Chapter ELEVEN
THE DAYS PASSED in a blur of activity and by the time Sakis and Brianna arrived on Thursday afternoon, Perla had everything in place in anticipation for when the VIP guests arrived on Sunday.
Unlike their first meeting, Sakis Pantelides’s smile was openly friendly if a lot speculative. She read the same keen interest in Brianna’s stunning blue eyes.
‘Ari tells me you’re putting on a spectacular list of events for the opening.’
‘He should know. He’s been slave-driving me up the wall with his endless demands for perfection. Perhaps now you’re here, you can get him out of my hair for an hour or two.’
Brianna laughed as she hugged her husband’s arm. ‘That seems to be a common trait amongst the Pantelides men. They never know when to leave well enough alone and trust us women to get on with it.’
Her husband sent her an indulgent smile so full of adoration Perla’s heart snagged in her chest then dropped to her stomach in envy.
‘Asking me to leave you alone is like asking the lark to stop singing first thing in the morning. It’s simply impossible, agapita.’
A blush raced up her face and the powerful passion that arced between them made Perla look away.
Sakis turned to her. ‘Where is my brother, anyway?’
‘He’s getting the scull ready for your rowing session this afternoon. I believe he wants to hit the water the moment Theo arrives,’ she said.
What she didn’t add was that Ari had been growing steadily more restless as the days had progressed this week. This morning they’d snapped at each other over breakfast, after which he’d disappeared with a curt instruction for her to take things easy. Or else...
God, why had she deluded herself into thinking they’d learn nice things about each other this week? So far she’d learned that even though he’d stated that he was happy for her to carry on working, he intended to keep a close eye on her at all times.
She only had to think of a need for it to materialise. Meals and snacks appeared minutes before cravings hit and there was always someone with a golf buggy, a wide-brimmed hat or a cool drink nearby.
That he also fully intended to extract a yes from her as soon as he could was also clear. As for the heated looks he’d sent her whenever she walked into his presence...
She shook her head and focused to find two pairs of eyes trained on her. ‘Um...the concierge’s assistant will escort you to your villa and I’ll let Ari know you’re here.’
With a smile she knew was a little strained, she walked away. After triple-checking everything on her list and clucking with impatience because she knew she was dawdling, she jumped into her allotted SUV and drove down to their villa.
Ari was in the middle of a phone call when she walked into the cool, brightly lit living room. He advanced until he stood in front of her but carried on his conversation, one hand idly playing with her loose hair.
She’d started their stay by wearing it up but Ari had found every opportunity to free it until she’d given up. There were some fights that just weren’t worth the effort.
She didn’t follow his conversation because it was conducted in rapid-fire Greek. But even if he’d spoken English, she wouldn’t have followed it because of the feverish emotions coursing through her at his touch.
Each day since they arrived at the resort he’d laid assault to her senses like this, touching her whenever she was within a few feet, grazing his fingers over her stomach in a possessive move that sent her emotions into free fall every time. That had been when he wasn’t snapping at her.
To say their time together so far had been a roller coaster would be an understatement.
She heard him end the call as his thumb traced over her mouth. Slowly he lowered the phone and his head began to descend.
‘Were you looking for me?’ he murmured.
‘Yes. Your brother and Brianna are here.’
‘I know. Sakis called me ten minutes ago.’ His head moved closer. ‘Theo is also on his way from the airport. He’ll be here in less than ten minutes. He wants to row straight away so I’ve had the equipment sent down to the water.’
His lips flitted over hers and she tried to pull back. ‘Ari...don’t.’
He stiffened slightly. ‘I’ve been a bear towards you all week. Let me apologise,’ he coaxed in that deep, hypnotic voice.
Her breath gushed out of her as he sealed her lips with his. Their mingled groan echoed around the room, then faded away to be replaced with harsh breathing. They strained towards each other until she could feel the solid imprint of his body and the even more rigid outline of his arousal against her belly.
The need that tore through her made her spear her hands through his hair. With a deep groan he picked her up and carried her to the sofa without breaking their kiss.
