Marriage masquerade, p.1
Marriage Masquerade, page 1
Table of Contents
Title Page
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Copyright
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Epilogue
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MARRIAGE MASQUERADE
Making a Family Series, Book Three
Barbara McMahon
www.barbaramcmahon.com
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Marriage Masquerade
Copyright © 2024 Barbara McMahon
All Rights Reserved
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author's imagination and are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations or persons living or dead is entirely coincidental.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) was not used to create any part of this book.
NO AI TRAINING: Without in any way limiting the author’s exclusive rights under copyright, any use of this publication to “train” generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to generate text is expressly prohibited. The author reserves all rights to license uses of this work for generative AI training and development of machine learning language models.
Chapter One
Gemma Green paused in the office doorway, holding a stack of files and letters. Her heart skipped a beat as she looked at her boss — Nikos Petropoulos.
She swallowed hard. He hadn’t a clue she was watching him. As long as she was quiet, stood still, he wouldn’t notice her. As usual, his concentration was fierce. He could tune out the rest of the world when he focused on one particular thing.
She loved looking at him. His dark hair was meticulously styled, but often became disheveled when he ran his fingers through it or came in from a windy day. At his dark straight brows, frowning now as he perused the spreadsheet. Over six feet tall, he stood a good seven inches above her own five-foot-six height. And every inch honed as if he worked out like a body builder instead of working in a high-rise office building in Manhattan.
The seconds ticked by as she studied him, memorizing every detail. How many times in the five years she’d worked for him had she done this? More than a thousand, she knew.
And in two weeks she’d be gone, she thought with a pang. She nearly faltered for a moment. It wasn’t fair.
Studying the spreadsheet before him, Nikos frowned as if he didn’t like the totals. She wondered what he was reading—and didn’t envy the writer. Nikos was ruthless in business. Which accounted for his meteoric rise in the company—through sheer ability, not nepotism.
During the afternoon, he’d discarded his suit jacket and loosened his tie. He rolled up his shirtsleeves, revealing his muscular tanned forearms. The snowy white shirt fit perfectly across broad shoulders before tapering to his waist. She couldn’t see his eyes as he read, but their dark gaze never failed to cause a shiver down her spine.
He was a beautiful man, exotic and exciting in a way that had the office secretaries sighing whenever he walked by. But he was her boss, and Gemma always kept that thought firmly in mind.
Besides, since the fiasco with James, she’d sworn never to become involved with another man. Once trust had been shattered, it became impossible to rebuild. She no longer had confidence in her judgment, her perception of others. And it’d be a long time before she’d trust anyone again.
It was late. The rest of the staff had already left for the weekend. Gemma was ready to go as soon as she gave Nikos the folders. She allowed herself the indulgence of watching him for a little longer.
For a second, she wondered how he’d take her resignation. He was a curious mixture of Western education and Mediterranean tradition, making it very hard to gauge his reactions. Their company operated more formally than many in the United States, the style set by their boss with his manner of treating everything rather distantly. Did he ever lighten up, she wondered suddenly.
She’d never know.
Dusk was falling, visible through the large windows at his back. The scattered lights from the windows of the other skyscrapers sparkled. She’d seen this expanse of Manhattan every day for almost five years. It felt familiar, like home.
She smiled wryly. Nikos would never approve of such blatant sentimentality. He was a tough, no-nonsense businessman first, last and always. As he expected his personal assistant to be.
And if she had emulated him, she would never have found herself in the fix she was in now. Too bad she’d learned that lesson so late.
“I have the analysis you requested, and I brought the McCaffrey file,” Gemma said, putting an abrupt end to her musing. “Elise finished the dictation you gave her, and those letters are on top. If you sign them now, I’ll post them on my way out.”
Elise Templer had been Nikos' secretary since before Gemma started working for him as his personal assistant.
She placed the stack on his desk, relinquishing her own letter of resignation reluctantly. She didn’t know what he was going to say, and hoped she could hold on to her control until she was alone.
Resigning proved far more difficult than she’d expected.
He looked up and nodded, his dark eyes focused on her.
“You read my mind about McCaffrey. I found a discrepancy in the latest numbers Hank reported. I need to compare them with our earlier report in their folder.”
She nodded with satisfaction. It had become almost a joke at first, when she’d started anticipating his needs. Over the past few years, however, they’d just accepted it as a part of their relationship. She knew the shipping business almost as well as he did, her ideas and thoughts usually paralleling his. And she always knew what information he needed almost before he knew.
“Does the merger still look promising?” she asked, perching gingerly on the edge of one of the visitor’s chairs opposite Nikos.
