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A soft sigh from Serena drew his attention back from the view and he looked across at her. Even though the afternoon flight was short, she’d fallen asleep almost immediately. A little spike of guilt caught him unawares. Had their passion-filled nights tired her too much?
She opened her eyes, sat up and looked at him, the smile on her lips making him want to lean across and kiss her. But the crew who manned his private plane were now preparing for landing. He would have to wait until they were alone at his villa this evening.
‘We will be there soon,’ he said, and put the papers he had hardly looked at away, having preferred instead to watch Serena while she was sleeping.
He still couldn’t comprehend that he’d spent a week enjoying coming home to her each day, savouring the nights with her sleeping in his arms. He’d been stunned when he’d realised that he now lingered in the mornings, not wanting to leave her. He hadn’t ever done that with any other woman. Even when he and Serena had shared nights of passionate sex whilst she was staying in the hotel when they’d first met he’d slipped from her bed as the sun rose.
So what had changed?
She now wore his ring, making his intention to marry her clear to everyone. But why, after locking his heart away, was he even considering marriage? Deep down he knew it was more than just the fact that she was carrying his child, his heir, but he didn’t want to look beyond that right now—was worried that if he searched too hard for answers it would all be destroyed, that history would repeat itself and he’d be declared unworthy of love or affection.
He narrowed his eyes as a new thought slipped insidiously through his mind, pushing aside the need to question his motives. She’d come back because of the baby, declaring she had no intention of staying. Would she have come back, contacted him again, if it hadn’t been for his warning that night on the beach? She’d walked away from him then. Had she meant it to be for good?
He relaxed as the answer came to him like a bolt of lightning. She had come back because she had known all along who he was—had known of his wealth and had come to get what she wanted. Money for her sister.
‘Nikos...?’
His name, softly spoken, with a question in it, dragged him from his black thoughts.
‘Is something wrong?’
‘No.’ He forced a smile to his lips and pushed away the shadows of doubt, returning to his first thoughts. ‘I just hope my grandmother hasn’t heard our news second hand.’
‘Is that likely?’
A worried frown creased her brow and her eyes looked so soft they reminded him of the deep green of the sea on calm days, when he stopped his boat to cast the nets.
He thought of the headlines their engagement had made, coupled with the deal he’d successfully completed. It would be a miracle if his grandmother didn’t know. What would she think of him taking an English bride after everything his mother had put the family through?
‘I think it is. She may live in a small village, but others will have told her.’
It was far better that Serena was prepared. His grandmother was a wise and canny lady, who wouldn’t appreciate being outsmarted.
He thought of the basic house she lived in—more of a tourist attraction than a home—and wished his grandmother had been less stubborn and moved into the villa he’d built for her on the island. She’d refused completely, and after several years of it being empty he’d decided to use it as his base when he was back on the island. Whenever he returned there his grandmother always knew, so why should knowledge of his engagement be any different?
Nikos didn’t want to tell Serena that news travelled fast the other way too—that he’d known of her arrival on the island before she’d sent him that text. She’d been asking for him, and his friends had told her he’d gone away for a while, but let him know she was there. It still hadn’t prepared him for seeing those words boldly glaring up at him from his phone, for knowing that the consequences he’d least wanted had happened.
She looked dismayed, and he pushed aside his unease to allay hers. ‘It will be fine. If anyone is to blame it is me. I should have told her.’
* * *
Serena took Nikos’s hand as they climbed the twists and turns of the steps to the little white house almost at the top of the hill. She was totally charmed by all the houses, which appeared to be clinging to the hillside. Most were white, reflecting the heat of the sun and making sunglasses necessary, but others were pale pink or cream, and some had the blue-painted domed roofs typical of the region.