He was kissing his way down her neck when she finally came to her senses.
‘No. Stop!’
He raised his head slowly, his eyes sizzling pools of need and frustration. ‘Why the hell should I?’ he growled.
‘We can’t...you can’t use sex to apologise. Saying you’re sorry is enough.’
A mirthless smile tilted one corner of his mouth. ‘You really are na?ve, aren’t you?’
She blushed fiercely. ‘Perhaps, but I also know that sex can confuse issues. You’ve been grumpy for days because you weren’t getting your way. Sex will not achieve what you want.’
His eyes gleamed as he reared back. ‘But it will make me feel a whole lot better. And you can deny it all you want but it will make you feel better too.’
She couldn’t deny it but neither was she going to admit it. She sat up and straightened her clothes. The black sundress wasn’t exactly appropriate for the tropics but it seemed black was all she’d packed. ‘Anyway, we can’t. We have guests who require our attention. But don’t think I haven’t noticed that every time I try to get you to talk to me like we agreed, you find something else for me to do!’
He stiffened and jerked to his feet. ‘You’re asking a man who has kept his innermost thoughts hidden most of his life to bare his soul, glikia mou. It’s not as simple as hitting play on a machine,’ he said, his voice charged with the echo of painful memory.
Her heart twisted for him, but she pressed on. Deep inside, she’d begun to hope that this would be the way to reach him, the way they could both move forward and begin the tentative steps to building a solid platform for their child. ‘I know that. Of course I know that. But, as difficult as it is, we have to give it a shot, Ari.’
Slowly, he inhaled. Then he nodded and held out his hand to her. ‘We will. Before we leave here. Now, you can come and watch me row my sexual frustration away. That will be your entertainment for the afternoon.’
She let herself be pulled up and felt some of her trepidation melt away. Immediately, thoughts that had hovered on the edge of her mind crowded in. Thoughts that involved whether she and Ari could make a marriage work despite all their baggage. That he seemed to believe it was possible had slowly eroded her own scepticism as the week had crept on.
The way Ari had taken care of her since her pregnancy came to light, she didn’t doubt now that he would provide a parent’s utter devotion and stability. And perhaps, over time, that devotion would spill onto her.
Her heart lurched painfully.
Morgan had shaken the foundation of her beliefs. But she’d discovered in the last few weeks that he hadn’t totally annihilated her self-confidence. It was that renewed self-confidence that made her want even better for herself and her child.
At least, with Ari, she knew the lay of the land going in. The events of his past might mean he never cared deeply for her. So the only thing that she needed to be sure of was whether she could live without the love she’d been so desperate for the first time round.
Before we leave here...
She pushed away the lingering trepidation and concentrated on getting in the electric buggy that would take them down to the water, although it was hard not to keep glancing at Ari’s bare thighs as he drove.
The youngest Pantelides was already on the waterfront with Sakis when they arrived.
Theo Pantelides was as tall as Ari but broader-shouldered with the same jet-black hair, although his bore no hint of the grey sprinkled at Ari’s temples.
Equally as gorgeous, his eyes were several shades lighter than Ari’s hazel and held the same speculation as Sakis’s when they rested on her.
‘So I finally meet the woman who’s caused quite the stir at Pantelides HQ.’
‘Theo...’ Ari growled a mild warning.
Theo’s smile was unrepentant as he held out a closed fist to her. A smile twitching at her lips, she touched her knuckles to his in a bemused fist bump.
‘About time someone shook him out of his doldrums,’ he added with a wink.
Sakis laughed and Brianna grinned but Ari’s narrow-eyed stare held no mirth.
‘Tell me you’re ready to get your ass whipped and I’ll happily oblige you,’ he said through clenched teeth.
‘Any time, old man.’
Ari’s jaw clenched harder but the hand he clamped on his brother’s shoulder to push him towards the boat was so affectionate it brought a lump to Perla’s throat. He disappeared into the specially built boathouse and emerged minutes later dressed in a dark gold rowing suit that moulded to his body.
