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“Stay and help me.”

“No.”

He didn’t want to hear that, though. “I will donate whatever you want to your foundation. I’ll match your input, pound for pound.”

Her eyes flared wide and she lifted her spare hand to her chest, clutched it there. For a second, he thought he’d found a way through, but then her eyes flashed with something he could only describe as anger. “Don’t,” she spat, closing her eyes. “Don’t you dare try to blackmail me into this. That isn’t fair.”

“It’s not blackmail. It’s a genuine offer.”

“That’s too good to turn down. You can’t do that to me.”

“So stay.” He crossed his arms over his chest, feeling like maybe he was onto a winner. “I’ll triple it. I’ll pay anything.”

“I could seriously…throttle you, that’s how mad at you I am.” And when she blinked her eyes open, they were filmed in tears. He frowned, confused, irritated. No, beyond irritated. Mad as hell.

“I’m begging you⁠—”

“To stay, for Ellie,” she said, words twisted and strange sounding.

“Yes.”

She shook her head, took another long drink of coffee before placing it down heavily on the countertop.

“Please stop. Don’t ruin what we’ve shared by doing this.”

“How is this⁠—”

She glared at him, though, silencing him. “I’m leaving within the hour. Don’t bring this up again.”

CHAPTER 9

SHE DROVE AWAY FROM his Cotswold estate with a heart that was heavier than any she’d ever known. It seemed to be practically suffocating her. And she made it all the way to the bottom of the drive before giving in to the tears that had been building inside of her since the previous night.

Because she’d wanted to go to him, but knew she couldn’t. She hadn’t understood why it had all felt so hard and serious. Not like the fun, casual sex they’d agreed to, but so much more wrenching and final. Why it had all seemed to matter so much.

None of it had made sense, until he’d caught her in the kitchen and asked her to stay. And for the smallest of moments, her heart had exploded like glitter from a cannon, coating her insides with hope and happiness, because she’d realized what she wanted…and that he wanted it, too.

She wanted to stay.

She wanted to stay with him and Ellie. Not just as a surrogate guardian, a backup for Dimitrios in case something went wrong. But to be fully, absolutely a part of them. Both of them.

And that included Dimitrios.

She wanted him.

Not just for a fortnight. Not just for sex. She wanted all of him. For all time.

He was her Christmas wish, and in one conversation, he’d made it clear that his feelings were the exact opposite. Pragmatic, predicated on a practical need for Ellie, and without any kind of risk. Like he could have Chloe stay and not find it hard to keep their lines in place.

What the heck had he thought that would look like?

She didn’t even bother to ask. She hadn’t wanted the answer—she’d been scared, she supposed, of what it might look like. Confirmation that he could so easily flick a switch and no longer want her, when she was burning with her need for him.

“What the hell do you mean, she’s not here?” he demanded, staring down the headmistress with an expression that made most people cower. And indeed, the slight woman was practically shaking in her boots.

“She had a note, sir, apparently from you.”

“Show me,” he demanded.