âWhat if I were to suggest adoption?â Nic spoke with a deceptive mildness. âFor a mutually agreed sum.â
Tina froze, unable to utter so much as a word for several long seconds before anger ignited and threatened to explode. âYou have to be joking.â
âOne million dollars.â
She opened her mouth, then closed it again as she found her voice. âGo to hell,â she managed.
âTwo million.â
Incredulity was uppermost. She turned, only to come to a halt as her arm was caught in a firm grasp.
His eyes held hers, their expression impossible to read. âSit down. Please,â he added with chilling softness. âThere are other options.â
âI donât see how you can top it,â Tina ventured savagely.
âMarriage.â He paused fractionally. âTo me.â
NIC LEANDROS eased the powerful Lexus down into the underground parking area beneath a luxurious apartment building located in Sydneyâs suburban Double Bay, slid into a reserved bay and cut the engine.
His cellphone rang, and he quickly checked the caller ID, uttered a husky oath, and let the call go to MessageBank.
Sabineâ¦again. How many times had she called today? Fourâ¦five? The woman was becoming obsessive, he admitted with a wry grimace. He hadnât expected an easy end to the relationship. But how long would it take for Sabine to understand no meant precisely that?
It had been months since heâd cut the ties, politely refusing her veiled invitations until her protestations reached desperation point, whereupon he refused to take any of her calls. For the past several weeks sheâd virtually stalked him, resorting to SMS text messaging several times a day and turning up wherever he happened to beâ¦in his favoured Melbourne restaurants, at two parties and a fundraiser.
Heâd issued a warning, followed it with legal action. Yet Sabine still persisted.
Nic crossed to the bank of lifts. He had no need to check the apartment number or the floor on which it was situated, for it was one of several owned by the Leandros Corporation and occupied until very recently by his young half-brother.
Sixteen years his junior, Vasili had been a much-loved addition to the Leandros family twenty-one years ago. To his father Paul, a delight, and the apple of Nicosâ adored stepmother Staceyâs eye.
Nic reflected on the affection theyâd shared, despite the gap in their ages. Vasiliâs upbringing had followed an identical path to his ownâ¦strict and loving. How else could it be beneath Staceyâs guiding hand?
Yet Vasili had developed a recklessness Nic had never aspired to. Heâd sailed through scholastic studies, gained a degree in business management, and entered the Leandros Corporation at the bottom of the corporate ladderâ¦as Nic had, succeeding without any seeming effort.
Vasili had remained in Sydney acquiring corporate skills, while Nic was based in the Melbourne head office, in between extensive travelling between America and Europe.
Yet their bond had remained a close one, despite the vagaries of distance.
Good-looking, fun, Vasili had had a love of life, girls, and fast carsâ¦in that order.
Tragically, it had been the fast carâa Lamborghiniâthat caused Vasiliâs death little more than two weeks ago.
Nic had been aware of the numerous girls who sought Vasiliâs company, his bed, and his share of the Leandros fortune. Although Tina Matheson had been the first girl Vasili had invited to move in with him.
What Nic hadnât known was news of Tinaâs pregnancy. Stacey had been Vasiliâs only confidante in that piece of information, the day before his untimely death.
There had been no mention of itâ¦hell, no visible sign of it as the slender auburn-haired girl had stood at Vasiliâs grave-side ten days ago.
Among the grief-stricken, Tina had stood apart. Cool, controlled, with a fragility heâd instinctively felt the need to ease.
Yet heâd been polite on introduction, distant as befitted the solemnity of the occasion, and had stood in silence as Stacey had issued Tina with an invitation to join the family in a private wake.
Tinaâs refusal had surprised him. Given the circumstances, heâd thought sheâd use any advantage to further her relationship with the Leandros family.
If he was honest, heâd have admitted he wanted to see her again in less sombre surroundings, for there was some indefinable quality about her that intrigued him.
Her stance, the way she held herself aloof. The classical, fine-boned features, cream-textured skin. Eyes the colour and brilliance of emeralds, deep, unfathomable.