Perla tried not to stare at the perfect specimen of man that was Arion Pantelides but when he grabbed the end of the scull and hefted it over his shoulders, she struggled to get air past her restricted throat into her lungs.
Purely for self-preservation, she looked away. Then immediately looked back.
‘God, don’t even try to resist that. Don’t get me wrong, I think Sakis is the best-looking of the bunch, but the three of them together like this, even I find it hard to breathe, never mind keep my eyes solely on my husband,’ Brianna muttered.
She grinned at Perla’s shocked laugh, fanned herself and moved closer to the edge of the viewing bench to watch the men set their scull on the water and climb in.
Sakis took the front seat, Theo the middle and Ari the last. They sank their oars into the water. Theo rolled his shoulders and laughed when Ari admonished him to be still.
Their chests rose and fell in rhythm, once, twice. Then they struck away from shore in flawless synchronicity.
‘Wow.’
‘I know, right? I’ve watched them row many times but I never get over how perfect they look together.’
Again Perla felt that tiny pang of jealousy. But she couldn’t help but wonder if this could be her baby’s life if she agreed to what Ari wanted. Her child, and by definition she, could be a part of this...togetherness. She didn’t have to be on the outside looking in like she had her whole life. She could give her baby a ready-made family who would cherish him or her.
She watched the men row, her eyes continually drawn to Ari, who now had a grin on his face despite the determination in his eyes.
‘Ari seems different.’
Perla jumped and turned to Brianna to find those incisive blue eyes on her. ‘Um...is he?’
Brianna nodded. ‘At the funeral he seemed ready to smash everyone’s head in. Today he looks as if the only person whose head is in danger is Theo, which, considering that’s par for the course, is worth mentioning.’
‘And you think I have something to do with that?’
‘Definitely. You and...that, I’m guessing.’
She followed Brianna’s gaze to where her hand rested on her stomach. With a gasp, Perla snatched her hand away but not before Brianna gave her a sympathetic smile.
‘I...no one knows,’ she said hurriedly.
‘Don’t worry, your secret’s safe with me.’ Her hand rose to rest over her own stomach. ‘I have a secret of my own. Although I have a feeling it won’t remain a secret for long. Sakis has been bursting to tell the whole world. But I’m guessing he’ll start with his brothers for now.’
‘Congratulations,’ Perla offered. Then curiosity made her blurt, ‘How do you feel?’
‘Frankly? Scared out of my mind. I didn’t have the best of childhoods so I don’t have a role model to fall back on. Sakis tells me I’ll be a great mother but I think he’s hopelessly biased.’ Her smile was tinged with anxiety but full of love as her gaze swung back to the men. ‘What about you?’
‘Honestly, between Ari’s determination to get me to marry him and the job I have to do here, I haven’t had time to be scared, but—’
‘Ari asked you to marry him?’ Brianna’s eyes were wide with surprise. ‘That’s huge! I presume he’s told you what happened to his wife?’
Perla nodded.
‘He wouldn’t have made the decision easily.’
‘He only wants to marry because of his child.’
Brianna frowned. ‘I don’t think so. I don’t want to scare you but the reality is that every one in four pregnancies ends in miscarriage. If all he wanted was to give the baby respectability, he’d have waited until it was born to ask you to marry him.’
Perla shook her head, refusing to even begin to hope. ‘Besides the baby, there’s really nothing like that between us.’
‘But there is something. There’s incredible chemistry. Don’t knock the power of great sex.’
She gasped. ‘That’s what he said,’ she said then blushed as she realised what she’d let slip.
Brianna laughed. ‘I knew there was an alpha horn dog beneath all that suave Pantelides exterior. Now let’s go and cheer our boys home before I give in to the urge to ask for details I have no business knowing.’
She jumped up and headed towards the waterfront. Perla followed at a slower pace and got there in time to see the brothers embrace at the news of Brianna’s pregnancy.
Ari’s gaze drifted to her as Sakis pulled his wife close and kissed her. His gaze dropped to her stomach but he said nothing, only helped his brothers stow the scull and oars in the boathouse before they all piled into the buggies to head back to their villas.
