The Greek’s Hidden Vows by Maya Blake

CHAPTER ELEVEN

ITSHOULD’VEBEENEASY.

He’d been on an emotionally destructive path, and he’d course-corrected. The same way he’d hardened his heart to his father’s stumbling apology, even though a traitorous part of him had urged him to allow it, should’ve been the way he dismissed Alexis’s audacity to tell him there was another way forward.

He didn’t deal in hope. Or require his father’s regret to heal.

Why couldn’t he stop thinking about Alexis’s words? Or forget the pain in his father’s eyes as he’d walked away from him? Why had he spent the last two weeks with the growing sensation that he’d made the worst mistake of his life?

We can make it work together, Christos.

The sweet promise of those words had terrified him more than anything else she’d flung at him, perhaps with the exception of the shocking flame of pure terrifying joy that had lit his soul at the possibility that he might be a father, even though he knew he lacked the basic tools of success.

The conviction of that lack was what had propelled him onto his helicopter and off Drakonisos. It had lasted through the court hearing that finally granted Demitri custody of one son and through the meeting that secured a custody arrangement for the other.

He tried to remain removed as he observed father and sons reunited. But he couldn’t stop the clamouring in his heart that’d started the moment Alexis had confessed that she might be pregnant.

The wild panic had dulled. There’d been a peculiar kind of serendipity in setting eyes on his father on the same day he’d learned that he might become a father too. He’d taken it as a timely reminder of his past. What he’d overcome.

But the truth was, he’d never felt as exposed, as vulnerable as he had in the hours after he’d parted ways with his father, when he’d walked the dark landscape of the only true home he’d known. He’d felt he was every inch the abomination he’d named himself, incapable of giving Alexis what she sorely needed—love. Besides that, every imaginable scenario for success required he open his heart, risk more pain. Because if he’d wanted love as a child, wouldn’t his own child demand it? Wouldn’t the woman who’d counter-dared him to be brave, then watched him leave with disappointment and pain in her eyes?

He’d been right to accuse her of seeing too much.

He passed his hand over his jaw, encountered the stubble and inwardly grimaced. He was supposed to be his own man, yet a simple thing such as shaving off the stubble Alexis had found so sexy had become impossible.

As impossible as the raw chasm inside him that grew wider with every minute she was absent from his life.

Two weeks. A lifetime.

She hadn’t answered his emails or texts in the last five days. And before that, her responses had been perfunctory. The only reason he hadn’t already hunted her down was because he was...terrified. At first because of the possibility she might be carrying his child. Then because she might not.

Once his initial terror had waned, he recalled everything she’d said to him. The hope. The sheer belief in the face of what should’ve been a daunting situation for her, especially after what she’d suffered.

We can make it work together, Christos.

Those words had finally driven him onto his jet then onto another helicopter ride over what he was sure was the stunning countryside of Buenos Aires. Because even as terrified as he was, the alternative—the bleak, lonely, soulless life he’d led so far—terrified him even more.

He’d allowed the hope of Alexis’s words to bloom inside him when he’d finally learned her whereabouts. As the helicopter set down and he stepped out, he prayed he hadn’t completely blown it.

Two things went through her mind as Alexis watched the man she wished she could hate stride towards her. The first was that she should’ve rushed inside, thrown on something a little more sophisticated than the flimsy yellow dress she wore, her hair windblown and her feet bare. The second was that she’d missed him with a terrifying desperation. The soul-wrenching bonus third arrived as he stopped a few feet from her.

She still loved him. Was hopelessly head over heels for him.

The heart-shredding thought made her wrap her hands around her middle, as if it would hold all that tumultuous feeling inside.

‘Kalispera, Alexis.’

Dear God, his voice. She’d heard it far too frequently in her dreams, only to wake to empty loss. ‘You should’ve emailed me to let me know you were coming. I would’ve vacated the premises.’

‘Since you’re the reason I’m here, that would’ve been counterproductive.’

