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‘That’s good because I’m going out.’ Maribel managed a stony smile in his general direction, while remaining wildly and insanely conscious of his every tiny movement. He was so graceful he literally drew the eye to him, and that was even before she noticed the faint husk of his breathing and the dark chocolate tones of his deep sexy voice. ‘What do you think we need to talk about?’
Leonidas took up a commanding stance by the fireplace. ‘You have to trust me not to try and take Elias away from you.’
‘How can I?’ Dismay at the directness of that opening salvo made Maribel fall still. ‘You’ve never shared anything in your life; you’ve never had to. You are number one in all your relationships. It’s the Pallis way.’
‘Naturally I have to share my son with his mother. I am not an idiot,’ Leonidas traded dryly.
‘But I’m not doing what you want me to do. Sooner or later, you might persuade yourself that you’re entitled to all, rather than half, of your son and you could decide to write me out of the picture. You will assure yourself that I have brought that misfortune on myself by my unreasonable behaviour.’
‘Where do you get the idea that you know how I think? Or what I might do?’ Leonidas demanded with freezing disdain.
Yet, if truth were told, Leonidas was disconcerted by her ability to tap into the deep vein of ruthlessness that powered his aggressive instincts. But he was angered by her flat refusal to accept that Elias stood outside the usual parameters his father observed. Why had she yet to notice that he was making a laudable and heroic effort to put Elias’ needs, rather than his own, first?
‘Seven years of watching you operate from close up and from a distance?’ Maribel shot back at him tightly, torn by conflicting impulses, for when she heard that sincere note in his voice, and watched him unbend with Elias and laugh and smile, she found it hard to say no to him and even harder to police his every move. But two weeks earlier she had taken the precaution of seeking legal advice from a very expensive London solicitor. He had pointed out that Leonidas had almost unlimited power and influence and had advised her to watch over Elias at all times; the law would be of little help if her son were to be taken to a country without a reciprocal agreement to respect UK law.
Leonidas settled level dark, deep-set eyes on her. ‘I will give you my word of honour that I will not attempt to remove him from your care.’
Framed by dense black lashes, his eyes had stunning impact, a strong and charismatic key to the level of his sleek, darkly handsome attraction. No matter how hard she tried, her heart was hammering behind her ribcage and her gaze stayed welded to him even as her cheeks burned with colour. ‘I can’t trust you. I’m sorry. I can’t. He means everything in the world to me.’
‘He needs you. He’s still a baby. I understand that,’ Leonidas intoned, strolling lithely closer.
Maribel grew so tense her knees trembled beneath her. ‘But he won’t always be a baby and I can’t keep on changing the rules.’
‘If you insist on making rules I’ll break them or go round them, mali mou,’ Leonidas imparted huskily, dark eyes shimmering slices of golden enticement below his lashes. ‘I’m made that way.’
‘But as I found out that time that you stayed with me in Imogen’s house when we were students,’ Maribel muttered in a breathless rush, like a deer with a lion stalking around it in an ever-decreasing circle, ‘you can follow rules beautifully if it suits you to do so.’
‘Maybe I was scared you would slap me again.’ The sexual provocation of his slow-burning smile was an erotic work of art.
Her mouth ran dry. A pulse seemed to be beating low in her tummy. Excitement was building, tensing her every muscle. And then she remembered Sloan and she went into instant retreat, ashamed and angry over her weakness in Leonidas’ vicinity. ‘I have to get ready. I have a date.’
Lean, hard-boned face taut, Leonidas frowned. ‘You have a date?’
Still backing, Maribel nodded in vigorous confirmation. ‘So if you don’t mind I’ll go back upstairs and leave you with Elias.’
The atmosphere was heavy, ultra-quiet.
‘Okay?’ Maribel pressed uneasily.
Pale beneath his bronzed skin, Leonidas fixed his attention on a distant point beyond the window. She had taken him by surprise. But what took him even more by surprise was the tide of anger flooding him. ‘Who is this guy?’
‘I don’t think that’s any of your business,’ Maribel almost whispered.
Leonidas thought of several very unreasonable responses to that statement. He relived the insulting way in which she had backed away from him. Had that ever happened to him with a woman before? His lean, strong features darkened and set in hard, angular lines. He had been tempted to yank her back to him. He reminded himself that it was not his way to be possessive with a woman. But then Maribel was different, he reasoned just as quickly. Maribel was in a class of her own. Surely it was understandable that he found the very idea of his son’s mother becoming intimate with another man deeply objectionable? Elias was tugging at his raincoat now to get his attention. Leonidas had to make an effort to show an interest in the toy train being extended for his admiration. Thinking of how her boyfriend might get to spend time with his son gave Leonidas another cast-iron reason for loathing the whole concept of such a relationship.