Dinner that evening turned into a family celebration, one that hammered home to Perla just what she could be missing out on if she refused Ari’s proposal. All through the evening his eyes kept straying to her, the intent in their depths clear and determined.
By the time she excused herself and returned to her suite, her mind was in turmoil.
That turmoil continued for the next three days. Thankfully, she had no time to think.
From the moment the first luxury SUV rolled in with the guests her days turned manic. She barely saw Ari because he was equally busy entertaining guests in the plushly equipped casino while she dealt with organising the guests and directing the activities she’d planned for them.
She was busy sorting out the sky-diving group and pairing them with their instructors and guests on the last day when she heard a familiar voice.
She looked up to see Selena Hamilton heading towards her.
Perla’s mouth dropped open before she could stop herself.
‘So, what do you think?’ Selena trilled, patting her new russet-coloured curls.
Perla forced a smile. ‘You look great.’
Selena’s smile slipped a fraction. ‘I’m glad you think so. Roger thinks I look awful. What does he know, right?’ She forced a laugh that didn’t touch her curiously over-bright eyes.
Roger Hamilton strolled in at that moment. He completely ignored his wife and, grabbing Perla, kissed her on both cheeks.
‘Sign me up for whatever you’re organising, darling! I’m all yours.’
Behind him, Ari entered the room and froze to a halt. The thunderous look in his eyes made her stomach flip but she managed to keep the smile on her face as he walked to where she stood. Seeing the look he directed at Roger, she glared at him and shook her head once. His jaw clenched but he exchanged pleasantries until the instructor called for them to suit up.
Ari’s hand slid over her nape and tilted her head up to meet his descending kiss. It was hard and quick. ‘You take care of Hamilton, glikia mou. Or I will,’ he muttered. Then he was gone.
Breathing a sigh of relief, she turned around just as Selena returned to her side. Before she could utter a word, Selena grabbed her arm. ‘I think Roger is going to leave me,’ she whispered fiercely.
‘Are you sure?’
Her frenzied nodding made her curls bounce wildly. ‘I think he’s having an affair.’ Her scarlet-painted lips wobbled and her eyes widened.
‘You could be wrong...’
‘What if I’m not? I can’t live without him. He’s everything I’ve ever wanted but I can see him slipping away from me.’ Tears filled her green eyes.
‘Selena, I don’t think you should go sky-diving if you’re feeling like that.’
She swiped her tears with perfectly manicured fingers. ‘Nonsense. Roger wants to go sky-diving so I’m going with him.’
But a glance at Roger, who was busy flirting with a female instructor, suggested he had no interest in what his wife wanted. Perla glanced at Selena again and worry gnawed at her. Selena’s glazed eyes suggested she was under the influence of something other than unhappiness. But there was no diplomatic way to ask without causing offence.
Gnawing at her bottom lip, she followed the guests out to the air-conditioned buses that would take them to the airstrip. Then climbed in with them.
* * *
‘Where the hell is she?’ Ari demanded for the fifth time. The concierge manager paled and reached for his phone again.
‘I’m sorry, sir, but we think she may have joined one of the guest events.’
‘You think? Try her phone again.’
The manager hurried to do his bidding. When he shook his head regretfully, Ari curbed the need to punch a hole in the desk.
‘Giving your staff hell?’ came a droll voice from behind him.
‘Not now, Sakis.’
‘Why? What’s wrong?’
‘I’m trying to find Perla. No one’s seen her in the last hour.’
‘And this is worrying because...?’
Ari pursed his lips. ‘She’s supposed to be at the villa, having lunch.’
He looked up as the assistant manager hurried forward. ‘Mr Pantelides, I’ve just been told by one of the drivers that Mrs Lowell joined the sky-diving guests.’
For a moment, he couldn’t compute the information. ‘She what?’
The voices that responded were drowned out by the blood thundering in his ears. When his arm was grabbed in a firm hold and he was propelled down a hallway, he did not protest.
He heard a door shut behind him seconds before Sakis pushed him into a seat.
‘Talk to me, Ari. What the hell is going on?’
