Restless Billionaire (10 page)

 
          
The
anger rose up, directed at her now for being here, and invading his peace, when
he had so recently been castigating her for that. A small voice mocked him:
Peace? Since when have you had peace in your
life?
Like a coward, Sebastian ignored the memory of the long minutes he’d
slept in Aneesa’s company that night….

 
          
‘I
used condoms.’ His voice was icy cold.

 
          
Aneesa
flushed; imperceptibly her chin hitched up. ‘I know. But it must have …
Something must have happened. This
is
your baby—why would I come all the way here if it wasn’t? Believe
me,
this was as much of a shock to me as it is to you.’

 
          
Sebastian
crossed his arms. Aneesa shivered slightly.

 
          
‘Did
you decide to pass off your child as mine once you found out about the Wolfe
family fortune? Or did you know who I was all along? It seems awfully
coincidental now that you just happened to find your way to my suite that night.
Perhaps like today, an eager fan let you in so you could stage your dramatics?’

 
          
All
Sebastian was aware of was the need to drive Aneesa and her terrifying news
back. Her mouth was open on a gasp as she took in his words, the colour
leaching from her face, and he had a flash of memory at just how distraught she’d
been, that look they’d shared at her wedding when she’d reminded him of a
panicked and trapped animal being led to its doom.

 
          
He
also had a memory of the moment when they’d made love and he’d all but blacked
out … Possibly in that moment, the protection had failed.

 
          
And
even as he thought that, a grim cold certainty lodged in his belly. Aneesa was
pale and stunned-looking. He knew she was an actress, but no one could fake
this
.

 
          
But
it was too late. She was picking up her bag and heading for the door, back
rigid.

 
          
She
had her hand on the doorknob and she turned around, her face white. ‘That is a
despicable thing to say.’ Her English got more stilted. ‘I was in ignorance of
who you were until five weeks after you’d left—believe it or not, I had other
things on my mind. And I only found out because I saw you in a paper. If this
is the way you react to finding out you’re going to be a father, then I wish I’d
remained in ignorant bliss.’

 
          
She
finished caustically. ‘And you can take your Wolfe fortune and jump off the
London Eye for all I care!’

 
          
With
that she opened the door and swept out with all the hauteur of a queen.
Sebastian could hear his PA’s startled exclamation as this exotic beauty emerged
from his office. He was stunned for a second too, and then what finally
galvanised him were her words:
you’re
going to be a father
. And just like that, the reality of what she was
saying sank in and he couldn’t hide behind the anger any more.

 
          
Aneesa
stood at the lift and pressed the button again impatiently; she was
not
going to cry, she was
not
going to cry. Even though her throat
ached and the backs of her eyes burned. She could have laughed at her brave
assertion just now
that she’d had other
things on her mind
, when he’d been on her mind morning, noon and night.

 
          
He
didn’t believe that the baby was his, and she truly hadn’t expected that. But
her naivety mocked her. He must have women coming out of the rafters claiming
to have his children. And he believed that she’d deliberately seduced him? That
hurt the most. He’d tainted their magical night with cynicism. He was hard and
unforgiving and not at all like the
man she
remembered.

 
          
The
lift bell pinged just as she felt her arm taken in a strong grip. A familiar
and evocative scent tickled her nostrils. The doors opened and she tried to
pull free to step in, but couldn’t.

 
          
‘Don’t
go.’ His deep voice sent a quiver through her body. ‘Please. Forgive me for
what I just said.’

 
          
She
looked up at him and her legs went wobbly when she registered his closeness,
and saw those eyes up close again. His hand warm on her arm through her jacket.

 
          
‘I’m
sorry,
I shouldn’t have said … what I just said. It
was unforgivable.’

 
          
The
ache in Aneesa’s throat diminished. ‘Yes, it was. I just wanted to let you know—I
felt you deserved that much.’

 
          
He
tugged her arm gently. ‘Come back inside. You look like you could do with a cup
of tea.’

 
          
Reluctantly
Aneesa let herself be guided back through to his office, barely hearing him ask
his middle-aged PA for some tea and informing her that he shouldn’t be
disturbed for the rest of the afternoon.

 
          
When
the tea was brought in, Aneesa sat on the couch, with Sebastian in a chair
opposite her, for all the world now as if they were acquaintances catching up
in civilised surroundings and not as if a bomb had just been dropped into the
room, into their lives. Stalling, she took a sip of hot tea, relishing its
calming heat.

 
          
‘When
did you arrive?’

 
          
She
looked at Sebastian and hated the little lurch her heart gave. She knew it
would be so, so dangerous to harbour feelings for him. He might have apologised
but he certainly wasn’t showing an inkling of the man she’d met that night who
had been so tender and considerate.

 
          
She
put the cup down.
‘This afternoon.
I came straight
from the airport.’ She looked him in the eye and steeled herself. ‘The
honeymoon period I had with the media after the wedding disaster is over.’

 
          
His
eyes narrowed, brows snapped together. ‘What are you talking about?’

