‘What do you not understand, agape?’
‘What happened? Why are you here?’ And then, softly, with a hint of accusation, ‘It’s been so long.’
‘I know.’ He pressed his forehead to hers. ‘Too long. I was a fool, Alice Stathakis. Determined not to love you.’ His eyes held hers, the truth in every fleck of them. ‘I learned the flip side of loving someone at a young age, and I never forgot that pain.’
Alice’s heart broke for the little boy he’d been, abandoned by his mother, made to feel unlovable, made to feel disposable.
‘She was wrong to leave you,’ Alice murmured. ‘Wrong to let her little boy think he wasn’t worthy of love; wrong to let you become a grown man who still believes that.’
And then his smile was blinding. ‘But I don’t believe it any more, Alice. Look what you did for me—look how you’ve loved me. Even tonight, after I broke your heart, you cared enough for me to come to my aid, to put your own pain aside because I asked it of you. There is no doubt in my heart that you love me, and that you will always love me.’
Alice blinked up at him, his words so beautiful, so perfect and all she wanted to do was reinforce that, to agree with him.
‘And there is no doubt in my heart that I love you, and will always love you.’ He brushed his lips over hers, just as he had the first time they’d kissed, and it sealed something inside her, filling her heart with all the joy she could possibly feel—and more, because she knew it was just the beginning.
* * *
‘It was Kosta, you know,’ Thanos murmured, stroking Alice’s naked back, his fingertips revelling in the ability to touch her again so easily, his heart at peace for the first time in three and a half months.
Alice shifted a little in bed, the smile on her lips that he would work the rest of his life to preserve, to earn. ‘What was?’
‘Who helped me see what an imbecile I was being.’ He grimaced, but it was a grimace that was full of the fears that had gripped him—and the realisation of how close he’d come to ruining this for good.
‘Did he, now?’
‘Mmm...’ It was a throaty noise of acknowledgement. ‘He reminded me how lucky I am to have a chance to be with the person I love. Losing his wife hit him hard, and I think he looked at me, a man who was grieving the loss of someone I didn’t have to lose, and he wanted to shake me.’
His smile was rueful.
‘I’m glad.’
‘Me too. Though I have to believe I would have woken up eventually. But who knows if you would have still been here by the time I saw things clearly?’
‘I would have been,’ she promised, entirely serious, no smile on her lips now. ‘Thanos, I’m not going anywhere. Love isn’t like that. When I told you I loved you, I meant it in a for-ever kind of way.’ Heat flushed her cheeks. ‘I gave you my heart with no expectation of ever getting it back.’
His eyes flared at her sweetness and he kissed her, slowly, hungrily, his whole body rejoicing in their closeness.
Later, over a pancake breakfast, he reached for Alice’s hand, not liking how strange it was to see her finger without the engagement ring.
‘I’ve been thinking,’ he said quietly, ‘about your mother.’
Alice’s eyebrows shot up.
‘Wherever we live, it should be near enough for us to see her often. I’ve made enquiries about having a space built on the island—fully staffed with nurses, of course—but I wanted to be sure you were happy with that. If you want to stay in New York, we can.’
Alice felt more love than she’d known possible burst through her. ‘I think she—and I—would like nothing more than to live on your beautiful, sun-filled island, Thanos.’
He beamed. ‘And so we shall.’
* * *
It took six months for construction to be completed, six months for world-class hospital staff to be recruited, and then they were back amongst the rolling green hills of Statherá Prásino.
‘The builders did a great job,’ Alice said quietly, as they regarded the structure from a distance.
‘Yes,’ he agreed. ‘It’s close enough to the house, yet each building feels isolated and private.’
Alice tilted her head to the side, her pulse racing at the secret she’d been holding for just over a week. ‘Do they do renovations as well? Or only new builds?’
‘Why?’ Thanos teased, wrapping his arms around his wife’s waist. ‘Do you fancy a remodelling project?’
‘Only one room,’ she said with a small smile.
‘Yes?’
‘I mean, it’s not one hundred per cent necessary, but I thought a nursery would make it easier. You know, when the baby comes.’
‘Whose baby?’
She burst out laughing. ‘Ours, Thanos.’
‘Our baby?’
She nodded, her eyes locked to his, her smile radiant on her face.
‘Alice, do you mean...?’
She nodded, joy like a beacon glowing across the island. ‘I’m pregnant!’
Thanos lifted her off the ground, spinning her around, momentarily lost for words. But when he put Alice’s feet back on the sand, he knew just what he wanted to say. ‘Thank you.’
She wrinkled her nose. ‘What for?’
‘For making me happier than I ever knew possible. Thank you for everything.’
The sun slipped into the ocean, the day drew to a close, but their lives lay before them: full of love, happiness, family and hope.
* * *
If you enjoyed Bride Behind the Billion-Dollar Veil by Clare Connelly look out for the first instalment in her Crazy Rich Greek Weddings duet The Greek’s Billion-Dollar Baby available now!
