Sale or Return Bride

‘He paid you to disappear?’ Sebastien’s eyes darkened with shock and disapproval and Charlotte Rawlings gave a tired laugh.

‘Pay? Dimitrios? That shows how little you know him. No, he didn’t pay me a penny.’

Sebastien stilled. ‘But you were severely injured with a young daughter to support—how did you manage? You had family of your own to care for you?’

‘I had no family, and I managed because my daughter is a unique and very special person,’ Charlotte said in a gruff voice and Alesia coloured.

‘Mum, I think you should rest now—’

‘Not yet.’ Sebastien tightened his hand around her mother’s. ‘Please—if you can manage it, I really need to hear the rest of this story.’

‘Alesia recovered remarkably quickly from her injuries and she was a bright little thing.’ Charlotte smiled lovingly at her daughter. ‘One of the doctors who was treating me and knew our circumstances suggested she try for a scholarship at a top boarding school. She was accepted. It was a difficult decision but the right one. I was having endless operations. In the holidays she stayed with one of her tutors and they brought her to see me all the time.’

Sebastien was listening intently, all his attention focused on her face. ‘Go on—’

‘By the time she went to university I needed all sorts of care that we had to pay for.’ Charlotte shot her daughter a tortured look. ‘Alesia worked night and day to provide for me. She would do anything. And when she discovered that there was a chance that this operation could help me walk again she got herself this amazing job in Greece—’

A tense silence followed that announcement and Alesia closed her eyes, waiting for Sebastien to tell her mother the truth.

‘You should rest now,’ he said calmly, standing up and arranging the sheets more comfortably around her mother, ‘but before we leave you for a while, I have one more question. Why, when Alesia grew up and he could no longer take her away, did you not ask Philipos for money once again? You are his only family. He had a duty to provide for you.’

‘Dimitrios knows nothing about duty and he never gives away money,’ her mother said with quiet dignity. ‘And he doesn’t know the meaning of family.’

Something dark and dangerous flickered in Sebastien’s eyes. ‘Then it’s time he was educated on that subject,’ he said grimly, straightening to his full height, dominating the small hospital room with his powerful presence. ‘And I can assure you that he will be a willing pupil. He will live up to his responsibilities.’

Charlotte Rawlings closed her eyes wearily. ‘No. I want no contact with that man. I never want to hear the names Philipos or Fiorukis again.’

Alesia froze in horror. Although her mother obviously recognized Sebastien as the man who’d rescued her from the explosion, she clearly didn’t know his identity. What would her mother say when she realized that her daughter had married a Fiorukis? And that she’d approached her grandfather for money?

Sebastien gave a calm, reassuring smile. ‘I want you to rest and stop worrying,’ he instructed firmly, ‘and I will bring Alesia back tomorrow.’

Her mother opened her eyes and smiled. ‘You can stay another day?’ Her eyes brightened. ‘When do you have to go back?’

Sebastien frowned. ‘She can stay as long as she needs to,’ he said roughly and then walked out of the room.

Alesia gave her mother a hug and then hurried after him, virtually running so that she could match his long stride.

‘Sebastien, wait!’ Breathless, she caught his arm, forcing him to stop. ‘Please don’t just walk off. I know you’re still angry with me but we have to talk. You saved my life. I can’t believe it was you.’

Burning dark eyes collided with hers and he caught her arms and backed her against the nearest wall, his whole body throbbing with barely contained fury. ‘And we would have discovered that fact a whole lot sooner if you’d been honest with me. When will you learn to trust me and tell me the truth?’ he demanded in a raw undertone, his strong fingers biting into her soft flesh as he kept her pinned against the wall. ‘On a daily basis I learn something new about my wife and the process is exhausting. Each time the phone rings I wonder what amazing fact I am about to discover that you have kept hidden. Until I met you I thought that I had an incredibly effective intelligence network. Suddenly I discover that I know nothing.’

‘You probably weren’t looking in the right place,’ Alesia muttered awkwardly, realizing that for a man accustomed to being in control all these revelations must be difficult to cope with. ‘You didn’t know my mother was alive.’