THE TYCOON'S REBEL BRIDE(51)

ask Alannis to marry you.”

“I couldn’t do it,” Theron said with a sigh. “I arranged the night, had a party, the

ring, the confetti—”

“Confetti? Who the hell has confetti for a marriage proposal?” Chrysander

demanded, a thread of amusement in his voice.

“It added to the festive mood,” Theron defended. “Everything was there. The

moment was there…and I couldn’t do it. I had my hand on the ring, the woman staring up

at me, and then I let go of the box, and asked her to dance instead. We spent the evening

celebrating her visit to New York instead of our impending nuptials.”

“So how did this lead to you taking Isabella’s virginity? Without protection,” he

added dryly.

“I’ve admitted my stupidity. There’s no reason to keep beating me over the head

with it,” Theron said irritably. “It happened after I hauled her out of the strip club.”

“You what?” Chrysander broke into laughter. “Theron, this is sounding more

absurd all the time. Do I even want to know why someone you were supposed to be

watching over was in a strip club?”

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MAYA BANKS

SILHOUETTE DESIRE 1944

THE ANETAKIS TYCOONS

“It’s not important. What’s important is that afterward, I seduced Isabella. We

slept together. Without protection. She was a virgin. That covers it.”

“Yes, I’d say it does,” Chrysander said.

There was another long silence and then Chrysander spoke again. “She was under

our care. Our father agreed that the Anetakis family would always care for her should

something happen to her father. You’re going to have to marry her, Theron.”

Adrenaline surged in Theron’s veins. “I don’t have to marry her, Chrysander. I’m

going to marry her.”

Fifteen

I sabella shoved aside the heavy curtains draped over the large window facing the

street. Her apartment was on the top floor, larger by half than the apartments on the lower

levels, and it had a wonderful view of a small park across the street.

There was no shortage of joggers, people out walking dogs, and children

supervised by their nannies or mothers. It was a small mecca in the middle of a crowded

city where someone could go and enjoy a short escape.

Could she live here knowing the man she loved was close by, married to someone

else? On the surface it sounded absurd. In a city this size, she could go an entire lifetime

without running into Theron. Except…except he controlled her inheritance and contact

would be inevitable.

She sighed. She really did like the apartment, but she wasn’t sure she could

remain here.

The sound of her door opening didn’t alarm her. Reynolds had been left waiting

when she’d only said she’d be a minute. He probably lost patience and was coming to

collect her.

Footsteps sounded behind her, and yet she still couldn’t tear her gaze away from

the scene below. Maybe it was the normalcy of it all—the promise of an ordered

existence where agonizing emotions such as love and jealousy or despair didn’t dictate

her every breath.

Firm hands took hold of her shoulders, skimming upward, eliciting a small gasp

from her.

“Bella, pethi mou, are you all right? What are you doing here?”

She spun around in surprise and stared up at Theron’s worried eyes.

“I went back to your suite and you were gone. I’m beginning to wonder if my life

is going to be a study in never finding you where you’re supposed to be.”

There was a hint of amusement in his voice, but she was puzzled by his words.

They made no sense.

“When I called Reynolds and he said you were here, I came right over. But Bella,

there is no need of your apartment any longer,” he said calmly.

She held up a hand to his chest, almost afraid to touch him. Her head was

spinning a mile a minute, but she needed to understand what he was saying, or what he

wasn’t saying.

“I came to see if it was ready for me to move in,” she said simply.

He captured her hand in his and held it in place over his heart. “You won’t be

needing this apartment, pethi mou.”

With his other hand, he dipped into his pocket and drew out a small square box.

She stared suspiciously at it as he flipped the lid off and let it fall to the floor.

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SILHOUETTE DESIRE 1944

THE ANETAKIS TYCOONS

Maneuvering still with the one hand, he turned it over and shook out the velvet jeweler’s