“Thank you,” he bit out, then picked up the nearest paper to signal the end of the conversation. After the housekeeper had left he took several bites of food, then threw his paper down and went to look for Anna.
He found her at the pool, and watched her for several seconds from the doorway before she saw him.
She was in the water, holding Michael. The baby was laughing and splashing as she skimmed him through the water in the warm morning sun. Anna held him close, pointing out things in the courtyard. “And those are palm trees, and a fountain. That’s the blue sky, and the water is blue too. It’s going to be hot today,” she said to the baby, smiling. “So different from your great-grandmama’s old palace, isn’t it, Misha?”
Nikos envied her playful ease with the baby. He felt like an outsider looking at a loving family. It wasn’t supposed to be this way. Having a child was his chance for a fresh start. To have a family of his own. To be the father he himself had never had. Damn it, how had everything gone so wrong?
It should have made him resent her, reminded him to hate her, but instead he felt only envy and a whisper of loneliness. Anna was simply in the pool doing nothing, splashing and wading, but he could tell she was having the time of her life because she loved just spending time with their child.
He’d been wrong to think about taking Michael away from her. Even if he’d been cruel enough to do it, Anna never would have accepted it. She would have fought him all the way. She had absolute loyalty and a single-minded devotion to those she loved.
His eyes went wide.
That was how he could get Anna to marry him.
Not jewelry. Not money. Not even sex.
Love. Love was the glue that would bind her.
He had to make Anna fall in love with him—fall so hard and fast that she’d not only marry him but would spend the rest of her life trying to get his love in return.
Which, of course, he wouldn’t give her. He wasn’t a fool. Loving her would make him weak when he most needed to be strong. How could he guard his family, protect them as they deserved, if his judgment was impaired? He’d never allowed himself to love anyone, and he never intended to.
But her loving him—that was something else. She had a character that was born for devotion. If she loved him it would ensure her loyalty for a lifetime. It would keep his son safe with a loving mother, and he’d be protected from stepfathers like Sinistyn.
It couldn’t be that hard to make Anna love him, he reasoned. She’d said she loved him before, though he hadn’t realized it at the time. All he needed to do was repeat those same conditions and she would do so again.
But she must never suspect what he was doing. She had to think she was falling for him of her own free will.
He narrowed his eyes, watching as Anna laughed with their baby, splashing in the pool, tilting her lovely pale face back to drink in the warm Nevada sun.
What carrot could he dangle in front of her to convince her to be with him and spend unguarded time together?#p#分页标题#e#
What if he allowed her to work as his secretary again? Just for a few days? Of course it would be temporary. And, hell, he’d actually be grateful for Anna’s help in selecting a new secretary. Maybe she could even help polish the negotiations for the Singapore deal.
But it wouldn’t take long. A week, maybe just a few days of working together. He’d put on the charm. He’d spout nonsense about his feelings, if that was what it took. He’d wine her and dine her until she surrendered her body and soul.
And what a body. Her skin was pale as a Russian winter, but she looked sexy as hell, barely decent beneath a tiny string bikini that matched the alluring turquoise of the water. She’d certainly never worn anything like that when she was his mistress. She’d never flaunted her curves, never tried once to tease him. She hadn’t had to; she’d driven him wild even as a buttoned-up secretary who wore her hair in a bun and covered up her body with elegant loose-fitting suits.
But who was this siren in her place? String bikini today. Tight jeans and clinging halter top yesterday. Had Anna really changed so much?
He saw her give a worried glance at the sun and, cuddling the baby to her chest, she climbed up the wide pool steps. She pulled sunscreen out of the old, frayed diaper bag sitting on the stone table near the fountain. Sitting back on a nearby lounge chair, she sat the chubby baby down on her flat belly and playfully tickled him while slathering him with sunscreen.
She reached for a wide-brimmed hat on the edge of the stone table. Her nearly nude body stretched beneath the bikini, revealing the side swell of her breasts.