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‘Do what?’
He heard her draw in a juddering breath.
‘Make my confession.’
Confession? Nikos’s thoughts flew wildly in every direction. But when he spoke his words were cold. ‘Go on.’
‘I love you.’
She loved him.
Her words slowly sank into him, warming him like the golden sun.
She loved him.
He tried to move but Kate’s hands pressed down harder.
‘No, hear me out, Nikos. If I don’t say it now I will lose my nerve.’ Her light gasp split the air. ‘I have loved you from the very first moment I set eyes on you and that love has only grown deeper and stronger. Even when we were apart—even when you’d hurt me so badly—I still loved you. I have come back to tell you this because suddenly I couldn’t bear for you not to know the truth. Not to know the way I feel about you. You are the only man I have ever loved, or ever could love.’
She paused, her breath catching in her throat.
‘There—it’s done. I’ve said it.’ She gave a short, brave laugh. ‘Now you only have to say the word and I will go.’
‘Go?’ Nikos repeated the word in a daze. A split second later he was on his feet, hurling the metal chair between them to one side with a clatter. ‘No, Kate!’ He moved his arms around her waist, roughly drawing her to him. ‘You mustn’t go. Not now—not ever.’
‘But...’
‘There are no buts, Kate.’ He looked deep into her eyes. ‘I want you to stay by my side for ever. I want you to be my wife in the real sense of the word...in every sense of the word. Because...because...’
‘Yes?’ Her voice was a small, cracked whisper.
‘Because I love you too, Kate.’ He lowered his voice. ‘More than you will ever know.’
‘Oh, Nikos!’ Flinging her arms around his neck, Kate raised herself up on tiptoes, moving her hands to cup his face tenderly. ‘Are you sure?’
She gazed at him, blinking back the emotion that Nikos could see was so nearly ready to spill over.
‘Yes, Kate. More sure than I have ever been about anything in my entire life.’ He planted the softest of kisses on her lips. ‘Deep down I have known it all along, but I’ve been so blinded by hurt and pride and downright stubbornness that I’ve refused to admit it. Even to myself.’
‘I guess we’re both guilty of those traits.’ Kate gave him a rueful smile.
‘True. But you weren’t to know that beneath my cocky exterior lay a man riddled with insecurities.’
Nikos saw the flicker of confusion on Kate’s face as his admission sank in.
‘Really?’ She stared at him in disbelief. ‘Is that true?’
‘I would never have admitted it at the time—I wasn’t even conscious of it myself—but I guess I had a few rejection issues. With my mother walking out on me and my father when I was so young I always felt it was somehow my fault. Dumb, I know.’
‘Not dumb, Nikos. Just totally unfair and terribly sad.’
‘I’d made up my mind I was never going to get married. Then you came along. Falling in love with you was a big deal for me. Huge. Far bigger than I ever let on. I didn’t believe love existed. Not real, true love. The sort of love that turns life on its head. And then I met you and I thought you’d proved me wrong.’
‘Only thought?’
‘Yeah, well... After your father died I saw a different side to you. I decided I’d been right all along about the duplicity of women. I didn’t react well to being rejected again!’
‘I’m so sorry, Nikos. I never meant to make you feel that way. It was just such a terrible time. I was so focussed on concentrating all my energies on looking after Mom that I didn’t stop to think how it was affecting you.’
‘You were in a bad place and I was making it worse. I tried to back off, but somehow I couldn’t do it. And then when you were so pleased to discover you weren’t pregnant you touched a nerve. It felt like you were rejecting me as a father.’ Nikos paused, feeling a lump in his throat. ‘I said some unforgivably cruel things to you. Can you ever forgive me?’
‘It wasn’t your fault, Nikos. I should have explained my behaviour from the start. Told you about my mother’s mental health issues.’
