He was wrong. She bent her head as the chaotic emotions rushed through her. Stergios wanted access to the baby. He wanted to create a stable family life for his children. He didn’t want her.
“Go back to Greece, Stergios.” It hurt to say those words. Jodie closed her eyes as the pain tore through her. “Marry the heiress who can give you power. Rule the world. You don’t need to stay here. I’ll be fine.”
“I choose you, Jodie.” He wrapped his arm around her waist and drew her closer. “Why does that scare you?”
“You don’t understand,” she said in a whisper as her body went limp. “I’m not going to be enough for you. I’m not going to meet your expectations. I’m not the wife you need. I’m keeping you from what you need. What you really want.”
“I need you,” he insisted. His fingers spread through her hair and he cupped the back of her head.
“You are so far away from your home. You’re not there because of me.”
“I choose to live here.” He tilted her head back and she had to meet his gaze. “This is where we can protect our relationship and no one with an agenda can tear it down. This is where you are valued and respected.”
Tears burned the back of her eyes. “Your family is halfway around the world. You should be with them.”
“You are my family.” Sincerity rang in his voice. “You and this little one.”
“But what about your goal to make the Antonious untouchable?” It had been the one thing that motivated him through his life. He couldn’t give that up now.
“I will always provide for you,” he promised. “I will protect you no matter what. But I will not spend another day without you,” he vowed. “I want to fill my days and nights with you. I want to know our children and I—”
“When did you decide this?”
“When I sent you away to the other side of the world.” The lines in his face deepened with misery as he remembered. “It was the wrong choice and I won’t do it again. I promise we will face any obstacle, any threat, together.”
“Why?” she asked breathlessly.
“I can’t live without you. I don’t want to anymore.” His hand tightened in her hair. “I love you, Jodie.”
She had yearned to hear those words and now she was afraid to accept them. If they weren’t true, if his love wasn’t strong enough to last forever, it would destroy her. “No, you don’t,” she whispered. “You told me that you would never—”
“I didn’t want to believe it. I wanted to protect myself from being vulnerable,” he said as he pressed his mouth against her hair. “I don’t let anyone close to me, but I let you. Because I know you will protect me like I will protect you.”
He loved her. Stergios loved her. Her breath caught in her lungs but she struggled to accept that as truth.
“I’ve been falling in love with you all this time. It’s you. It’s always been you,” he confessed as he brushed his lip against her cheek. “And I’m going to prove my love to you every day. Just give me another chance.”
She wanted to give him a chance but this was the biggest risk she’d ever take. If she took this leap of faith, it required her to be bold. Live and love wildly. She would accept his ring and take his name. She would create a family and a life with this man.
“Please, Jodie.” His mouth pressed against her jaw. “Let me show you how much you mean to me. Let me love you.”
“Yes, Stergios.” She clasped her hands on his cheeks. “I want all of that and more.”
EPILOGUE
JODIE SAT ON the stone bench and tilted her head back as the evening breeze carried the heavy scent of flowers. She inhaled deeply and smiled as a sense of peace washed over her. The splendor of the Antoniou estate gardens was lost on her boisterous and inquisitive children, who were now fast asleep in the nursery under the watchful eye of their beloved nanny.
It was a constant source of amazement for Jodie that she was a welcomed guest at the Antoniou home. Over the years the haunted look faded from Stergios’s eyes and Mairi had gradually accepted that Jodie was the woman her son needed. Jodie was also beginning to see signs that Mairi and Gregory would be the kind of grandparents she’d hoped for her children.
Rising from the bench, Jodie brushed a leaf from her dinner dress and walked back toward the house. As she took a turn, her heart leaped with joy when she saw her husband striding down the path. Her gaze greedily roamed his body as she noticed how the dark suit emphasized his athletic build.