‘It is if you don’t understand the importance of a father in a child’s life,’ Theo said. ‘My son will not grow up under a different roof from his father. He will always know that I love him unequivocally and unconditionally. He will never, ever doubt my love for a single second of his life.’
Kerry stared up at him, feeling the passion in his voice rumbling through to her very soul. She knew that he meant every word that he said. He’d only known his son for an hour but already his love for him was burning brightly, shining out like a beacon.
Out of nowhere she felt tears welling in her eyes, and she turned away so that Theo wouldn’t see them. How could she deny her son such powerful love?
She didn’t even know who her father was. She had never felt love as all-encompassing as the love Theo was expressing for her son. How could she deny Lucas that?
‘Lucas needs both his mother and his father,’ Theo said. ‘Despite the fact that you have tried to keep me out of his life, I can see how much you love him. I love him too, and want what’s best for him. That means we must marry.’
Kerry blinked to clear her eyes, then turned back to face Theo.
‘All right,’ she said. ‘I will marry you.’
The following day they flew back to Greece. Theo took them to the family’s private island residence, saying that the peaceful isolation would be ideal for father and son to get to know each other.
Kerry could see the benefit of staying somewhere quiet, because Theo was always busy when they were staying in one of his many hotels. But it would mean that he was free to spend every minute with them, making it impossible for her to relax and let down her guard.
The only respite for Kerry that day was the time he spent on the telephone, enquiring after Drakon’s health. He was still determined to acquire the old man’s island, and did not intend to let the slightest window of opportunity pass him by.
The next day, despite his good intentions to spend time with Lucas, Theo found he had to return to Athens on business. Kerry was secretly pleased. As she watched the helicopter take off she felt the knot of tension in her stomach start to ease. They’d spent most of the previous day travelling, and she was exhausted. And on top of that the atmosphere between them had become increasingly strained, making her feel that more trouble was brewing.
It was a welcome relief to spend the day playing with Lucas on her own. In the afternoon she decided to take him swimming. The huge infinity pool, where Theo habitually pounded through length after length, seemed far too big for them. But there was a smaller, child-friendly pool, shaded by an awning on one side. It seemed much more suitable for splashing about in with the six-month-old.
Kerry looked at the choice of swimwear that the housekeeper, Sara, had laid out on the bed for her—there was nothing but bikinis. At home, when she took Lucas to the local pool, she always wore a one-piece costume, but she had forgotten to bring it. Pregnancy had taken its toll on her body, and she wasn’t completely back to her previous shape. And, to make matters worse, the lower part of her stomach was covered with red stretch marks.
Being on her own, she hadn’t thought about them much. She’d always been too busy taking care of Lucas or working. Now, even though Theo was away in Athens, she was reluctant to leave her stomach uncovered. But she didn’t want Lucas to miss out, so she slipped on a bikini, wrapped a towel around herself and carried him outside.
The water was gorgeous—just the right temperature and crystal-clear.
‘Do you like that?’ She laughed as Lucas giggled and splashed while she walked around the pool, pulling him through the water. He was already kicking his legs strongly, and she had a feeling that he would grow up to be a powerful swimmer—like his father.
After a while she took him over to the wide shallow steps that led into the pool and set him down on the top step, up to his waist in water. She sat on the step below, holding him up so that he could play safely with the little boats and balls she had found.
She knew the toys must belong to Nicco, and that made her think about Hallie and Corban. She deeply regretted what had happened on her last night in Athens, and she was nervous about seeing them again. But as they were away, travelling around Europe, she wouldn’t have to face them for some time.
‘Here’s the little boat,’ she said, floating the toy Lucas was playing with back towards him. He squealed with delight and batted it again, making a big splash. ‘It’s blue,’ she said. ‘A blue boat.’
She found herself thinking about her decision to marry Theo. It was always there, in the back of her mind, and it had been weighing on her constantly.
