The CEO Takes a Wife(36)

Her mother gave a watery smile. “You might need to go see how your husband is,” she prodded. “And please tell him I’m sorry.” She winced. “No, I’ll tell him myself when I see him tomorrow. I need to take responsibility.”

Olivia blinked away the last of her tears and looked again at her mother with new eyes. It had been a long time coming, but Felicia really had changed. Olivia got to her feet and hugged her mother.

Felicia hugged her back, then as Olivia moved away, she asked in concern, “Are you okay with what I said about Eric having a child?”

Olivia nodded. “Absolutely.” And she was. Eric didn’t affect her any longer. At last she was able to leave all that behind her.

Her mother looked pleased. She waved a hand toward the door. “Go see Alex.”

Olivia found Alex in the bedroom, undoing his shirt. Just the sight of him made her heart beat fast.#p#分页标题#e#

“That wasn’t a very nice thing to say to my mother,” she said, matter-of-factly.

A pulse beat in his cheek. “She needed to hear it.”

“I know. Thank you,” she said sincerely, seeing him look startled. “It did the trick. I think she’s finally growing up.”

He stopped undressing and his eyes searched hers. “It’s about time she did.”

Olivia wrinkled her nose. “It’s been hard for her to change.”

“It’s hard for anyone to change.”

“Yes, but perhaps it was more difficult for her. She grew up being a spoiled little girl because of her looks, then she became a beautiful spoiled woman, and then a spoiled movie star. Everyone treats her like royalty.”

He stared for a moment before shaking his head with slight amazement. “You don’t realize it, do you?”

She blinked. “What?”

“Your mother may be royalty in the movie world but out here in the real world, you’re the one who is true royalty. You not only have elegance and class, but you have a sense of compassion and understanding and generosity that shines through.”

Her breath hitched, his opinion of her making her feel like jelly inside. No man had ever said such a nice thing to her. “You can’t know that,” she murmured.

He came toward her and put his hand under her chin, looking deeply into her eyes. “I know the person you are, Olivia Valente.”

Then he lowered his head and kissed her, her pulse racing even more when his hands slid down to pull her up against him. He was fully aroused.

She kissed him back. He needed her and that was enough.

For now.



They returned to their apartment in Sydney overlooking the harbor and Olivia was immediately swept up in business dealings with her boutiques. It was a relief to keep busy.

Of their future together Alex didn’t say a word, nor did he mention anything about telling his father and she was coward enough to accept that. Suddenly every moment spent with him was important.

Why, she didn’t want to know.

And then she came home one evening and heard the muffled sound of voices coming from the study. She tapped lightly on the door and opened it and found Alex and his two brothers sitting on the couch, glasses of whiskey in their hands.

Their expressions were welcoming but she suspected they’d been discussing something important and didn’t really appreciate the interruption.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t know you were all here,” she said, ready to step back and leave them to it.

But Alex was already coming toward her. “Sweetheart, you don’t have to apologize,” he said, the loving husband. “We’re just discussing business.” He swooped in for a kiss in a possessive manner she knew was only for show.

She kissed him back, welcoming the feel of his lips on hers after a day spent away from him.

“Um…I’d better go get some dinner,” she said, once he eased back and let her go.

“There’s a casserole in the oven.”

Up close, Olivia could see his eyes already turning back toward business. “Great.” She forced a smile. “Have you eaten?”

“Yes.” She looked at the other two men to ask them if they’d like something, but Alex spoke before her. “They’ve eaten, too.”

“Oh.”

“Yes,” Nick said with a polite smile. “We’ve eaten.”

“But thanks anyway,” Matt, the youngest, said.

She could see they were wanting to get back to their discussion. “I’ll leave you to it.”#p#分页标题#e#

She stepped back and closed the door, then went to take a shower before eating, but she grew more worried with each passing moment. Had Alex told them about his father’s ultimatum after all? And not just about needing to marry but about having a child as well? He had nothing to hide from them any longer. He had already married her. And now there would be no baby.