He speared both hands into his hair and tried to stem the terror rushing through him. ‘It’s probably nothing. She can’t possibly have gone sky-diving...’
‘Yeah...that’s what your man said.’
He tried to swallow. ‘Well...she can’t have.’
‘Why not? If she’s qualified—’
‘Sakis. She’s pregnant.’
His brother’s mouth dropped open seconds before the colour leached from his face. They both leapt for the phone on his desk but Ari was quicker. ‘I need your fastest driver out front in the next ten seconds.’
Sakis wrenched the door open. They passed Theo in the hallway and one dark look from Ari and his brother stemmed whatever wisecrack he’d been about to utter.
In silence, he fell into step beside them.
The journey to the airstrip was the longest of Ari’s life.
Horrific scenarios he couldn’t stem tumbled through his mind and the fingers that continually clawed through his hair shook uncontrollably.
Brightly coloured parachutes slowly loomed into view as their SUV roared down towards the designated area on the edge of the parachute landing site.
Theos, surely she hadn’t...
Ari was out of the car before it’d come to a screeching halt. He heard the thunder of running feet behind him as his brothers followed him.
One by one he watched the eight parachutes drop lower, his heart hammering as he rushed from one to the other.
None of them were Perla.
‘Ari?’ He whirled round to find her stepping down from the air-conditioned bus, Selena Hamilton following behind her. Relief was followed closely by volcanic anger. This time, there were no feet thundering behind him as he sprinted to the bus.
He skidded to a halt in front of her. She started to speak. ‘Not. One. Word.’
Her mouth dropped open. Without giving her a chance to respond, he swung her up in his arms and marched her to the SUV parked a hundred yards away.
‘Out,’ he growled. The driver jumped out and held out the keys. He placed her in the passenger seat, secured her seat belt and ignored his brothers as he got in and slammed the door.
‘I’m guessing we have to find our own ride back?’ Theo quipped to Sakis.
Ari turned the ignition and peeled out of the airstrip, his heartbeat a deafening roar in his ears.
The journey to the villa took less than ten minutes. This time he didn’t help her out. He headed straight into the villa and sought out the butler.
‘I want you and your staff to take a break. Don’t return until I tell you to.’
He returned to the living room to see the staff hurrying out and Perla standing in the hallway, her face pale and her teeth worrying her lower lip.
‘Ari, please. You’re scaring me.’
He threw the car keys across the room and watched them hit the wall and bounce on the marble floor.
‘I’m scaring you?’
Her arched brows spiked upward. ‘Can we try less snarling and more coherence?’
‘You left the resort without telling anyone, without telling me. I thought you’d gone sky-diving!’
She started to laugh, then stopped. ‘Wait, seriously? Why on earth would I? Anyway, I texted you to tell you that I didn’t think Selena Hamilton should be on her own. I think she might have taken something. Luckily, I eventually managed to talk her out of sky-diving—’
‘I didn’t receive a text and you seem to be missing the point here.’
‘Which is what, exactly? That I have to report my every move to you now? Well, you’ll be happy to know that, aside from talking his wife down from a possibly fatal jump, I warned Roger Hamilton that if his eyes strayed to my cleavage one more time I’d gouge them out. I was very diplomatic about it, of course.’ She smiled sweetly. ‘Was there anything else you wanted to know?’
Ari couldn’t believe his ears. He’d been scared out of his wits. And she was giving him sass. ‘Are you serious?’
He watched her walk towards him until he could smell her. He raked a hand through his hair as she tilted her head and regarded him with steady eyes.
‘Ari, you’re seriously overreacting here. You can’t molly-coddle me through this pregnancy. I know what this child means to you but I won’t be wrapped up in cotton wool until the baby’s born’
He whirled from her and paced to the window. ‘You think I’m only concerned about the baby?’
‘Come on, be honest—would you be this worked up if it was just me on that plane?’
The air drained out of him and he reeled from the accusation thrown at his feet. He opened his mouth but no words came out. Because the realisation that was dawning on him—had been dawning on him all week—felt too overwhelming to make sense of.
