“I’m afraid I don’t look like I did at seventeen and can’t stand the scrutiny.”
He flashed her a devilish smile. “I happen to think you’re more breathtaking than ever and can’t wait to see you pregnant. It’s a sight I’ve been waiting for since you told me Dimitra was our daughter. Wouldn’t it be something if the two of you ended up expecting babies at the same time?”
“I don’t wish that on her yet. They’re still young.”
They circled each other. “I don’t know, Alexa. After the way I’ve seen our lives turn out so far, I’ve stopped thinking about what we should or shouldn’t do. Life is a gift and we need to welcome it.”
“You’re right, darling. She and Kristos have found each other, and their wedding day will be here soon enough. Imagine if you become a father and a grandfather at the same time.”
“I have been thinking about it. Our papoú will be a great-great-grandfather.”
For Nico to call her grandfather our papoú meant their world had come full circle and they were a family in every sense of the word. She loved Nico so much she did a somersault and wrapped her arms around his hips, pulling him under the water.
They played like children, relishing in the joy of being together. After a time Nico got serious. He carried her out of the water to the beach and lowered her to one of his big beach towels laid out on the fine sand.
His dark eyes burned with desire. “I’m going to make love to you, my wife, right under a blazing sun.”
She smiled at him. “What took you so long? I’ve been waiting for you to fulfill the promise you made me before your accident.”
“You mean about making up for the time we had to spend apart? I hope you’re ready.”
“Is there any question I’m not?” She rolled over on top of him and began kissing every feature of his handsome face. He kissed her back. For the next little while they forgot everything except loving each other into oblivion.
“I wanted to do this the first day we met nineteen years ago,” she admitted later when the sun was in a different part of the sky. “I hated it that people were around so we couldn’t swim back to the beach and kiss each other for as long as we wanted. It was all I could think about.”
He pulled her next to him. “After we met, you were all I ever thought about. My father kept asking me what was wrong and accused me of wandering around in a daze at work. I was literally useless during those three weeks, waiting to get off work to be with you. I didn’t know love could be like that.”
“Neither did I,” she cried. “It frightened me because I knew you were going to leave. There were nights after you left me at the Gatakis’ when I wanted to die. That’s how I felt last Sunday night when you told me you’d be gone for several days. It brought back the past and I didn’t sleep. Can’t you tell me about it now? How come Giannina knew about your accident before I did?”
“I’ll tell you everything after we drive back up to the villa. We’re going to look like lobsters if we don’t get out of this sun. You could be pregnant already and don’t need any complications because I was too selfish keeping you out here.”
She got to her feet. “You haven’t kept me out here. I’ve dreamed of being out here with you and am your willing slave.”
Together they gathered their things and walked over to the car parked beneath some trees. On the drive up the road through the trees, Nico told her everything.
“So your uncle has disappeared?”
“I couldn’t find him. He’s now a wanted man in both countries.”
“I can’t believe he’s caused so much pain to your family over the years. But after what Monika did to us, nothing should surprise me.”
“My thoughts exactly.”
“I hope your sister can now run the newspaper without any problems. She’s such a lovely person.”
“She feels the same about you. Now let’s go inside for a drink. Then I’d like to spend some time in bed while we plan our honeymoon. We’ll leave on ours as soon as Kristos and Dimitra take off.”
“We’ll only have a week.”
“I’ve given it a lot of thought. Why don’t we fly in the private jet to Ottawa to see your publisher. We’ll spend a day there while you show me the sights. That will leave us a few more days. What would you like to do with them?” He pulled some drinks out of the fridge and they quenched their thirst.
“If you’re asking me seriously, I’d love to go back to Olympia. We only had a day. This time we could stay at that hotel on the hill overlooking the ancient city. You’ll never know how much I wanted to be married then and have weeks to spend time in your arms and explore the sites. It’s our Greek history, Nico, and it sank deeply into my bones. I’ll never get enough of it.”
“What a relief, my darling. I was afraid you were going to say London or Paris.”
“I’d like to travel to those places, but for our honeymoon I’d rather revisit the spot where I first laid eyes on the Hermes sculpture. It represents my feelings for the man I’d hoped to marry. You.” She looked into his eyes. “If you’d seen the look on everyone’s face in the hospital lounge when I told them I was your wife... No one could doubt how I feel about you.”
He pulled her in his arms. “I happen to know the news that we’re married made everyone ecstatic. But no one more than me. For you to announce our marriage proved you’ve forgiven yourself and unlocked my prison door. It means I have my mermaid back.”
“Forever.”
They walked through the house to the bedroom. “I’ve never been this happy in my life. I’m married to the woman I’ve wanted from the moment I met her, and my beautiful daughter is getting married to a man I love like my own son. It’s beyond wonderful.”
She threw herself in his arms. “You talk about a prison. That’s what I was in all these years, wanting to tell you the truth. I’m not that person any longer.”