She notched her chin higher. ‘I have another three weeks of annual leave to take. So you’re going to have to find someone else—’

‘I don’t want anyone else. I want you, Alexis.’

The arms she’d wrapped around her middle clenched harder, emotions threatening to spill all over the place. ‘I may be the best assistant you’ve ever had but you don’t own me, Christos. I’ve decided that if I return to work for you, I won’t be at your beck and call twenty-four-seven any more. I deserve a life. I deserve more.’

Something harrowing flickered through his eyes but she refused to be swayed.

‘But being the best assistant I’ve ever had meant you knew my whereabouts,’ he challenged. ‘You could’ve disappeared indefinitely. But you chose to stay here.’

Alexis knew he was right. She could’ve fulfilled a lifelong dream and headed for the Maldives instead. But even that had been ruined for her. Because how could she sit on a pristine beach without recalling that unforgettable night on Drakonisos?

‘Don’t read anything into it. Argentina is a beautiful country. It’s been on my bucket list forever. And since you all but insisted that I’d earned my keep...’

‘The things I said, Alexis. They were wrong. I didn’t mean them.’

She froze, that precious bubble inside her threatening to burst free. ‘What?’

His gaze dropped to her fingers she’d raised to toy with the cheap chain she’d bought in Buenos Aires a few days ago, a flame lighting the grey depths. A flame eerily resembling...hope. ‘You’re still wearing your wedding rings.’

She shrugged even as her insides quaked. She hadn’t yet gathered the strength to take them off. But she wasn’t going to confess that. ‘I don’t know your safe combination here. It seemed safer to keep them on than to leave them in a drawer somewhere.’

He winced at the barb. ‘You want to hurt me. I fully deserve it.’

‘What makes you think I care at all one way or the other?’

Again something resembling agony slashed his face. ‘Because I’m a stubborn fool, Alexis. A stubborn fool who ran scared because he couldn’t handle the possibility of accepting the one thing he craved above all else.’

A tremble started at her feet and unravelled upwards. ‘And what’s that?’

‘To know that someone cared for me. Enough to reach out. To put me first, like my parents never did. Everything you said to me that morning, I yearned to grasp with both hands. But—’

‘But experience has taught you that reaching out comes with a price. A price of rejection?’

‘Exactly so. Even accepting my father’s remorse felt impossible. Every second he was talking I believed there’d be a catch. That he would rip my heart out all over again. But because of you, I’m finally able to entertain the possibility that he’s changed. That he regrets what he did.’

‘I’m so sorry you went through that, but... Christos, I can’t be around someone who clings to past pain the way you do, or anyone who throws me away like you did. You were the one who urged me to let go of my hang-ups about Adrian, remember? Isn’t it time to take your own advice? I know I’m not that special but—’

‘How can you even doubt it for a second?’ he burst out, an angry edge in his tone. ‘Don’t you know how special you are, Alexis? That you can look forward with hope despite what you’ve been through? To claim your child without an iota of doubt that you’ll be a much better mother than your own was to you?’

Her heart lurched as anguish returned tenfold. ‘I don’t... I’m not pregnant, Christos. I think you should know that before—’

His eyes shadowed but he nodded. ‘I know. You would’ve told me by now if you were. That’s the sort of person you are.’

Her heart twisted harder, the longing in her soul too large to contain. ‘Then you don’t need to make any declarations.’

‘But I want to. Your fierce resilience, your belief that we can do this together...be what our own parents couldn’t. It’s the only thing I’ve been able to think about.’

A flash of hurt crossed her eyes and she stepped away. ‘The only thing?’

He groaned. ‘No. I’ve missed you, Alexis. So damn much. I can’t walk into a room without looking for you. I can’t sleep, I can barely eat. Your absence cuts me like a knife.’

‘And yet you managed to stay away for weeks.’

‘Because I didn’t think I deserved you. I still don’t believe it. But you were right. I’m greedy. The things I love, I want to have close and—’

‘Wait...the things...you love?’ she echoed faintly.

