From One Night to Wife

by Rachael Thomas

  Something akin to fear gripped her heart and she had to hear it from him. ‘I want you to tell me.’ Her voice was a whisper, but a firm and decisive one. He’d said this much and she couldn’t let him shut down on her now.

  He let go of her and turned to stand looking out at the view. His profile was set in stern lines, but she moved towards him, her body so close to his they were almost touching. Almost.

  ‘I’d been here in Athens for two years and had put my every waking hour into Xanthippe Shipping. I’d made the money I wanted and more. Everything finally seemed to be going right—until my mother wrote to me.’

  ‘I don’t understand,’ she said softly, placing her hand on his arm.

  He looked at her, his fierce blue eyes a total contrast to the way he’d just spoken. ‘Don’t you?’

  The question hurt. It was prodding, as if to try and revive a dying flame. Memories of a childhood that had made her push men away as a young woman, wary of being hurt, rushed towards her in a stampede.

  She shook her head.

  ‘No, of course you don’t. You had the happy home every child deserves.’ His brow furrowed.

  He was too close now to her upsetting childhood, and her heart thumped so hard it blocked out the hum of tourists talking and laughing. There was no way she could tell him the truth. How could she say she’d loved him from the moment they met when he thought she’d only returned for financial gain? Hadn’t she confirmed his suspicions by accepting his offer to fund more IVF for Sally—accepting his marriage deal?

  ‘You don’t know anything about me,’ she whispered in a half-truth, desperate to look away from the accusation in his eyes but not daring to. ‘And that’s changing the subject. What happened, Nikos?’

  She saw his jaw clench, the hard lines highlighting his cheekbones, his eyes hard and suspicious. ‘My mother’s “love” died when she found someone with more wealth, more able to give her all she wanted. She left me with my father. He didn’t care about my pain—just drank himself into oblivion.’

  The harsh way he’d all but snarled the word love was not lost on her and she drew in a ragged breath, moving away from him, away from his contempt of the emotion she felt so strongly for him.

  * * *

  Nikos stood looking at the view of St George’s chapel. The sun was bouncing off its white walls as it sat perched on top of the tree-lined mountain opposite. This was supposed to be a day out. A time for Serena to see a place she’d expressed an interest in—a place that was part of his child’s legacy. Instead it had turned to deep and unwelcome exploration of his past.

  He sensed Serena by his side, the heat of her body reminding him of the passion they’d shared last night. That passion would be the foundation for their marriage. Serena had shown her true self in accepting his deal. She would do whatever it took to get what she wanted. Love hadn’t been a part of what they’d shared those few weeks on Santorini, and it certainly wouldn’t be a part of their marriage. Lust was all he could offer—because he couldn’t give more. Not ever.

  ‘My mother walked away without a backward glance.’ He said the words aloud, not realising he had done so until he felt Serena move at his side. He looked down at her. ‘We are better off marrying for our convenience—and for the baby, Serena. Emotions are messy and complicated things.’

  He’d wondered initially at Serena’s motives when she’d returned—had been sure that she’d discovered his true identity, that she was looking for whatever it was his mother had found in the man she’d left his father for. That fear hadn’t dissipated. Still doubts niggled. But one thing was certain. He could not and would not be a victim of love again. He’d care for Serena in every way possible, but never again did he want to expose himself to such rejection, such heartache.

  Nothing else in his life compared to the pain he’d carried since the day his mother had left. Her words still haunted him, killing any of the attempts to make amends she’d made over the years.

  Serena moved away from him, walking among the scattered stones as they lay in the parched earth and for a moment he couldn’t move. Then she turned and smiled so bright he wondered if he had imagined all they’d just spoken about.

  She held out her hand to him. ‘There is more to see?’

  He was grateful for the change in subject and, slamming the door of his past shut, he walked over and took her hand.

  The wonder on her face as she walked towards the Parthenon a short time later held his vulnerable emotions captive. He watched as she reached out and touched the cream stone that had been there for thousands of years, and despite their earlier conversation he was glad he’d chosen to spend the day with her.

  The two weeks they’d spent together on Santorini came back to him. Nothing else had mattered. He’d lived those two weeks only for each moment, for each smile from her adorable lips, each kiss which had set light to him, and each gentle and alluringly innocent touch.

  It had been like looking in on the life he could have had—but they would never find that again. No, those two weeks now meant he was to be a father.

  The thought filled him with wonder and dread.

  * * *

  As the sun grew higher in the sky Serena looked weary. She still smiled, still wanted to know all he could tell her about the ancient temple, but she was looking hot and tired. Concern for her and for the baby filled him.

  ‘We should go now.’ He looked at his watch, surprised that they had been out so long. The appointment he’d arranged with a doctor before leaving Santorini was in just an hour. ‘The doctor is calling later.’

  ‘Doctor?’ She blinked in confusion and fixed him with those green eyes. ‘On a Saturday? I don’t need to see a doctor that urgently.’

