The Last Kolovsky Playboy (8 page)

Except she loved him—maybe.

Which meant
she
noticed.

‘They can’t know. The board can’t know.’ Aleksi voice was hoarse. ‘My mother—it would be like blood in the water. They’d feed like sharks…’

‘She will know soon,’ Kate said, because after all surely his mother loved him, too?

‘She mustn’t.’

‘What’s wrong, Aleksi?’

He hated this revelation—hated standing in front of her and admitting…what? That there was a flaw in his armour and he couldn’t bear it? He couldn’t stand weakness, abhorred it, so he silenced her, pressed his mouth to hers and did what he still did brilliantly—because this he could never, ever forget how to do.

This
made it possible.

His mouth, his taste, his scent, his maleness pressing into her, chased all the fears and doubts away.

As his tongue played with hers, as his animal magnetism drew her into him, the impossible was made easy.

He obliterated doubt with one stroke of his tongue.

She must not care, must brace herself for walking
away, but while she stayed
this
made it do-able—his kiss, his touch, the only things that made sense.

His fingers were in her hair, his hands insistent, and then they moved down over her back to caress her hips. He made her both weak and strong. Strong because he made anything possible, and weak because he could take her any time he wanted.

His erection wedged into her groin and she gasped into his mouth.

‘Aleksi, how long…?’ Nina opened the door of his office, her voice trailing off as she caught her son in a passionate clinch. But she was the mother of Kolovsky sons, and had long got over any embarrassment. ‘I need those papers,’ she said, as Aleksi released Kate from his potent grip. ‘Assuming, of course, that you have them.’ Her eyes held just a fraction of challenge, and Kate felt sure that Nina knew there was something amiss with her son.

‘Here.’ Normally he would never have handed them over without checking them carefully first, but Aleksi reassured himself that Kate had prepared them so he trusted they were right.

And then he quickly checked them himself.

He trusted no one.

‘You haven’t signed them off,’ Nina said. ‘I’m not going to work on figures that you haven’t approved. Here…’ She headed to Kate’s desk and picked up a pen, which Aleksi had no choice but to take. After just a beat of a pause, he signed off the figures with his usual flourish.

Nina caught Kate’s eye. ‘We will dine tonight…’ She gave Kate a smile that didn’t meet her eyes. ‘To celebrate.’

‘It’s Georgie’s first night in her new home. I really don’t want to take her out,’ Kate replied.

‘You don’t bring children to dinner! Ring the nanny agency.’ She took the forms from Aleksi and without another word headed out.

‘That should keep her quiet for a while,’ Aleksi said, once she was safely out of earshot.

‘It’s lucky that I had them on the computer.’ Kate said, but her voice was far from even. The thought of getting a stranger to look after Georgie had her in a spin. Only now was the true reality of being a part of the Kolovsky world starting to hit home. But her thoughts were sideswiped as Aleksi responded to her comment.

‘I meant,’ he drawled, ‘the kiss.’

It would have been kinder to Kate had he simply slapped her.

‘S
HE’LL
be fine,’ Aleksi said with a sigh, as for the third time in as many minutes Kate questioned whether they really had to go out. ‘The whole point of this exercise is that we are seen.’

‘It’s her first night here,’ Kate pointed out, although Georgie really did seem fine.

Even though she had only met Aleksi perhaps a handful of times, when Kate had had to come in at weekends or in the evenings and had had no choice but to bring her, he had always been lovely to Georgie, and Georgie, in turn, thought he was fantastic.

Of course Kate had played it all down as she’d shown her daughter around her new home. Yes, Aleksi was her boyfriend, she’d told Georgie. It wasn’t a complete lie—she was, after all, crazy about him. He filled her every waking thought and then came back for a nightly visit to her dreams, and as of tonight she’d be sleeping beside him.

‘Will you get married?’ Georgie had asked, and only then had it tipped into a lie. Because, like love, marriage for Aleksi was something that would never happen.

‘Let’s just see how we all get on together first.’