She was worried that she was taking a risk—that their marriage might be part of Theo’s plan to get Lucas away from her. Once he’d established himself firmly as Lucas’s father, maybe he intended to cut her out of his life. She knew that he’d encouraged Corban to take Nicco away from Hallie.
But, from the impassioned way he’d talked about a child needing both his parents, she didn’t truly think that he would do that to Lucas and her.
The situation with Hallie had been different. Theo had been concerned that she was not a fit mother. Even though in Kerry’s eyes that didn’t justify his intended actions, she could understand his motivation. It also meant that she knew that she must never give Theo any grounds to doubt her own ability as a mother.
Suddenly, the unmistakable sound of a helicopter caught her attention. She looked up and saw that it was leaving the island—she must have been so lost in her thoughts that she hadn’t heard it arrive. Theo was back on the island.
‘I managed to get away earlier than I expected.’ His voice right behind her nearly made her jump out of her skin.
‘Hello.’ She twisted round and looked up at him. He loomed over her, dressed in a dark business suit, with dark sunglasses hiding his eyes. His hair was ruffled from the helicopter’s downdraft, and he had loosened his tie, but he didn’t look remotely approachable. In fact he looked even more steely than usual, and the knot of tension started to tighten inside her again.
‘I’ll change, then come and join you in the water,’ he said.
‘No!’ Kerry’s voice squeaked unnaturally high in response to Theo’s words. The idea of being semi-naked with him in the pool sent a wave of panic through her. ‘No—I mean, we’re coming out now. Lucas is getting tired.’
Then, as soon as the words were out of her mouth, she remembered her stretch marks. She didn’t want Theo to see them. They were unattractive, and she was already self-conscious of the way her body had changed after her pregnancy. She couldn’t get out with him standing there—she’d left the only towel on the sun lounger a couple of metres away.
‘Would you pass me that towel?’ she asked, thinking that she could hold Lucas against her shoulder as she stood up and let the towel drape across his body and down past her stomach. She looked up at Theo expectantly—there was no reason he shouldn’t do as she’d asked—but she got the impression that he wasn’t really listening. The expression on his face seemed intense, but she had no idea what he was thinking or feeling. ‘The towel?’ she repeated hopefully.
Theo took off his sunglasses and looked at Kerry, sitting on the second step, with the water lapping gently at her waist. His eyes followed the alluring shape of her hips below the surface, ran along her long slender legs down to her feet. Then his gaze tracked back up, roaming instinctively over her top half. She was wearing a pale blue bikini, which looked good next to her creamy skin. It seemed like a lifetime since he’d seen so much of her naked body, and a familiar surge of arousal powered through him.
On Drakon’s island he had thought that her breasts seemed fuller than he remembered, and now he could see that it was true. She was breathing quickly, and the rapid rise and fall of her chest made him want to reach down and slip his hands inside the pale blue cups of the bikini, caress her luscious breasts and tease her pert nipples. He’d done that many times before, and she had always responded by melting in his arms. In
fact it had been very rare that they had swum together and not ended up making love.
But right now he knew that Kerry was not pleased to see him. His arrival had startled her, and he’d seen her body language become defensive. She’d been like that with him ever since they took Lucas from the hospital—in fact her standoffishness seemed to be getting more pronounced.
It bothered him. He didn’t like coming into a room and seeing her whole body become tense and hunched inwards. Even though he knew that the changes in her behaviour were barely perceptible—that no one else would notice—it was an affront to his masculine dignity. She’d used to tremble like a kitten when he approached her, and look up at him with sultry eyes that had let him know just how much she desired him. It had made him feel as powerful as a lion—and he’d swept her up into his embrace knowing that she was burning for him to make love to her.
Now everything was different. On Drakon’s island the chemistry between them had still been there, but she’d held back—presumably because she’d been worried he might find out about Lucas. However, since he’d brought her back to Greece the atmosphere between them had been increasingly cold and difficult.
He knew that she didn’t want to marry him. If she had any feelings for him at all, or any desire to share his life, she would not have kept Lucas a secret from him. That knowledge was demeaning—like a vicious slap round the face.
