in a no-nonsense way that would have made him smile at any other time. Tears, which he had previously disdained as a base feminine weapon, had a disturbingly strong impact on him when it was Maddie doing the crying. She made him feel like a huge bully. She was tired, unhappy, and pregnant with his children. He did not want to upset her or intimidate her into doing his bidding. For the first time in his life he reined back his strong personality and shelved his arguments along with his impatience. For her sake, he decided to go slowly and take her to a hotel.
The next day Maddie got up after a night of undisturbed slumber. She had an entire suite to herself, and a good meal, a warm bath and a comfortable bed had put her to sleep within minutes of her head touching the pillow. She had got her crying over with in the bath.
Her luggage from the bed-and-breakfast place where she had been staying in Reading was waiting for her when she wakened. Dressed in casual chino pants with a stretchy waist-band and a green T-shirt, she had just finished eating her breakfast when someone knocked on the door. Assuming it was Room Service, coming back to clear the table, Maddie opened the door without making use of the spyhole.
‘I see you know who I am. May I come in?’ Krista Spyridou asked.
Maddie went white, and then red with discomfiture. It was Krista who closed the door and strolled gracefully across to a chair to make herself at home. Maddie could not take her eyes off the other woman. With her fabulous platinum blonde hair falling round her narrow shoulders like a silk curtain, and her turquoise eyes slashing a bright slice of colour in her flawless face, Krista’s glowing perfection took Maddie’s breath away.
‘I can see you’re embarrassed,’ Krista remarked with enviable poise. ‘But there’s really no need to be. I have the solution to all our problems.’
Aghast at the descent of a woman whom she knew she had wounded, Maddie hovered in the centre of the carpet. ‘I don’t know what to say to you. You must hate me.’
‘Why? If it hadn’t been you in his bed it would have been some other woman. Giannis lives by his own rules, and I wouldn’t dream of interfering. I feel privileged to be a part of his life. He’s a very special man,’ Krista murmured with a cool smile. ‘But this pregnancy of yours does create a problem.’
‘How did you even know I was pregnant?’ With Krista talking as though her relationship with Giannis was ongoing, Maddie’s unease was increasing at a rapid pace.
‘Haven’t you seen the pictures in the newspapers yet? They were taken yesterday, outside the clinic. Not very flattering of you, I’m afraid. But you’re definitely pregnant.’ Krista released a musical laugh. ‘Anything relating to Giannis Petrakos is always very big news.’
Maddie tried to hide her chagrin. ‘I’m sorry, but I don’t want to talk about my private life with you.’
‘If you care about the future of your twins, you will listen to what I have to say.’
Maddie went very still. ‘How did you know I’m having twins?’
Krista looked calmly back at her. ‘How do you think? Giannis told me…’
Maddie’s skin went clammy and she turned away, speared by that declaration like a fish on a hook. She felt quite sick at the idea of Giannis discussing her predicament with this woman. She also felt rather scared of this beautiful blonde in her ice-blue designer suit, with diamonds twinkling in her earlobes and at her slender throat.
‘Let’s concentrate on why I’m here,’ Krista continued. ‘I have a proposition to put to you.’
‘I don’t want to be rude…but what’s any of this got to do with you?’ Maddie was struggling desperately to retain some semblance of dignity. ‘I understood that you were no longer engaged to Giannis.’
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