The Billionaire's Trophy(47)

Conscious of the tension in the air, Emmie coloured and turned aside to her luggage. Her legs were shaking, her rebellious body screaming with tight, strained nerve endings and she was ashamed of her weakness. Somehow it had not occurred to her that Bastian might still exert that much physical power over her even when she was several months pregnant. Where he was concerned, she badly needed an off switch.

Four days later, Nessa arrived for the weekend and mortified Emmie straight away by walking out to the terrace where Emmie and Bastian were having lunch and saying cheerfully, ‘So, when’s the wedding?’

Bastian frowned. ‘What wedding?’ he queried, standing up to pull out a chair for his sister.

Nessa simply laughed. ‘Your wedding, of course,’ she said teasingly, studying the pair of them with amused brown eyes.

‘We’re not getting married,’ Emmie declared with red cheeks hot enough to fry eggs on.

Nessa raised a brow as though that was an extraordinary statement and responded, ‘Grandpa is going to be very disappointed.’

Initially relieved by Nessa’s arrival because the presence of a third person would surely stifle the shocking level of sexual tension Bastian roused inside her, Emmie could now only feel appalled at the brunette’s lack of tact.

‘I don’t think so,’ Bastian countered smoothly, seemingly unembarrassed, Emmie noted with some relief.

‘Trust me.’ Nessa grinned. ‘Grandpa’s expecting to hear wedding bells and just waiting on you making the announcement. Don’t say you weren’t warned.’

‘Excuse me,’ Emmie breathed, rising to her feet.

‘Where are you going?’ Bastian demanded as if he was entitled to know her every move.

‘It’s hot and I’m a little tired...thought I’d lie down for a while,’ Emmie told him disjointedly, taking refuge in being pregnant in her eagerness to escape sitting in on a humiliating dialogue between brother and sister.

Upstairs she lay down on her bed, dully recalling what entertaining company Bastian had been since their arrival. They had picnicked on the beach, wandered through olive groves on lazy walks and eaten in the taverna down by the harbour where Emmie had suspected that all the other diners were staring at her. Even so, apart from that one kiss on the first day, Bastian hadn’t touched her again. She was never going to understand Bastian, she reflected in frustration. Why had he kissed her if he had no plans to follow up on it? And why, when she knew that intimacy would only fire them into dangerous territory again, was she even wondering?

Her cell phone pinged on a message and she snatched it up, surprised to see that it was from Saffy, who rarely made direct contact with her.

‘I’m in the pudding club too,’ Saffy texted jokily, and Emmie gasped and before she could even consider what she was doing she was phoning her twin. It struck her as extraordinary that both of them should contrive to be pregnant at the same time.

Saffy was audibly disconcerted to hear Emmie’s voice on the line but the warmth of her response soothed any awkwardness Emmie might have felt. When Saffy startled Emmie by freely admitting that she had conceived her baby before marrying Zahir, Emmie was captivated and touched by her honesty and the barriers really came down between the sisters as Emmie shared the history of her relationship with Bastian.

At one point, Saffy interrupted her twin. ‘Odette lied to you. She didn’t pay for your surgery, Kat did!’

‘Are you sure? But where did Kat get the money from?’ Emmie questioned in amazement.

‘Kat took out a loan to cover the cost. Our mother is a dreadful liar.’ Saffy groaned. ‘As for this escort agency stuff, we’ll have to prevent Topsy from visiting her or she’ll be trying to set her up next! Topsy’s so trusting and I bet Odette milked our kid sister for every bit of useful info about us that she could get.’#p#分页标题#e#

‘Probably,’ Emmie conceded, shocked at the news that her mother had deceived her but at the same time semi-stunned that she was managing to have such a friendly conversation with her twin when they had been estranged for so long. ‘I’m sorry I didn’t come to your wedding, Saffy. It’s no excuse but I was feeling pretty down and I just couldn’t face it.’

‘I’ll forgive you if you promise...to stay in touch with me,’ her sister responded hesitantly.

Her heart lifting at that request, Emmie was quick to agree.

‘You said you were in Greece—what’s happening between you and Bastian right now?’ Saffy finally asked.

‘I think that for the sake of the future, we’re trying to be friends,’ Emmie told her heavily.