Page 53 of Greek's Temporary "I Do"

‘I’m pretty sure that Kate would kill you if you ruined Helena’s wedding,’ Leo pointed out when he regained a little of his composure.

Leander glared at the box in the corner of the room, the muscle in his jaw clenching. ‘The things we do for these women we love,’ he growled and stalked over to the box, opening it and retrieving his own top hat. He practically snarled at the thing.

It had been nearly two years since Leo and Leander had reunited. The phone call Leo had made just before Helena’s press conference had been the start of the road that brought them back together.

That day had changed Leo’s life irrevocably. The darkness that had shrouded his life, the heavy weight that he’d tried to pretend had been work and pressure, had lifted. Because he’d finally realised what he needed and wanted from his life, and it had nothing to do with Liassidis Shipping.

Love. Peace. Contentment. Family.

When Leander had returned from California they had met and talked long into the night. Both had felt responsible for the separation in their own way, and perhaps it had been partly necessary. They had grown up as two halves of a whole, and had needed to find themselves as individuals as much as twins. But, having done that, they could now appreciate the differences between them as much as the similarities. And their relationship now was based on that understanding and a thousand times stronger for it. The pieces of his life’s puzzle had come together to form a picture he’d always wanted.

But it had been complete the moment that Helena agreed to be his wife.

It hadn’t been easy—those first few months after the discovery that Leander had been in California and that Leo had been pretending to be him in Greece had caused a lot of anger in the press. Liassidis Shipping stocks and shares had taken a sharp fall and it had been a nail-biting year, watching them slowly come back up as everyone realised that his and Helena’s feelings were real. That theirs was the true love story they’d been looking for after all.

Interestingly, Helena’s announcement had caused a spike in attention for Incendia, her raw honesty and natural passion as she had spoken about the charity catching the world’s imagination.

Donations had started to pour in for the charity from around the globe and within two months they had reached enough to cover a large portion of the money stolen—enough to survive the financial review. Gregory had been found and charged with fraud and financial theft and a slew of other smaller offences.

The trial was due to begin at the end of the following month, the wheels of justice turning painfully slowly. But at least they were turning. Helena was convinced of a positive outcome and had been happy to recover even just half of what had been stolen, the remaining assets lost somewhere in the Caymans was as good a guess as any.

Leander cleared his throat from where he held the door open with one hand, and chucked the top hat at him with the other. Leo caught the brim and, with a huge amount of trepidation, secured it on his head.

‘It’s showtime,’ his brother announced.

Leo stopped at the threshold. ‘Thank you,’ he said to Leander sincerely.

Leander nodded, for once casting aside the playful persona. He knew how much this meant to Leo, knew that he wanted to honour that for his brother.

‘It wouldn’t have been the same without you,’ Leo said.

‘No party ever is, Leo!’ he replied, the smile broadening on features that matched his own.

And Leo agreed. Nothing had been right without his brother in his life, but now that he was back it was just as perfect as he remembered from his childhood. That sense of lack, of loss, of something missing, had been found. Not just with his brother but with the woman he was about to marry. If Leander had been a missing piece, Helena had been his missing heart. And he couldn’t wait to declare to the world that she was his, to love, to honour, to protect, to worship and to always, always, put first.

Leo had to admit that the Tudor mansion in the Suffolk countryside was spectacular. The thick white stone walls had stood strong against the march of time, and the casement windows punctuating the unique architecture were nothing short of eye-catching. Inside, dark wood panels lined some rooms, while raw stone added rustic features to an already impressive historic building. Four-poster beds welcomed each guest, while open fireplaces and richly coloured carpets added comfort to a luxury that was nothing short of exquisite.

As Leander led him through to the chapel nestled in the gardens where the ceremony would take place he began to feel his pulse picking up. Not for himself, not for the commitment he was about to make to the woman he loved beyond question. But for her. He wanted, needed, this to be perfect for her. With absolutely no doubt about him or his intentions.

Which was why, the night before last, he’d given her a gift—not a wedding gift, no. He had other ideas for that. But as they’d sat in the London apartment where they spent half the year, sharing a glass of wine after dinner, he’d passed across the document he’d asked his lawyers to draw up.

‘What’s this?’ she’d asked. ‘You’ve already given me my birthday present,’ she said, smiling saucily.

‘Open it and see.’

And he’d watched her read through the document, surprise, delight and love glittering in the sheen that filled her gaze.

‘It’s not supposed to make you sad, agápi mou,’ he’d insisted.

It was a document releasing her father’s inheritance. The thirty percent shares in Liassidis Shipping. Helena had wanted to marry as soon as they could, but Leo had insisted on waiting until after her twenty-eighth birthday, because whether she needed it or not, he did. Because when he married her, he wanted to be the only thing on her mind that day.

She’d shaken her head, the smile on her lips purely happy. ‘I’m not sad, my love. Not at all. Just happy. Just absolutely, ridiculously happy. Thank you. So much. This means the world,’ she’d said before she’d kissed him with one of those drugging kisses that made him lose all sense and reason, and utterly unashamed that he’d not even been able to wait to get her to the bedroom. He’d pulled her across his lap and they’d made love long into the night.

And so it was for the final time that Leo found himself standing at the top of an aisle, waiting for Helena to walk to him.

‘Nervous?’ Leander asked.

‘Not a single bit,’ he said truthfully.

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