The Greek Billionaire's Baby Revenge(49)

She turned to go, still praying he’d stop her.

He didn’t.

Going into the next room, she found the overnight bag Mrs. Burbridge had packed for her the previous night and put on a T-shirt and jeans. She carefully placed the custody agreement into her old diaper bag. She fed and changed Misha and cuddled him close.

Taking a deep breath, she glanced down the hall, hoping against hope that Nikos would appear, put his strong arms around her, and tell her this had all been a horrible mistake.

But Nikos’s office door remained closed.

He didn’t even care enough to say goodbye. He was probably already phoning the employment agency about the résumés. Or maybe he was calling some sexy showgirl to ask for a date.

Apparently she was easy to replace. In every way.

Straightening, she held on to the frayed edges of her dignity and walked out of the penthouse where, just an hour ago, she’d thought she found love and security at last. She wouldn’t let herself cry. Not in his casino, where his men and his security cameras were everywhere.

She managed to hold back her sobs until she reached the sidewalk on Las Vegas Boulevard. Where to now? There was a taxi stand at the hotel across the street. She could barely see through her tears as she stepped off the curb. Just in time she saw the van barreling toward her in the sparse early-morning traffic. She jumped back on the sidewalk in a cold sweat, frightened at how close she’d come to walking into traffic with her son.

“Just who I was looking for,” a cold voice said. She looked up with a gasp to see Victor sitting inside the van’s open door with several of his men. “What? No snappy comeback? Not so brave when you’re alone, are you? Grab the kid,” he ordered.

Anna started to fight and scream, trying to run away, but it was hopeless. When Misha was ripped from her arms she immediately surrendered. Ten seconds later she was tied up in the back of the van, on her way to hell. Victor faced her with cold eyes and an oily smile.

“You have a choice to make, loobemaya. What happens next is up to you.”



Nikos had a sick feeling in his gut.

Pacing around his L’Hermitage penthouse, he poured himself a bourbon, then put it down untasted. He went to his home office, started to check his email, then closed the laptop without reading a single message. He finally went to the window overlooking Las Vegas. Twenty floors above the city, he had a clear view. He could see the wide desert beyond the city to the far mountains. It seemed to stretch forever. The emptiness was everywhere.

Especially here.

I did the right thing letting her go, he told himself. But the sick feeling only got worse. His knees felt weak, as if he’d just run twenty miles without stopping, or gone twenty rounds with a heavyweight champ; he sank into the sleek red-upholstered chair by the edge of the window. He put his head in his hands.

It was the silence that was killing him.

The absolute silence of his beautifully decorated apartment. No baby laughter. No lullabies from Anna. No voices at all. Just dead silence.

He could call one of his trusted employees, like Cooper. He could call acquaintances from the club. He could call any of a dozen women he’d dated. They would be here in less than ten minutes to fill his home with noise.

But he didn’t want them.

He wanted his family.

He wanted her. His secretary. His lover. His friend.

“I had to give her up,” he repeated to himself, raking his hand through his hair. I didn’t love her.

“Are you sure about that, sir?” a Scottish voice said from behind him.

Nikos jumped when he realized he’d spoken his last words aloud. Mrs. Burbridge was standing in the doorway, her hands folded in front of her. A sharp reply rose to his lips, but her plump face looked so gentle and understanding he bit back the words. Instead, he muttered, “Of course I’m sure.”

“You told me to pick up the baby early this morning, as you’d be going to a wedding, but I’ve arrived to find an open door, no wee babe, and no bride. Am I to understand the wedding’s off?”

“They’re both gone,” he said wearily. He went to his desk, sat down and opened his checkbook. “Your job here is done, Mrs. Burbridge. I’m sorry to bring you so far for just a few weeks. I’ll compensate you—”

She reached over and shut the checkbook with a bang. “Where are they, sir? Anna and your child?”

“I let them go,” he said, resting his head in his hands. “My son deserved a mother.”

“But the bairn was happy enough. So was his mother, I thought. Why send them away?”

“Because Anna deserves better,” he exploded. “She deserves a man who can love her. She’s been through enough. From her family. From me. I just want her to be happy.”