The fire roared away in the enormous stone hearth as Sakis pulled the luxury throw closer around them and fed her oysters from the shell. Brianna wrinkled her nose at the peculiar taste.
‘Don’t worry, agapita. You get used to it after a while.’
‘I don’t think I’ll ever get used to it; I’m not afraid to admit this is one lost cause to me.’
His eyes darkened. ‘I’m glad you didn’t condemn me as a lost cause.’
‘How could I, when you tell me you fought your own board for me? How hellish was it to keep them from crucifying me?’
‘I almost resigned at one point but, when I pointed out that you deserved all the credit because you saved the company from another stock market slide, they came round to my way of thinking.’
Her eyes widened. ‘I did?’
He nodded. ‘Telling me about Greg saved the investigators a lot of time. Once we knew who we were looking for, finding him hiding away in Thailand with Lowell was easy. Didn’t you see the arrests on the news?’
‘Sakis, I could barely get out of bed to feed myself. Watching the news and risking seeing you was too much.’
He froze and jagged pain slashed his features. ‘Theos, I’m so sorry.’
She kissed him then watched him pile more food on her plate. ‘You have enough there to feed two armies. I can’t possibly eat all of that.’
‘Try. I don’t like hearing that you didn’t eat because of me. I watched my mother wither away from not eating after what my father did to her.’
Pain for him scoured her heart. ‘Oh, Sakis...’
He shook his head. ‘Eat, agapita, and tell me you forgive me.’
‘I’ll forgive you anything if you keep calling me that.’
After she ate more than was good for her, he stretched her out on the rug and pulled the sheepskin throw off her. Kissing his way down her body, he repeated the endearment over and over again, until she sobbed with need for him.
In the aftermath of their love-making, he brushed the tears from her eyes and kissed her lids.
‘I’ve made you cry with happiness and there’re no pancakes in sight. That, agapita, is what I call a result.’
* * * * *