The Greek Billionaire's Innocent Rrincess(52)

tiny life she carried. ‘I grew up knowing hunger and deprivation, and there were many times

when my mother had no money to pay the rent and we were evicted onto the streets. But even

though life was hard I never doubted her love for me. She worked herself quite literally to death

to feed and care for me.’



The words were torn from his throat. Words he had never spoken to anyone before, and he

wondered why he felt this urge to unburden the memories of his past to Kitty. Her brown eyes

were gentle and velvet soft, and she made no comment, simply waited patiently for him to

continue.



‘My mother was terrified I would fall into a life of crime,’ he admitted grimly, ‘but when I was

sixteen she was offered a job as housekeeper for Larissa Petridis, and I was allowed to live with

her in the staff quarters of the Petridis mansion. Stamos Petridis had died some years before and

had left Petridis Shipping to his only daughter. Larissa had never married and had no children of

her own but she took an interest in me. She offered to pay to send me to college, and, although it#p#分页标题#e#

hurt my pride, I accepted, knowing that if I gained a degree I could get a good job and support

my mother as she had supported me.’



He rolled onto his back, his jaw rigid as the memories he had pushed away for so long returned

to haunt him. ‘My mother died of cancer before I graduated. Theos , she was only in her early thirties,’ he grated, his voice cracking, ‘but the hardships she had suffered during her life had

taken their toll, and when she became ill she had no strength to fight the disease. For a while I

was crazy with grief but Larissa persuaded me to make something of my life. She offered me a

position within her company and I quickly demonstrated a flair for business—although there was

some gossip that my rise to top management was because I was Larissa’s lover.



‘The rumours were unfounded,’ he told Kitty. ‘I looked upon Larissa as a surrogate mother, and

she treated me like the son she had never had— although it amused her to allow the media to

think there was something between us. Larissa was what you might call a character,’ he added

dryly.



‘When she died suddenly I was as shocked as anyone when I learned that she had made me her

sole beneficiary. I took charge of the company, and I’ve worked hard to make it successful.’



He broke off, his eyes dark and tortured, and Kitty’s heart turned over. ‘I’m sure Larissa would

have been proud of you,’ she said softly. She had heard the affection in his voice when he spoke

of the woman who had befriended him—yet Larissa had died only a few short years after his

mother and once again he had been left alone. No wonder he seemed so hard and ruthless. His

father had abandoned him before he had been born, and he had lost the only two people he had

loved. She wanted to weep for the lonely boy he had once been, and the man who had built an

impenetrable wall around his heart. Acting on instinct, and uncaring that she might reveal too

much of herself to him, she cupped his face in her hands and brought her mouth to his in a kiss

that offered comfort and understanding and a tenderness that shook Nikos to his core.



Passion built swiftly between them and he moved over her and entered her, taking them both to

the heights of pleasure. It was just good sex; he repeated the mantra in his head as he drove into

her and felt his pleasure build and build until it was intolerable and he could hold back no longer.

Sexual alchemy was a potent force that held them both in its thrall, but that was all it was, he assured himself as her soft cries shattered the last remnants of his control.



But afterwards, as he lay with his head on her breasts, he felt more relaxed than he could ever

remember. And later, when he lay beside her and she curled up against him, he slept peacefully

for the first time in years.





CHAPTER ELEVEN


SUNLIGHTslanting through the blinds roused Kitty from a deep sleep. She stretched, and rolled

over, smiling at the sight of the cup of camomile tea that Nikos had placed on her bedside table.

She was now into the second month of her pregnancy and often woke feeling nauseous. The

herbal tea was the only thing that seemed to settle her stomach, and Nikos made it for her every

morning, and would not allow her out of bed until she had drunk it.



She had seen a new side to him these past couple of weeks, she mused. He still seemed remote

sometimes, and he worked long hours, driven, she guessed, by the demons of his impoverished

childhood. But most nights he came home in time for them to eat dinner together, even though he

often carried on working in his study for a few hours afterwards. She looked forward to their