Conall paused and she turned to see his mouth tighten.
‘You don’t have to—’
‘I want to. You’re mywife.’
He said the word with such deliberation it felt like a challenge.
She’d adored Conall for so long but had never felt like his wife. Because he didn’t love her, and the way he shut down any discussion about his family or his past reinforced that. Why open up now?
‘My father has five children by four different women. He’s on his fifth wife now.’
Greer knew about the man, of course. He was a larger-than-life billionaire, dominating both the Australian and international mining industries. She knew about the multiple wives but Conall’s expression made her wonder again what it had been like growing up with such a man.
‘Your mother—’
‘Wasn’t one of his wives.’
Greer frowned. What she knew of Fraser Abercrombie came from business articles. She’d never read the biography that came out a few years ago. Perhaps she should have. ‘But you have the same surname.’
‘When I was five my mother died and the authorities contacted my father. He had my name legally changed to his and I was raised in his house.’ Conall’s mouth twisted and Greer felt an answering corkscrew of tension in her stomach. ‘He’s big on ownership.’
There was no mistaking that sour tone. And the way he’d said he was raised in his father’s house, rather than that his father raised him, was odd.
‘In that case I’m surprised he waited until your mother died to claim you.’
‘He didn’t know about me. She kept her pregnancy secret. She gave her notice and moved interstate.’
‘Her notice?’
Conall’s expression turned sombre. ‘She worked for him, one of his junior assistants.’
Greer gasped, her hand pressing against her sternum. The similarities…
He nodded. ‘It was one of the reasons I resisted you so long. Because of the neednotto be like my father. I hated that you might feel pressured because I pay your salary.’
‘I’dneverthink that! Not about you.’
It was the second time he’d voiced concern about their respective work situations. It really must have bothered him.
She leaned across and grabbed his arm, wrapping her fingers around the bare flesh of his forearm. She might have doubts about their marriage now the pregnancy that cemented it was finished, but she knew Conall would never use his position of power to seduce or force a woman.
His warm hand covered hers and for a heartbeat she felt again that link, that understanding between them.
‘Was that what happened to your mother? Was she pressured?’
Conall stiffened and Greer would have pulled her hand away but he stopped her, long fingers curling around hers, his thumb stroking the back of her hand.
‘I don’t know for sure. I remember her talking in the kitchen while I played in the next room. She spoke about my father. I remember because Abercrombie seemed such a strange name then. She kept repeating that she’d had no choice.’ He frowned. ‘I’d never heard her so upset. It scared me. I ran in and hugged her so she wouldn’t cry and that’s all I recall. But the memory stayed with me because I’d never known her distressed like that. It wasn’t until years later that I began to put two and two together.’
Greer’s chest squeezed in sympathy for them both. It wasn’t proof, but she’d take Conall’s suspicions over someone else’s certainties any day. She wanted to wrap her arms around him as if he were still that little boy, and hold him close.
‘It must have been tough going to live with your father.’
Way to go with the understatements, Greer.
His mouth kicked up in a crooked smile. ‘It was…interesting.’
She offered a wry smile. In some ways they were two of a kind with their habit of locking emotions away.
