From One Night to Wife

‘Serena?’ he said sternly, pushing her for a decision.

She wanted to rally against him, tell him she needed more time to think—but hadn’t she already done plenty of that? And yet if she said yes she’d be doing exactly what he’d suggested when he’d repeated what she’d said—anything to help her sister have a baby of her own.

She saw him draw in a breath of exasperation. Time was running out. If she said yes, went with him now, she would be buying more time to think.

‘Very well. We’ll do it your way.’

CHAPTER FOUR

AS THEY ARRIVED in Athens Serena was still in a state of shock, unable to believe the man she’d fallen in love with could be so cruel.

After the private plane had whisked them from Santorini she’d fully expected a chauffeur-driven car to meet them at the airport, but one of the city’s many yellow taxis seemed to be what Nikos wanted.

During the flight she’d played Nikos’s words over and over in her mind, each time coming to the same conclusion. She had to accept his so-called deal—for her child and for her sister. She refused to admit that she hoped he might revert to being the man she’d first met and tell her what she most wanted to hear.

She looked across at him as they sat in the taxi. His profile was stern and unyielding. Could this man ever be the Nikos she loved? He looked at her, and even in the semi-darkness as they were driven through Athens at night she felt his icy cold glare.

Instantly she averted her gaze and looked out of the window, amazed by the sights and desperately wishing she wasn’t so tired, so confused.

‘It’s stunning—and so beautiful,’ she said as she caught sight of the Acropolis, lit up and standing proud on its rocky vantage point above the city, thankful for its distraction from thinking about the conversation they’d had in her hotel room.

It still hurt, and it proved he didn’t have any kind of feelings for her. As far as he was concerned she and his child were nothing more than a commodity to be bargained for.

‘It never ceases to please me.’ Nikos spoke softly, leaning closer to her as he looked out of the window like a tourist too, seemingly happy to put aside all that had unfolded that evening. ‘We should go there one day.’

Serena shrank back in her seat; his words bringing it all back and making her presence on the mainland of Greece sound permanent. It was. She didn’t have any other choice.

She pushed those thoughts from her mind, too tired to deal with them any more tonight, but she was still curious as to why Nikos was here when he’d grown up on the island of Santorini. Was that fabrication too?

‘How long have you lived in Athens?’

‘I came here as a teenager, after I finished school and found myself a job with Xanthippe Shipping. The rest I’m sure you know.’ Bitterness edged his words and he too sat back, the beauty of Athens now spoilt for him as much as her. ‘My apartment is not far now.’

‘I should stay in a hotel,’ she volunteered quickly. She’d been too tired to give any thought to where she was going to stay once she was in Athens, but she’d already questioned the sanity of staying with Nikos.

Now she did so again—because of what had been said this evening and the way her body had reacted to him, the way she still wanted and loved him. Staying with him would be a temptation to believe things would work out, when the way he’d reacted earlier told her that was never going to happen.

‘No,’ he said quickly, then started speaking in Greek to the taxi driver. Within moments they had stopped. He got out and walked around to open her door, his gaze locking with hers.

She stepped out and looked up at the smart modern apartment building blending tastefully with the older buildings around. The street lamps glowed like gold, giving it a magical appearance as well as an affluent one. It was so different from the small whitewashed house nestled on a hillside of Santorini overlooking the sea, which Nikos had pointed out during those blissful two weeks. He’d told her it was his home, igniting all sorts of romantic notions in her head, but after tonight’s revelations nothing he said could be trusted.

‘You are tired and you will stay with me.’

A hint of compassion lingered in the heavily accented words, and if she closed her eyes, pretended the previous hours hadn’t existed, she might almost believe he cared.

‘I’m not sure that’s such a good idea.’