Hotspots of pink deepened the hue of Billie's cheeks in reaction to that unexpected taunt.
'This kid is…what age?' Alexei queried.
'He's four and a half months old. But when he was born you were still with Calisto and thinking about marrying her,' Billie referred to his ex-girlfriend, Calisto Bethune, with a heavy heart. 'I didn't want to cause trouble. I saw no benefit to anyone in doing that. It seemed to me,' she continued painfully, 'that you didn't want to remember being with me, and that probably everyone concerned would be happier if that night remained a secret.'
'I don't believe for one moment that your child is mine,' Alexei declared with icy conviction. 'I refuse to believe it. I hope you don't plan to take these insane stories into court with you. You will make a laughing stock of yourself—'
'Into…court?' Billie echoed shakily. 'What are you talking about?'
'Do I really need to spell out the fact that what you've just told me is grounds for divorce?'
Billie turned as cold as though he had just plunged her into an ice bath, consternation and shock gripping her hard. 'I know that you're shocked by what I've told you—'
'Of course I'm shocked by the image of you, your mother and your aunt plotting against me like Macbeth's three witches! 'Alexei derided with ferocious bite.
Billie's temper flared and she flew upright. 'It's ridiculous to talk like that. Nobody plotted against you! When I persuaded Hilary to pretend that Nicky was her child, my only motivation in doing so was to hide Nicky's parentage and protect you.'
'You wanted to protect me? 'Alexei exclaimed harshly, his contempt for that claim unconcealed. 'Even now in the midst of your attempt to palm off your bastard child on me, you can't tell me the truth! My proposal of marriage was what motivated your lies and deception—'
'How could it have been?' Billie flung back fierily, standing her ground to challenge him. 'My pretence that Nicky was my aunt's child began when I first told you that she was pregnant and asked for a career break. And that was months before you even considered marrying me!'
Stumped by that inescapable fact, Alexei studied her with enraged hauteur, his glittering gaze bright against his superb bone structure. 'You lied to me and you deceived me over a very long period—'
'But not with any malicious intent!' Billie rushed to interpose, desperation racking her with a level of fear that did nothing to clarify her state of mind. 'I admit that I should have told you about Nicky before the wedding but I didn't have the guts—'
'Naturally avarice and ambition won out over honesty. Why? Only because you knew there would be no wedding if you told me the truth about yourself.'
'The very last thing I have ever wanted from you is money!' Billie launched back at him, angrily objecting to that base accusation. 'And don't refer to my son as a bastard ever again. However he was born, whoever he is, I love him and I'm proud of him. If you think so badly of me, how could you make love to me again?'
That emotive demand made Alexei's jaw square and he sent her a flashing look of scorn. 'That was just sex, a primitive urge for physical release, nothing more complex.'