‘But he’s bought you a ring…’ Georgie’s eyes fell
on the emerald-cut diamond that alone could pay for her education and beyond. ‘That means you’re going to get married.’

There was no easy answer to logic combined with a five-year-old’s dreams of how the world should be, so Kate had stayed silent, and now Georgie was playing on the tennis court with Sophie, her new nanny, shrieking with laughter as she patted back balls while Kate prepared herself for a glittering night with the Kolovsky family.

A night out she didn’t want.

‘I thought the exercise was to show how responsible the new Aleksi was,’ Kate said, still hoping for a last-minute reprieve.

‘Which is why I’ve paid for a top nanny who’s going to play games and have fun with her.’ Aleksi clearly didn’t see what the problem was. ‘Hell, we’ll only be a couple of hours. The last thing I want is a prolonged night with my family.’ He was knotting his tie. Backwards and forwards he slid the silk through the knot, then cursed in frustration as with each attempt it fell apart.

‘Do you want a hand?’

‘I don’t need you to dress me,’ Aleksi hissed.

Kate bit her tongue, because she knew he was in pain. Knew because since that night he hadn’t taken a single painkiller. But it was more than that. Since the office, since Nina’s cruel observations, his mood had been black. So much for a warm welcome to their new home!

And so much for sensitivity. When she was sliding on her dress and struggling with the zip Aleksi turned around. ‘You can’t wear that.’

‘Excuse me?’

‘You wore that at last year’s Christmas party.’

‘Should I be touched that you remember?’

‘I remember,’ Aleksi said, walking over, ‘because you had the tag hanging out at the back all night—just as you have now.’ He flicked it with distaste. ‘My real fiancée would not shop at a high street store.’

‘And no doubt your
real
fiancée wouldn’t have this dress size,’ Kate said sharply, mortified as she tucked in the label. ‘I must have forgotten to pack my designer wardrobe.’

‘Buy one!’ Aleksi said. ‘I gave you a more than generous allowance…’ Then his eyes narrowed. ‘I suppose you’re saving that for your nest egg.’

‘It just doesn’t feel right,’ she admitted, ‘cashing the cheque…’

‘So you’re doing this for nothing?’ Aleksi gave her a wide-eyed look. ‘You’re here simply out of the goodness of your heart?’

She’d seen him so often like this at work, with his family—never once had it been aimed at her.

‘Tomorrow Nikita will sort out your wardrobe—she is the top designer at Kolovsky.’ He watched in exasperation as she used the tongs in her hair. ‘Why the hell didn’t you get someone in to do that? You know what to do—you know how to prepare…’

Yes, she did.

For Alexi’s dates Kate would often organise the hairdresser, the beautician, the day spa. Which would all have been rather lovely for her—except Aleksi’s usual dates didn’t generally have a nanny to interview. Despite the fact Aleksi had said an interview was unnecessary. Nor did they have an almost five-year-old who wanted her mum to sit with her while she had dinner, and to spend a little while exploring her new home.

So instead she’d had to make do with a fifteen-minute make-over to transform her from drab to almost fab—well, perhaps not by Kolovsky standards. As a single mum Kate was rather used to performing great feats in record time—she did it each morning, after all, just to get to work. Now she slicked on foundation, dotted her cheeks with blush, and attempted massive renovations on her eyes.

Aleksi watched, his impatience mounting with each passing minute.

He’d finally knotted his tie.

His hair, even though it might require a cut, fell into exquisite shape, and he slapped on some cologne and tried not to think about the snakepit he was exposing her to tonight. Wished he had thought and had packed her off for a makeover—the press would be there, his mother would make sure of that, and Kate, with her high street dress and homemade hairdo, would cause a frenzy.

‘A little empathy would be nice.’ She glared at him as she stuffed lipstick and mints and a mobile phone into her evening bag. ‘And before you tell me to buy myself some from the generous allowance you’re giving me, I’m not talking about a perfume!’

‘You’ve got a run in your stockings.’ Aleksi pointed out, then stood there, lips pursed, as she took off her high shoes, ripped off her stockings and replaced her shoes.

