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Georgios Minotis had always been so robust and strong—a powerhouse of a man who had seemed to defy the years. Last time she’d seen him he had been full of life and vigour. But now? She blinked. Now he was nothing but a husk—a mere shadow of his former self. The salty spring of tears gathered in her eyes as she thought of all the time she had wasted. All those years they would never get back. Why hadn’t she just taken the initiative and come here before? Swallowed her stupid pride before he did, and made amends?
‘I should have known it,’ Georgios snapped, his hooded gaze flickering towards the window where Tycheros was now pursuing a stick which Theo had presumably hurled towards the far end of the garden. ‘Damned animal growls at anyone else. Even Theo.’
‘Oh, Pappous,’ Mia whispered, preparing to go over and hug him tightly, with all the love which was bubbling up inside her, even as she acknowledged that illness seemed to have done little to subdue his famously cranky nature.
But there was no answering softness in the faded black eyes as they turned to scrutinise her. They were filled with an emotion Mia didn’t recognise. Or maybe she just couldn’t bear to.
‘What the hell areyoudoing here?’ he demanded.
She tried to tell herself that sickness made people volatile and not to react to the hostility which was etched on his face, but it was difficult not to be hurt by his callous greeting. ‘I’m here to see you, Pappous,’ she offered cautiously.
‘Why? Who let you in? Who brought you here?’
Mia hadn’t even noticed him return from the garden but Theo must have been standing in the shadows at the edge of the room. He stepped forward, his powerful body seeming to fill the place with purpose.
‘I did,’ he said. ‘I brought her.’
‘Why the hell did you do that?’ Spidery venom distorted the old man’s voice and the lines on his ravaged face became even more pronounced. ‘I told you I never wanted to see her again.’
‘Because I thought you should see her,’ said Theo calmly. ‘That it would be good for you.’
‘What right do you have to know what isgoodfor me?’ The old man’s gaze raked over Mia, his voice quavering as he sneered. ‘What do you want? My money? Has your mother sent you to claw back what you can from a dying man?’
‘No,’ said Mia, the hurt she felt at being spoken to that way now morphing into a slow and simmering anger. Briefly, she glared at Theo, before once more meeting her grandfather’s eyes. ‘My mother lives in Florida now. I may not see her very often but she certainly doesn’t want your money. Your tainted money!’ she added, wondering if she had imagined the brief nod of acknowledgement from her grandfather, as if he were only capable of dealing with people who dared stand up to him.
Had she been naïve enough to think he’d changed? That he had undergone a sudden transformation which had freed him from the shackles of his mistrustful mind, which made him unable to look at anyone without suspecting they were after his money? Well, she wasn’t going to stay here and listen to it. She had escaped from the cesspit of this toxic world and she had no intention of jumping straight back into it.
She was about to head back towards the garden when Theo stayed her with the faintest shake of his head before beginning to speak, the resonance of his words whispering over her skin like velvet, as he captured her in his night-dark gaze. ‘You might change your mind about that, Georgios. When you hear what we’re about to tell you.’
Mia’s anger was superseded by confusion as she looked from Theo to her grandfather.We?What was he talking about? Why was he making it sound as if they were a unit? A couple—instead of two people on the brink of divorce. And whyhadhe brought her here when clearly she wasn’t wanted? He must have known that. Maybe he hadn’t thought or cared that this kind of reception could hurt. Or maybe he thought she deserved to be hurt.
But she could see that her grandfather’s face had changed. The hostility had vanished and he was looking at the two of them with interest. As if the world had very few surprises left for him and he was curious to hear what Theo had to say. Come to think of it, she was pretty curious herself.
And then everything began to change in a way she could never have imagined. Theo’s arm was snaking around her waist with a familiarity which felt sublimely comfortable as well as very sexy. Suddenly their bodies were touching, and she cursed the appreciative shiver she gave as her fleshy hip collided with the bony jut of his.
‘Can’t you guess?’ he said softly. ‘We’re back together. Mia and Theo. Husband and wife.’
He dropped a soft kiss on top of Mia’s head and she cursed him for that too because, despite all her best intentions, it was making her long for things she had no right to long for.
It was all an act, she reminded herself bitterly.
Nothing but an act. Just as it always had been.
She knew she ought to tear herself away, but Mia didn’t move. She told herself it was because any protest she made would appear callous—especially when her grandfather’s wide smile seemed to have taken ten years off him. As she registered the delight which had transformed the old man into a closer approximation of the person he had once been, she felt trapped and compromised—but, in a strange way, willingly so. A feeling which was intensified by Tycheros, who must have slunk back into the room unnoticed and was quietly licking her hand. That crazy feeling of coming home assaulted her yet again, and the weakening effect of Theo’s touch was making her powerless to resist.
‘You are intending to make this marriage work?’ the old man verified querulously.
‘We certainly are,’ affirmed Theo, a silky emphasis in his voice as he stroked his thumb over the base of her spine.
Mia looked up into his face to silently warn him to stop all this playacting, but his black eyes were glittering with something she didn’t recognise. As he tilted her chin and bent his head towards her, she realised with a mixture of horror and delight that Theo Aeton was about to kiss her.
It was a show put on solely for the benefit of a captive audience. And even though his lips conveyed no other emotion than the hard stamp of possession, it didn’t stop Mia from closing her eyes and kissing him back.
CHAPTER SIX
‘ICAN’TBELIEVEyou just did that!’ Mia howled, as the car purred back through the gates of her grandfather’s estate. Furiously, she turned to stare at Theo’s profile, irritated beyond measure that the accusations she’d been hurling at him since they’d left the house didn’t seem to be hitting home, because his features remained as implacable as ever, his gaze fixed responsibly on the road in front of him. ‘Or maybe I can believe it. You’ve got form for being sneaky and underhand, haven’t you, Theo?’
‘Will you please calm down?’
