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But for her, there was only Xandros. “I love you. I always have, I always will.”
“And I love you.” He picked up his bag, then wrapped her beneath his arm. “Take me home. I need to make love to you. Now.”
She laughed. “I like the way you say home.”
“Anywhere you are is my home.”
She stopped him in the middle of the arrivals hall to kiss him soundly.
Walking swiftly to the parking garage, her arm around his waist, his around her shoulders, she knew they’d never let go of each other again. But first there was Sienna.
“My sister Teresa invited us for dinner. And as much as I want you to make love to me now, we need this dinner.”
He looked down at her. “Is it an intervention?”
She laughed at his Americanism. “I don’t know what it is. But Sienna called it, and she’s bringing Carter. I texted her to say you’d be coming too, and she said that was fine.”
“Fine?” he murmured, his brow knit.
“That’s the best we’re going to get. But, as my sister said, if Sienna was going to ream me a new one—” She looked up to see if Xandros got the euphemism. And he did. “—she wouldn’t do it in front of everyone. So I’ve got high hopes.”
He hugged her against him. “Then I have high hopes too.”
As she kicked her foot under the SUV to open the hatch, Xandros said, “No matter what happens with our daughter, we will always have each other. No matter what she says, no matter what anyone says, your family or mine, no one will tear us apart again.”
He threw his bag in the back, punched the button to close the lid, and gathered her into his arms. “You never have to be afraid again. You have me.”
“And you have me.”
They sealed the vow with the tenderest of kisses.
* * *
They stoodon her sister’s front porch, Angelika’s hand in his, his heart in her palm.
Then she rang the bell.
He was so in love that he’d do anything for her. And yet a fist had closed around his heart that he couldn’t tell her about. He wanted his daughter to love him, but if she couldn’t, he wouldn’t be able to bear the rift that would grow between him and Angelika.
Reality hadn’t hit him this hard on his home earth of Santorini. They’d been keeping it a secret from Sienna, and everything had been about not letting her know until the time was right. He hadn’t even begun to feel what it was like to have another daughter, a child he’d made so long ago with Angelika, a girl he hadn’t known existed.
And now, he would finally face his daughter when she knew exactly who he was. It felt so much more momentous than the evening in Oia when he’d seen her for the first time and instinctively knew the truth.
His family was entirely different. He didn’t believe his kids would have any big issues. They had their own lives, their own dreams, their own families.
But Sienna’s world had blown apart, her identity stripped from her. He wanted to make this as easy as possible, though he didn’t know how. And he didn’t want Angelika to feel his trepidation. For her, he wanted to be strong, with no doubts.
Then there wasn’t a chance to back out or rethink as the big front door opened wide.
Teresa, the sister, was a duplicate of his beautiful Angelika, but her smile was broader, her eyes holding a less darkness, as if her life had been far happier.
He wanted that look for Angelika. Perhaps someday she would have it.
Teresa opened her arms wide. At first, he thought it was for her sister, but then she enveloped him, the unexpected action stealing his breath.
When she said, “I’m so glad to finally meet you,” he felt a tremor inside for this warm welcome. He wished he’d known Teresa all these years. He felt in his belly that she would be good family.
Then she led them both into the living room, introducing her husband, William, a stocky, balding man with a smile as big as his wife’s.
