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“We switched I.D.’s when I went into labor. So the insurance, the name on the birth certificate, everything is in her name. He’s hers every way but biologically.”
“And Giorgios is listed as his father.”
“Yes.”
“Jesus, Lena.”
“I know.”
“I wish you’d come to me,” he grunted. “I understand you were afraid, both for yourself and for me, but you still should have trusted me to handle my family. You knew I had half a dozen job offers—we would have been okay.”
“It wasn’t about me,” she protested. “If I’d been in your place, I couldn’t stand it if I lost my family over a man. The way your mother said your family felt about me was humiliating… and I didn’t want to be an embarrassment in your life.”
“Oh, baby.” He lifted her chin and stared down at her. “I would have picked you over them any day. I still will.”
“Mick…” His name fell from her lips like a breath of air and then his lips were on hers. A million emotions shot through her but everything was upstaged by her absolute need for him. When he slipped a hand behind her neck, fingers digging into the hair at the base of her skull, she moaned against him. Her arms moved around his neck and an infinite amount of time passed as their lips and tongues tangled with a rare combination of urgency and tenderness. His mouth was as passionate and sexy as she remembered, but there was a gentleness that was new, as if he had something to prove. As if forgiveness was tangible and he was trying to let her feel it through his lips.
When they finally broke apart, he dipped his head so their foreheads were pressed together.
“Why’d you shave your head?” she asked softly. “You had thick, beautiful hair.”
He shrugged. “I think I wanted to look older. There’s a lot of pressure at the firm and…” His voice trailed off. “I don’t want to talk about the firm or anything else related to my family right now.”
“Okay.”
“Can we just walk? I need to clear my head.”
“Of course.”
He took her hand again and they headed up the path.
12
Mick was glad he’d worn comfortable shoes. They walked through the winding streets of Oia for nearly two hours, oblivious to the throngs of tourists, the shops, even the wonderful views. After a while they wandered over to the square in front of the Church of Panagia. The church itself was closed but the square bustled with people, laughing and enjoying themselves. Neither Mick nor Lena had said much since they’d started walking, but now they settled on a bench, hands still clasped, and Mick tried to focus on his new reality.
Mihalis is my son.
The thought rumbled through his mind over and over.
Lena and I made a baby.
Those words struck him right in the gut, and he had to hang his head as he ruminated the series of events that had split them up and ultimately kept him from knowing the woman he loved was carrying his child. Why hadn’t he fought harder? Why hadn’t he just shown up at her apartment and demanded to know what was going on?
Cause you’re an asshole.
He hadn’t meant to be, but he’d known something wasn’t right with their break-up and he’d still let her go. Every time he’d looked into those beautiful green eyes he’d known she was hiding something. He’d thought maybe she’d been married to her Greek boyfriend while they were dating and finally realized she couldn’t get away with it anymore if he’d actually told Apollo, which was what he’d been saying he was going to do. He hadn’t been expecting anything like this, though. Cheating he could handle; bribes, blackmail and a secret baby, well, these were way out of his comfort zone.
What had his mother been thinking? He came from money and his parents had made sure to keep him away from gold-diggers growing up. They hadn’t been able to monitor what he did when he’d gone off to college, of course, which was when he’d found Lena, but they’d been concerned when he’d told them his girlfriend was Greek. At the time, he hadn’t been too worried about it; he’d thought they would love her as much as he did. Instead, they’d scared her off and he’d let his wounded pride keep him from delving into it. Damn, he needed to talk to Hank.
But he had so many other things to do first. Find a lawyer to sort out custody, figure out what Loren was up to, light a fire under the local authorities’ asses to apprehend the arsonist and, most of all, come up with a plan for how he was going to co-parent his son with a woman who lived in another country. A woman who’d duped him in the worst way possible. A woman he’d never stopped loving but who probably hated him for what his family had done to her.
Your son needs both of you.
He sighed, knowing his subconscious was right but unsure what to do about it. He needed to talk to someone and while it didn’t seem like Apollo would be the right choice, he not only needed advice, he had to come clean. His son needed him to have a calm, friendly relationship with his mother’s family. Apollo would be key in making that happen. He had to explain everything in person, though; it was only fair.
“We should get going,” Lena said after a while. “I don’t want Mihalis to wake up in the middle of the night and find I’m not there.”
“What are we going to tell him?” Mick asked quietly.
