She fell forward onto him, weak and spent. He lifted her in his arms and lowered her to the white bearskin rug in front of the fire. Murmuring her name tenderly, kissing her face, he held her close.
It took Anna several minutes to open her eyes, but when she did Nikos was looking down at her. His dark eyes were fierce, guarded.
“Anna—” he said, then stopped.
She licked her lips uncertainly. Was he already thinking that he’d made a mistake telling her he loved her? Or maybe she’d imagined the whole thing? Suddenly she felt afraid. For a long moment she heard only the low roar of the fire.
He reached down to caress her cheek. “I don’t want to be like Sinistyn. Answer me this one last time, and I promise you I will never ask again.” He took a deep breath. “Will you marry me?”
A rush of relief and joy went through her.
“Yes,” she said.
He visibly exhaled. “Tonight? Right now?”
She snickered, playfully tugging on his ear. “We’ll have to get a license, won’t we? The courthouse closed hours ago.”
“I’ll call the judge at home—”
“No. Let’s do this right. Please.”
“Tomorrow, then?” he growled. “First thing in the morning?”
“All right,” she said, kissing his cheek and smiling.
“You’re really going to marry me?”
“Yes!”
“Say it again,” he ordered, holding her close.
She laughed out of pure happiness. “Nikos, I’ll marry you.”
* * *
As Nikos held Anna in his arms through the long, interminable night, he stared up at the moonlight creeping slowly across the ceiling above the wide bed. He held her close, listening to her sighs of sleep against his bare shoulder. She was so sweet. So trusting.
And he’d deceived her.
I did what I had to do, he told himself fiercely. Anna would be his forever. Michael would have a permanent family. He’d saved his family. He’d matched his wits against hers, laying siege against her heart until it fell, like a golden city overrun by a savage army.
But he’d never thought winning would feel like this.
He’d lied to her. Now, even holding her in his arms, so warm and soft against him, he felt cold. He stared down at her lovely face in the shadows and moonlight. She was smiling in her sleep, pressing her body against his. She was radiating warmth and contentment. She believed that he finally loved her. She believed in happy endings—even for a man like him.
His whole body was racked with tension. But even as he tried to justify what he’d done the thought that she would learn soon enough about his lie pounded through him. She wouldn’t be satisfied with an unlimited bank account in lieu of his love. She would demand things of him—emotion, energy, vulnerability—that he simply couldn’t give. Not even if he tried. He just wasn’t made that way.
And as soon as she found out how she’d been deceived, her joy would be snuffed out like a candle. It would cause the bright new light in her to go out, perhaps forever.
Shortly before dawn he heard snuffling moans from the next room, where Mrs. Burbridge had brought their baby to spend the night. At their son’s cries, Anna stirred in his arms.
She gently pushed out of his embrace and crept into the baby’s room to nurse, before returning back into his bed.
“Nikos?” Anna whispered.
He kept his breathing even, feigning sleep.
“Thank you,” she said, so quietly it was barely audible. “I have the home I dreamed of, the family I dreamed of. I don’t know what I did to deserve this. Thank you for loving me.”
God, this was intolerable. He turned on his side, pulling away from her, every nerve taut. As soon as he was sure she was really asleep, he sat up in bed. Feeling bone-weary, he raked his hands through his hair and rose slowly from the bed.
Glancing at Anna, slumbering peacefully beneath the white goose-down comforter, he came to a decision. He looked at the clock. It was almost six. He’d intended to have her sign the prenuptial agreement as soon as she woke, then drive straight to the courthouse for a license. He’d planned for them to be married at a drive-thru chapel before breakfast.
But, no matter how pure his motives, now that he held her fate in the palm of his hands he just couldn’t do it. He couldn’t take her honesty and trust and love and use them as weapons against her. He couldn’t break her heart and destroy her life, no matter how good his motives might be.
Anna Rostoff deserved a man who could love her with his whole heart.
If he wasn’t that man, he had to let her go.
A fine time to grow a conscience, Nikos thought bleakly. Apparently he did have one last bit of honor left.
He gave Anna one final, lingering glance. Her dark hair was sprawled across his pillow, her creamy skin like ivory against the white thousand-count sheets. Her cheeks still glowed pink, a remnant of their lovemaking, and her lips curved into a soft smile as she sighed in her sleep.
It was an image he knew he’d never see again.
* * *
Anna woke in a flood of early morning light with one bright thought: today was her wedding day!
She stretched her limbs against the luxurious sheets with a contented yawn. Her body felt sore. A good kind of sore. She smiled to herself, almost blushing as she remembered everything Nikos had done to her last night. She’d woken up twice for the baby, but, as worn out as she’d been from their lovemaking, with Nikos’s hard body curled protectively around hers she’d still had an amazing night’s sleep.
She glanced over to the wall of windows, revealing the wide blue Nevada sky from the twentieth-floor penthouse. She’d never felt happy like this before. Safe. Optimistic. Secure. For the first time in her whole life she not only had a home, she had someone who would actually watch over and protect her, instead of just looking out for their own interests. And she had someone she could protect and love in return not because she had to, but because she wanted to.
She and Nikos would be partners, in work as in life. Together they’d be as unbreakable as tempered steel.
It was an exquisitely heady feeling. She wanted to do cartwheels across the penthouse.
She wanted to kiss Nikos right now.
Where was he? In the kitchen, making her breakfast? Humming to herself, she rose from the bed and threw on a satin robe, barely stopping long enough to loosely tie the belt to cover her naked body. She paused briefly outside the door of the second bedroom, where Misha was sleeping. She heard only blessed silence.
She smiled to herself. With any luck she and Nikos would have time for more than a kiss before their child woke up demanding breakfast.
She went down the hall and found the kitchen, but it was empty. The immaculate white counters looked as if they’d never even been touched. Nikos was probably already working in his office. Wouldn’t he be surprised and happy if she made him coffee, eggs and toast?
Looking in the bare cupboards and refrigerator, she made a face. Even she couldn’t manage to manufacture breakfast out of sugar cubes, Greek olives and ice. She turned away when she heard voices down the hall. She followed the sound, stopping outside the door at the other end of the hall.
Muffled through the door, she heard a man’s voice say, “Sir, in my opinion you’re making an enormous mistake. As your attorney, I must advise—”
“Since I’m paying you five hundred dollars an hour, I won’t waste more time discussing it. I’ve heard your complaints. Thank you for your assistance. There’s the door.”
Anna’s ear was pressed against the wood; she jumped as the door was flung open and an older man in a dark gray suit came through it.
He gave her a sharp glance, then a scowl. “Congratulations, miss.” He put on his hat and stomped out of the apartment with his briefcase.
“Anna. You’re awake,” Nikos said. “Come in.”
His face was dark, half hidden in the shadows of morning where he sat behind a black lacquer desk. The furniture here was as sleek and soulless as everything else in this penthouse. Anna suddenly felt uneasy.
“I thought you were going to wake me up,” she said. “Early morning wedding and all that.” She glanced behind her. “Why was your lawyer here? Oh. He brought the prenup?”
His eyes flicked at her in surprise. “You knew I wanted you to sign a prenuptial agreement?”
“I assumed you would. I mean, of course you’d want me to sign one. You’re a wealthy man,” she said lamely, even as disappointment surged through her. He didn’t trust her. He honestly thought she cared about his money, that she’d try to take it. He thought they were at risk of getting a divorce. It cast a pall over her happiness.
Then she realized what he’d said. “Wait a minute. You wanted for me to sign a prenup? But not anymore?”
“No,” he said quietly. “Not anymore.”