What The Greek Wants Most(32)

The two brothers gave her cursory glances but barely spoke to her. When   Ari abruptly asked Theo to accompany him to the boat shed, her stomach   fell.

Perla organised a Jeep to take her back to their villa and when Theo   returned half an hour later, his jaw was tight and his movements jerky   as he swept her off her feet and strode into the bedroom.

He made love to her with a fierce, silent passion that robbed her of   speech and breath before he clamped her to his side and slid into sleep.

Her eyes filled with tears and she hurriedly brushed them away. It was   no use daydreaming that things would ever magically turn rosy between   her and Theo.                       
       
           



       

As much as she wanted to wish otherwise, they were on a countdown to being over for good.

* * *

The wedding was beautiful and quietly elegant in a way only an events   organiser extraordinaire like Perla could achieve despite being seven   months pregnant. Inez watched the bride and groom dance across the   polished floor of the casino, transformed into a spectacular masterpiece   that stood directly on the water, and fought the feelings rampaging   through her.

Theo would never be hers. She would never have a wedding like this or   have him gazing at her the way Ari was gazing at his new wife.

She would never feel the weight of his baby in her belly or have it suckle at her breast.

Despair slowly built inside her, despite knowing deep down that Theo had   done her a favour by bringing her here. He didn't need her to save him   from whatever nightmares plagued him. He had a family that clearly   adored him, who would be there for him when he chose to let them in.

She needed to stop moping and get on with her life.

Her time in Theo's house and his bed was over. In retrospect, she was   thankful she'd let him talk her into keeping her volunteer position. It   was a lifeline she was grateful for in a world skidding out of control.   The things she couldn't control she would learn to live without.

A tall figure danced into her view and her eyes connected with the man   who occupied an astonishingly large percentage of her mind. In his arms   was an elegantly dressed woman with greying brown hair and a sad   expression. She said something to him and he glanced down at her. His   smile was gentle but wary and Inez saw her sadness deepen.

Inez heard the soft gurgle of a baby over the music and turned to see   Brianna next to her. 'That's their mother.' She nodded to Theo's dance   partner. 'Their relationship has been fraught but I think they're all   finding their way back to each other.' She glanced at Inez with a smile.   'I hope that you two find your way too.'

Inez shook her head. 'I'm afraid that's impossible.'

Brianna laughed. 'Believe me, I've seen the impossible happen in this   family. I've learned not to rule anything out.' She smiled down at her   child and danced away with him towards her husband.

Tears stung her eyes as she watched Sakis enfold his wife and son in his arms.

'What's wrong now?' Theo's deep voice sounded in her ear.

She blinked rapidly and pasted a smile on her face. 'Nothing. Weddings … they make me emotional. That's all.'

His eyes narrowed speculatively on her face before he took hold of her elbow. 'Dance with me.'

He led her to the dance floor and pulled her close.

'You have a big family,' she said, more for something to fill the silence.

'They can be a pain in the rear sometimes.'

'Regardless, you all seem to watch out for each other.'

He shrugged. 'Force of habit.'

'No, it's not. Does Ari know who I am?'

His mouth tightened. 'He suspects. I didn't enlighten or deny because   it's none of his business. He's welcome to draw his own conclusions. Why   do you ask?'

'Because he's been watching me like a hawk since we got here and he   hasn't spoken more than two words to me. That's what I mean. What you   have with your brothers isn't habit. It's love.'

His mouth twisted in a way that evidenced his dark pain.

'Love hasn't conquered the nightmares that have plagued me for all these   years, Inez.' The raw pain in his voice made her throat clog. She   forced a swallow.

'Because you haven't allowed it to. You resisted any attempt at help   because you thought you had to face this demon alone, do things your   way.'

The honest barb struck home. He was silent for the rest of the song.   Then abruptly he spoke. 'I didn't want to appear weak. I hated myself   every time I couldn't walk into a dark room or down an unlit street. I   haven't been able to cope with the smell of cigars without breaking out   in a cold sweat. Do you know what that feels like?' he asked in a harsh   undertone.

She shook her head. 'No, but I know it will never go away if you keep it buried.'                       
       
           



       

Her warmth, her strength hit him hard and he wanted to reach for her   with all he had. Suddenly, everything he'd ever craved, ever wished for   seemed coalesced in the woman before him.

'It's no longer buried. A month ago I was still the messed-up boy Ari   dug up from that hole twelve years ago. But you did something about   that.'

'No, I'm not responsible for that.'

His hand cupped her nape and he whispered fiercely in her ear. 'You are.   You've seen me, Inez. I can't sleep with the lights off. I used to   panic whenever someone shut a door behind me. That's why I surrounded   myself with glass. With you by my side I flew here with no need for   sleeping pills.'

'Even though you refused to speak to me for hours.'

He exhaled. 'Things are upside down and inside out right now. Let's   just … we'll get through this wedding and head back to Rio. And we will   damn well fix this thing between us. Because I'm not prepared to let you   go yet.'





CHAPTER THIRTEEN

'I TOLD YOU, you're so much better than a damn sleeping pill.'

Inez laughed as Theo tugged her dress down and lifted her out of it.   Leaving it on the floor of the master cabin bedroom, he waited for her   to kick her shoes off before he crossed over to the bed. The diamond   pendant he'd looked incredibly pleased that she'd worn lay nestled   between her breasts.

'Keep that on,' he instructed, just as the plane jerked through   turbulence and they fell onto the bed together, a tangle of hard and   soft limbs and hot, needy kisses.

'I'm glad I have my uses,' she said, laughing, when he let her up for air.

His face grew serious as he stared down at her. 'You've attained the   ultimate purpose in my life, querida. Now more than ever you're my   saviour: my angel.' He cradled her head as he kissed her.

Inez closed her eyes and imagined that she could feel his soul through   his reverent kiss. She studiously ignored the voice that mocked that she   was deluding herself.

When he finished undressing her with gentle hands, she tried to stem her   tears as he made love to her with a greedy passion that touched her   very soul.

Afterwards she held him in her arms as he fell asleep. Unable to sleep, her mind drifted back to the wedding.

Theo had introduced her to his mother and again she'd witnessed the   sadness in her eyes. When he'd hugged her at the end of the evening and   murmured gently into her ear, his mother had burst into tears. Inez had   watched as the brothers closed around her and soothed her tears.

She was still watching them when Ari had glanced her way. His measured   smile and thoughtful nod in her direction had made her swallow. It   hadn't been acceptance but it hadn't been the chilly reception he'd   given her either.

As they'd packed to leave, Inez had asked Theo about what had happened with his mother.

'She fell apart completely after my father was arrested. She left Athens   and locked herself away at our house in Santorini,' he'd replied in an   offhand manner, but Inez had seen his anguish.

Recalling his words about abandonment, she'd gasped, 'She wasn't there when you were kidnapped, was she?'

Heart-shredding pain washed over his face, but a moment later it was   replaced by a look even more soul-shaking. Forgiveness. 'No. She wasn't.   But I had Ari and Sakis. They were strong for me. And they were that   way because of her. I told her that tonight because I think we both   needed to hear it.'

His words had resonated deep inside her. But most of all it had been his   statement on the dance floor that continued to flash across her mind.   I'm not prepared to let you go yet.

Her heart lurched. He meant to keep her in his bed for a while yet. Like   a trophy he wasn't prepared to relinquish. And her foolish heart   performed a giddy little samba at the thought of having a few more   moments with him.