The Greek Tycoon's Secret Child by Cathy Williams Read Free Book Online

money. It sat on his shoulders like an invisible cloak. And she had wanted him to say it. Out loud. So that she could remind herself of yet another reason why she should get out of this place and fast, before his sexy face and ability to listen and smooth-talking charm got the better of her caution.
    â€˜So…what did your parents do?’
    â€˜Is this really relevant?’
    â€˜It is to me.’
    â€˜My father is in shipping.’
    â€˜Builds them, you mean?’
    â€˜You know exactly what I mean.’
    â€˜My mum was a cleaner. She died ten years ago. My dad was a carpenter, except not many people seem to want handmade things these days. He lives in Bournemouth now. He still makes bits and pieces for himself, but his full-time job is supervisor at a furniture factory.’ Mattie stood up and smiled politely.
    She felt disproportionately hurt at the fact that she would never see him again, but she had had to do it. Had to make him see the one difference between them that would always be there.
    â€˜Well, thanks for the coffee. No, please, I can get a taxi home myself.’ She just couldn’t face the underground just now. And before he could say another word she was hurrying out of the door, up the stairs and through the chic foyer that looked as though it had stepped straight out of a magazine.

CHAPTER THREE
    â€˜O H, NO , you don’t.’
    Mattie heard the rapid footsteps behind her at the same time as she heard his voice, which was just as he gripped her arm and swung her around to face him.
    â€˜You are not going to sling this in my face and then run away before I have time to refute it.’
    â€˜I’m not running away from anything. I’m going home, if it’s all the same to you!’
    â€˜No, well, as a matter of fact, it’s not.’
    Her heart was beating a mile a minute, racing inside her like a roller coaster that had gone wildly out of control, and his hand on her arm was like a vice grip, but one that was doing crazy things to her stomach, just the sort of crazy things she didn’t want to happen.
    â€˜Well, tough!’
    â€˜Not good enough, Mattie.’ He reached out one hand to hail a taxi and kept the other one firmly on her arm. ‘Where do you live? I’ll drop you home. We can talk on the way.’
    â€˜No!’
    Drop her home? And what if Frankie just happened to be up and moving around? Unlikely, but not a possibility she could rule out. Frankie, after a few bottles of beer, couldn’t be relied on to behave in a predictable manner and go to sleep. And the thought of him storming out of the house and confronting Dominic Drecos was enough to make her blood curdle. She knew whowould be the loser and it wouldn’t be the man opening the door of the taxi now for her to step past him.
    â€˜Why not?’ Dominic demanded, leaning forward, invading her space and noticing that she was leaning forward too, not shrinking away from him like a scared rabbit.
    â€˜Because…’
    â€˜Because what?’
    â€˜Because…’ Because she didn’t want Frankie, if he happened to be up, to see her with him? To get the wrong idea? Because even after all they had been through, she still didn’t have it in her to hurt him like that? Or was it, she wondered uneasily, because she didn’t want this man to know that a boyfriend existed?
    â€˜Because I don’t reveal my address to strangers, especially when those strangers happen to have been a customer in the nightclub where I work!’
    Dominic grimaced, seeing her point of view but knowing that the last thing he would do would be to take advantage of her. He had covered some distance, he thought with another grimace to himself, since he had first set eyes on her and concluded that he wanted her. Now, along with those signals that she sent out, that had every masculine pore in his body rearing into full-blooded life, were other, more complex ones. He