‘Perla...’
‘You know what I was thinking when I was on the bus?’
Slowly, he shook his head.
‘I started off thinking perhaps I should count my blessings. My first husband was physically and emotionally unavailable but I could graduate to a physically available but emotionally unavailable one. And maybe, if this one doesn’t work out, I might strike it lucky third time round—’
‘There won’t be a next time. If you marry me, you’ll be stuck with me for this lifetime and the next.’
‘Let’s not get ahead of ourselves here. What I didn’t say was that the thought of an emotionally unavailable husband would never work for me. Not now. I’m learning very fast that I’m an all-in kind of girl. So I’m not willing to risk my future happiness on a man who won’t open up to me even a little.’
The emotion that slashed through him made his gut clench hard. He couldn’t breathe. Could only remain still as she stared defiantly back at him, dared him to react to the gauntlet she’d thrown down.
He opened his mouth; no words came out.
He shook his head, damning himself for ten kinds of a fool when pain rolled over her face.
‘Or you could just get lucky. Since you’re so determined to hammer home just how incompetent I am at taking care of myself, maybe I’ll just die and save you the trouble.’
* * *
Perla heard the words tumble from her lips and felt shock bolt through her.
Ari’s face whitened and he actually stumbled back a few steps. Horror gripped her at how callous she’d been.
‘Oh, God, I’m sorry.’ She rushed to him but he flung out his hand to stave her off. ‘Arion, I didn’t mean it.’
His hand slowly lowered and he stared at her as if she was a monster. Perla’s insides shredded as he took another step back.
‘I’m sorry,’ she repeated. Her stomach went into free fall when he remained silent. ‘Please, say something.’
‘Get out.’
‘No, Ari. Please—’
He jerked forward and caught her to him. The kiss he delivered was harsh and pain-filled and devastatingly breathtaking. But it lasted less than ten seconds before he pushed her away and strode from the room.
She refused to shed another tear even though her throat thickened painfully with the need for release.
Going to her bedroom, she sank onto the bed, tried to make sense of what had just happened.
Pain had made her lash out in the worst possible way and strike Ari where it’d hurt the most. She’d gone too far. She had to fix it.
She rose, smoothed her hand down her dress and left her room.
He was in his study, his shoulders rigid, fists clenched as he stared at the ocean.
‘Ari, we need to talk.’
He stiffened but didn’t turn around. Grateful for not being thrown out, she stepped further into the room.
‘We’ve both been through a lot. And our past is always going to be there. You were taking care of me the only way you knew how. I shouldn’t have said what I said.’
He remained silent for a full minute. Then he turned. ‘You want to know about my past? About Sofia?’
Heart in her throat, she nodded.
‘My father fought for years to stay out of jail. He used lawyers and manipulated the system to try to escape justice. But the authorities were equally determined. The economy was in the toilet and he’d been lining his pockets with ill-gotten gains. They were slavering to make an example of him. Just when I thought it was ending, some other charge would be added to the list and the circus would begin all over again. The only people who mattered were my brothers and my mother. But even I couldn’t protect them from the cruelty of the media and their so-called friends. Watching them suffer made me hate my father even more. Then he was convicted. Finally, I thought I could get some closure for my family. Before we could take a breath, he was gone.’
Perla frowned. ‘What do you mean, gone?’
‘He died in jail months into his thirty-year sentence.’
‘How?’
‘He caught pneumonia and refused treatment.’ He gave a sharp laugh. ‘After the chaos he’d caused, he went out with barely a whimper.’
‘And you felt cheated?’
‘I felt more than cheated. I wanted to hunt him down in the afterlife and strangle him all over again. I went on a month-long bender. I was on a very fast downward spiral when I met Sofia.’ His eyelids descended, veiling his expression. But she saw his hands form fists. ‘She...saved me.’
Perla’s breath stopped. ‘Oh...’
When he looked up again, his eyes were the darkest green, shadowed with pain. ‘She brought me back from the brink of rage and despair. And I rewarded her by ignoring all the danger signs.’
‘Surely, she must have known the risks of getting pregnant if she had a weak heart?’
