‘At the risk of more melodrama, I couldn’t stay away.’
‘It’s a good thing then that this island is big enough. Until I leave, we can stay out of each other’s way.’
A rough sound escaped him. ‘So you’re leaving?’
Misery filled her but she forced a nod. ‘I don’t see that I have a choice,’ she said. Then waited…and waited.
When the tiny seeds of hope died, she snatched the plastic stick from her pocket. ‘I don’t know what you’re doing back here so soon when you seemed hellbent on leaving, but I’ve already kept this from you when I should’ve told you yesterday.’ She held the pregnancy test out to him.
For endless seconds he looked poleaxed. Then he lunged forward and snatched it from her, staring at it before his eyes met hers, then dropped to her belly. ‘You’re…’
‘Pregnant with our second child? Yes. As fate would have it.’
His gaze dropped back to the test and this time she read his emotions accurately: shock; pride; elation. But those emotions were locked away far too quickly, leaving behind a landscape that grew increasingly grey…inhospitable.
‘I will be a good father to this child too, you have my word. But…’ He paused, his chest heaving far too dramatically, rivalling the heaving in her soul. The certain knowledge he was about to knock her world to smithereens. ‘I’m terrified that’s all I can give, Vayle. After what I discovered…’ He stopped, inhaled, then blew out his breath. ‘If you’re open to a fifty-fifty custody arrangement, I’ll be in your debt for ever.’
Her heart squeezed, but she shook her head to clear it. ‘What do you mean, what you discovered?’
A wave of guilt swept over his face. ‘I met with Ag…my mother. She told me…’ He shook his head. ‘Forgive me for not listening to you, Vayle.’
‘Not until you tell me everything. I have a right to know, I think.’
‘Ne,’he agreed.
She listened as he retold his conversation with the woman who’d birthed him. Relief shuddered through her, over and over. Her every hope for him, for the woman she’d believed in who’d been like a mother to her, had been realised.
‘So they came looking for you. They didn’t abandon you,’ she affirmed softly.
‘Shedidn’t, no.’
His emphasis made her stiffen. But she still couldn’t bring herself to look at him. She waited, because there was more.
‘Tolis wasn’t my father.’
Her head snapped up. ‘What?’
‘I think, deep down, I always knew. We were never close. And when he died the only regret I felt was never getting the chance to tell him what a poor parent he was.’
As he finished his story, her heart bled for him for a minute. Before she reined it in. Because she had a baby,twobabies, to think of. And heartache to manage.
‘Vayle, I feel… I can’t… You did this for me. All of it. And I’ve been nothing but monstrous to you. How can I ever make it up to you?’
Nelios ventured closer, his every sinew straining to grab her, to anchor her to him, to snatch her back from the terrifying edge of loss. But he didn’t. Couldn’t—not yet. Instead, he crouched lower than her, heart in his throat, remorse bleeding from every pore. He’d spent so long protecting his pride, his pain, that he’d forgotten how to reach for what truly mattered. Only then might he avert the very exodus he’d foolishly claimed to crave—on his knees. Perhaps he deserved no less.
The weight of the small plastic stick still in his hand felt almost too sacred for his touch. A miracle, another undeserved gift from the woman whose love he’d abused with silence and distance. His fingers curled around it like a lifeline.
She didn’t look at him. Her spine was stiff, her body drawn tight with grief she hadn’t allowed to show until now. ‘Take a tranquiliser,’ she said, her voice sharp. ‘Go lie down. You’ll feel like yourself in no time, I’m sure.’
His lips twisted into a ghost of a smile, one that didn’t feel as monstrous. That she could throw such cutting remarks even now… She was glorious. Far more than he’d ever had the right to dream of. But the smile died quickly. The agony of being parted from her returned to crush his chest like a vice.
‘Drugs won’t help, I fear,’ he said, voice rough. ‘Only gaining back the very thing I’ve spent my life throwing away might save me.’
She didn’t move. But he saw it—the small hitch in her breath. The tiniest tremble in her fingers.
It was enough to let the floodgates open. ‘You were right,agapi mou. About everything.’ His voice cracked. ‘Iwas a coward. I’ve been running all my life. Hiding behind righteousness and pain because it made it easier to believe I didn’t need love. That I didn’tdeservelove.’
He shook his head, shame slicing through his soul. ‘Watching you give it so freely, so wholeheartedly… I made myself believe it was weakness to want you. That what you were offering couldn’t possibly be real. So, yes, I fought it—you, us. I fought the very thing I now know was my salvation.’