  ‘Maybe not, but you will. It has all been arranged.’

  He took her hand, but sensed her hesitation as they began to walk back through the mass of tourists. At least they would have some time alone at the apartment. His body heated at the memory of their last hours alone together.

  ‘Do you still doubt you are the father?’

  He turned to her instantly, to see that she was looking at the ground, as if concentrating on every step instead of meeting his gaze.

  ‘In the past two days you have flown across Europe alone and then travelled here to Athens. You admitted you were ill for the first months of your pregnancy. You will see a doctor. I do not want my child being put at risk.’

  She stopped and looked at him. Hostility and disbelief were burning in her eyes, but she didn’t say anything. Before he could rein in his frustration at knowing she’d spent those months alone and ill, unable to tell anyone, she began walking again—but this time with purposeful strides which clearly displayed her annoyance.

  * * *

  Serena answered all the questions the Greek doctor put to her, aware of Nikos’s brooding presence behind her. He didn’t trust her. That much was evident. But was it because he didn’t believe the child was his or because he genuinely cared about it?

  As the doctor spoke in Greek over her, ignoring her, her temper simmered. Nikos didn’t care—not about her. All he cared about was making sure the baby was his. How had she been so stupid as to think that the hours they’d spent making love last night would make him see her differently?

  She couldn’t sit here and allow them to talk about her like this. It was, after all, her baby they were talking about.

  ‘What is he saying?’ she asked a little too firmly, her irritation directed at Nikos, not the older man.

  ‘That you need to rest and must take things easy.’ He looked at her, his eyes glittering like the sea had done on that day they’d first met, as if sprinkled with diamonds.

  ‘Yes—rest,’ added the doctor in heavily accented English as he made his way towards the door. ‘The nausea will subside and you will feel well again soon
.’

  She smiled her thanks at him, wondering how she could ever ‘feel well again’, knowing the man she loved would never love her.

  ‘Thank you. Sorry to have troubled you.’

  ‘Nothing is too much trouble for Nikos. He was like a son to my cousin and he made him very happy.’

  She frowned at his words as Nikos shut the door after the doctor and returned to the living room. ‘Who is his cousin?’

  ‘His cousin was the man I worked for when I first came to Athens—the man I looked up to and the man who was more of a father to me than my own.’

  ‘Do you ever see your father and mother?’

  As he looked at her she saw his eyes dim, as if a shutter had been drawn down over them.

  ‘My father died when I was a teenager, but I hadn’t really known him since my mother left. It destroyed him, changed him. I went to live with my grandparents.’

  Serena’s heart went out to him as she imagined what he must have felt. Her parents had constantly squabbled, and her home had sometimes felt unsettled as divorce threats were bandied about like a ball on the tennis court, but they had always been in her life.

  ‘What about your grandmother? Do you see her?’ she asked, remembering the woman he’d said lived in the small white house, perched on the hillside overlooking the sea.

  ‘She took me in and raised me—gave me everything she could,’ he said gruffly. ‘I returned that care when my grandfather died and at her insistence I kept his small fleet of fishing boats.’

  ‘That is why you were helping with the fishing when we met? When you couldn’t tell me the truth?’

  Things were starting to fit together now, but it still didn’t explain his need to strike such a deal with her.

  He nodded and walked to the balcony, but she wasn’t going to be knocked off course so easily.

  ‘Will your grandmother approve?’

  Serena wondered about what the old lady would think of him taking an English bride—and a pregnant one at that. What would she think of the terms of their marriage?

  ‘She is a very wise lady.’ He looked down at her where she sat. ‘She would also tell you to rest, to look after yourself and the baby.’

  Serena placed her hand over her stomach and looked into Nikos’s eyes, her heart somersaulting at the swirling desire she saw in them once more, and found herself longing for this evening. Would he take her to his bed again? Make love to her gently and yet so passionately? She knew she shouldn’t want that, but she did. She couldn’t just switch her love off—or her hope that one day he might love her.

  ‘Does she know about the baby?’

  He shook his head and she couldn’t help voicing her concern.

  ‘Because you doubt the baby is yours?’

  There—she’d said the words aloud, cast them out like a fisherman’s net, giving him the chance to agree, to call a halt to everything.

  He didn’t. He merely looked at her. A long, cold stare that made her want to shiver, as if winter winds were suddenly being blown in off the sea.

  ‘I have never doubted the baby is mine, Serena,’ he said as he sat down next to her. ‘But I do doubt that you are looking after yourself. You should not have flown all the way here alone. You should have called me from London—as soon as you knew. As I asked you to.’

  ‘What could you have done—or what could the man I thought you were have done? He wouldn’t have been able to arrange for a private plane to fly him to England.’ Hurt smarted inside her as she remembered his deceit, but maybe after their brief talk today the reason was a little clearer.