And why not explore these other Clare Connelly stories?
Bound by the Billionaire’s Vows
Bound by Their Christmas Baby
Spaniard’s Baby of Revenge
Shock Heir for the King
Available now!
Keep reading for an excerpt from The Italian’s Christmas Proposition by Cathy Williams.
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The Italian’s Christmas Proposition
by Cathy Williams
CHAPTER ONE
‘ROSIE! ARE YOU going to focus on what I’m telling you?’
The cut-glass accent was a mix of despair, impatience and long-suffering love and Rosie guiltily dragged her eyes away from the far more stimulating sight below of people coming and going, skis on shoulders, imbued with the unique excitement of being on holiday in the run-up to Christmas.
The luxury five-star resort—a jewel nestled in the heart of the Dolomitic Alps in the Veneto region of northern Italy—was the last word in the very best that money could buy and as good as a second home to Rosie, who had been coming here with her family for as long as she could remember. She could close her eyes and accurately visualise every beam of deep burnished wood, every swirl and curve of marble, the timeless cool greys of the exquisite indoor swimming pool area and the oversized chandeliers dominating the Michelin-starred restaurants.
Right now, sitting in the galleried landing with a latte in front of her, Rosie was in prime position to admire the dramatic twenty-foot Christmas tree
sweeping upwards by the reception desk, a vision of tasteful pink and ivory and tiny little electric candles. She could almost smell the pine needles.
‘Of course I am,’ she said with a suitable level of sincerity and enthusiasm. Across from her, her sister was on the verge of another of her laborious, long-suffering sighs. ‘You were asking me what I intend to do once the ski season is over. I don’t know, Diss. Right now, I’m just enjoying the ski instructing. It’s fun. I’m meeting some really lovely people and plus, let’s not forget, I’m looking after Mum and Dad’s chalet while I’m here. Making sure it...er...doesn’t get burgled...or anything...’
‘Because burglars are a dime a dozen here in Cortina?’
‘Who knows?’
‘You can’t keep flitting from place to place and from job to job for ever, Rosie. You’re going to be twenty-four on your next birthday and Mum and Dad...well, all of us—me, Emily, Mum, Dad...we’re all concerned that it’s getting to a point where you can’t even be bothered to try and...you know what I mean...’
‘Become an accountant? Get a mortgage? Find a decent man to look after me?’ Rosie flushed and looked away. She was particularly sensitive on the subject of men and, in her heart, she knew that this was what her parents were worried about—that she was never going to find Mr Right, as both her sisters had. That she was going to spend her life drifting from Mr Wrong to Mr Really Bad Idea to Mr Will Take Advantage. She had, as it happened, been down several of those roads in the past and, whilst she had put a cheerful face on each and every disappointment, each and every one had hurt.
At this point in time, if she never had another relationship in her life again, she wouldn’t lose sleep over it. The last guy she had gone out with had been a fellow traveller in India. He had been out there buying cheap Asian artefacts to sell for a profit in a market somewhere near Aldershot. They had had fun before he had taken a shine to a tall brunette and disappeared with her, leaving only an apologetic note in his wake.
The only saving grace in all these disappointing relationships, as far as Rosie was concerned, was that she hadn’t made the mistake of bed-hopping. One guy. That was it. The one guy all those years ago who had broken her heart. She’d been nineteen and finding her feet all over again, having dropped out of university, and he had been there to catch her as she was falling. A biker with a refreshing disdain for convention and the first guy who had been a world away from the upper-class posh boys she had spent a lifetime meeting. She had loved everything about him, from his tattoos to the ring in his ear.
He, in the end, had loved the financial package she came with more than he had loved her for who she was, and had thrown a fit when she had promised to dump all her worldly goods for him. She still shuddered when she thought about what could have been the biggest mistake of her life. Since then, she’d enjoyed life without getting in too deep.
‘Whoever said anything about becoming an accountant?’ Candice rolled her eyes and grinned, and Rosie grinned back, because Emily’s husband, wonderful as he was, could be a little tedious when he began pontificating about exchange rates and investment opportunities.
Still, he earned a small fortune, so he had obviously played the game right.
Whilst she, Rosie, hadn’t started playing it at all.
‘With Christmas just three weeks away...’ Candice shifted and Rosie looked at her sister with narrowed eyes, smelling a conversation ahead that she would not want to have.
‘Don’t worry, I’ll make sure the chalet is in tip-top shape for the family invasion. You know how much I love the whole decorating thing. Plus, I’ll make sure there are lots of chocolates hanging on the branches of the tree for Toby and Jess.’
‘There has been a slight change of plan. The snow is so magnificent at the moment that everyone’s coming over a little earlier than originally planned.’
‘Earlier than planned?’
‘Tomorrow, as it happens. I’m the advanced warning party, so to speak. I know you and I had planned a couple of girly days together but you know Mum and Dad...they can’t resist the slopes and the atmosphere here at Christmas. And there’s something else,’ Candice said in a rush. ‘They’re thinking of asking the Ashley-Talbots over for a long weekend. Bertie too. He’s something or other in the City and doing quite well, I hear. They think it might be nice for you two to...er...get to know one another...’
