by Lucy Monroe
“But you changed your name?” There was a story there.
“It was necessary for me to become more anonymous.”
Something really bad had happened and Kayla couldn’t help feeling her sister might have had the more difficult life, despite having a family. She hoped someday Randi would feel good about confiding in her, but right now, she was just so happy she had a sister.
“So, you’re saying you were happy despite our mom?” Kayla asked with a smile of her own.
“Yeah. I just wish you’d been part of my growing up.” There was no doubting the sincerity of the other woman.
“How old are you?”
“Twenty-four.”
So, four years younger than Kayla. “You were born the year after she abandoned me.”
“She moved back to live with our grandparents. She met my dad at their church. She was pretending to be the perfect daughter.”
“And an illegitimate daughter wouldn’t have fit into that image.” That knowledge should have hurt, but it wasn’t far off from things she’d already thought.
“Grandma and Grandpa wouldn’t have cared about that. They would have loved you, would like a chance to love you now, but Mom, she thought she’d do better coming home to them without a child.”
“But...”
“Look, sometimes the apple falls so far from the tree, it lands in a different state. That was our mom and our grandparents.”
Kayla believed Randi, her usual distrust of new people conspicuously absent. Still, it was overwhelming. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Say you’ll give me a chance to know you. Look, I know I’m going about some of this wrong.” Randi gave Kayla a self-deprecating smile. “I feel like all my training flew out the window when you walked in here, but you’re my sister and we deserve to have that bond.”
“Your training?” Kayla asked, feeling lost. Again.
“I have a degree in social work. It’s what I do, work with abandoned and abused kids, trying to help them have better lives.”
“Wow.” Kayla and this woman really were sisters. “You turned your bad into good.”
“I tried. I’m sorry if my honesty made me sound bitter and broken. I’m not really, I just don’t want you taken in by our mom.”
“You’re trying to protect me?”
“That’s my job. We’re sisters.”
“You think that now you know about me our mom will find me?” How?
“If she does, and she finds out how well you’ve done for yourself, I guarantee she’ll show up on your doorstop with a sob story and her hand out.”
“I’ve had her investigated,” Andreas inserted. “Your sister is quite right. We don’t want that woman in our lives.”
Kayla nodded, believing him. Maybe someone else would crave meeting their mother, regardless of who she was and what she was like, but that wasn’t Kayla. She’d never looked for her mom because the idea of a woman capable of abandoning Kayla the way she had never seemed like someone she wanted to meet.
“You just confirmed what I always suspected,” Kayla assured both Randi and Andreas.
“So, how did you find Randi?” Kayla asked Andreas. “Why did you go looking?”
“I hired an investigator. Your sister’s ancestry hobby gave us the break we needed. Matching DNA.” He smiled at Randi. “As to the why? Family is important to you, Kayla. If I could provide your own for you, nothing would stop me from doing so.”
“And if you’d only found Marla?” Randi asked.
“You would never know I had even looked,” Andreas said to Kayla.
Kayla had no trouble believing that claim, nor did she think he was wrong.
“How long are you here for?” Kayla asked Randi.
“I fly home on the red-eye. Getting time off from work last minute wasn’t easy and I couldn’t take extra days.”
That was when Kayla learned Miranda and the rest of her family were from California. Kayla took the remainder of the afternoon off to spend with her sister, both frightened and relieved when Andreas insisted on her taking time alone with Randi, to get to know her. They spent hours together, chatting while they walked the Rose Gardens, played at OMSI and had dinner at a yummy Italian restaurant downtown.
She dropped Randi off at the airport, and was still sniffling and trying to stifle her tears when she walked into Andreas’s condo hours later.
He was working on his laptop, but stood up the moment she walked in. “How did it go?”
“We’re so alike, we even have the same favorite Italian dish.”
“She seemed like a very nice person from the investigator’s report.” He tugged her toward the sofa, where he sat them both down and put his arm around her. “And finding out about your mom? How are you doing with that?”
“I prefer to think of her as the egg donor.”
His lips tilted in a half smile. “All right, the egg donor, then.”
“It’s kind of the fulfillment of all my nightmares in that regard. I thought, hey, maybe she just didn’t love me, but to find out she could try to kill her own child, that she’s manipulative and cruel.” Kayla offered honesty she never would have before, even with Andreas. “It makes me nauseated to know I’m related to her. Like what if that kind of badness lives inside me?”
“No, you are kind and good, the best woman I know.”
“Really? But—”
He wouldn’t let her finish. “Don’t you dare disparage yourself. You are not only the product of that woman’s genes. Somewhere out there is a sperm donor, as well.”
Kayla laughed a little at Andreas using a twist on her term for her missing father.
“You heard your sister. Your grandparents are good, kind people. Their daughter is nothing like them and you are nothing like her.” Andreas’s voice rang with sincerity and almost a desperate need for her to believe him.
“You’re sure?”
“I’m positive.”
She cuddled in closer to the man she loved. “Thank you. For everything.”
“You are welcome.”
