The Russian's Furious Fiancee (5 page)

“I’ll be extremely active in the process of creating the children.”

She shook her head and glanced back at him. “And after that, you’ll be making your next billion?”

“I’ll be attending to my business interests, yes. Raising of the children is the wife’s domain.”

Eva gave up on picking at her meal and put her fork down, leaning back against her chair. “See? We could never make it together. We disagree on every subject that’s been brought up so far.”

“Then choose a subject that we’ll both agree upon,” he countered with patronizing logic.

She shook her head and leaned back, dismissing the idea as impossible. “I don’t think one exists.”

“You’re simply not trying hard enough. And why would the father become involved in the raising of children?”

“Because I know what it’s like to have an absent father. And I won’t bring children into this world unless I know that child will be loved by both the mother and father, with equal partnership in the marriage and parenting decisions.”

“Where have you heard such drivel?”

She sat forward again, becoming irritated that he was being so obtuse about parenting. “It isn’t drivel. It’s common sense. Children need both a mother and a father’s influence. There are numerous studies that will explain the issues.”

“I’ll hire someone to be a male role model.”

“Not good enough.”

He leaned back in his chair and watched her for a long moment, amused by her horror. “How about a compromise?”

She immediately shook her head, stabbing at her chicken in an effort to get rid of some of her outrage. “I don’t compromise on children.”

“How about if we agree that I’ll be home for some dinners but you’ll have the primary influence on the children. Although I maintain veto on anything I disagree with.”

She stood up and rolled her eyes. “No deal. Listen, I’m sure there’s a woman out there who would jump at the chance to be Ms. Kelopatros with all your billions at her disposal to do whatever she wants and raise your children with proxy attention. That’s just not what I want. Thank you for lunch,” she said politely and turned on her heel to walk away.

Damon watched her, wondering why his body was reacting to a woman with that kind of hostility. But there was no denying it. He wanted her. And he would have her. He contemplated strategy as he watched her walk out of the restaurant, his hands itching to feel her skin, to hold her lush body and feel her moving underneath him as he found all those places that would make her lose that cool control she showed to the world. He’d made her lose it though. He almost laughed out loud at how irritated she’d become at some of his responses. She was sexy as hell when she was angry.

He even liked the way she walked, with her full hips swaying slightly, her back ramrod straight and her shoulders back as if she were queen of the world. Even as he watched and his body reacted to her gentle sway, he still wanted to do everything in his power to have her begging for him as he made love to her. He wanted her to scream out his name when she climaxed in his arms and to feel her sigh with satisfaction in the end.

Dammit! He couldn’t stand up to leave just yet. His thoughts had made him uncomfortably hard. Leaving now would be slightly embarrassing so he relaxed and swallowed down the rest of his ice water, leaving the excellent wine left alone, regardless that it had probably cost him about a thousand dollars and neither one had done it justice.

Eva was definitely intoxicating enough, he thought with relish.

He would have her. And it would be in April. Possibly sooner.

As he watched her walk down the sidewalk through the restaurant windows, her breasts pushing against her soft, red sweater, he acknowledged that he wanted this woman soon. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed a number, getting the process in place that would….coax her into his way of thinking.

Chapter 4

Eva walked with her head held high but her knees were shaking with anger and humiliation. She couldn’t believe that the man wanted to marry her, but not for any flattering reason. She might have been slightly less offended if he’d said something along the lines of at least being attracted to her. But he’d only said she was an appropriate hostess and would procreate well.

Ugh!

She understood why her mother drank!

No, Eva didn’t understand that. She’d never put herself into a position where she would have so little power in her life that she would resort to alcohol to get through the day.

It was a gorgeous afternoon and she wouldn’t let that horrible man spoil it. She pulled her car keys out and clicked on the button to release the locks. Getting behind the wheel, she lowered all the windows and let her hair down, not wanting to constrict herself in any way. Within five minutes, she was outside the city and speeding down the road, letting the wind pull away the horrible memory of her lunch time conversation.

She pulled into her apartment building and ran up to her private domain, glad now that she’d ignored the pressure from her mother and father to stay with them at the house. She loved her little condominium and had furnished it with care, loving all the little pieces she’d built up over the past few years. It was very eclectic and nothing like her mother’s elegant, formal style. This place was filled with brightly colored pillows from India, long, sheer curtains with colorful toppings to block the outside world when she needed privacy. Her bedroom was simply furnished, but with silky fabrics in soothing colors and luxurious fabrics. Nothing had been expensive and she’d bought all of it with her own money. Money she’d earned on her own. Her parents had no idea what she did outside of their house, and as long as she didn’t embarrass them, and she showed up at all the appropriate functions, they didn’t care nor did they ask questions.

As she peeled off the simple black sheath dress and hung it carefully in the extra bedroom closet, she padded barefoot into her bedroom and pulled on her own clothes. A pair of jeans, a white tee-shirt and a denim jacket. Heading back out the door with her books in her bag, she made her way back to her car and was off again, her laptop tucked under her arm and several new ideas ready to be developed for her next chapter.

If there was anything good to come out of this ‘relationship’ with Damon Kelopatros, it was that he generated several new ideas for her book, spicing up her creative juices!

Chapter 5

Eva had three glorious days without meeting up with Damon and was thrilled, thinking he’d finally given up his attempt to pressure her into a marriage. She ignored the sense of deflation she felt as she checked her messages on her cell phone, refusing to admit that she was disappointed when Damon didn’t contact her. She told herself that she was relieved that he had moved on to another woman. When she read the papers, skimming the business and social headlines, she pretended like she wasn’t tensing for news of his engagement to someone else, just that she was interested as a non-interested bystander.