The sound of splashing and giggling pulled him out of his thoughts. He looked down, letting his eyes skim past Kerry to his baby son.
His bright blue eyes were twinkling merrily, his curly black hair was glistening with water and he was splashing and chuckling energetically. To Theo’s untutored eyes he didn’t seem all that tired, but he didn’t know much about babies. If Kerry said he was tired then he probably was.
‘Let me take him while you get out,’ he said, putting his sunglasses into his pocket and reaching down to the baby.
He closed his large hands around Lucas’s warm little body and lifted him straight up and out of the water. Lucas gave a high-pitched squeal and Theo felt an answering bolt of alarm shoot through him—he’d moved too abruptly and frightened his son.
He held him up in front of his face and looked at him worriedly. But then Lucas squealed again, and suddenly Theo realised he wasn’t crying. He was excited. He’d enjoyed being flown straight up.
He found himself smiling as he gazed into his son’s face, and as they made eye contact he felt an unexpected wave of emotion roll through him. This extraordinary little person was his son—his own flesh and blood.
Then, at that moment, he realised he was dangling Lucas in front of him in what seemed an entirely unnatural position. Perhaps he should wrap him in a towel and hold him against his shoulder. He had to do something—but suddenly he felt awkward, and didn’t know how to manoeuvre the baby.
He turned to look at Kerry, but she was still sitting in the pool on the steps, hugging her knees up to her chest. Why wasn’t she helping him? Was she trying to prove something by letting him struggle alone?
‘Pass me that towel,’ he said.
Kerry bit her lip and stared up at Theo. Seeing him hold her son—their son—for the first time made a strange feeling run through her. She’d seen an expression of love pass across Theo’s face as he met his son’s eyes, and it had filled her with an uncomfortable mixture of emotions.
She was profoundly happy that Lucas would grow up in the warmth of such powerful paternal love—but at the same time it left her feeling unsettled and hollow. At one time she’d dreamed of Theo gazing at her with love in his eyes—now she felt confused and adrift.
Suddenly she realised that Theo was looking awkward—as if he was also finding the first time he held Lucas strange. To be fair, holding a squirming and wet six-month-old wasn’t the best way to start, and she should help him. But he had taken her by surprise when he’d swooped in and plucked Lucas from out of her grasp.
She pushed herself up out of the pool, trying to keep her back to Theo and her stomach hidden as much as possible, and stepped over to the sun lounger. She held the towel up, letting it unroll so that it was covering her stretch marks, and moved closer to Theo and Lucas.
‘I can take him,’ she said, reaching for the baby.
‘It’s all right,’ he said, holding on tight to Lucas. ‘I’ve got him. Just help me get that towel round him.’
Kerry hesitated. She needed the towel to hide her stretch marks—not to mention the extra weight she was still carrying on her tummy. But she couldn’t very well wrestle Lucas out of Theo’s grasp.
‘You can relax—I won’t drop him,’ Theo said caustically, obviously having misinterpreted her hesitation.
‘It’s not that—’ Kerry started, then realised there was nothing she could say that wouldn’t draw more attention to her situation.
She pressed her lips together and eased the towel around Lucas, helping Theo to get a better grip on him up against his shoulder. Then she let her hands drop and crossed her wrists self-consciously over her stomach, hoping that Theo would keep his eyes on his son.
It was a vain hope. A moment later he’d lifted his head and was looking at her over the top of Lucas’s black curls. His eyes ran appreciatively down her body, just as they had done so many times before, but then suddenly they stopped, locking on to her stomach.
A slight flash of surprise lifted his black brows for a moment. Then his eyes narrowed and his face became as dark as thunder as he continued to stare at her stretch marks.
Before she could react—turn away to hide, or pick up something to hold in front of her—she watched his expression change for the second time. From anger to disgust.
Then he spun on his heel and strode away, carrying Lucas with him.
