Her throat was thick with the tears she was choking back. She flung the newspaper down. In one sense she was the one with the problem, not him. She was insecure, but she was only getting what she had asked for. He had married her, hadn’t he? But he had only put that ring on her finger for Elias’ sake. How safe and secure had she expected to feel in those circumstances? He had had a perfect right to enjoy a stag do within reasonable boundaries and to expect his new wife not to make a big deal out of it. He was also entitled to expect her to trust him to some extent at least. How long would their marriage last if she continually made unjust accusations? She was jealous and insecure, but he should not have to pay the price for that. Those feelings, Maribel reckoned painfully, were the price of marrying a guy who didn’t love her.
Footsteps crunched across the sand. A long shadow fell over her as Leonidas drew level with her.
Maribel stood up. ‘I’m sorry,’ she whispered jaggedly. ‘I wasn’t giving you a fair hearing.’
Leonidas expelled his breath on a hiss and pulled her into his arms. He rested his brow on the top of her head. ‘On my honour, I swear that nothing happened. Do you believe me?’
‘Yes.’ Maribel gulped. ‘You look awfully fed up in those photos.’
‘That was the lifestyle I grew up with and it wrecked the family I might have had. Drugs destroyed my mother, Elora’s health and infidelity ruined her relationships. My older sister followed in her footsteps,’ he acknowledged grimly. ‘Elora conceived me by one man on the same day that she married another. By the time the truth came out, my real father was dead and the man I thought was my father turned his back on me. How’s that for screwing up? But I have always wanted and needed more from my life.’
‘I know.’ She found his hands and squeezed them. When she thought of how hard she tried to protect Elias from hurt she was filled with angry regret on Leonidas’ behalf. He had been forced to learn hard lessons at too young an age. ‘You’re strong. But I need to trust you. I know that.’
‘It’s my fault that you couldn’t.’ Leonidas regarded her with level dark golden eyes. ‘I should have told you before the wedding but I was too proud—I don’t want anyone else but you, hara mou.’
Maribel was unprepared for that admission. She swallowed hard and closed her eyes tight. Suddenly her heart felt light and the shadows were lifting from her. He was telling her so much more than he was saying. He really did want their marriage to work. He was prepared to make the effort. She thought back to her blind foolishness the day before, when she had informed him that she no longer loved him, and she almost groaned out loud. How shortsighted she had been! It was time that she ditched some of her pride and defensiveness.
‘With a wife who wakes me up during the night to have her wicked way with me, where would I get the energy?’ Leonidas murmured teasingly.
Maribel flushed to the roots of her hair. ‘I didn’t mean to waken you. It was dark—I wasn’t sure where I was—’
‘Excuses…excuses.’ Leonidas treated her to a smouldering visual appraisal that made her tummy turn a somersault. ‘But tonight it’ll be my turn, mali mou.’
Elias was fast asleep on his stomach with his bottom in the air. Maribel gently rearranged him into a cooler position. Exhausted, he did not even stir. Her son’s days were packed with adventure, for the Pallis estate was a wonderful playground for a child as active as he was. From dawn to dusk Elias was on the go, playing in the pool with his parents or just running round with Mouse, who was now travelling on a swanky pet passport.
Maribel dressed up for dinner. It was a special evening because it was to be their last night on Zelos for a while. For the past week, Leonidas had been flying in and out on business at all hours in an effort to extend their stay on the island for as long as possible. He seemed as reluctant as she was to leave, as they’d had a magical honeymoon.
Certainly, Maribel conceded, she had never dreamt that she might find such happiness so quickly with Leonidas. She had first seen him discard his famous reserve with his son, but with every week that had passed since she’d become his wife he seemed to relax his guard more with her. She noticed the little things the most. If he had to work in his office for a while, he would come looking for her afterwards. He wakened her to have breakfast with him at an ungodly hour because he clearly wanted her company. He liked her to see him right out to the helipad and he really loved it if she waited up for him when he was late home.
And she had begun to appreciate that all his life he had been horribly starved of genuine affection and any form of conventional home-based routine. Things she took for granted, like sitting down to eat a meal with Elias, he set a high value on. He enjoyed the simple pleasures—a walk with Elias through the citrus orchards to the shore, where their son would toddle in the waves and shout in delight when he got wet. Leonidas liked the little rituals of family life that she had naïvely feared he would consider boring, restrictive or outdated. What he had never had he wanted Elias to have, and he adored his son. Nobody watching Leonidas smile as Elias raced to greet him could have doubted that.