‘She knew. But she was convinced she would survive it. She was an eternal optimist.’
‘Ari, you can’t keep blaming yourself for what happened to Sofia. You got her the medical care she needed and she made a choice. The outcome was unfortunate but—’
‘I could’ve insisted. I could’ve—’
‘Ordered her about, just like you’re trying to do to me?’
Colour slashed his cheeks and he looked away. ‘You can’t control everything, Ari. Sometimes you have to let go and let things play out.’
‘Is that what you’re suggesting I do with you? Let you run around until something unforgivable happens?’
‘You’re assuming that you’re the only one who cares for the welfare of this baby. But I want this baby more than anything else.’ It wasn’t strictly true. There was one thing she wanted equally as badly. ‘But in order to give this baby what it needs, we need to put the past behind us and move on or it’ll keep tripping us up, dictating our lives.’
‘Move on. Just like that?’ he asked through gritted teeth.
‘No, not just like that. It’s hard, I know, but I’m willing to give it a try.’
‘You’re willing to try when you’re pregnant with my child but can’t even move on from wearing funeral black every day?’
Shocked, she stared down at her clothes. The idea that her all-black wardrobe was sending a particular message hadn’t even crossed her mind.
‘Moving on isn’t as easy as you think, is it, Perla?’ he queried in a soft voice lined with steel. ‘Come and talk to me about moving on when you change the colour of your wardrobe.’
‘I’m talking to you now. And I didn’t choose this wardrobe. You gave me a little more than a day to join you in Miami when I started this job. The stylist knew my history and she assumed I’d want to be decked out in black all the time because I was a widow, and frankly I didn’t think it mattered in the grand scheme of things.’
His jaw tightened. ‘It mattered.’
‘They’re just clothes, Ari. The fact of the matter is I want love. I wanted it when I married Morgan and I want it now.’
His gaze lasered on her. ‘Why did you stay married to him after you found out he was gay?’
Ice welled through her veins. ‘He told me on our wedding night that he’d married me because he didn’t want anyone to find out. Especially not his parents.’
‘The ones you continue to look after?’
She gave a slight nod. ‘They worshipped him but he knew they wouldn’t accept his sexual orientation. And...he knew how much I cared for them. I’d told him about my childhood and the foster system and he...he told me I could still have a family, provided...’
‘You kept his secret?’ he finished harshly.
‘Yes. I begged him to come out. I even fooled myself into thinking I was getting through to him last Christmas.’
Ari’s gaze sharpened. ‘How?’
‘He told me he was thinking about telling his parents. That he just needed time to sort out a few things first. Now, I realise he was probably planning something else.’
‘Something like what?’
She gave a jagged laugh. ‘Oh, I don’t know, maybe he was planning to emigrate to Timbuktu? Or New Zealand? He took a bribe to crash Sakis’s tanker so, whatever it was, it must have been worth the risk to him.’
He walked slowly towards her until he stood in front of her. His eyes were still shadowed but the agony had lessened. ‘He took advantage of your kind heart and your unfortunate past to prey on you. The bastard didn’t deserve you. You know that, don’t you?’
‘I know but it doesn’t mean the need I have has abated. It’s still there, Ari. The need to be loved. But I know you can’t give me that. Am I right?’
Hazel eyes darkened and he looked away.
She tried to ignore the sharp stab of pain in her heart and forced herself to continue. ‘I told you I’d make a decision once we talked.’
He tensed. ‘And have you?’
She ignored all the self-preservation signs and blurted, ‘Yes, I’ll marry you.’
His head snapped back. ‘You will?’
She nodded. ‘I can choose to live in a fantasy where I get everything I want delivered to me on a silver platter. Or I can live in the real world where I get the baby and the family I’ve always yearned for. Two out of three will have to be enough.’
He caught her chin and raised her head so he could look into her eyes. ‘You will marry me. You’re sure?’ His eyes blazed with an intensity that drilled to her soul.
Nervously, she swallowed. ‘I’m sure.’
