“Christos?”
“Hmm?”
“Are you okay?”
“Yes.”
“Let me put my own clothes back on and we can leave.”
He nodded and kept listening on the open phone line until Antonio came on. “Theo’s fine now. Would you like me to have the doctor come back and monitor him for the evening?”
“Yes, and then direct him to call my mobile, Antonio.”
“Yes, sir,” Antonio said.
There was a note in his voice that Christos couldn’t place. “What?”
“Your father has hired a nanny for Theo. Master Theo doesn’t understand why she’s here.”
“Thanks, Antonio, for the information. I’ll take care of this with my father.”
“I figured you would.”
He hung up the phone just as Ava came out of the dressing room. She had none of the clothes in her hands that she’d been trying on. “Where are your dresses?”
“I don’t want anything here.”
“Ava?”
“I want to go home. I’m enjoying the city and being alone with you, but I miss Theo.”
Christos drew her into his arms and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. He missed Theo, too, and he had plenty of pressing business to attend to.
“I’ll call the pilot and have him ready the plane. Do you want to leave now?”
“You don’t mind?”
He shook his head. “I want you to be happy, Ava.”
She smiled up at him, that brilliant smile that made his breath catch in his chest. He couldn’t resist kissing her. Running his hands down her back and pulling her firmly into his arms. She was his. His. He’d never had anything that wasn’t given to him because of the circumstances of his birth—aside from Ava and Theo.
“Having your trust has given me a joy that I can’t explain.” Her optimism made him wonder if he should explain right now about the paternity test. But he didn’t want to dim it. Hell, who was he kidding? He knew that she’d be angry and disappointed if she learned what he’d done and he wanted more time to enjoy the peace that had grown between them during their honeymoon.
Christos barely hadthe car turned off when Theo bolted from the house and down the steps. Ava opened her door and stepped out of the car just as Theo reached her. He jumped up and she caught him in her arms, hugging his small body close to hers. Tears burned her eyes as she held him close. The time spent away from her son had just felt like too long.
Christos came up and Theo immediately wriggled in her arms, trying to get to his father. She handed him to Christos and watched the two embrace. Her life felt complete, so perfect and happy that she almost was afraid to believe it was real.
How had she gotten all of this? She’d been living her single life, so sure that she’d never find a happy ending with Christos, yet here it was. The pot of gold at the end of the rainbow she’d thought she’d never see again.
Christos glanced at her, catching her staring yet again. He gave her one of those long level looks of his and she shrugged.
“I like seeing my guys together.”
Theo had an arm slung around Christos’s shoulder as he walked over to her. “We like seeing you, too, right, Theo?”
“That’s right.”
“We have a surprise for you,” Ava said.