She let none of her impatience or trepidation show. He’d get to her letter when he got to it.
Taking a deep breath, she held it a moment before letting it slowly out. It didn’t calm her. So much for that theory.
Nikos tossed down his pen and leaned back in his chair.
“Yes. Though the rate of return may not occur as quickly as I initially thought.”
He glanced at the stack, distracted.
Gemma swallowed and waited patiently. She wouldn’t look at her watch again. Doing so wouldn’t change the pace of time.
Nikos reached out and lifted the first of the letters, tilting it as he quickly read. When he finished, he scrawled his signature and tossed it aside, picking up the next. In only a couple of moments, he’d signed the lot.
He pushed the folders aside and spotted her letter. With a quick glance in her direction, he picked up the envelope and withdrew the single sheet.
Gemma studied him quietly as he read, vowing she wouldn’t cry, even though she felt the threat of tears. It was her decision, the only one she felt she could make. But it hadn’t come easily.
She owed Nikos a great deal. She’d learned so much from him. He’d talked her into taking night courses until she got her degree, made sure she understood all the regulations governing the shipping industry and freely shared his own thoughts about the business. He’d made her job interesting and exciting and rewarding.
She enjoyed working with him despite the long hours and the hectic pace he set. She’d miss being his personal assistant. Miss living in New York.
Too late now for regrets. Months too late.
“What the hell is this?”
He looked up right into her eyes, his own narrowed.
She cleared her throat. “My resignation.”
He stared at her for a long moment with the full force of his dark eyes, then he slapped the paper down and rose. Gemma watched as he strode to the window and gazed out over the busy street below. Leaning one shoulder against the glass, he slipped his hands into the pockets of his trousers.
As the silence stretched out, Gemma’s mind wandered. She studied him, taking in the tall, lean frame. Memorizing as much as she could. A London tailor made his clothes. The dark somber colors and continental style did nothing to distract from his innate masculinity, his dark good looks.
Should she say something? Try to explain?
That would be dumb. The entire reason for leaving was to avoid explanations and excuses she knew would result once people knew she was pregnant.
And deserted by the baby’s father.
She couldn’t endure the pity or the gossip. She had to leave, and soon. Because at four months pregnant, the extent of her folly was about to be known.
Gemma knew Nikos would demand some kind of explanation. She shifted in her seat to gather up the signed letters, quickly folding them and inserting in the accompanying envelopes. Elise had made copies earlier. These were ready to be posted. She’d drop them in the mail room before she left.
Glancing at her watch, she saw it was aft
“Is there anything else you need?” she asked, longing to escape.
Wishing she was already home. Wishing even more that she hadn’t been put in this position at all. She didn’t want to leave, yet felt she had no alternative.
“You could start by explaining that letter.”
“I’m leaving New York,” she said to his back.
“Going where?”
“I thought California.”
It was as far from New York as she could go.
He turned at that and stared at her in surprise.
“Why? Joining some man?”
Heat stole into her cheeks and Gemma looked away.
“No. There is no man.”
Not now. And in reality, never. She’d been such a fool.
“Then why? I know your parents are dead. You have no other relatives, right? What is the allure of California?”
Startled, Gemma looked up. Nikos' dark brows were straight as he frowned. He was angry. She recognized that instantly. She could practically feel waves of energy emanating from him—which was totally unlike the normally cool, controlled man she’d worked with for so long. Businesslike and contained, that was Nikos Petropoulos.
She’d always admired that. And had done her best to be the same way. To be the perfect personal assistant.
Did she owe him a full explanation? She hated to see the disappointment in his eyes. He didn’t suffer fools gladly, and what she’d done was beyond foolish. Of course, he didn’t have a very high opinion of women to begin with, thanks to his wife. Ex-wife, she corrected herself.
So her own circumstances would only confirm that opinion.
When she’d started working for him, Nikos had been married to a renowned British super model. But that union hadn’t lasted long. Katrina had been beautiful, elegant and sophisticated, but also greedy, conniving and unfaithful.
He’d divorced her three years ago.
Since then, he’d played the field, never drawing close to any woman. And sometimes his remarks the day after a particularly trying date demonstrated to her he didn’t think highly of her gender.
“Is it something wrong with your work here?” he asked.
She shook her head.
“I think it’s time for a change. I need to leave New York.”
Rubbing her palms nervously against her long black skirt, she tried to remain calm.
“Leave New York? Why? Is it too expensive? Do you need more money?”
Gemma flashed him an indignant look.
“No, and if money were the issue, I’d list all I’ve done during the past year and let the record speak for itself.”