“I don’t know how to show just how much it means to me that you found my sister.” And that he’d helped her deal with the reality of who her egg donor was.
His attitude helped her to see that she could move on from the past that she would not allow to define her. Andreas believed in her; he always had. And that mattered so much.
Andreas grin was sensual and mischievous. “I can think of a way.”
Kayla laughed through her emotional tears, but she was only too happy to show him her gratitude with her body. The pleasure was so completely mutual. And she loved the power she felt when she had his sex in her mouth. He refused to climax that way, though, wanting to be inside her and bring her to her own orgasm before he was willing to come himself.
She was lying in the circle of his arms, satiated, her heart so full, there were only three words she could speak right then. No matter what he said he felt, or did not feel, he deserved to know what she did.
She curled into his side and whispered against his skin, “I love you, Andreas. Completely and forever. I have since the beginning.”
His arms tightened around her, his body rolling toward hers. “Thank you.”
She peeked up at him. He looked happy. There was no other description for the expression on his face, the glow in his green eyes.
“I will treasure your feelings for the gift they are.” He leaned down and kissed her to seal his words, the action tender and perfect.
She didn’t ask if he reciprocated. Clearly, he still wasn’t ready to admit to feelings he considered a weakness, but he respected hers. And that was all she needed.
For now.
* * *
Randi flew in the week before the wedding, insisting that was what sisters did. Kayla had never had real family, so she couldn’t say, but she liked having someone there to help her talk Andreas off the ledge when the caterers wanted to make a last-minute change to the menu.
/> “That dress is even more beautiful in person than it was on the video call.” Randi smiled in sisterly approval at Kayla.
Kayla gave herself a critical appraisal in the full-size three-paneled mirror provided in the bridal preparation suite at their venue. The winter-white satin-and-chiffon strapless dress had been created by a local who had been a finalist on that reality show about upcoming clothing designers. The skirt fell in layers of chiffon, a cascade of Kayla’s signature peach peeking out from the frothy folds.
She’d found a pair of two-inch heels with delicate cross straps that could be died to match the peach exactly. Her hair and makeup had been done by professionals, Andreas had insisted.
“I feel like a princess.” Trite, she knew, but true. Kayla had never felt so lovely.
“Every bride should on her wedding day.” Miranda gave her a one-armed hug, careful not to crush the beautiful dress. “So, you’re glad you gave in about the stylist and her crew?”
Kayla sighed. “Yes. I didn’t realize how different I would feel.”
“I hope I marry a guy who cares about the details to make me feel special like your fiancé.”
“I hope you find a man you love as much as I do Andreas.” Kayla said nothing about the lack of love on Andreas’s side. She didn’t think a man could make his bride feel more cherished and cared for than Andreas had done for her.
Kayla went to put on the simple diamond studs Andreas had gifted her for Christmas four years previous. A rather personal gift for his employee/business partner, but Andreas made his own rules about life.
Miranda held out an elegant black box tied with a white bow before Kayla could put the earrings on. “Andreas told me to give this to you this morning.”
Surprised, Kayla took the gift. “What is it?”
“I don’t know.” Miranda grinned. “But I’m guessing jewelry.”
Kayla’s sister was right. Inside the box, she found a pair of teardrop pearl earrings, matching necklace and bracelet. The tops of the earrings were a cluster of diamonds, the necklace falling to a gorgeous swirl of diamonds, a single pearl in the center, the bracelet a triple strand of interspersed pearls and diamonds, all the pearls in the jewelry the same soft peach of her dress and shoes. “How did he know?”
Miranda shrugged. “He knows you? I mean what were the chances your wedding dress wasn’t going to have your color in it? But even if you’d gone fully traditional, the jewelry would have complemented it and allowed you to wear your signature color.”
“He can be really thoughtful.”
“I’d say that man spends a lot of time thinking about what is going to make you happy.”
“You think so?”
“Don’t you?” Miranda asked, a small frown marring her pretty features.
Kayla nodded. “Yes, I do. It’s just, he’s not big on the words, you know?”
“You know what they say? Actions speak louder than words.”
Kayla was really beginning to believe they did. She finished putting on the jewelry, leaving off the necklace and wearing the locket he’d given her in New York instead, just before the wedding planner came in to give her the five-minute warning.
The wedding went by in a blur, the promises Kayla and Andreas spoke wrapping her in a fog of happiness she floated on going into the reception. She wasn’t surprised that all of Andreas’s family he’d invited had come. Nor did it shock her that so many of their employees had shown up, as well as the few external friends-cum-business-associates. Even on short notice.
No, the sheer numbers did not surprise Kayla, but they did overwhelm her. Her emotions swirled inside her, with no real outlet. For the first time in her life, she had family. She’d met her grandparents and Miranda’s dad, who assured her they were family too, all of whom sat in the front row across the aisle from Andreas’s father, his wife and grandparents from both sides of his Greek family.
She realized their employees made up the biggest portion of the guests, but knowing all these people had come to see her and Andreas make a lifetime commitment left her feeling both blessed and raw inside. Exposed in a way she’d worked very hard not to be since her years in the foster care system.
