shocked that he had revealed so much of himself to her, but to his surprise he realised that he did
not regret telling her about his past. After Greta, he had believed he would never trust anyone,
but when he looked into Kitty’s soft, brown eyes he felt… healed.
He looked down at her pale face and frowned when she swayed unsteadily on her feet. ‘What’s
wrong?’ he demanded sharply. ‘Are you ill?’
‘I forgot lunch,’ she admitted sheepishly. ‘And now I feel sick again and I don’t think I can
manage dinner.’
‘Kitty! Do you think you could worry about other people a bit less, and yourself a bit more?’ he
growled, ignoring her startled gasp as he swung her into his arms and strode down the hall.
‘I’m sorry,’ she mumbled, trying to resist the urge to press her face into his neck and breathe in
his tantalising male scent. ‘I know you’re concerned for the baby.’
‘Actually, agape , I am concerned about you.’ She looked drained and infinitely fragile, and something indefinable tugged at his heart, but he forced it away and reminded himself that she
was the mother of his child and so of course he cared about her welfare.
He stopped off at the kitchen and stood over her until she had forced down a banana and a glass
of milk. Then he carried her to the bedroom—as if she were as light as a feather rather than a
well-built, pregnant woman, Kitty mused sleepily as he removed her clothes and slipped a
nightdress over her head before he helped her into bed. She was asleep within seconds of her
head touching the pillow, but Nikos lay awake long into the night, his thoughts preoccupied—not
by his past, but his future with the woman lying beside him.
CHAPTER TWELVE
KITTYsmoothed a crease from the skirt of her elegant cream linen suit, and skimmed through
her notes one last time. Around her, the hotel banqueting room was filled with guests who were
attending the lunch in support of the youth centre Father Thomaso had set up—and in her role as
patron of the charity, she was about to give a speech outlining the aims of the centre and asking
for donations.
Beside her, Nikos smiled and rested his hand lightly on her thigh. ‘Are you nervous, agape?
There must be several hundred people here today.’
Kitty took a deep breath, and squared her shoulders. ‘I’m fine,’ she said confidently, ignoring
the few butterflies in her stomach. She knew that once she walked onto the stage, and began to
talk about the centre and the lives of the children it aimed to support, her nerves would
disappear.
It seemed hard to believe that only a short while ago she had been so crippled by shyness that
any type of socialising had been an ordeal. Since she had married Nikos and moved to Athens
she felt as though she had emerged from a shell. She was no longer drab, dumpy Kitty Karedes.
She knew she looked good in the clothes he bought her, and the admiration in his eyes made her
feel more confident about her curvy figure.
‘Are you sure? You look a little flushed,’ Nikos murmured, his eyes glinting wickedly as his
hand inched higher up her skirt.
‘Will you behave—at least until later, when we’re alone?’ Kitty choked, amusement and desire
mingling as she prised his hand from her leg. ‘You have an insatiable appetite, Nikos.’
‘Only for you, Kitty mou ,’ he drawled lazily. The sensual promise in his eyes caused the
familiar weakness in Kitty’s limbs, and she wished they were back home at the apartment and he
would spend the rest of the afternoon making love to her. But first she had a speech to give, and
then they were going to the hospital for her first antenatal scan. Up on stage the event organiser
announced her name, and she gathered up her notes.
‘Wish me luck,’ she murmured, and gave a startled gasp when he leaned towards her and
claimed her mouth in a slow, sweet kiss.
‘You don’t need luck—you’re a brilliant speaker.’ He paused and then said quietly, ‘I am very
proud of you, agape .’
She blushed and gave one of her soft smiles that tugged at Nikos’s insides before she walked up
the room, and when she stepped onto the stage he joined the other guests and applauded her,
feeling a mixture of pride and frustration that just lately she seemed to dominate his thoughts to
the exclusion of anything else.
Ever since the day she had visited Father Thomaso’s youth centre, and the explosive
confrontation that had followed, which had led him to telling her about his past, a fragile bond
had developed between them. The last few weeks had been… good, he admitted, refusing to