He stifled a smile at her flare of temper.
“It was unusual for you to advocate for yourself before. You know your work is excellent. You miss nothing, Gemma.”
Warmth spread through her. She smiled in genuine pleasure and wry amusement. He could have volunteered that information earlier. But it probably had never crossed his mind to do so.
He glanced at the letter again, a thoughtful expression on his face.
“I need to get this resolved,” he said slowly. “Your timing couldn’t be worse.”
“There is nothing to resolve. I’m formally giving notice. I’ll leave in two weeks.”
“Do you have another job?”
“Not yet. I need to move and get settled first.”
He crossed to the desk and leaned against it, looking down at her.
“Tell me what’s going on, Gemma. You’re moving across the country with no job, no family, nobody waiting. What’s the deal? You owe me an explanation, don’t you think?”
Did she owe any man anything?
Twisting her fingers, she looked at them, wondering what to do. She just wanted everything to go back the way it had been, but that would never happen. Everything was changing, out of control. She wondered if she could cope.
“I’m pregnant,” she blurted out.
Silence.
She ventured a glance to find his dark gaze steady on her.
“And the father doesn’t live here in New York?”
“Oh, yes, he does,” she said bitterly.
“Then why are you leaving?”
“Because he wants nothing to do with his child.”
She raised her chin, drawing her pride around her like a cloak.
“I don’t want people to know how dumb I’ve been. I thought if I moved away, I could pretend to be a widow or something. No one would know my baby doesn’t have a father willing to acknowledge it.”
“Good grief. Isn’t that drastic? Moving away from your friends, your job? You wouldn’t have any kind of support network.”
“I can manage. I’ve saved some money, and I know I can get another job.”
“Single women have babies all the time. You don’t need to move clear across the country,” he snapped.
“Maybe single women have babies, but it’s tacky to be an unwed mother in my hometown. Small towns in Ohio frown on that kind of thing. And I didn’t realize how much of those values stuck. I’ve lived here for years, but still feel…I don’t know, embarrassed, I guess, is the least of it. And a certain amount of shame. I’d hate for my baby to know his daddy didn’t want him. Or her.”
“So you plan to keep the baby?”
Gemma nodded.
It was odd. With all the anger she felt toward James, she thought that some of it would have transferred to the baby, that she might even come to resent the child. But she already loved this infant growing beneath her heart.
Gemma had no family. Once her baby was born, it would be the two of them against the world. The thought of that precious new life was the only bright spot in her day. Despite the complications of an unexpected pregnancy brought, she was looking forward to holding her baby.
“Who’s the father?”
“Just a guy.”
“I don’t buy that, Gemma. You aren’t the type for casual sex. Who is he? That James you’ve been quietly dating for a year?”
She shrugged, a bit annoyed by the inquisition. Then nodded.
“I thought he was wonderful. Bright, funny, charming. I really enjoyed being with him. I thought I loved him. He said he loved me. But I know better now. I’ll never trust a man again.”
Or her own judgment.
She had been confident in the feeling of being loved. How could she have been so wrong?
“He heard about the baby and left?” Nikos guessed shrewdly.
“Two months ago.”
“Want me to track him down and make him marry you? Or at least provide child support?”
She widened her eyes. Nikos could do it if anyone could. Slowly she shook her head.
“No. In the first place, I wouldn’t marry him now if he were the last man on earth. Not that I could. He’s already married—has been for years. A minor little detail he conveniently forgot to mention to me. I was just on the side, so to speak.”
Tears threatened as she remembered how ashamed she’d felt when James had told her the cold, hard facts. How ashamed and scared and furious.
“Gemma—”
She jumped up.
“Don’t say anything, Nikos. I know I was an idiot. But you don’t have to worry I’ll repeat that dumb mistake. I have to do what’s best for me and my baby, and staying here isn’t an option. I’ve really enjoyed working with you.”
Backing toward the door, she tried to keep a bright smile on her face, but from her trembling lips, she knew she was failing.
Nikos watched Gemma as she bid him goodnight. His gaze continued to follow her as she entered the outer office. Her thick chestnut hair caught back in a long ponytail at the base of her neck was tidy, even after a full day at work.
She always appeared immaculate. Slender, perhaps too slender, she dressed conservatively. Mostly in black and silver, he noticed.
Today, her black skirt swayed seductively against her long legs as she walked away. It hit her mid calf, a soft feminine garment. She had fastened her silvery blouse to within two buttons of the neck, but it displayed the generous curves that enhanced her femininity. The gold necklace that nestled against her throat warmed the honey tones of her skin.
