She would refuse the job offer, she told herself, as a sign of her faith in him and their marriage. It had been unreasonable of her even to consider it.
Yet her heart still felt heavy as she headed to her study and opened her laptop. The unfinished email was still on the screen where she’d left it, where Antonios had read it. Lindsay scanned the two sentences and then started writing.
I am honoured that you have considered me for this position, but I am afraid that I cannot accept...
‘You’re not turning down that job, are you?’
Lindsay’s hands stilled on the computer keys and then she turned around in her chair, saw Antonios standing in the doorway of her study. He looked both weary and wonderful, and his mouth curved in a slow, tired smile as he took a step forward. ‘Because I wouldn’t do that, if I were you.’
Lindsay frowned, uncertainty and hope warring within her. ‘You wouldn’t?’
‘No.’
‘But...’
‘You were right, Lindsay, about everything. About me. About Leonidas. And, most importantly, about us.’
An incredulous smile started blooming across her face. ‘What’s happened?’
‘I told him the truth.’
‘Oh, Antonios.’ Her smile widened even as she felt the sting of tears. ‘I’m proud of you. That must have been hard.’
‘It was. But it was also a relief. I suspect you know what that feels like.’
‘Yes.’ She nodded and he took her hand, drew her up from her chair. ‘Thank you for being patient with me,’ he whispered against her hair. ‘Thank you for loving me the way I needed, even when I didn’t think I did.’
‘Oh, Antonios.’ Her voice was too choked to say anything more, so she just put her arms around him. He held her, stroking her hair, and she pressed into him, revelling in how he managed to make her feel both strong and small.
‘So about that job,’ Antonios said with a nod towards her laptop. ‘What was it exactly, anyway?’
She eased back to eye him warily. ‘It doesn’t matter—’
‘I think it does.’
Unsure of where he was going with this, she gave a little shrug. ‘Assistant professorship of Pure Mathematics.’
‘Sounds right up your alley.’
‘I suppose.’ Actually, it involved teaching an advanced seminar on her research topic, but she didn’t need to tell Antonios about that. ‘I was just about to refuse,’ she told him, stopping when she saw he was shaking his head.
‘And I told you I wouldn’t do that if I were you.’
‘Why not?’
‘Because I think I fancy the idea of living in America.’
Lindsay’s jaw dropped. ‘What?’
‘Leonidas is now the CEO of Marakaios Enterprises.’
‘But...’ Lindsay’s head spun. No matter what she’d told Antonios earlier, she’d never actually believed he would resign.
‘I offered him the position,’ Antonios explained. ‘I realized you were right, Lindsay. Being CEO of Marakaios Enterprises has never made me happy, and I know it’s what Leonidas has wanted. He deserves a chance, and I deserve a chance to try something else. To be happy...with you.’
‘You’ve put so much into it, Antonios,’ Lindsay said, marvelling at how much he was willing to give up. ‘You saved it—’
‘And now I’m handing it over to Leonidas. But I’m not leaving completely.’ He gave her a crooked smile that felt like a fist reaching down and taking hold of her heart. No matter what the future held, she loved this man. She wanted to be with him. ‘I’ve accepted a newly created position with Marakaios Enterprises,’ he explained. ‘Head of North America and Investment Management.’
‘North America...’ she repeated slowly, her mind whirling. ‘Investment Management—but I didn’t think Marakaios Enterprises even did that?’
‘They didn’t, but they will, starting with me. I’m opening a new branch of the corporation in finance, in North America. Based in New York.’
She blinked rapidly, shaking her head in disbelief. ‘You’d do that for me?’
‘I’m doing it for us. Just like you fought for us by confronting me. I didn’t want to admit how unhappy I was here. It felt like a betrayal of my father, of my own sense of honour and duty. But you woke me up, Lindsay. You made me realize what I was afraid to acknowledge to myself.’
‘Antonios...’ Lindsay shook her head, her eyes shining with tears. ‘I don’t know what to say.’
‘Then say yes. Say yes, I’ll take the job, I’ll go with you, I’ll start this grand adventure.’ He squeezed her hands. ‘Say yes because you love me and I love you and that really is all that matters.’
Just like Daphne had said. Lindsay could almost feel her mother-in-law’s presence, imagined her beaming smile. She squeezed Antonios’s hands back.
‘Yes,’ she said.