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He looked at her, his brows raised in question, leaving Serena feeling bemused by the whole exchange.
At least his grandmother was happy about the baby.
The baby she’d been told was the key to Nikos’s heart...
* * *
The afternoon’s visit had been a success, and Nikos had reassured himself that his grandmother was well and happy. He employed local people to look after her, but it still helped to see her himself. She was the only person in his life who’d showed him unconditional love, the only person never to have let him down, and the only person it would ever feel safe for him to love in return.
‘We will go now,’ he said, aware that Serena was looking tired, and he said the same to his grandmother, sensing Serena watching as they spoke in Greek to say their goodbyes.
‘So where are we going?’ Serena asked as they made their way back down the steps while the sun began to slide towards the horizon.
‘Somewhere we can be alone.’
He put his arm around her, pulling her close. All afternoon he’d watched her, his body aware of every move she made, desire burning inside him. Now he fully intended to take her to his villa and spend a weekend relaxing and losing himself in the pleasure of her body.
‘It’s just a short drive along the coast.’
His car was waiting, as requested, and soon he was driving away from the village he’d grown up in and towards the open countryside. Its ruggedness always appealed to him and made him feel at home, which was why he’d decided that this was where his child would grow up and he and Serena would live—if she stayed long enough. Once she had the money for her sister there was nothing stopping her from leaving...walking away just as his mother had done.
The villa had always been his private retreat, a place to hide from the world, and it felt as if he was opening himself up to Serena by taking her there, let alone announcing it as her new home. He nudged the nervous vulnerability of that thought to one side and focused instead on the pleasure of a night in his bed with the woman who ignited such an intense passion inside him, unlocking feelings he didn’t recognise.
‘This is it,’ he said, and drove off the road, tyres scrunching on the gravel driveway.
A stifled gasp slipped from her lips as she looked at the villa and he was glad she was seeing it for the first time at dusk. The light illuminated the clean modern lines of the villa, which had been built in keeping with the traditional buildings he’d grown up in. The housekeeper would be long gone and he could finally be alone with her.
‘It’s beautiful,’ she said as she slipped down from the vehicle.
He took her hand and led her towards the door. ‘This is where our child will grow up.’
The reality of those words hit him as if he’d been punched in the stomach. The villa he’d built would finally become a home.
A home for his family.
His child.
He would never have thought it possible. He had always been careful to ensure it wouldn’t be—except for that one passionate night on the beach with Serena, when common sense and thoughts of contraception had eluded him.
‘Not in Athens?’ she questioned as she walked into the villa, the sound of her heels echoing from the walls.
‘No,’ he said firmly.
There was no way his child would grow up anywhere else than on the island of Santorini—he was more certain of that with each passing second. He wanted his child to know all the good things he’d known and so much more—because his child would be wanted, his child would have a father who took the time to be there, to be interested.
‘But your business...?’ The question lingered in the air as she walked into the spacious living room.
‘That is not for you to worry about.’ He opened the sliding patio doors to reveal the pool, lit with soft amber lights. ‘I have an office here, linked to my Athens office with every technical device possible.’
He intended to spend more time on the island. His grandmother was getting older, and most importantly he wanted to be there for his child. He also wanted to be with Serena—something which had shocked him when he’d first realised it.
Whilst he didn’t want to tango with love for a woman, he knew he wanted to try and give his son all he’d never had. He hadn’t known the love of a mother but by marrying Serena, offering her that deal, he could ensure history didn’t repeat itself. He also hoped that by being there for his baby from the day it was born he could love it as his father should have loved him.
‘You and my child will have everything I can give you.’
