‘Fine,’ she agreed heavily. ‘But I really can’t stay long.’
‘This is not a conversation to be rushed.’ He stepped out of the car and she followed. He placed a hand on her elbow, guiding her through the building’s sliding glass doors. The lifts were waiting, a security guard to one side.
She hadn’t noticed this degree of staff with him back then. There hadn’t been anyone except a driver, and she’d never really questioned that. It was obvious that he had money—but this was a whole new degree of wealth.
‘Have you had some kind of death threat or something?’ she muttered as the doors of the lift snapped closed behind them.
The look he sent her was half-rueful, half-impatient; he said nothing. But when the lift doors opened into the foyer of what could only be described as a sky palace, he urged her into the space and then held a hand up to still the guard.
More words, spoken in his own tongue, and then the guard bowed low and slipped back into the lift, leaving them alone.
She swallowed at that thought—being alone with him—distracting herself by studying the over-the-top luxury of this penthouse. It wasn’t just the polished timber floors, double height ceilings, expensive designer furnishings and crystal chandeliers that created the impression of total glamour. It was the views of the Manhattan skyline—the Chrysler Building, the Empire State, Central Park—it all spread before her like a pop-up book of New York city.
Large sliding glass doors opened out onto a deck, beyond which there was a pool, set against a glass rail. She imagined swimming in it would feel a little like floating, high above the city.
The contrasts between her own modest apartment in Queens and this insanely beautiful penthouse were too ridiculous to enumerate.
‘Matt,’ she sighed, turning to face him, not even sure what she wanted to say. He was watching her with a look of dark concentration.
‘My name,’ he said quietly, ‘is Matthias Vasilliás.’
It was perfect for this man—as soon as he gave her the full version of his name it resonated inside her, like the banging of a drum. Matt was too pedestrian for someone like him. He was exotic and unusual.
‘Fine.’ She nodded curtly, pleased when the word sounded vaguely dismissive. ‘Matthias.’
At this, his eyes flashed with something she couldn’t comprehend. ‘You have not heard of me?’
Something like an alarm bell began to ring inside Frankie’s mind. ‘Should I have?’
His lips twisted in a sardonic smile. ‘No.’
But it sounded like judgement rather than offence, and she bristled. ‘So? What gives?’ Her frown deepened. ‘What’s with all the security?’
He sighed heavily. ‘This is a light protection detail.’ He shrugged. ‘At home, there are many more guards.’
‘Why? I don’t get it. Are you some kind of celebrity or something?’
‘You could say that.’
He moved into the kitchen and pulled out a bottle of wine. Her stomach rolled at the memories of the wine they’d shared that night—only a few sips, but it had been the nicest she’d ever tasted. He poured her a glass and walked around to her; she took it on autopilot.
‘What’s going on, Matt—Matthias?’
His eyes narrowed and she wondered if the sound of his full name on her lips was as strange for him as it was for her. Matt had suited him, but Matthias suited him better. She liked the taste of those exotic syllables on the tip of her tongue.
‘My family was killed in an accident many years ago. When I was a boy of fifteen.’ He spoke matter-of-factly, so it was impossible for Frankie to know how those deaths had affected him. She could imagine, though.
‘I’m sorry,’ she murmured crisply, wishing she didn’t feel sympathy for him. Wishing she didn’t feel anything for him.
His lips twisted in acknowledgement. ‘It was a long time ago.’
‘I’m sure it still hurts.’
‘I have become used to being alone.’ He brushed her concern aside. ‘My father’s brother took on many of the responsibilities of my father. At fifteen, I was too young.’
‘What responsibilities?’ she asked.
‘Shortly after their deaths, it was decided that on my thirtieth birthday I would assume my role.’ He pinpointed her with his gaze, but he was obviously back in time, reflecting on the past. ‘One week before I turned thirty, I met you. I was only in New York for the weekend. One of my last chances to travel as myself, without this degree of...company.’ His expression shifted.
‘What did your parents do?’
But this wasn’t a conversation with questions and answers. It was a monologue. An unburdening of himself, and it was an explanation she’d wanted for such a long time that she didn’t even particularly mind.
‘I shouldn’t have got involved with you, but you were so... I cannot explain it. I saw you, and I wanted you.’ He stared at her, his eyes glinting like steel, and her heart was ice in her chest. It had been that simple for him. He’d seen her. He’d wanted her. And so he’d had her.
‘I knew it would only ever be a brief affair.’
Her throat constricted with those words, damning what they’d been to such a cynical seduction. ‘Yet you did it anyway?’
He was quiet.
‘Did you think about how I’d feel?’
‘No.’ He swept his eyes shut. ‘I told myself you were just like me—looking for a weekend of pleasure. Casual, easy sex.’
‘I think the term “casual sex” is oxymoronic,’ she said stiffly, turning away from him so she didn’t see the way his expression shifted, the way a fierce blade of possession pressed into him.
‘If I had known you were a virgin...’
‘I didn’t lie to you intentionally,’ she muttered. ‘I just got caught up in how I felt. It was all so overwhelming.’
He dipped his head forward in silent concession. ‘It is in the past,’ he said. ‘What I’m interested in dealing with is our future.’
And here it was. The custody discussion she’d been dreading. And as the days had turned into months and her status as a single mother had been firmly established, she’d come to accept that it was a conversation she’d never need to have. Now, though, faced with the father of her baby, she had no interest in denying him his right to see their child. To be a part of his life. Even when his admission that he’d gone into their affair expecting it to be ‘casual sex’ had cut her deep inside.
‘After I left you, I went back to Tolmirós and took up the position that was my birthright.’
She frowned. ‘Just what kind of family business are you in?’
His smile was more like a grimace. ‘It is not a business, Frankie. My name is Matthias Vasilliás and I am the King of Tolmirós.’
‘I’M SORRY.’