“We’ve entered a new phase of life. One exciting aspect is that I get to take a shower with my wife.” He grabbed her before she knew what was happening.
“Nico—” she squealed.
“This is just the beginning.”
EPILOGUE
DIMITRA’S AUGUST WEDDING DAY had arrived. Alexa drove her to the church early to help her dress in one of the anterooms off the foyer. The ceremony had been scheduled for ten in the morning and Phyllis wheeled their papoú to the front of the nave. He wore a new dark blue dress suit with a gardenia and looked splendid.
The well-known Papadakis and Angelis families who’d been in the news recently guaranteed a large crowd. Many of the guests had already arrived. Irena had told Alexa that this was going to be the biggest society wedding Salonica had witnessed in years complete with photographers and various news agencies covering the event.
Alexa had bought a pale peach chiffon knee-length dress with short sleeves and a scooped neckline. She wore a gardenia corsage on her shoulder. Nico liked her hair down so much, she didn’t change it. Neither she or Dimitra needed blusher. Excitement had made them both feverish.
Dimitra looked exquisite in a white, A-line lace tulle wedding dress. It was sleeveless with an illusion neckline. The court train gave it a royal elegance. She wore a garland of flowers in her wavy brunette hair. No veil. She didn’t want one.
Kristos had sent her a gift of pearls that were his grandmother’s. Alexa fastened them around her neck and handed her the wedding bouquet of white roses and gardenias.
“It’s almost time, honey. I’m going to find your papoú. Your father will be here in a minute to walk you down the aisle. God bless you, darling girl. You look a vision. Kristos is going to think so too.”
“I can’t believe I’m getting married.”
“Are you sure it’s what you want?”
“Mama—”
“Don’t you know I’m teasing you?” Alexa’s gift to her consisted
of a pair of light green peridot earrings that matched her eyes. “You look like a princess.”
“I feel like one.”
She kissed her cheek. “I’ll see you in a few minutes.” Alexa left the room and hurried down the aisle to the front of the church. Her grandfather and Phyllis smiled when they saw her coming. Nico’s family sat on the other side. Irena had joined them.
Alexa sat on the other side of her grandfather and reached for his hand. “You won’t believe how beautiful Dimitra looks in her wedding dress.”
“You look like a bride yourself,” he whispered.
She gave him a kiss and looked around. The church was filling fast. “Are you really going to be all right while we’re both off on our honeymoons?”
“Sweetheart, a week is nothing. I’ll be able to keep working on my book, and I have Phyllis. I’m so happy for you and your baby girl, it’s put a permanent smile on my face.”
“I could never have made it through this life without you and Grandma Iris. I’m so sorry she isn’t here.”
“But she is.”
She nodded. “I’m sure you’re right.”
Suddenly the organ music started and the priest walked in from a side door resplendent in his robes. Kristos and Yanni followed him, dressed in black tuxedos with gardenias in their lapels. Irena had to be in tears.
Everyone got to their feet as the “Wedding March” played. Alexa turned her head. A quiet gasp escaped her lips at the sight that met her eyes. She’d never forget her beaming daughter who came walking down the aisle with her father. Nico had to be the most magnificent, handsome man in existence.
He wore a black tuxedo, Kristos’s choice, with a gardenia in his lapel. All eyes were on the two of them. They looked perfect together. There were no words to describe the feelings bursting inside her. When the two of them reached the front, Nico left his daughter in Kristos’s care and walked toward Alexa.
Their eyes fused for a heart-stopping moment. He clasped her hand and never let it go during the nearly hour-long ceremony. The Dance of Isaiah where the husband and wife circled the table three times was particularly moving to Alexa. It was full of symbolism and tradition. By the time the priest gave the final blessing, she was fighting tears.
The married couple turned to the congregation. Dimitra looked at Alexa and Nico across the expanse. Her eyes glowed with happiness and joy. It was all there. Then Kristos looked over at them with the same expression. There were few moments in life more thrilling than this one.
Nico was so moved, he put his arm around Alexa and pulled her closer to him. She looked up at him. “I married you all over again during their ceremony.”
He gave her that devastating smile. “I did the same thing. But if you want to know the truth, I felt we were married that night on my cruiser.
“I’m also thinking about the baby we’re going to have, no matter how long it takes for us to get pregnant.”
“You don’t have to wonder any longer.”
“Alexa—” His dark eyes blazed.
She flashed him an illuminating smile. “I did a home test today. We’re going to have another baby. We can forget the four months.”
“I hoped you didn’t mean it, but I didn’t want to argue with you at the time. I wanted to marry you so badly, I’m afraid I would have promised you anything. We’re really pregnant?”
“Yes, darling, but we’ll have to continue this conversation later. Everyone is leaving and we’ve a reception to attend. Dimitra and Kristos will wonder where we are. She let me know you and I seem to function in a world all our own all the time.”