‘What?’ Kate flashed. ‘Am I supposed to whip out a spare pair?’ Aleksi said nothing, but Kate was on a roll. ‘Are my calves too pale to be seen out with you?’

He didn’t like this grown-up game.

Didn’t like watching her kiss Georgie goodnight and seeing how she left her mobile number
and
the restaurant number on the bench in the kitchen, because
Aleksi’s silver fridge didn’t possess a single magnet. Didn’t like her assurance to Sophie that they’d be home well before midnight.

It had never been a factor for Aleksi before.

She could feel his tension as the driver pulled into the restaurant. She wasn’t particularly surprised by it—after all, she had arranged a few family get-togethers in her time as both Levander’s and Aleksi’s PA, and neither brother had particularly embraced them.

This was different, though, and as the car pulled up, as she saw the throng of photographers waiting to greet them, Kate’s nerves, which seemed to have been placed in temporary cold storage while she had dealt with the practicalities of Georgie and moving house, suddenly rapidly thawed and caught up.

This might be a charade for her and Aleksi, but for tonight, and for the next couple of months, this was real to everyone else.

This was her life.

And now, when she thought she might turn tail and run, he took her hand and moved in to speak quietly into the shell of her ear.

‘You’re going to be fine,’ Aleksi soothed, his fingers smoothing a stray curl behind her ear. ‘You look wonderful…’

And then he kissed her—except it tasted of deceit, and Kate wasn’t stupid enough to believe his words were for her, that those tender gestures weren’t for the cameras that were exploding outside the car, and she pulled away.

‘It would have been nice…’ she leant back in his arms, smiled into his eyes for the cameras and then
spoke her truth ‘…if you could have said all this back at the house.’

‘I thought it.’ Aleksi didn’t bat an eyelid, just smiled and played with her hair and lived the lie so well. ‘Now I say it.’

As they stepped out, whether it was for the cameras’ benefit or not, she was pathetically grateful for his arm around her shoulders as they walked the short but daunting distance to the restaurant. Kate never liked having her photo taken at the best of times, and right now it was possibly the worst of times as by happy manufactured coincidence Nina’s car arrived just a moment behind them. She realised she was to greet her supposed future mother-in-law in front of the full glare of the press.

‘So that was the delay in the car,’ Kate turned and whispered in his ear. ‘Aleksi, remind me again to never believe anything you say or do.’

He laughed—for the first time in a very long time, Aleksi laughed. There was no fooling Kate, and it was actually refreshing. He was also curiously proud of his fake fiancée as she handled Nina with far more aplomb than most could muster.

‘Darling Kate!’ Nina was at her false best, commandeering Kate as if she had missed her all her life, air-kissing and cooing. Kate played the game too, even accepting the other woman’s bony arm in hers as they were guided into the restaurant. Now, surely she should breathe—except the waiter was leading them through the safety of the packed restaurant, not to some exclusive, secluded corner, but back outside to the street they had just left.

‘It’s such a nice night.’ Nina smiled maliciously. ‘I
thought we should eat outside. Don’t be shy,’ she chided Kate, ‘it’s just a few cameras—the world wants to see the young lovers…’

They were seated. Despite the short notice, Nina had done well. There were a couple of aunts, Iosef was there with his wife Annie, and also the beautiful Kolovsky daughter, Annika, with her handsome husband, Ross.

It hurt to watch. For Kate it actually hurt to watch the way they pored over the menu, the way the private conversation continued despite the crowd—and the way Ross held Annika’s hand the whole way through.

Love couldn’t be manufactured and faked for the cameras, she thought with a flutter of panic, sipping her champagne, feeling every eye on her, and most of all feeling Nina just waiting for her to slip up. What mother would want to turn on her own son? Kate tried to fathom as Aleksi spoke with Ross, his new brother-in-law. What mother would so badly try to expose her son’s faults for the sake of winning?

‘What’s wrong, Kate?’ Nina asked pointedly. ‘You look uncomfortable.’