  He stepped closer, leaned down and kissed her softly on the lips, his dark mood thawing as passion took over the blue of his eyes. ‘It doesn’t matter who you thought I was when we were together. I’ve told you—I didn’t want to spoil our time with each other, a time that was special. Different.’

  She searched his face and placed her palm against his cheek, feeling a fresh growth of stubble, but she knew that the special time they’d shared during the summer was over. Reality had impinged on it.

  ‘You could have told me the truth.’

  His answer was to pull her into his arms and kiss her, engulfing them both in a desire that would have only one outcome. She kissed him back, hoping the love she had for him, a love he would never want, would be enough—for her and their marriage.

  CHAPTER NINE

  NIKOS WAS SURPRISED by the ease with which he had slipped into sharing his life with Serena. Each morning for the past week he’d kissed her goodbye, tearing himself from her warm body to go to the office. He’d been pleased that she’d taken the doctor’s advice and was resting, and each day she looked more radiant and more vibrant, which was having an uncontrollable effect on him.

  He thought it was what a real relationship might be like, and that was something he’d become an expert at avoiding. But two weeks with Serena in the summer and one intensely passionate night had changed his life, forcing him to look his worst fears in the eye. Fear of failure and an even bigger fear of love.

  This morning the deal he’d been working on had finally gone through. He was now the owner of the largest shipping company in Greece, with both cargo ships and cruise liners that would sail the seas under his name. He’d achieved his ambition. Now it was time to seal a different deal—one that would bind Serena to him for ever.

  But before he could do that he had to visit his grandmother on Santorini. He couldn’t put it off any longer, and hoped the news of their engagement and the baby didn’t reach her before he did. His conscience unsettled by such thoughts, he’d ordered his plane and was now flying across a glittering sea littered with islands.

  A soft sigh from Serena drew his attention back from the view and he looked across at her. Even though the afternoon flight was short, she’d fallen asleep almost immediately. A little spike of guilt caught him unawares. Had their passion-filled nights tired her too much?

  She opened her eyes, sat up and looked at him, the smile on her lips making him want to lean across and kiss her. But the crew who manned his private plane were now preparing for landing. He would have to wait until they were alone at his villa this evening.

  ‘We will be there soon,’ he said, and put the papers he had hardly looked at away, having preferred instead to watch Serena while she was sleeping.

  He still couldn’t comprehend that he’d spent a week enjoying coming home to her each day, savouring the nights with her sleeping in his arms. He’d been stunned when he’d realised that he now lingered in the mornings, not wanting to leave her. He hadn’t ever done that with any other woman. Even when he and Serena had shared nights of passionate sex whilst she was staying in the hotel when they’d first met he’d slipped from her bed as the sun rose.

  So what had changed?

  She now wore his ring, making his intention to marry her clear to everyone. But why, after locking his heart away, was he even considering marriage? Deep down he knew it was more than just the fact that she was carrying his child, his heir, but he didn’t want to look beyond that right now—was worried that if he searched too hard for answers it would all be destroyed, that history would repeat itself and he’d be declared unworthy of love or affection.

  He narrowed his eyes as a new thought slipped insidiously through his mind, pushing aside the need to question his motives. She’d come back because of the baby, declaring she had no intention of staying. Would she have come back, contacted him again, if it hadn’t been for his warning that night on the beach? She’d walked away from him then. Had she meant it to be for good?

  He relaxed as the answer came to him like a bolt of lightning. She had come back because she had known all along who he was—had known of his wealth and had come to get what she wanted. Money for her sister.

  ‘Nikos...?’

 
His name, softly spoken, with a question in it, dragged him from his black thoughts.

  ‘Is something wrong?’

  ‘No.’ He forced a smile to his lips and pushed away the shadows of doubt, returning to his first thoughts. ‘I just hope my grandmother hasn’t heard our news second hand.’

  ‘Is that likely?’

  A worried frown creased her brow and her eyes looked so soft they reminded him of the deep green of the sea on calm days, when he stopped his boat to cast the nets.

  He thought of the headlines their engagement had made, coupled with the deal he’d successfully completed. It would be a miracle if his grandmother didn’t know. What would she think of him taking an English bride after everything his mother had put the family through?

  ‘I think it is. She may live in a small village, but others will have told her.’

  It was far better that Serena was prepared. His grandmother was a wise and canny lady, who wouldn’t appreciate being outsmarted.

  He thought of the basic house she lived in—more of a tourist attraction than a home—and wished his grandmother had been less stubborn and moved into the villa he’d built for her on the island. She’d refused completely, and after several years of it being empty he’d decided to use it as his base when he was back on the island. Whenever he returned there his grandmother always knew, so why should knowledge of his engagement be any different?

  Nikos didn’t want to tell Serena that news travelled fast the other way too—that he’d known of her arrival on the island before she’d sent him that text. She’d been asking for him, and his friends had told her he’d gone away for a while, but let him know she was there. It still hadn’t prepared him for seeing those words boldly glaring up at him from his phone, for knowing that the consequences he’d least wanted had happened.