Forgetting everyone else, he bent his head and kissed her. “She got that right. Once our worlds collided, that was it.”
“I’m so thankful you asked me to marry you while we were on the yacht. Now another baby is on the way. As it turns out, Hera didn’t win. In the end Io, with all her journeys, was changed back to human form by Zeus and would bear his child, whose descendant would be a great hero.
“That’s our story, darling.”
* * *
Look out for the next story in the Secrets of a Billionaire duet
Coming soon!
And if you enjoyed this story, check out these other great reads from Rebecca Winters
Falling for His Unlikely Cinderella
Falling for Her French Tycoon
How to Propose to a Princess
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A Midnight Kiss to Seal the Deal
by Sophie Pembroke
CHAPTER ONE
CELESTE HUNTER GRIPPED the phone in her hand a little tighter and whispered the words she’d never thought she’d say into it.
‘What if I’m not good enough?’
On the other end of the line her agent, Richard, laughed. ‘I don’t believe it. Are you actually nervous?’
Celeste scowled, even though he obviously couldn’t see her. ‘Isn’t that a perfectly natural response to appearing on television for the first time?’
‘I didn’t think you had natural responses, darling.’ Richard sighed. She could just picture him shaking his head, his hand already hovering over his computer mouse as he moved on to more important things.
‘I am human, you realise.’
‘You’re basically a walking encyclopaedia. Or history textbook, I guess.’ She could hear his dismissive shrug. ‘You’re on a quiz show that is quite literally called the Christmas Cracker Cranium Quiz. I hardly think any of the questions are likely to stump you.’
‘You’re right.’ Celeste knew she was intelligent. She’d had an excellent education and had a phenomenal memory for detail. Those were the things that had taken her as far as she’d gone in her academic career so far. She was a great historian.
That wasn’t the part she was worried about.
‘You’re thinking about the new show,’ Richard guessed, correctly.
‘Possible new show,’ she corrected him. The TV show they’d pitched for was very much still at the discussions stage, and Celeste just knew that the production company would be watching her appearance on the quiz to decide if she really had what it took to front a history show by herself. ‘No counting chickens, remember?’
‘Where does that saying come from, anyway?’
‘Aesop,’ Celeste answered absently.
‘See! You know everything!’ Richard yelled gleefully. ‘Now stop worrying. I have to go deal with an actress with a secret lovechild with a politician. That’s real problems.’
Celeste laughed. ‘Good luck with that.’
‘And you break a leg on that show, you hear me?’ He paused, just for a second. ‘But not literally. You know that, right? It’s just a saying. Like the chickens.’
‘I know that.’ Poor Richard. He still hadn’t quite adjusted to having an academic for a client, rather than actresses and pop stars. She’d never been entirely sure what had made him take her on in the first place—she didn’t think he was, either. Curiosity, maybe. Or boredom.
Whatever, it seemed to be working out so far.
‘Seriously, Celeste. Go sit in the green room with your laptop, and work on that book of yours. Not the academic treatise on whatever it was. The fun one. The popular one.’
‘Two things I’ve never been in my life,’ Celeste joked, but even she could hear the edge to it.
‘That’s what you’re worrying about?’ Richard sighed again. He was a big guy, in his late fifties, with a bushy beard that was more salt than p
epper. When he sighed, his whole body moved, like a sad-faced dog. Even though she couldn’t see him, just imagining it made Celeste feel a little better.
‘If Tim and Fiona from the production company watch this...what if they decide I’m not enough? That I don’t have...whatever it takes to be good at this.’ That elusive X factor, she supposed.
‘Have you ever not been good at something before?’ Richard asked.
‘Not really.’ Apart from making friends and not boring people. Her best friend, Rachel, was the solitary exception to the rule. Even her brother, Damon, who she was pretty sure at least loved her, found her dull, she was sure. And her parents...well. They were pleased by her academic successes anyway. She hoped.
They certainly weren’t pleased by any of her media successes. Apparently, she was ‘dumbing down important research until all you have to say is derivative and reductive’.
‘Then have faith that you’ll be good at this, too. Theo Montgomery’s hosting, yeah? Follow his lead if you feel lost. He’s good at charming a room, whatever the papers are saying about him at the moment.’
Celeste pulled a face. She didn’t know what the papers were saying particularly, but she knew of Theo Montgomery. The sort of guy who got where he was because of his name, his face, and surface charm—but nothing underneath it. No substance.
Whereas she was nothing but substance.
Yeah, she really couldn’t see Theo Montgomery being her new role model, whatever Richard thought.
Sighing, Celeste looked down at the Christmas jumper the wardrobe department had forced her into—worlds away from her usual, safe black outfits. Maybe that was the trick—to pretend this wasn’t her here at all. She could be TV Celeste, instead of University Celeste.
Except she’d never really been very good at pretending to be something she wasn’t.
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