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It was exactly what she’d known he’d say, but Anna still staggered as if he had hit her This ti wooden table to keep herself fro for her baby She had to think of a way to save her son
In spite of her best efforts, a tear left a cold trail down her cheek Wiping it away furiously, she raised her chin and glared at Nikos with every ounce of hate she possessed “You can’t do this!”
“I can and I will You lost the right to be his ht”
Anna brought her hands to herNikos could use hislawyers to keep her from her son forever She’d been stupid to run away, and now her worst night in Las Vegas with a heartless, wo billionaire and his new mistress…
“I’m so sorry, Anna,” Natalie sobbed behind her “I tried to stop them I tried”
“It’s all right, Natalie,” Anna whispered But it wasn’t all right It would never be all right again
A door sla Anna to juuard entered from the kitchen and placed a tray on the table Steam rose from the samovar as Nikos went to the table and poured undiluted tea, followed by hot water, into a blue china cup
She stared at her great-grandile and sht It could be crushed in a moment by those tanned, muscular hands
Nikos could destroy anything he wanted And he had
“I’ve been here teeks,” Anna said bitterly as she watched hi?”
He lowered the cup, and his unsaze never once looked from hers
“I ordered my men to wait until you and the child were separated Easier that way Less risk of you doing so foolish”
Stupid Stupid She never should have left her baby—not even to go to an all-nightAfter all, Misha wasn’t really sick, just teething and cranky, with a tiny fever that barely registered on her thermometer
“I was stupid to leave,” she whispered
“It took you four ure that out?”
Anna barely heard hi here in the first place After four months on the move, always just one step ahead of Nikos’sout, Anna had convinced herself that Nikos wouldn’t be staking out her great-grand palace was their fa to repair the murals in hopes that they’d be able to find a buyer and pay off their paralyzing debt A fruitless hope, in Anna’s opinion
As fruitless as trying to escape Nikos Stavrakis He was bigger than her by six inches, and eighty pounds of hardin cars hidden behind the palace
The police, she thought, but that hope faded as soon as it caed to suone Or he’d pay off anyone who took her side Nikos Stavrakis’s wealth and power made him above the law
She had only one option left Begging
“Please,” she whispered She took a deep breath and forced herself to say in a louder voice, “Nikos, please don’t take my child It would kill me”
He barked a harsh laugh “That’s what I’d call a bonus”
She should have known better than to ask hi “You…you heartless bastard!”
“Heartless?” He threw the cup at the fireplace It s pieces “Heartless!” he roared
Suddenly afraid, Anna drew back “Nikos—”
“You let ht you both were dead I returned froone Do you kno many days I waited for the ranso I waited for your bodies to be discovered? Seven days You made me wait seven damn days before you bothered to let me know you were both alive!”
Anna’s breaths caasps “You betrayed me You caused my father’s death! Did you think I’d never find out?”
His dark eyes widened, then narrowed “Your fathers”
“No Please” Tears welled up in her eyes and she grabbed at his coat sleeve “You can’t take hi Think what it would do to Misha to lose his mother, the only parent he’s ever known…”