The Diakos Baby Scandal

by Natalie Rivers

  She jumped up awkwardly, clutching the bundle of fresh clothes to her chest, suddenly desperate to get out of there. She couldn’t bear a repeat of last night’s humiliation.

  ‘There’s no need for you to hurry,’ Theo said, blocking her access to the en suite bathroom with his large, virtually naked body. ‘Unfortunately Drakon cannot see us yet. We’ll have to occupy ourselves for a while.’

  ‘Oh,’ she said, forcing herself to meet his gaze, but hardly registering his words as he lifted his hand to brush her hair back from her face. She knew exactly how he wanted to occupy himself—and, despite everything, her treacherous body felt the same way.

  She shivered as his fingers made contact, knowing he was watching her reaction. She was certain he was aware how much she still wanted him—even after she had pushed him away the night before—but she would not give in to the desire that was rapidly taking her over.

  She felt her cheeks flare even hotter and she stepped quickly to the side. His hand dropped slowly from her face, skimming lightly down the side of her body, but he didn’t try to stop her as she fled into the bathroom.

  When she emerged some time later she discovered that she was on her own again. A delicious breakfast had been laid out on their private balcony, but only one place had been set. She was to eat alone.

  Like many Greeks, Theo rarely bothered with breakfast. Kerry felt light-headed if she skipped a meal—she couldn’t imagine how Theo, six foot two inches of solid muscle, powered his body and made vital business decisions fuelled by nothing more than the occasional coffee.

  She sat down, realising it was a welcome relief to be able to eat alone in the morning sunshine, enjoying the stunning view across the island to the Adriatic. The land sloped away from the house, down to olive groves shimmering silvery green, and beyond that the sea was a beautiful pale turquoise, wreathed with a slight sea mist that she knew would soon burn off as the day heated up.

  She was just finishing her meal when Theo returned.

  ‘I have some disappointing news,’ he said, stepping out to join her on the balcony. ‘Drakon is not well, and there is no chance we will be able to meet with him this morning. However, we do have his permission to walk up to the highest point on the island.’

  ‘Oh, no—I hope it’s nothing serious,’ Kerry said.

  ‘I don’t know,’ Theo said dispassionately, moving over to the edge of the balcony and leaning out to get a better view of the hill beside the house. ‘His health is poor—which I believe is what prompted him to consider selling the island. Do you have suitable footwear? I’m not sure how rough the path will be.’

  Kerry frowned, staring crossly at Theo’s impassive expression. He didn’t care at all that the poor old man was unwell—he just viewed it as a business opportunity.

  ‘Give me a moment to change,’ she said shortly, heading back inside without looking at Theo again.

  ‘The island is small—only a few kilometres across—and there are no good roads or transport,’ Theo said as they left the house. ‘But we should be able to get a good view from the top of the hill.’

  He watched Kerry step through the doorway ahead of him, letting his gaze run down her body appreciatively. She was wearing light cotton trousers that pulled snug over the gorgeous curves of her bottom as she walked, and a loose-fitting top that rippled against her in the slight breeze that was blowing in from the sea.

  ‘Poor Drakon,’ she said, as if the sight of the table under the trees where the old man had entertained them had suddenly made her think of him. ‘I hope he feels better soon.’

  ‘I know his staff are taking good care of him,’ Theo replied.

  He glanced down at the paving stones, noticing for the first time that the drifts of dead leaves and old olive blossom had been swept up. A wry smile flashed momentarily across his face as he realised it had been done for Kerry’s benefit, but not for his initial visit, when he’d been on his own.

  It was interesting that Drakon had made a concession to his inflexible ‘take me as I am’ persona for Kerry’s sake. The old man really liked her, and Theo knew that bringing her here had been a wise move. Her presence had brought him one step closer to fulfilling his mother’s dying wish.

  They left the house and headed up the hill through olive groves that seemed almost as ancient as the land itself. It wasn’t long before they were out from the shelter of the trees and looking at the final steep climb to the top of the hill.