CHAPTER EIGHT
KERRY stared after Theo, startled and hurt by what had happened. She knew her stretch marks weren’t attractive, and that she hadn’t completely regained her figure. But she hadn’t thought she was disgusting.
Yet as she pictured Theo’s face before he’d turned away, that was clearly what he thought about the changed appearance of her body.
Dismay welled up inside her, and she felt her cheeks grow red with shame. He’d used to look at her as if he adored her body. She knew how much pleasure he’d found in it—and had given her in return. The knowledge that he found her repulsive now that pregnancy had left its marks on her cut her to the quick.
She started following him back towards the house, feeling her heart thumping miserably.
Then, out of nowhere, a blaze of anger flared up inside her.
How dared he look at her like that and make her feel so horrible about herself? She’d never asked him to bring her here. She’d never asked for any of this. If life had carried on the way she’d planned she would never have laid eyes on Theo Diakos again—and he would never have laid his hateful, judgemental eyes on her.
She stormed up the grand staircase and marched through to the bedroom. The housekeeper was just carrying Lucas out of the room, chattering to him about what a lovely bathtime they would have. She watched them leaving—torn between the desire to call Sara back, so that she could bathe her son herself, and the burning need to have it out with Theo.
The door closed, leaving them completely alone for the first time since they’d come back to Greece, and she turned to face him. He was staring at her in open hostility, his eyes cutting into her like knives. Then, to add insult to injury, he deliberately let his gaze drop to her stomach and linger mercilessly on the red stretch marks.
‘How dare you look at me like that?’ she demanded, planting her hands on her hips and making no attempt to cover herself. ‘How dare you try to make me feel bad over the perfectly natural way pregnancy has marked my body?’
‘Just how vain and self-centred is it possible for you to be?’ Theo threw up his hands in an uncharacteristically dramatic gesture, then shrugged his jacket off and tossed it angrily on the bed.
‘I’m not vain!’ Ke
rry responded hotly. ‘I barely even thought about my stretch marks until you kept staring at them in disgust.’
‘You think I’m disgusted with your body?’ Theo demanded, letting his gaze sear a trail all over her, from top to toe.
‘I Know you are,’ Kerry insisted. ‘I saw the expression of revulsion on your face. Well, I’m pleased—I hope you never touch me again.’
‘Really?’ Theo grated. He grabbed hold of her and pulled her hard up against him. ‘I know that’s what you want me to think—why you’ve been giving me the cold shoulder since we came back to Greece.’
‘It’s true!’ Kerry gasped as he tightened his hold on her, making the breath shudder out of her body. ‘I don’t want you near me.’
‘Let’s put that to the test,’ Theo taunted, suddenly sweeping her up into his arms and dumping her on the bed. ‘I think you want me to touch you. And I don’t believe you’ll try to stop me, however—wherever—I touch you.’
‘No! Let me up!’ she cried, but Theo was already leaning over her, pressing her down with his hard body. His words had caused an explosion of panic inside her, but despite everything they had also started a river of molten desire running through her veins.
Lying on the bed beneath Theo, in the exact place where he had brought her to the point of rapture so many times when they were lovers, had set off a whole realm of remembered responses and feelings rocketing through her mind and body. So far he’d hardly touched her—but just the idea of him touching her was turning her on.
She stared up into his face, and the raw sexual intent she saw blazing in his dark brown eyes started her trembling deep inside. At that moment she knew that whatever common sense her mind was trying to exert, her treacherous body yearned for Theo—just as much as it always had.
‘When I first saw you sitting in the pool I wanted to touch you,’ Theo said. ‘I wanted to slip my hands inside your bikini top and feel your nipples against my palm as I caressed your breasts.’
A hot, delicious wave of anticipation rolled through Kerry’s body—but at the back of her mind warning bells were ringing. He was just playing with her—trying to humiliate her. She’d seen the way he looked at her, and heard the scornful taunts in his voice.
The Diakos Baby Scandal Page 8