He gave a single nod. ‘I’ll put the arrangements in place.’ He headed towards the door.
‘Ari?’
He looked over his shoulder.
‘About...what I said earlier...’
He shook his head. ‘Forget it. We have more important things to deal with now.’ He strode out of the room without another word.
Shaky legs carried her to the window as the tears she’d fought so hard against slid down her cheeks.
Against the stunning backdrop, the sun blazed down, uncaring that she’d given Ari the answer he’d been clamouring for, and yet she felt as if she was still slipping down a slope, destined for failure and heartache.
Her hand drifted over her stomach. For better or worse, she’d made the decision for her and her baby. She had to learn to live with it.
* * *
Three Pantelides jets flew out of Bermuda three days later, all headed for Greece and Ari’s private island off the coast of Santorini.
Ari had announced that morning over breakfast that they were to be married in two days at his island home.
The news had been greeted with joy from Brianna but with more restraint from the two brothers. That neither of them looked surprised told her they’d been fully aware of the reason for Ari’s mad dash to the sky-diving site yesterday.
Perla took the first opportunity to escape to the cabin bedroom. Ari was busy on the phone, presumably putting the arrangements he’d told her about in place.
The irony of it didn’t escape her.
She was an events organiser who didn’t even have a say in her own wedding. At this moment she didn’t even know who would be attending; whether it would be a large ceremony or a hole in the wall with a priest and his brothers as witnesses.
She fell into a deep, disturbed sleep and woke to find Ari next to her. He was wide awake, staring down at her with a look on his face that stopped her breath.
Before she could speak, he cupped her face in his hands and slanted his mouth over hers. It was rough. It was deep. And her soul sang with the feverish joy of it. She was completely unprepared when he wrenched his lips away seconds later.
‘Arion?’
In silence, he climbed out of bed and began to undress.
Perla watched him, mesmerised by the dark beauty of him and the stark need in his eyes that so echoed the one in her heart.
She shook as he came back and stretched out next to her. Naked, gloriously aroused, his eyes intent on hers.
‘Do you really think we can move on from the past?’ he grated out, his voice little more than a whisper.
An egg-sized lump wedged in her throat. ‘We can work at it, give it everything we have. Brianna told me she didn’t have a smooth childhood either.’
‘She didn’t.’
‘And I don’t think Sakis escaped your family’s devastation but they seem incredibly happy now.’
He continued to stare at her, his eyes glinting with a sheen that made her heart twist for him.
She didn’t utter a word when he reached for her, slid down the zip of the light grey dress she’d bought from the resort shop that morning, and pushed the straps off her shoulders. Her panties and bra came next. Then he untied her hair from its loose knot and spread it over his pillow.
He kissed her mouth, her neck, her breasts, all the way to the heart of her, each touch, each kiss making her tremble and moan, and fight back scalding tears.
With just his mouth he brought her to a shuddering climax, then kissed his way back up her body.
Then he tilted her head up to meet his gaze.
‘What you said...about dying...take it back. Take it back now, Perla,’ he commanded, his eyes dark with torment, his voice gruff with pain.
Her hand settled on his chest, felt his heart thunder unevenly beneath her touch. ‘I take it back. I never should’ve said that.’
He entered her with a guttural groan that filled the room. With each thrust her heart filled with emotions she dare not let out, emotions she’d always dreamed of voicing to that one special person. The knowledge that they wouldn’t be well-received made her bite her lip.
He hooked his arms under her knees and surged deeper inside.
Ecstasy mushroomed through her. ‘Arion!’
The sound of his name on her lips seemed to shatter him. Caught in the vicious web of passion, he climaxed with a tormented groan, brutally ripped from his soul.
It took several minutes for their heartbeats to slow, for total silence to return to the cabin. But just when she thought he’d drifted off to sleep, he turned towards her.
‘We may not love each other but I promise to take care of you, and to care for you. And I will guarantee you this. Every night. Every day. For the rest of our lives.’
Her heart lurched. Would that be enough?
It didn’t matter. It was too late. Because she knew without a shadow of a doubt that she was in love with Arion Pantelides.