Regret filmed his eyes. ‘I hate that I’ve triggered this hesitancy in you. You should know how special you are, my beautiful Alexis. How deeply and irrevocably I love you. Long before you gave yourself to me on my beach. Long before I accepted that you were as vital to me as the air I breathe.’

Every fibre of her being shook. ‘Christos...’

He cupped her cheeks, an intensity blazing in his eyes that threatened to brand her forever. ‘Give me another chance. Please tell me there’s a place in your future for me even though I don’t deserve you.’

‘You said that already,’ she said, her voice a tremulous mess.

‘And I’ll probably say it again because... I’m nothing without you, agapita.’

‘You...love me? Truly?’ she whispered.

‘With every cell in my body. Every beat of my heart. Se agapo, Alexis.’

She felt the sensation deep within, transforming her with the kind of joy she’d only dreamed about. The kind she’d yearned for as a child, then searched for in the wrong place before discovering the right man.

His fingers trailed down her cheek, something close to awe filling his eyes. ‘The way you look at me, Alexis. It fills my heart to the brim. Even if you don’t love me—’

‘Oh, Christos, I love you too!’ she interjected before her heart burst wide open.

Emotion visibly shuddered through him as she saw her joy reflected in his eyes. ‘Say it again, koukla mou.’

‘I love you. So, so much.’

She fell into his arms, and they kissed. And when need built into an inferno, she dragged him to the study floor, their clothes hurriedly discarded.

‘You have no idea how much I’ve missed this,’ he confessed roughly.

Her laughter was pure delight. ‘I have some idea.’

‘Good, then you’re prepared.’

When he surged inside her, they both froze, their eyes locked on one another as love and lust and joy spun through them.

‘I love you,’ he groaned. ‘Marry me again, Alexis. In front of every undeserving family member I have, this time. Give me the honour of being the father of your children?’

‘Yes, Christos. To all of it.’

Nine months and one week later, Christos passed shaky fingers through his hair as he paced the private hospital room.

Perhaps that was to be his fate, to tremble before the woman he loved for all eternity. As sacrifices went, it was one he would willingly perform over and over. For the gift of Alexis. And the new gift they were about to be blessed with.

‘Something funny?’ The wife of his heart and soul gasped, before sending a glare his way.

‘No, my love.’

‘Good. Now get over here. I can feel another contraction about to rip me apart.’

He did as he was told, linked his fingers with hers, pressed his lips against her temple and held on tight as she brought their child into the world.

A thankfully short hour later, their miracle was placed in their arms. Christos took one look at Diana, his baby girl, and fell head over heels in love for the second time in his life.

‘Kalosorizo, glykia mou,’he rasped, his throat tight with emotion. ‘Welcome.’

‘Oh, Christos. She’s gorgeous.’

‘Almost as beautiful as her mama,’ he said, unable to contain the joy moving through him.

‘Come here, I want to hold both of you,’ she insisted.

She made space on the bed and held out her arms. He perched beside her, his lips dropping a soft kiss on his daughter’s head, before pressing a deeper kiss on his wife’s lips. ‘I still don’t deserve you,’ he murmured.

Her face creased in a smile. ‘You’ve given me your heart, and the family of my soul. I want nothing more than to love you as you love me.’

‘I do, Alexis. You have made me the happiest man on earth.’

They stared down at their baby for a few lovestruck minutes before she looked up. ‘How much time do we have before Costas and your parents summon us for another visit?’

‘Probably a week, maybe two. Costas believes he’s found his second wind after his operation and wants to expend all his energy on his great-granddaughter.’

‘I can’t wait to show Diana her true home.’ The home Costas had signed over to him without reservation six months ago after admitting his machinations had been to shake Christos out of his apathy and into fighting harder for the family he deserved. The place where he’d started to rebuild his relationship with his parents, thanks to Alexis’s encouragement and support.

‘No, agape mou. Home is wherever you are. Drakonisos is special because it’s where we first loved each other.’

Her arms tightened, and Christos’s heart sang. Because he knew, in her arms, he would always find love. And home.