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‘Sure.’
‘Thanks for doing this, Kate.’
He’d lowered his voice. The air thrummed with silent awareness at the slight shift in tone. As if she were standing on the edge of a cliff, Kate knew that one false move would be all that it took to see her fall.
‘We have a deal.’ She fought to hold her voice steady, hold herself steady. ‘I would never renege on that.’
‘No, of course not.’
Still he didn’t move. The world held its breath.
‘Well, if you’re sure there’s nothing you need I will say goodnight.’
Kate gave a small nod. Her heart thundered in her chest. It would be the easiest thing in the world to reach out to him now, thread her fingers through his hair, pull his lips down to hers and start to kiss him. To fan the smouldering embers of their desire and let it burst into flames.
Kate trembled at the thought of it. She wanted it so badly she ached for it. Burned for it. Her whole being was consumed with hunger for him.
‘Kalinikta, Kate.’
‘Goodnight, Nikos.’ I love you.
The words appeared from nowhere, ringing loudly in her head. But no way would she speak them out loud.
Pressing the heels of her palms against her closed eyelids, she watched flashes of amber light cutting through the darkness.
When she took her hands away, he was gone.
* * *
‘We did it!’
Stepping out into the bright sunshine, Nikos pulled Kate into a fierce hug. He let himself hold her for a moment, breathing her in, relishing the soft contours of her body pressed against his. He had spent so long forbidding himself from touching her that he was going to revel in this moment of triumph.
When he’d seen her standing there in her bedroom last night, looking so unbelievably sexy in that slip of a nightie, it had taken every scrap of willpower he possessed to stop himself from kissing her. He’d wanted her so badly he had been physically shaking with the power of it.
He should never have gone in there, of course. His flimsy excuse that he needed to tell her about the time of the court hearing had been about as fake as his declaration to himself that she meant nothing to him.
Now, with her pressed against his chest, he knew he wanted her more than anything he had ever wanted in his entire life. He knew she meant everything to him. And his stocks of willpower were all used up.
‘Congratulations!’ Kate pulled back to look at him, her eyes shining brightly. ‘I can’t tell you how pleased I am!’
‘Evcharisto, Kate.’ He stared at her, giddy with relief. ‘Thank you so much for your support.’
‘You are more than welcome.’ Kate smiled into his eyes.
In the end the court hearing had been short and very sweet. With the weight of Nikos’s legal team making itself felt, and supported by a letter from Sofia stating how much she wanted Nikos to be her guardian, the only other contender—Sofia’s great-uncle—had decided to withdraw his claim.
The courts, having looked into Nikos’s background and found him to be a man of good character, had ascertained that he was in a stable marriage, to a woman Sofia liked, and had decided that he was capable of accepting the full responsibility of guardianship, and permission had been granted there and then. And a burden that Nikos hadn’t fully realised he had been carrying around with him had immediately been lifted from his shoulders.
His lawyers came out onto the steps behind them, and with many handshakes and some back-slapping, Nikos thanked them too. This was a good day.
‘We must let Sofia know.’ Kate clutched at his sleeve.
Nikos pulled out his phone and within seconds Sofia was screaming her delight. Laughing, Nikos put her on speakerphone, looking at Kate as Sofia switched to English, babbling with happiness.
‘You must go out and celebrate!’
‘And we will—as soon as you are back in Crete,’ Nikos said.
‘No, I mean you two—right away!’ Sofia’s reply was vehement. ‘I’ve got exams, so I won’t be back for weeks. But I insist that you both go and get totally drunk in honour of the occasion.’
‘Hmm... Not sure what the courts would make of that.’
‘It’s too late—they can’t do anything now. You’re stuck with me.’