 
          
Aneesa’s
hands twisted in her lap. ‘Jamal and his boyfriend broke up and as a form of
revenge his now ex-boyfriend
outed
him in the papers.’
She took a breath. ‘And on pretty much the same day, a nurse from the clinic I’d
gone to for confirmation of the pregnancy leaked the news to the press for a
sum of money.’

 
          
Her
mouth twisted. ‘The reality that I must have slept with someone other than
Jamal close to the wedding was too much for the public to take. It would appear
that they can take the news of Jamal being gay better than they can take the
news of me becoming a single mother.’

 
          
Something
in Sebastian’s gut clenched. ‘Is that what you want?’

 
          
No!
Aneesa wanted to scream, but she
just shrugged nonchalantly, avoiding Sebastian’s eye.

 
          
‘This
wasn’t meant to happen. But I want this baby and if I have to do it on my own,
then so be it.’

 
          
‘You
won’t be on your own. I’ll be in the baby’s life too,’ Sebastian said gruffly,
everything in him rejecting the notion of Aneesa and his child being alone.
However, he didn’t want to look too deeply into how that would work, when the
very
idea of anything like
marriage or a long-term
relationship was anathema to him. He’d been poisoned against that halcyon image
since he had been a child. Nothing he’d experienced had demonstrated any kind
of normal functioning relationship.

 
          
Aneesa
dipped her head slightly. ‘Thank you for that, but I really don’t expect
anything from you.’

 
          
‘Where
are you planning on staying while you’re here?’

 
          
Aneesa
flushed. She didn’t want to reveal just how broke she was now. Or how she hadn’t
really stopped to think beyond escaping the media storm at home and feeling
compelled to come and tell Sebastian face to face. She hated to think that
Sebastian would feel obliged to take her in. She prevaricated. ‘I … I hadn’t
really organised anything but I’m sure I can find somewhere this afternoon.’
Worry knotted her belly; she knew she wouldn’t last long in a hotel.

 
          
‘I’d
offer you a room in my Grand Wolfe Hotel but it’s booked out for a private function
this week and weekend….’

 
          
Aneesa
tried to wave his suggestion away; just the thought of the cost of a room at
one of his hotels made her feel nauseous. Her life had changed so much in such
a short space of time, before she wouldn’t have even questioned the cost of
such accommodation, and would have simply taken it for granted.

 
          
She
hitched up her chin again in a way that Sebastian was beginning to recognise. ‘I’ll
find somewhere to stay … figure something out, get a job somewhere … I’m really
just taking it one day at a time at the moment.’

 
          
Suddenly
restless, Sebastian stood and raked a hand through his hair, pacing back and
forth. The news of his impending fatherhood was making him feel numb. He couldn’t
process it and said distractedly, ‘It’s not just your responsibility now, it’s
mine too. There were two of us there that
night
, and I
didn’t make sure you were adequately protected.’

 
          
He
didn’t see the colour flare in Aneesa’s pale cheeks; he only remembered the
heart-stopping urgency of desire that had led him into the most frantic
coupling of his life. Willing down the images with an effort, he turned back to
face Aneesa. ‘You can stay with me. I can’t have you wandering around looking
for accommodation when I have a perfectly spacious apartment. I’ll call my
driver round and take you there now.’

 
          
Aneesa
stood, relief mixed with trepidation warring inside her. ‘Are you sure? I don’t
want to upset your routine. I know you must be busy. I can go to a coffee shop,
wait until you finish work …’

 
          
Sebastian
quirked a small harsh smile and decided not to tell her how he’d quite
regularly work till midnight before going home only to toss and turn, or else
head out and pound the pavements for hours, coming back exhausted at dawn. And
then he remembered something and the smile faded. ‘No, really, it’s fine. I
have to head home soon anyway as I’m going out this evening.’

 
          
Sebastian
started to usher Aneesa out of the office and she bit back the urge to ask him
if it was a date. He could even have a girlfriend—how would she know? Or
perhaps he was meeting his London mistress? Stomach roiling, they picked up her
bags from the overexcited security guard downstairs, who had somehow in the
interim managed to get some DVDs of Aneesa’s movies. She autographed them, and
posed for a photograph with the man wearing a fixed smile, and then was being
ushered into the back of Sebastian’s luxury car with tinted windows.

 
          
Sitting
in the back, listening to Sebastian take a call on his phone, he was a million
miles from the man she’d met that night in Mumbai, and when she looked back on
it now, it all seemed like a flimsy mirage, because this man was acting as if
he wouldn’t kiss her again if his life depended on it.

 
          
‘…
and then Daddy said that I simply must have the house in Holland Park, and I
said …’

 
          
Sebastian
let the woman’s irritating voice tune in and out, nodding occasionally to
signal his interest when really he had no more interest in the anaemic blonde
sitting opposite him than he would in the overweight maître d’ who’d shown them
to the table. Which was strange as up until recently blondes had been his
preference—the cooler, the better. He scowled inwardly.
Until
he’d met an exotic Indian princess.

 
          
It
had been too late this afternoon to cancel the date and some rogue part of him
had wanted to keep it, make boundaries clear with Aneesa. But he hadn’t been
able to get the wounded bruised look from her eyes out of his head all evening.
Her eyes were so damn expressive.
And beautiful.