‘No.’
‘It’s just a thought, Rosie. Nothing’s confirmed. He’s always had that crush on you, you know. It might be nice!’
‘Absolutely not, Candice.’
‘Mum and Dad just thought that there’s no harm in actually meeting someone a little less...unorthodox.’
‘When you say that you’re the advance warning party—’ Rosie narrowed suspicious eyes ‘—does that actually mean that you’ve been sent to start preparing me for lots of lectures on getting my house in order, starting with dating Robert Ashley-Talbot? Well, no way will I be getting involved with him! He’s...he’s the most boring guy I’ve ever met!’
‘You can’t say that! You might find that you actually enjoy the company of someone who has a steady job, Rosie! Emily and I both happen to agree with Mum and Dad! Give me one good reason, Rosie-Boo, why you won’t at least give it a go. If you find that you really don’t like Bertie, then that’s fair enough, but you haven’t seen him in years.’
‘A year and a half, and he can’t have changed that much.’ Nerdy, prominent Adam’s apple, thick-rimmed glasses and a way of getting onto a really dull topic of conversation and then bedding down for the duration.
Rosie looked down. Down to the lively buzz of excited guests, down to the glittering Christmas tree, down to the clutch of leather chairs in the foyer, where a group of three people was gathering some papers, shaking hands, clearly about to leave.
‘And—’ she turned her clear blue-eyed gaze back to her sister ‘—I wasn’t going to say anything but...but... I’m just not in a good place for meeting Bertie, Diss. Or anyone, for that matter.’
On her lap, she crossed her fingers and told herself that this was a perfectly sensible way out of a situation that would turn Christmas into a nightmare. She didn’t want Bertie coming over. She didn’t want to have to face the full force of her family gently trying to propel her to a destination she didn’t want to go because they were concerned about her.
She leaned forward. ‘I’ve had my heart broken while I’ve been out here.’
‘What on earth are you talking about, Rosie?’
‘You say that I never go for the right kind of guy? Well, I did. I fell for one of the guests here. A businessman. As reliable and as stable as...as...the day is long. He was everything you and Ems and Mum and Dad would have wanted for me, which just goes to show that those types just aren’t for girls like me. I bore them in the end. It was just a holiday fling but I guess I got more wrapped up in him than I thought I would.’
‘I’m not sure I believe you,’ Candice said, eyebrows raised. ‘It’s very odd that this is the first I’m hearing of this and we’ve been sitting here for what...an hour? What a coincidence.’
‘I wasn’t going to mention it but I felt I had to when you told me that Mum and Dad were thinking of asking Robert and his parents over for the weekend. I’m just a little shaken up, that’s all. I know I’ve dated the wrong sorts but I really felt that this guy might be the one. I went into it with my eyes wide open and I was hurt. So... I just need a bit of time out to lick my wounds.’
‘And where is this mysterious disappearing man right now?’ But her voice was hesitant, on the cusp of believing.
‘As a matter of fact...’
And there was that group of three again. She recognised the elderly couple—Bob and Margaret something-or-other. She had given them both a lesson, filling in for their usual instructor who had called in sick when Rosie knew for a fact he had been suffering from a hangover. T
hey had said were there to try and learn to ski because, although they were in their late sixties, they believed that old dogs could be taught new tricks and, since their daughter loved her skiing, they were up for giving it a try. They were going to be retiring. Selling up. A nice young man, Matteo, would be coming in for a flying visit to do the deal. Exciting times.
With his back to her as he shook hands with the older man, Matteo—or the man she assumed was Matteo, because who else could it possibly be?—was just the candidate for the role of businessman heartbreaker. There was no way she intended to spend her Christmas dodging Bertie, and a broken heart was the only excuse she could find that might save her from that dreadful possibility.
‘There he is. Matteo. With that couple about to leave. He’s here on business with them. He doesn’t know that I’m up here looking down at him. Thinks I’m out on the slopes giving a lesson. He’s probably completely forgotten about my existence already.’
She looked at her sister who stared down to the group of three, eyes narrowed.
‘That creep was the guy who hurt you?’
Rosie mumbled something inarticulate, meant to convey an affirmative reply without going into further detail. Not a liar by nature, she was guiltily aware that she was blackening a perfect stranger’s character with her little white lie.
Distracted, what happened next took her by surprise. It was so out of keeping with her cool, collected, elegant blonde sister. Candice was always so controlled! But here she was now, angrily rising to her feet, hands slapping down on the table, and then she was hurtling between tables, feet flying at a pace while... Rosie watched, mouth open, horror slowly dawning because she knew that this was not going to end well for her...
She would have to stop her sister before things went any further. She didn’t waste time thinking about it. She leapt up and followed in hot pursuit.
Bride Behind The Billion-Dollar Veil (Crazy Rich Greek Weddings Book 2) Page 17