She found out her assumptions were incorrect on the fourth day. “Dinner tonight, 7pm, my place,” was all the text message said. No name, no address, just the command to appear. She knew exactly who it was from even without a name.

Instantly her heart rate increased and she considered so many ways to respond. Something that would put him in his place and show him that she refused to jump at his commands. Why should she? She had no relationship with him, no reason to obey him and even if he were her employer, she still would demand that he contact her and request her presence with a bit more respect than that message offered.

She started to ignore it, but knew that it wouldn’t be the end of the situation. She simply replied, “Have plans” without any preamble or apology.

When she quickly received the reply, “Cancel”, she gritted her teeth and considered her options. She could refuse, telling him that her current plans were much more interesting than he could possibly hope to be. She could make up some fabulous event she would be attending, but she knew that he would probably show up wherever she told him she was going to be. She smiled at the idea of telling him she had another date, with a man who was much more considerate than he could hope to be.

After debating back and forth with herself, she relied on simplicity and said “No.” before tucking her phone into her purse. She smiled as she moved back to her computer, her fingers flying over the keyboard as she developed the scene where her detective was interrogating a suspect. In her mind, the suspect was Damon and she was the detective. In the dialogue, she always came out sounding better, more intelligent and she won each argument.

She suspected that the simple “No” would make him angrier than anything she might try to make up. Defiance was foreign to that man so it felt extremely good to be the first to offer it to him.

She heard it vibrate a moment later, but determined to ignore it. She succeeded for all of five minutes before she pulled it out again and looked at the screen. She almost growled when she read the word, “Coward” on her screen.

She almost broke a nail while she replied, “Name the place!”, forgetting that he’d mentioned his place already. He replied with his address and she tossed the cell phone back into her bag, refusing to look at it again or even acknowledge that she’d received his address. Damn the man and his conceited, obnoxious mentality!

Four hours later, she was standing in front of his door, still fuming over how arrogant he was being. He’d gotten her here, but she wasn’t going to bow to his pressure any more than she had the previous meeting. She was still disgusted with herself for being outmaneuvered with the exact same trick he’d used on her before. Why was she so gullible when it came to this man? What power did he have over her that would make her do something so stupid?

“You’re late,” he said as soon as he opened the door to her at his penthouse in a fabulous building in the heart of Athens. She hated the fact that she liked his place and pretended to ignore the incredible views of the sun setting over the horizon, looking like the city was almost on fire from this vantage point.

“I’m here. Don’t ask for more than that.”

“I expect punctuality,” he said as he closed the door behind her.

“Learn to live with disappointment, then,” she snapped back and walked into the living area, dropping her purse onto a chair, then swinging around to face him, crossing her arms over her chest. Her chin went up subconsciously as she faced her tormentor.

He chuckled as he followed her into the penthouse.

“So what do you want from me?” she asked, watching as he walked through the living room.

He turned and looked down at her. “Do you really want to know?”

She was startled by the heat in his golden eyes and wisely shook her head. “No. Probably not.”

“Wise choice,” he said and pulled her forward. She resisted by pushing against his shoulders, but she was no match for his superior strength. “I thought I wanted an obedient wife but it turns out that you’re more interesting that I thought possible.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means the service I hired to investigate you wasn’t very thorough. And I’m very appreciative of their omission because I might have missed out on experiencing your particular brand of entertainment.”

She gave up on trying to keep some space between their bodies. It wasn’t working anyway since she was now plastered against him. Instead, she tried to pretend like she wasn’t affected by his touch, that her heart wasn’t racing frantically and her body wasn’t tingling wherever it was touching his. She also tried not to let her fingers wander despite the fact that she was fascinated by the unanticipated muscles underneath his immaculately tailored dress shirt, and that she didn’t want to touch the soft hairs that were visible in the open neck where he’d left the buttons open.

Her mind was frantically trying to keep pace with his words, and she stopped looking at his chest in order to understand what he was telling her. And then it hit her! He’d hired a service to find her? “Why in the world would you hire a service? And what kind of investigation?” she asked, completely offended by his invasion of her privacy. This had to be the most appalling piece of information he’d given her so far. This was far and above more arrogant than him
telling her
that they were going to be married. “And, just to be thorough using your phrase, please explain to me what they didn’t mention in their report to you about me that you find so interesting?” She wasn’t sure if she was shaking with anger or his close proximity, but the anger was safer. Her eyebrows were drawn low and her hands were trapped by his chest and his surprisingly strong arms, furious with him for doing something so horrible as to have her investigated.

His hands slipped down the length of her and he enjoyed the way her body wiggled against his. But because the reaction she was trying to hide, as well as her voluptuous curves, was making him react as well, he released her. As much as he wanted to toss her over his shoulder and carry her to his bedroom so he could make love to her, they had things to discuss. Besides, he knew she wouldn’t protest the sexual act while he was making love to her, would be very into the undertaking if her body’s reaction had anything to say about it. But she would be angry after the fact for letting herself go like that.

“I don’t do anything that isn’t well researched, including choosing a spouse.” He stepped away and poured two glasses of red wine, satisfied now that she felt the same attraction he was feeling. She was fighting it though, which only made it more interesting for him. He wanted her badly, but he realized he was tired of women who threw themselves at him, hoping for financial or status gain. Eva was a completely different breed, preferring to pull away at what he suspected could be the strongest attraction he’d ever experienced. Damon didn’t mind though. He was thoroughly enjoying each meeting. She was fresh and alive and didn’t pull her punches, which he respected. And once he finally got her into bed, he knew that the fireworks would be even more spectacular. He was willing to wait, and enjoy every moment of their odd courtship.