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But then Polly and Alexandros both smiled at their daughter and nodded at easy intervals.
Polly’s eyes caught her husband’s, and they shared a moment of understanding, their smiles turning intimate and warm for a moment out of time.
They landed on the helipad on top of the Kristalakis Building, Alexandros handing Helena to a bodyguard, while he personally helped Polly out and then leaned protectively over her body to shelter her from the wind generated by the slowing rotor blades.
The penthouse apartment he led them to wasn’t anything like Polly had been expecting. Warm colors made the high-end rooms feel welcoming, and there was a chest filled with toys for Helena in the main living room as well as her perfect princess bedroom.
“How long has the apartment been set up for family?” Polly asked, looking around in wonder.
Helena made a beeline for the pretty white bookcase filled with her favorite stories and pulled out brand-new copies of the ones that had become dog-eared in her room in the villa. “Look, Mom! All my best stories!”
“I see that, sweetie.”
Helena was in her element, but Polly was overwhelmed. There could be no question that Alexandros had gone to great lengths to make sure his daughter would be comfortable.
Polly turned and stared up at her husband. “How long?” she asked again.
He shrugged. “Pretty much since Helena’s birth.”
“But you never said.”
“I was waiting for you to say you wanted to come.”
“What? Why, for goodness’ sake?” she demanded. “How was I supposed to know you wanted us here? That’s not the way it seemed to me.”
But the evidence of her eyes said something entirely different. It said that he had wanted her in Athens with him. “If you wanted us here, why did you move me out to the villa?”
“I did not realize that you would consider the move as a statement of intent.”
“How was I supposed to take it?”
He grimaced, for once his ready brain stuck for an answer.
“You were waiting for me to say I wanted to come?” she asked in disbelief. “But I never wanted to move out of Athens in the first place. I would have thought that would have been a given.”
Only very clearly, it had not.
“I thought you would be happy to move to the country. I thought your anger was over me choosing the house without your input. You’d made it clear you wanted to move out of the family home.”
“But I said…” What had she said back then? She couldn’t even remember now. She knew how she’d felt, but she’d been so angry, so resentful that by the time he bought the villa, she was halfway to closing her heart off from him already. “I really hated living with your mother and your sister.”
“I am sorry I did not understand how bad it was for you.”
She nodded. She believed him. She just wasn’t sure if she could trust him. He was paying attention now, but he hadn’t. Not then. Not later.
“I learned not to talk to you about the important stuff.” She sighed and then made a conscious effort to go for the positive with a small smile. “But we’re here now and it’s a really nice place to be.”
“I am glad you think so.” He didn’t look happy so much as relieved.
He wasn’t used to being criticized. She’d figured that out early on. And Alexandros had been deeply offended when she reacted to his gift with anger instead of enthusiasm.
She let her smile grow. “It’s a beautiful apartment.”
“It makes me think of you.”
That was worth a reward. She leaned up and kissed him. “I like that. Are you saying that all those nights you spent on your own up here, you were thinking about me?”
“What else would I think about?”
