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He looked up, his hands still on her knees, burning her through the fabric.
‘Ever since I saw you that night at the Ritz…I wanted you with a passion that I’ve never felt before. Before I realised who you were. And then when you bumped into me and I saw you up close…you took my breath away. You take my breath away every time I look at you, Kallie…’
The way he was looking at her…it couldn’t be…he was playing some cruel joke.
‘Alexandros—’
He closed his eyes. ‘Kallie, I’m in the middle of the hardest thing I’ve ever done.’
Opening them again, they blazed with something that shut her up. ‘Using you, making you marry me were knee-jerk reactions to the desire that took me over. It just so happened that I did need to marry. But I could have married anyone. I could have got my solicitor to arrange a civil wedding, and got the divorce the following week, protected my fortune. But I didn’t. I wanted you. And I had a hold over you.’ His mouth twisted. ‘Which your uncle unwittingly supplied.’
He shook his head, not taking his eyes off hers. ‘From day one you didn’t conform to what I thought, what I’d expected. And when we slept together…’ Dark colour flooded his cheeks. ‘I’ve never, ever experienced something so intense, and it wasn’t just that time, it’s every time.’
Kallie blushed.
He looked at her and she could see a glint of something in his eyes, almost defiant, as if he was gathering his strength for something monumental. Determined. She could feel something move through his huge frame as he knelt before her.
‘The reason I left just now is because I went to get something. After sitting up all night, thinking, I went into Athens this morning to get this…’
He didn’t take his eyes off hers, and reached into his trouser pocket to pull out a small box. He opened it up and Kallie tore her eyes away and looked down. There, nestled in a bed of velvet, was a ring, an aquamarine surrounded by tiny diamonds. It was stunning, taking her breath away and yet so discreet that its simple beauty turned her heart over. She watched with shocked disbelief and bewilderment as he took it out of the box and with a visibly shaking hand placed it at the top of her ring finger.
He looked at her and she could see, feel his chest move as he sucked in a deep breath.
‘Kallie Demarchis. Will you marry me?’
Her mouth opened and closed like that of a fish. She could feel the ring slip onto her finger even without him pushing it, as if it belonged. She looked from it to him.
‘But…but…’
He looked pale again. ‘Kallie, please. Say yes.’
‘But you don’t…You…hate…You don’t love me.’
She was beginning to feel like she was about to hyperventilate. Alexandros pushed her legs apart to come between them, taking her face in his hands. She could already feel her lower body respond to his proximity.
‘Did I forget to mention that I love you?’
She couldn’t move
. She was in shock. His hands were warm and heavy on her face, his eyes intense, on her.
‘Kallie, I love you.’ He kissed her forehead. ‘I love you.’ He kissed her cheek. ‘I love you.’ He kissed her other cheek. ‘I love you…’ He looked into her eyes for an eternity until she could read the truth there. Then he took her lips, her mouth, her soul and kissed her so sweetly, so passionately that she felt drugged. Could she believe? Or was this the ultimate revenge? A cruel play on how she’d offered herself to him…
When he finally pulled back, Kallie opened dazed eyes.
He was intent, his voice hoarse. ‘Say something…’
She could feel tears well. And shook her head. ‘I don’t…How can I believe you? After everything that’s happened, you don’t…’
She gulped in huge fractured breaths, the magnitude of the moment, the feeling of standing on a precipice too huge. He was asking her to do it again. To hand him her heart. And she really didn’t know if she could…
His hand smoothed her face, lovingly tucked her fringe behind one ear.
‘I knew I was in trouble when I was running you baths and making you eat at three in the morning. Not to mention following you to work just to see you. I was enraged that you were so unavailable. My love…you’re just going to have to trust me. I don’t want to hurt you. I don’t ever want you to be hurt again. Trust me. Please.’
She searched his face, his eyes. Tears slipped down her cheeks. Finally she spoke with a husky catch that made Alexandros feel weak inside. Weak with love for this woman he knelt in front of.
‘I fell in love with you a long time ago…When I went to you that night, I truly believed I loved you with all my heart and soul…’