Andreas seemed to be in his element, distant but cordial with all of his guests, even Barnabas Georgas.
It was Kayla who felt like the buffer of her newfound happiness wasn’t enough. Despite knowing they all wished her and Andreas well, or she assumed they did, she found being the center of attention wearing and even conversing with her newly discovered family was making her want to hide, rather than be the center of all this attention.
Knowing the wedding planner wanted her and Andreas to cut the cake, Kayla slipped behind a cluster of pots holding live plants taller than she was. She just needed a minute to breathe.
She’d been there only a couple of minutes when she heard a spate of Greek in an older man’s voice, just on the other side of the green foliage.
“Speak English if you expect me to answer you,” Andreas replied in a cold tone, his veneer of cordiality gone.
“You had to choose a nobody to marry?” Barnabas Georgas replied, his Greek accent faint, sounding more English than American.
“Kayla is somebody. She is my wife. I don’t need you to approve of her. I have nothing to prove to you.” Andreas’s tone was firm, but underlined with a sense of wonder.
Kayla felt tears prickle her eyes. He’d finally figured it out. He didn’t have to show the Georgas or Kostas clans anything. Andreas did not need their respect or approval. Now he seemed to realize that.
“She has no family!” Barnabas Georgas was stuck on his theme, ignorant of Andreas’s amazing breakthrough.
“On the contrary, her grandparents and her sister are here. I introduced you, or did you forget?” The snide implication could not be missed.
“I did not forget, but I had her investigated. She grew up in foster care, she has no real connections. I must assume her sister and grandparents are only making themselves known because she’s marrying a very wealthy man.”
Kayla sucked in air, the pain of the accusation acute.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
“YOU KNOW WHAT they say about assumptions,” Andreas drawled. “Only in this case, the only ass I see is you.”
“Andreas!” Mr. Georgas did not like being criticized.
But Kayla loved the way Andreas’s words made her feel. He was standing up for her. It wasn’t a surprise, but it did wave that flicker of hope into a bright flame.
“What, Barnabas? You think you can question the motives of my wife’s family when you know nothing of them?” Andreas demanded, his tone colder than Antarctica’s windchill factor. “You think you can put down the woman I have chosen to spend the rest of my life with and I will tolerate it? She is what is important here. Not you. Not your approval.”
Oh, how Andreas’s words seized Kayla’s heart.
“You could have married an heiress, a proper Greek girl.”
Kayla shook her head. Yeah, that was never going to happen.
“Like your wife?” Andreas asked, his tone dangerous if his father only realized it.
Kayla moved some foliage aside so she could see the two men talking, eavesdropping without shame.
“Yes, like Hera.”
“The woman you married, but not the woman who gave you a son,” Andreas pointed out brutally.
Mr. Georgas’s face twisted with pain for a brief moment, then he scowled at his son. “Yes. Even if I had not been married when we met, I would never have married Melia. You need to accept that and move on.”
“Why? Because she was a mere employee? Because she had no money or connections to bring to the table?” Andreas’s tone made it clear what he thought of his father’s reasoning, and it wasn’t complimentary.
“Precisely. I needed a wife who could handle entertaining for my business, who would not embarrass me.”
The sound Andreas made was worse than disgust, it was utter contempt. “Melia Kostas
could not have embarrassed you. She had integrity, goodness and kindness.”
“But no breeding, like the woman you chose to marry, out of spite for me I have no doubt.”
Hearing the words from Barnabas Georgas’s mouth made Kayla realize how silly her own thoughts in that arena had been. Didn’t the man realize that Andreas did not think like that?
Andreas threw his gorgeous head back and laughed. “Do not give yourself so much credit!”
Kayla felt a smile curve her lips.
“Where is your bride right now?” Mr. Georgas asked with judgment. “She is not mingling with the guests, making connections on your behalf as Hera has done for me time and again. I noted how out of her depth she was, you had to see it too.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Andreas didn’t sound angry, he sounded worried.
And Kayla knew he wasn’t thinking about the networking she wasn’t using her wedding reception to do. He was worried about her because his father brought up that he thought Kayla felt out of her depth.
“Your new wife hates being the center of attention,” Georgas said with disdain. “She could not be bothered to greet me, or the rest of your family.”
“I hadn’t yet made the time to introduce you.” And Andreas didn’t sound like he felt badly about that either.
His father rolled his eyes. “She’s a liability.”
“You can say that when she’s the only reason you, or any of my Greek connections, were invited today?”
“We are not connections, we are your family.”
“Which is why she wanted me to mend fences.” His emphasis on she wasn’t lost on the older man, who grimaced. Andreas stepped back from his father, creating more than physical distance between them. “She believes our children should have an extended family, but you’ll have nothing to do with them, or me, if you can’t show Kayla the respect she deserves.”
“She’s pregnant?” Mr. Georgas asked almost eagerly, and like suddenly he understood.
“No, she’s not pregnant.” Andreas got a look in his eye that Kayla knew well. “In fact, we do hope to adopt soon, though.”