  ‘Do you want to rest for a moment?’ Theo turned to look at Kerry and spoke for the first time since they’d left the house. His tone was neutral, but somehow Kerry got the feeling he didn’t want her to take him up on his offer of rest.

  ‘No, I’m fine,’ she said quickly. She felt uneasy at the thought of sitting still with Theo anyway—especially as it was clear that he was keen to keep moving.

  The silence between them was deafening, but all the time they were walking the atmosphere had been tolerable. Concentrating on keeping her footing and admiring the stunning scenery had distracted her from Theo’s taciturn brooding.

  He looked straight ahead and kept on walking without breaking his stride. It was still a fair hike to reach the top of the hill, and from the way Kerry’s muscles were already aching it felt more like a mountain.

  By the time they reached the summit she was breathing heavily, and her legs felt like jelly. She sat down on a large boulder to catch her breath, and gazed at the beautiful scenery. The mist had cleared to reveal an amazing view of the nearest neighbouring island. It was many times larger than Drakon’s island, and he had told her that it had a reasonable population for its size.

  ‘When you’ve rested for a moment we’ll head back down,’ Theo said, staring out across the glittering sea.

  ‘We only just got here!’ she gasped in surprise. ‘Don’t you want to look around or something?’

  ‘I’ve seen all I need to see—and in any case nothing will alter my intention to buy the island.’ Theo turned to look down at her and a flash of surprise showed on his face as he registered how heavily she was breathing. ‘Now I want to get back, in case Drakon feels well enough to see us. I don’t intend to miss an opportunity to move my negotiations with him forward.’

  ‘He’s sick!’ Kerry exclaimed. ‘Can’t you leave him in peace?’

  ‘I wouldn’t dream of disturbing his peace.’ Theo studied her through narrowed eyes. ‘But this is business—and Drakon is looking for a buyer. Are you ready to get going?’

  Kerry stared up at him crossly. She’d barely caught her breath, and her muscles were still burning from the effort of climbing the steep hill—but Theo hadn’t even really needed to come up here!

  She might have felt differently if they’d climbed slowly, enjoying the sunshine and the scenery, possibly even chatted a bit. But he’d just marched her up to the top of the hill in stony silence, to prove something to Drakon—perhaps to show that his interest in the island was genuine. Or maybe that he appreciated the privilege the old man had granted him when he’d allowed him to roam unaccompanied on his land.

  Whatever his reasons, he had shown Kerry very little consideration—he’d been driven purely by his own agenda. Suddenly their conversation from the previous day, when they’d first arrived on the island, flashed into her mind. Even back when she’d thought he cared about her Theo really had done everything for his own personal convenience.

  ‘If you always knew I got travel sick, why did you never say anything about it?’ she demanded.

  ‘I didn’t think you wanted me to,’ Theo replied, without missing a beat, although her comment must have seemed completely out of the blue. ‘I thought you preferred not to think about it too much.’

  She paused, staring at him through narrowed eyes. In a way he was right—she did try not to dwell on it. And any distraction, apart from reading, was usually a good way to feel better. But that didn’t excuse him for never showing her any concern.

  ‘How did you even know I didn’t feel
well?’ she asked.

  ‘It seemed fairly obvious—to me at least,’ he replied. ‘You went pale and shaky. And very quiet. But you usually seemed to recover pretty quickly once you were back on firm ground.’

  ‘If you knew how I felt why did you make me travel so much?’ she asked accusingly.

  ‘I assumed you didn’t want to let it interfere with your life,’ he said. ‘You never liked admitting any weakness. Like just now—apparently the climb was too much for you, but you haven’t said anything.’

  ‘It wasn’t too much for me,’ she said, infuriated by his patronising tone. ‘Come on. Let’s get going again.’

  She sprang up to her feet, but her legs still felt like jelly. For a moment she wobbled slightly, and he was beside her in an instant, wrapping his arm around her waist.

