table and leaping upright in a temper.
Refusing to rise to the bait, Alexei surveyed her steadily with his stunning dark golden eyes. ‘With reference to most of the decisions you have made over the past year and more, I cannot be impressed.’
Billie gritted her teeth and shot him a look of frustration. ‘Did you think Calisto was more impressive?’ she dared in a driven voice.
His strong jaw line clenched. ‘I have no intention of discussing Calisto with you.’
Her angry flush receding at that wounding snub, Billie muttered, ‘I’m tired. I’m going to bed.’
Coward , she scolded herself once she was lying in the lavish marital bed. Why hadn’t
Could Calisto currently be living in Alexei’s Parisian home?
Or were the photos just a ghastly coincidence? His town house was, after all, situated in a very trendy and photogenic part of Paris. Was insecurity making her suffer from increasingly paranoid suspicions? Billie grimaced. Suspicions about the fidelity of a male whom every paparazzo in Europe nourished suspicions about? A guy to whom fidelity was a dirty word, if it came between him and a woman he wanted? Of course , she wassuspicious. Alexei might have married her, but he hadn’t come with any cast-iron guarantee of loyalty and there was every possibility that he saw her lies and deceit over Nicky as an excuse to stray. Hadn’t he already told her that they as a couple were over ?
Just how had she contrived to overlook that fact? We’re over, we’ve got to be , he had said before flying to London. Her mother, Lauren, who rarely suffered from rose-tinted glasses when it came to the male sex, had believed her daughter’s marriage was already over as well. Only Billie had been naïve enough to arrive at Hazlehurst, groomed within an inch of her life, in the foolish hope that Alexei, having discovered that Nicky was his son, might greet her with apologies, understanding and forgiveness.
Chapter Six
L ATER , before dinner that evening, Alexei called Billie on the house phone, told her that two of the business team were off sick and asked her if she would mind helping out for a while.
Billie was quick to agree and stayed only long enough in the bedroom to dress in casual clothes. In the ground-floor office suite, she stepped into the working role she had given up as if she had never been away and although the other staff were now somewhat overawed by her new position as Alexei’s wife she very much enjoyed being kept busy.
‘I miss working,’ she told Alexei when she joined him later for dinner, having finally donned her slinky evening trousers and blue top.
Supremely handsome in his dark suit, Alexei surveyed her slight figure and the bright hair flaming round her pale heart-shaped face and his wide sensual mouth compressed. ‘But you’re a mother now.’
‘Surely I could still work part-time with you?’ Billie prompted, longing for the closeness of that working relationship to be restored.
‘Not when I’m travelling,’ Alexei pointed out drily.
And Billie had overlooked that necessity when she’dcome up with her proposition. While she was ready to allow her son to be cared for several hours a day, she was not prepared to leave him for several days at a time or to disrupt his routine by taking him travelling round the world with her.
‘But your talent for efficient organisation and working well under pressure is much missed,’ Alexei conceded wryly.
‘I think I could still work several hours a day from the villa without Nicky suffering any deprivation,’ Billie responded with quiet determination.
His brilliant dark eyes lingered on the obstinate set of her small face and his lush lashes screened his gaze. ‘I’ll think it over.’
‘When you talk to me like that—as if I haven’t a brain or self-will of my own and I’m a possession—I want to slap you hard!’ Billie confided in a rush, pushing her chair noisily back from the table and leaping upright in a temper.
Refusing to rise to the bait, Alexei surveyed her steadily with his stunning dark golden eyes. ‘With reference to most of the decisions you have made over the past year and more, I cannot be impressed.’
Billie gritted her teeth and shot him a look of frustration. ‘Did you think Calisto was more impressive?’ she dared in a driven voice.
His strong jaw line clenched. ‘I have no intention of discussing Calisto with you.’
Her angry flush receding at that wounding snub, Billie muttered, ‘I’m tired. I’m going to bed.’
Coward , she scolded herself once she was lying in the lavish marital bed. Why hadn’t
Similar Books
