“Why not?”His easy, interested tone jarred with the fingers he continued to run up and down her arm, and with that sleepy, knowing gaze.I’m a career woman, Ariston.’You can be a married career woman, Lucette . This is the twenty-first century, after all.’‘Oh? And how would that work, exactly? You live in central Greece—the middle of nowhere. How am I supposed to work from there?’For a second, she thought she saw a gleam of something like triumph in his eyes, but then it sparked out and he gave a negligent shrug of his shoulders. You could commute. The flight from Athens to Paris is only a few hours.‘Commute? Are you serious?’We could work something out, Lucette , if that’s all that’s stopping you.’There was a note of challenge in his voice, and she realized then what he was doing. Ariston Linard was a powerful and persuasive man. He was CEO of Linard Enterprises, a company that had started with a few olive groves and a cold press and was now a multibillion dollar company—a ma

Ariston strode From Lucette ’s apartment, his body was still shuddering from their lovemaking—but no, he couldn’t call it that. Never that.With one abrupt movement, he lobbed the little velvet box into the nearest bin. A foolish waste, perhaps, but he couldn’t bear to look at that wretched ring for another moment. He couldn’t stand the thought of it even being in his pocket.He drew a deep breath and raked a hand through his hair, willing back the emotion that had nearly overwhelmed him in Lucette ’s apartment. All of it. She was out of his life. He need never think of her again.He reminded himself that it wasn’t as if he’d loved her. Lucette had been right about that. He'd liked her, yes, and they’d certainly shared an explosive sexual chemistry. She’d seemed the obvious choice when he’d decided it was time he married.Six months ago, just after their mother’s death, his brother Antonios had resigned as CEO of Linard Enterprises, and Ariston had taken his place. It was what Aris

"Yes, I suppose... In any case, our relationship is finished. completely.’ Lucette lowered her gaze to her glass of water.‘It didn’t end well.’"If you’re thinking of keeping the baby, he should still know," Juliet pointed out.Lucette couldn’t keep herself from wincing. How on earth could she tell Ariston now? Considering what she’d said to him the last time they’d been together, he might not even believe the baby was his."I can’t think about all this just yet," she said. It’s too much. I have time.’"If you’re not going to keep it," Juliet replied warningly, "the sooner you decide, the better. For your own sake.’'Yes'...She reasoned that termination might appear to be the obvious solution.And yet the most fundamental part of herself resisted the possibility, shrank away from it in horror.She hadn’t expected that. She hadn’t expected pregnancy to awaken anything in her but dread and fear. And yet she couldn’t deny the faint stirrings of hope, as ephemeral as a will-o’-the-wisp

She winced at that. ‘Clearly you don’t have a very high opinion of me.’‘And you think I should?’‘No.’ She let out a little defeated sigh. ‘No, I don’t.’So why didn’t you do either of those things, Lucette ?’It was the first time he’d said her name since he’d seen her again, and it caused him a sudden, surprising flash of pain. He clenched his hands into fists, then deliberately flattened them out, resting them again on his desk.She replied with a bit of her old spirit, "Because I am not, no matter what you think, completely without morals." ‘I want my child, and I want my child to know its father.’ She took a deep breath. And more than that, I want my child to have a loving, stable home. A home where it knows it’s safe, where its parents are loving and protecting it. always. "Her dark brown eyes seemed to glow with an inner fire, an utter conviction.'And how do you think that will work,' Ariston asked after a brief pause?"That’s the other thing I want," Lucette said, still h

Lucette had thought she wouldn’t be able to sleep, but she was so tired that she’d fallen into a deep and thankfully dreamless sleep the moment her head had hit the pillow, after Ariston ’s housekeeper had shown her to her room.When she awoke, it was dark and the room was chilly. The curtains were open to the night sky. Lucette rolled over in bed, feeling disorientated and muzzy-headed, as if she were suffering from jet lag or a hangover, or both. She heard a knock on the door, an urgent rat-a-tat-tat that made her think it was not the first knock.She rose from the bed, pushing her hair out of her face, and went to answer the door.The housekeeper, Maria, stood there with a tray of food. The salad, bread, and lentil soup looked and smelled delicious, but Lucette ’s stomach roiled all the same. She didn’t think she could manage a mouthful."Efharisto," she murmured, and reached out to take the tray.But Maria would have none of it. She shook her head and bustled into the room, sett