  ‘Your legs are shaking.’ His voice was suddenly deep and sensually loaded. ‘But—as you insist the climb wasn’t too much for you—maybe it’s me making you tremble.’ He hugged her tightly to him with one arm and lifted his other hand to brush her hair off her face. ‘In fact I can remember many different ways I used to make you tremble and shake.’

  ‘Let go of me!’ Kerry snapped, despite the fire that suddenly burned through her veins at the images he conjured in her mind. ‘I don’t want you to touch me again. Not ever.’

  ‘Really? I don’t think that is completely honest.’ Theo stepped away from her. ‘But it seems that honesty was never a central part of our relationship.’

  ‘I was always honest with you,’ she said defensively.

  ‘Maybe you never lied to me directly,’ Theo said. ‘But you lied by omission. Neither of us discussed your travel sickness—but we both knew about it.’

  ‘And what does that say about our relationship?’ Kerry asked, thinking that they’d never really talked about anything important.

  ‘I hardly think that was the defining point of our relationship,’ Theo said derisively. ‘Another moment stands out far more clearly in my memory—the moment you went behind my back and betrayed me.’

  ‘No. It wasn’t meant like that,’ Kerry replied automatically, but as the words left her mouth she knew the past didn’t matter. Whatever had happened between them in the past was completely irrelevant.

  She was guilty of dishonesty now.

  She was keeping his son a secret.

  A wave of emotion washed over her, squeezing her heart and making her throat tight. Baby Lucas was thousands of miles away, being looked after by someone else, and she was here, with Theo, and the secret she was keeping seemed to be growing more awful with every passing minute.

  CHAPTER SIX

  THEO started striding down the steep path back towards the house. Kerry followed behind, struggling to keep up. He was a very tall, athletic man, with a lengthy stride, and it seemed his bad temper was making him walk even faster than normal.

  It was typical arrogant behaviour, she thought bitterly. He was making no concession to her naturally slower pace, but there was no way she was going to ask him to slow down. Her legs were still shaky, but so was the whole of her body—inside and out. She flicked her fringe back from her damp forehead and kept walking.

  All she could think about was Lucas.

  She’d kept him secret because she was scared of what might happen—of what Theo might do. She’d seen for herself that he’d been so protective of his brother’s son that he’d wanted to take him away from Hallie.

  Kerry had not been able to stand by and watch that happen. For personal reasons she couldn’t bear to see a child forcibly taken from its mother. But her own background had also taught her that lies and deception led to heartache and tragedy—and by keeping Lucas a secret she was guilty of that herself.

  Without warning her eyes blurred with tears. She wanted to do what was right for everyone—but she was too scared of the possible consequences if she told Theo.

  Suddenly her foot hit a rut, and she staggered forward on the steep path, letting out a sharp cry of alarm.

  Theo shot back up the slope and was beside her almost before she’d realised that she was lying headlong on the ground, her face pressed against the loose dirt path, pebbles digging into the palms of her hands.

  ‘Kerry? Are you all right?’ His deep voice sounded genuinely troubled, and for a moment she was startled by how familiar it sounded.

  Only a moment ago she’d been convinced Theo had never shown any concern for her—but now she realised she’d been mistaken. The tender tone of his voice was achingly familiar, and made fresh tears swim in her eyes.

  ‘Are you injured?’ he asked, his hand gently cupping her shoulder.

  ‘No—I’m fine.’ She pushed her hands against the path to lever herself up, but it was hard with her head down and the stones jabbing into her palms.

  Theo reached for her immediately, helping her into a sitting position, and stared into her face. His expression was so intense that for a moment she was glad she was wearing her sunglasses. She didn’t want him to see her tear-filled eyes.

  ‘My legs were wobbly,’ she said, feeling her cheeks flare at the thought of how she’d been sprawled so humiliatingly on the ground in front of him. ‘I’m not used to climbing up mountains.’

  ‘Then you should have asked for a longer break,’ he said sharply. ‘It’s not responsible to push yourself too hard out here—you know how isolated we are.’

