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‘I’m fine.’
‘You’re not. You didn’t eat on the plane and you haven’t eaten since we got here,’ he huffed. Rising, he headed for the door. Rebel heard him issuing instructions to Stefano before he returned to the living room.
Despite the guilt eating her alive, she couldn’t look away from him as he sat on the coffee table and leaned towards her. Brushing her hair from her face, he tucked a strand behind her ear. The side of his finger smoothed over her cheek to her jaw before repeating the caress.
The gesture was so sweet, she wanted to relive it over and over. ‘Are you going soft on me, Draco?’ she murmured.
‘Only until you’re back on your feet,’ he murmured back. ‘Then it’ll be all-out war again.’
She sighed. ‘War is exhausting.’
‘Who have you been fighting, glikia mou? Besides me, that is?’ he asked, his voice a gentle rumble that lulled her from the secret place she’d inhabited for far too long.
‘My father.’
‘You’ve seen him?’
Her gaze clashed with his. ‘Will you hate me if I say yes?’
He stilled, his finger dangerously close to her pulse. ‘Family is complicated, I get that. Besides, I gave my word that if you fulfilled your part of the agreement, I’d forgive the debt.’
Relief flooded her. ‘All right, then. He was waiting for me when I got in on Wednesday night.’
Draco frowned. ‘At your flat?’
‘Yes. He’d seen the news of our engagement in the paper.’
One brow rose. ‘Let me guess—he came to warn you off me?’
She nodded. ‘He’s not a fan of yours.’
His mouth twisted. ‘I don’t have many of those these days who aren’t contracted to me in some fashion or other.’
Her eyelids felt heavy again, but she fought them open. ‘I was your fan way before you turned into Draco the Dragon.’
‘Efkharisto, Arabella.’
‘I love the way that sounds.’
‘What?’
‘The Greek...and my name.’
She stared up at him, her breath catching all over again at the sheer dynamic beauty of his face. Then she shut her eyes when his image swam. ‘Why am I drowsy again?’
‘Probably because you haven’t slept well recently.’
‘Hmm. You’re bad for my health.’
His mouth twitched. ‘You were telling me about your father.’
‘Yes. He offered to turn himself in so I wouldn’t be engaged to you any longer. I refused.’
She wasn’t sure whether the sharp exhalation came from him or her, but she pressed on. ‘I told him it was too late. I’d given you my word. Besides, I don’t think prison dungarees would suit me, do you?’
‘You’d look good in anything, but perhaps prison gear shouldn’t be on anyone’s wish list.’
‘I agree. Anyway, he accepted that there was nothing he could do so...’ She tried to shrug, but couldn’t quite pull it off. Sorrow clawed at her, her father’s words still fresh, and deep, and anchored into her heart. Tears brimmed and rolled down her temples.
This time Draco’s hiss was audible. ‘What did he say to you?’
‘I asked when I’d see him again. He said he...he couldn’t look at me without seeing my mother...and that it hurt too much that she’s no longer alive, so he intends to stay away.’
He surged to his feet. ‘Thee mou. What sort of man is he?’ he raged.
Rebel struggled up. When he tried to stay her, she grabbed his hand. ‘You don’t understand, Draco. He loved my mother. I mean really loved her. It shattered him completely when she died.’ Another tear rolled down her face. She swiped at it with her free hand.
‘It still doesn’t excuse his treatment of you.’
Her heart ached that she couldn’t tell Draco the last piece of her life’s puzzle. But after hearing him condemn himself and anyone who’d been responsible for his sister’s injuries, Rebel knew he would never forgive her for causing her mother’s death. ‘Does it hurt? Sure. But I don’t want him to be in pain because of me. If he can find some peace away from me, then...’
Draco made a rough sound at the back of his throat. Raising her head, she met his laser-sharp gaze. ‘You’d sacrifice that? A lifetime’s relationship just so he could be happy?’
Her tiredness was receding. But with more clarity came harrowing pain. ‘As opposed to him being miserable with me? Yes, I would.’
‘You’re...extraordinary,’ he husked out.
She raised one eyebrow. ‘You seem surprised.’
The knock on the suite door stopped their conversation. Draco stared down at her for several heartbeats before he called out for Stefano to enter.
