smiled. ‘Yes, I was lucky. I’m from a large, very close family; it made my childhood feel very secure. That’s what I want for our child.’
‘That’s what I want, too.’ She tried to smile, but it felt decidedly shaky. She wanted that so much, it hurt.
‘We’ve done the right thing, you know—getting married,’ he told her suddenly.
She nodded, but deep down she wondered if he really meant that—or if he was trying to convince himself as much as her.
Alexi frowned as he noticed the flicker of distress in her blue eyes. ‘We’ll be happy—we’ll work at it,’ he told her softly.
Such sensible words, she thought with a sudden stab of anger. ‘Yes, of course we’ll work at it—and the fact that we don’t love each other will somehow magically become acceptable.’
She probably shouldn’t have said that. For a moment there was a tense silence between them and then he just shrugged. ‘Well, we will just have to hope for the best, won’t we?’
The phone was ringing inside the house. ‘Excuse me, Katie—I better take that.’
She watched him walk away and then turned her attention to the view again. The yacht bobbed against its mooring, a little breeze whispering and whistling through the ropes that held her secure. Almost like the ghost of his first marriage, Katie thought wryly, laughing at her …
CHAPTER ELEVEN
THE phone call had been to invite them over to a party at Alexi’s parents’ house.
It was to be a large family celebration in honour of their wedding, and Katie was feeling more than a little apprehensive as they set off the next afternoon.
‘Relax,’ Alexi told her as they drove along the spectacular scenery of the winding coast road. ‘There’s nothing to worry about.’
He seemed to be finding the fact that she was edgy about this meeting rather amusing, she realised with annoyance.
‘I thought you said they weren’t happy about our marriage!’ she retorted. ‘Surely that is some cause for concern?’
‘They are not unhappy because I got married, they are unhappy because I did it secretively—they would have liked to be there—they would have liked an almighty, great big, all-singing, all-dancing, Greek wedding, to be blunt.’ Alexi changed down gears to take a very steep bend. ‘But I did that first time around, and that kind of ceremony wasn’t the right thing for us. They will accept that when I explain.’
‘And how are you planning to explain?’ Katie asked.
‘Are you going to tell them that we’re not really in love so there was no point having the big family wedding?’
‘Of course not!’ Alexi frowned and glanced over at her again. ‘I’m going to tell them it was a whirlwind decision.’
‘And are you going to tell them about the baby?’ Her voice was husky.
‘I was going to—yes.’
‘Well, I’d rather you didn’t. It’s early days, Alexi, anything could happen. I mean really—sensibly speaking—we shouldn’t have rushed into marriage at all, we should have waited until I was at least three months pregnant to be on the safe side. Or even waited until after the baby was born.’
He frowned. ‘Katie, nothing is going to go wrong!’
‘You don’t know that!’
‘I know that we’ve done the right thing. So chill out, OK? Getting so worked up isn’t going to help Junior!’
She nodded and tried to relax back into the seat.
‘And if it worries you I won’t tell them about the baby,’ he added softly. ‘We’ll wait until you feel the time is right.’
‘Thanks.’ She nodded. ‘I think that would be for the best.’
Silence fell between them.
Alexi flicked a look over at her. She’d caught a little sun as they’d sat beside the pool this morning. She looked healthy and glowing in the white sundress, her lips moist with peach satin-gloss. Her dark hair glowed with chestnut lights, and lay silky-straight around her shoulders. Yet there was a look in her eyes that concerned him—a vulnerable look that he knew she tried quickly to hide as soon as he glanced in her direction.
She hadn’t slept very well last night, either. She’d got up as dawn was breaking and had got herself a glass of water from downstairs. Then she hadn’t returned to the bedroom until he’d got up and was in the shower.
She’d said that she was suffering from jet lag—which was entirely feasible. Yet Alexi had a feeling that whatever was bothering her ran deeper than that.
Even when they had made love again last night he’d felt that she was holding herself back from him, somehow. Although her kisses had been passionate and needy, there had still been that underlying vulnerability about her.
Was she regretting their marriage? he wondered suddenly. Had he rushed her into something that was ultimately making her deeply unhappy?
He frowned. They had a child to consider, he reminded himself. She would come round. She would have to!
They arrived at Alexi’s parents’ house just as the sun was starting to go down and Katie would never forget her first glimpse of the place. The mansion was set in its own grounds with spectacular views across the sea. Behind the house the forests melted into the dusky pink of the twilight sky.
There were already a lot of cars lined up on the driveway, and light and music spilled out from the open front door.
‘The party sounds like it’s in full swing. Are we late?’ Katie asked as they parked and stepped out into the warmth of the evening.
‘No, we’re on time. They probably wanted everyone here before us, so they could welcome you properly. I’ll warn you now—I have enough aunts, uncles and cousins to repopulate the lost city of Atlantis,’ he told her calmly. ‘So don’t worry if you can’t remember names—or work out who everyone is—even I struggle sometimes,’ he added with a smile.
Katie knew what he meant as they stepped inside. There were crowds of people milling about in the vast marble entrance-hall, and by the time they had reached the doors to the reception areas Alexi had introduced her to so many relatives, and she had been warmly hugged by so many strangers, that she had completely lost track of who was who.
Alexi’s parents were out on the patio, organising a barbeque.
Alexi’s father was still a handsome man for sixty-five. He had the same tall, powerful physique as his son, same thick, dark hair, only Philip’s was sprinkled with grey. Helen, Alexi’s mother, was probably ten years younger than her husband. She looked stylish and sophisticated in a black-and-white dress, and yet approachable, as if she was the sort of person you could talk to if you had a problem. Katie liked them both immediately.
She liked the fact that when they saw their son there were tears and
