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No!
Everything in him roared denial at the bitterly careless thought. He could lie and claim not to have dreamed about her every night since she’d left his bed. He could try to tell himself that he’d put her out of his mind as the money-grabbing con artist he’d accused her of being, instead of remembering the devastation in her eyes that morning, first with Kyros and then with him. But he wouldn’t lie to himself about how much he’d wanted her with every single fibre of his being since that morning.
So, no. Lykos couldn’thave her. Because Theron wasn’t done with her yet. He needed to know what she was doing and whether it had anything to do with the man he would protect with his life if need be.
His shoes crunched on the gravel as he got out of the car. He had to crane his neck to take in the sprawling building, little more than a dark outline against the dusk. In the evening’s gloom it was clear the estate was in need of some serious repair, but it was still a thing of beauty, faded or otherwise. There was a sense of something more, though, tugging at him, drawing him closer...but he shook the silliness out of his head as he took the steps two at a time, reaching the semi-circular dais at the top in front of a very large wooden door.
He pounded on it, wondering whether he had a hope in hell of her hearing it. As the minutes ticked by, Theron became increasingly frustrated. He stepped back off the steps and peered up at windows caked in grime and cobwebs. He frowned. The building looked deserted. Abandoned. Anything could happen here and no one would know. An icy tendril wound its way up his spine and he was worried. Worried about Summer. The suddenly frantic beat of his heart infected his thoughts and his mind quickly became a jumble so that when the door opened and he saw Summer standing there it took him a moment to breathe.
And he forgot. Forgot about Kyros and about her insane accusation. He forgot the anger that had so cleverly laid over the hurt. The ache that she’d fooled him. That she’d used him. And instead he just took her in.
A wave of relief washed over him, and a feeling he barely recognised and dared not name was left on the shore of his heart. Summer’s eyes widened in recognition, and for just a second he thought he might have seen something like hope spark in her eyes.
As if tethered to her he approached her with one step. And then another. And another until somehow he was within an inch of her and his hands were reaching to frame her face and his mouth was claiming hers and he felt as if he washome.
A moan sounded on the air between them and he couldn’t be sure if it had been hers or his. Her lips tasted of honey and opened beneath his and a shocking heat unfurled within him, his heart in his mouth and realisation on his tongue. He’d been lying to himself for months. He’d not put her out of his mind, he’d kept her there, the memories of her locked away, and the moment that he’d seen her again they were all unleashed. This was what he’d needed, just so he could breathe, he thought as he pulled her flush against his body and...stopped.
He opened his eyes to find hers staring at him, shock and something horrifyingly like fear sparking to life in them. He pulled back and reached out at the same time, his hand unerringly finding the curve, not of her stomach but a bump. Just about the right size for a...
Summer closed her eyes. It had taken her only seconds to consume the sight of him. The thick wave of hair, so dark it looked velvety, the stubble on his jaw, the breadth of his shoulders, the way his forearms corded beneath rolled-up shirtsleeves—everything about him made her want to touch. Her breathing hitched and she felt utterly betrayed by her body as it throbbed and pulsed just at the sight of him. And the thread of hope she’d barely admitted to herself during the last weeks and months sprang to life. But when he’d reached for her, hopes, fears and fantasies had disappeared and she’d melted into him as if nothing else mattered.
She’d forgotten. That was the power he had over her. For just a second of madness, she’d forgotten. Until Theron had reared back, the look of shock on his features indelibly marked across her heart.
‘No.’
The word severed the spell he’d cast over her, bringing her back to reality with a painful jolt. She was surprised that it hurt so much. His denial. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t expected it. Neither could she blame him—she’d had that moment too. The moment when in less than a heartbeat her mind had travelled through infinite possibilities and futures, all twisting and turning out of reach in light of the shocking fact that she was now going to be a parent. But she’d also seen futures in which their child was the most precious, beautiful part of her life.
But the look in his eyes—the one he was trying so desperately to mask—was all too familiar to her and just as painful as it had been in Greece. That moment of rejection, that feeling, compounded by her father’s dismissal, fired a kiln that forged steel within her. She would not subject her child to that now or ever.
‘You are pregnant?’
‘Yes,’ she said, waiting for some kind of indication that he had realised that he was a father. But where once she had marvelled at his impenetrable, stone-like qualities, now it just felt cruel. As if it made her even more conscious of their differences. She felt soft and sore and emotional and he seemed hard, cold, tough and it made her hurt even more. What kind of father would he be for their child?
‘What are you doing here?’ she asked, her thoughts making her voice a whisper.
Theron blinked, looking around as if he didn’t know how to answer that question. He went to say something and had to clear his throat. ‘Lykos...’
Summer rolled her eyes. She should have known the Greek billionaire friend of Theron’s wouldn’t have kept his mouth shut. Not that she’d had much of a choice. It wasn’t as if as a geophysics student she knewthatmany billionaires. And when she and her sisters had realised they would need to sell the Soames estate, and sell it quickly, Summer had remembered what Lykos Livas had said when he’d handed over his card.Just in case you ever need anything.Lykos had been there for her when she’d needed it, not Theron. Not the man who had tossed her from his apartment in such a cruel way.
Hurt fired her fury as she focused back on Theron, who was staring at her stomach. ‘I don’t have time for this,’ she said around his silence. ‘I don’t have time foryou. You can go,’ she dismissed, her heart breaking as she turned blindly down a hallway, not caring where she went.
‘I’m not going anywhere.’ The tone of Theron’s voice was all the warning she got before he pulled her round to face him and in an instant she was overwhelmed with the memory of the first time he’d kissed her. She looked up just in time to see the flare of his pupils as if he too was lost in the same thought. But then he blinked and once again she was shut out and the icy-cold stare he levelled at her made her shiver.
‘Ask me,’ she demanded.
For a second he looked confused. ‘Ask you what?’
Summer shook her head, blinking furiously, praying that she could get through this before the tears came. She looked up at him, her heart breaking. ‘Ask me if it’s yours.’
Shock slashed angry red marks across his cheeks and gutted his chest. That was what it felt like. As if everything inside him had been scooped out and exposed.
He was more certain that she was pregnant with his child than anything he’d ever known in his entire life. The question hadn’t even crossed his mind, let alone formed into a sentence, and the thought that she’d believe he’d question such a thing burned his soul.
You were incredibly convincing last night, agápi mou, I must say. I am man enough to admit I fell for it.
This time the slow clap that echoed in his mind was for him and him alone.
Of course, she had doubted he would believe her. What on earth had he done to make her think otherwise?