  She gasped, stung by his harsh tone of voice.

  ‘You just want to avoid the expense of calling a helicopter if I sprain my ankle,’ she retorted. She hadn’t been deliberately careless—he was the one who’d been walking so fast.

  ‘If you’re foolish enough to sprain your ankle I’ll carry you back myself,’ he said. ‘Over my shoulder,’ he added, letting his eyes run across her as if he was assessing how easy she would be to carry.

  Kerry glared at Theo, suddenly furious with him for being so heartless. What if she really hadn’t been fit enough to keep up with him? She hadn’t exactly had much time to keep herself in shape lately. Looking after Lucas and working in the travel agency took up every minute of her time. She wasn’t Theo’s adoring lover any more—with nothing better to do than run around after him.

  ‘Thankfully, that won’t be necessary,’ she said coldly, ignoring the flush of embarrassment that heated her face at the thought of being carried over his shoulder. ‘Let’s get going—I thought you were keen to get back.’

  Theo studied her from beneath dark brows as she pushed herself up to her feet—she was still a little unsteady, but she looked all right.

  ‘We’ll go a little slower on the way down,’ he said. ‘But first you need to wipe your face—it’s covered with dirt.’

  Kerry drew in a startled breath and rubbed her fingers across her face.

  ‘Lucky for me you are trying to impress Drakon,’ she said, looking down at her dirt-streaked fingertips before lifting her eyes to meet his gaze straight on. ‘Or you might never have bothered to tell me I’ve got half the path stuck to my face.’

  The rest of the day passed slowly for Kerry. They’d arrived back at Drakon’s house before lunch, but he’d still not been feeling well enough to receive visitors, so Theo had spent the afternoon working on his laptop, and Kerry had sat in the shade of the wizened old olive trees on the paved area, trying to read.

  It was a wonderful place to sit, but despite her lovely surroundings she found it impossible to relax. She kept thinking about Lucas, and questioning whether she was making a terrible mistake.

  It was one thing to hide her pregnancy and then her child from Theo when he was in another country—after all, at the time she’d had very good reasons for keeping her secret. But now that she was back in Greece with Theo everything seemed different.

  That morning, when he’d accused her of dishonesty, his comment had cut her deeply—because she knew he was right. She wasn’t being honest with anyone. Not with Theo. And most importantly not with Lucas.

  She knew from personal experie
nce just how devastating it was to discover that everything you believed to be true was actually false. Deception ruined lives—and she could not let her son’s life be blighted by secrets and dishonesty.

  By the time she went inside to get ready for dinner she had made an enormous decision. She would tell Theo about Lucas. She knew that he would want to be part of his son’s life—but she also knew that she would never let him take Lucas away from her.

  She wasn’t like Hallie. Theo had told Corban that Hallie was not fit to be a mother, but Kerry would never give him reason to doubt her devotion and suitability as a mother. It was her right to take care of her son, and no one could take that away from her. But she was prepared to make changes. She would move to Athens, find a job and somewhere to live. Then Theo could have regular access to his son.

  ‘Drakon is still too ill to join us for dinner,’ Theo said, knocking her out of her thoughts as he came into their room.

  ‘I do hope he will be okay,’ Kerry said, worried about the old man again.

  ‘The doctor is due to visit tomorrow,’ Theo said. ‘Meanwhile, we will be eating alone tonight. Why don’t you shower first? I still have a few calls to make.’

  ‘All right.’ Kerry picked up a change of clothes and headed into the en suite bathroom. It was strangely familiar—getting ready for dinner first while Theo talked on his phone. She showered and dressed, and was just about to come out of the bathroom when Theo knocked sharply on the door.

  ‘Kerry! Are you nearly done?’

  ‘I’m here,’ she said, opening the door. ‘What is it?’ Somehow the urgency of Theo’s voice had sent an icy chill down her spine.

  ‘Your sister, Bridget, called,’ he said. ‘I answered your mobile because she was calling repeatedly and I thought it might be important.’