She couldn’t do this, Kate realized. She couldn’t sit and be demure and plastic—even if she was a fake fiancée she was still herself, and for this charade to continue that was who she needed to be.

‘I am uncomfortable,’ Kate said, and the table fell silent. ‘It must be the coat hanger I forgot to take out of my skirt.’

It was nice to see Nina’s face falter for a second, but nicer—far, far nicer—was once again the rare sound of Aleksi’s laughter, the feel of his hot hand closing around hers as he addressed his mother.

‘See now why I love her?’

He didn’t, of course, Kate told herself, reminded herself, insisted to herself, over and over again. Only now she was herself, now she was being who she really was, the night and the table were more lively. Even Iosef and Annie seemed a touch reluctant when Iosef’s pager urgently sounded and they duly made their excuses.

‘One of the benefits of being a doctor,’ Aleksi remarked quietly, as he said goodnight to his brother and sister-in-law.

‘Had I known it would be such a good night,’ Iosef murmured to his twin, ‘I would have arranged at least another hour.’ He turned to Kate. ‘It really has been nice meeting you.’

It was strange, Kate pondered, to kiss the cheek of a man who looked exactly like Aleksi, to smile and chat, to look into the same slate-grey eyes and yet feel nothing.

She almost wished she could ask them to swap—so she could get through this without emotion. Because one touch from Aleksi and her heart was on skid row.

Aleksi had dreaded this night, and no doubt would regret it in the morning, when the press did their savage best to mock the reunion and ridicule Kate, but to his absolute surprise he was enjoying himself in a way he never had with his family.

Oh, his mother was at her most irritating and caustic, but he was so proud of how Kate had just shrugged and carried on. There was no need to impress, he realized. She had this confidence, this strength that amazed him—a side to her he had never seen or appreciated before.

For the first time he was actually enjoying an evening with his family, and even Annika seemed to be relaxing—
until Nina introduced a new subject. ‘I hear you are going to the UK,’ she said to Aleksi, ‘to try and dissuade Belenki.’

‘I’m not just going to see him.’ Aleksi didn’t even look over to his mother as he spoke. ‘I would like to meet Riminic, my new nephew…’ Now he looked over to Nina and watched her face pale, watched as she reached for a glass of water.

‘His name is Dimitri,’ Nina croaked.

‘My mistake,’ Aleksi said. ‘Are you going over to meet your new grandson?’ he asked. ‘Or doesn’t a Detsky Dom orphanage boy count?’

‘It’s too soon.’ Nina was having great trouble wearing her false smile, and all the aunts were sitting in rigid silence, awaiting her response. ‘Levander and Millie said they don’t want him to be crowded, that they don’t want too much fuss made.’

‘Well, you’ll never be guilty of that.’

‘Aleksi’s an expert in children suddenly.’ Nina smiled to the table. ‘Next time you must bring along Georgie. We’d all love to meet her.’

You could have heard a pin drop.

‘You’ve got a child?’ It was Ross, Annika’s husband, who broke the silence.

‘Georgie.’ Kate nodded.

‘How old?’ Annika’s voice was curiously high.

‘She’s nearly five.’

‘A lovely age.’ Nina smiled falsely. ‘She’ll be thrilled that Mummy’s engaged, no doubt—what little girl doesn’t harbour the dream of being bridesmaid?’

‘Aleksi…’ Annika and Ross were ready to leave now; the night was wrapping up. ‘Can I have a word?’

Of all his family, it was Annika he was closest to. He knew how hard things had been for her, the expectations
that had been placed on her slender shoulders and how hard it must have been to turn her back on them. She was, to Nina’s horror, finishing her nursing training, and was hoping to specialise in aged care—she amazed him too. Every day she grew stronger. Out of her family’s clutches and in Ross’s arms she grew stronger by the minute.

‘Of course.’

‘Away from…’ Annika looked uncomfortable and frowned to Ross, who quickly flicked his eyes away. Aleksi’s heart sank, and he shot Ross a black look for his betrayal.