Contract for Marriage by Barbara Deleo

were no more options, no other way to right the wrongs of the past, to give her baby the opportunity to grow up in the home of its ancestors. His point that they knew each other so well, strengths and weaknesses, had touched something in her and she wondered if that might, indeed, be the best environment to bring a baby up in.
    “If we draw up watertight agreements and contracts to safeguard the house, if we agree to a commitment to my child’s future, and if we agree to no sex.”
    Christo leaned fractionally closer. “Let’s start with that,” he said.

Chapter Six
    “Ready?” Christo asked as he held the sleek door of his convertible open for Ruby.
    Moments earlier they’d glided through enormous security gates, driven down through a densely wooded driveway, and pulled up at a grand entrance staircase. It had been almost twenty-four hours since she’d agreed to marry Christo, but it still felt like a dream. A fantasy. And yet it felt strangely possible. Something had shifted deep inside when Christo had told her the truth about her parents, like a part of her that had been buried was beginning to find the light.
    “I thought you said your mother was in your apartment .” She looked up at the enormous dwelling that blocked the afternoon sun. “This is almost as big as my…” She tripped on the words. “It’s almost as big as the estate.” The modern wooden and steel structure sat magnificently on a plateau overlooking the sparkling waters of Waitemata Harbor. With Rangitoto Island’s volcanic cone in the distance, the view was the same as the view from her own front garden, give or take a few degrees on the compass.
    “Technically, it’s an apartment,” he said, as he shut the car door. “With separate entranceways, but I can make it into a single dwelling if I wish.” Guiding her up the stairs, he placed his palm at the small of her back and immediately a shower of sparks raced through her midriff.
    A primal craving for more of his touch flamed from somewhere within, but she pushed it away and forced herself to listen to him.
    “The penthouse suite at the top is where my mother is. The other apartments below are for family who visit from Greece.”
    “It’s beautiful,” she whispered.
    “Not according to my mother.” The pressure of his palm increased as he ushered her through the giant wooden doors, and she had to focus harder on what he was saying. “I bought this a few years ago, hoping to convince her that it would be a great place for her retirement. Sea views and native bush as she’s used to, a cook’s kitchen with a specially planted garden with all her Greek herbs. She wouldn’t hear of it. Wouldn’t think of leaving your mother.”
    Her heart warmed. Ruby had always loved Stella, but all this new knowledge, the lengths she’d gone to for Antonia, made her want to thank Christo’s mother in person. One good thing to come out of all of this was that she would have Stella Mantazis back in her life—as a grandmother to her child.
    Inside, across an expansive marble floor, they reached an elevator and Christo pressed the up-arrow. He slung a hand in the pocket of his pale chinos and looked at her. “I’ve confirmed to the organizing committee at tomorrow’s event that I’ll attend and you’ll be accompanying me.”
    Ruby nodded then tilted her face to his. “So, we’re still playing by the rules of leaving the house together?”
    His broad shoulders straightened. “I’ll inform Tim today about our plans, but until we’re married and the finer print of the contract has been discussed, it’s prudent to follow the terms of the will.”
    Obviously he didn’t trust that she’d stick to their agreement. Despite the intensity of yesterday’s proposal, he was still doing everything to keep her at arm’s length. And did that mean she couldn’t leave without his permission?
    She clasped her hands together in front and pushed calm into her voice. “Then that could be a