Page 37 of Greek's Temporary "I Do"

She laughed, knowing that if she’d said as much to Kate, the veterinarian would have reeled off facts and figures about their lifestyle and personality, and the pods they swam in. Kate would have been in her pod, Helena decided. And Leander, of course. But might there be space for Leo?

And there, looking out at the clash of deep oceanic blue and light denim sky, she inhaled deeply, easily, for the first time in what felt like months. Despite her ever-constant awareness of Leo, here, out on the Mediterranean Sea, at least there were no reporters. There were no staff members, utterly ignorant of the perilous state of the charity, no terrified board members looking to her to save them. Nothing to fix, and nothing to prove to anyone. She hadn’t realised how exhausting that had been for her. But here, just like it had been when she was younger, was refuge given to her by Leo Liassidis.

The sun had shifted and was no longer so harsh on her skin. It felt warmer, softer, almost as if it had known that she’d needed comfort rather than ferocity. She heard Leo’s steps on the wooden deck behind her.

‘What has you sighing like that?’ he asked, and she sent her smile out to the sea.

‘The realisation that I needed this,’ she lied. Because the truth was, it was the realisation that he’d known she’d needed this that had caused her heart to turn.

‘It’s so peaceful out here,’ she observed.

‘It wasn’t like that when Leander and I used to take you out in the boat when you were younger.’

‘No,’ Helena replied with a laugh. ‘No, it was not.’

She would shriek with delight as they guided their speedboat into a crashing wave, scream as the boat jerked and dipped beneath her, loving the salt on her tongue and the gleam of pure delight in the brothers’ eyes, and cry out for more.

‘You were the only ones to do that. Take me out on the sea,’ she confessed, remembering that her parents would have rather spent time with Giorgos and Cora than the child they barely saw through the school year. ‘I don’t think I ever thanked you for it,’ she said, frowning, trying to remember.

‘You never have to thank me for that,’ he replied.

Helena turned to look at him as he came to stand beside her at the rail. Her heart stopped for a beat. He was utterly devastating. The close-cut beard against his jaw, dark and inviting. A pair of sunglasses, hiding his gaze, his emotions from her. His cream linen shirt was open at the neck, just enough to tantalise with the dusting of chest hair she’d not seen on him as a younger man. This Leo was even more male to her. Age had honed his features to perfection and it was hard to ignore the impact he was having on her.

‘But this is wonderful,’ she said, forcing a bright smile to her lips as she looked back to the sea. She closed her eyes and inhaled slowly. ‘I think it’s the first time since discovering the theft of the money that I’ve actually just taken a breath.’

Leo’s heart went out to her. He could see what a struggle it was for her, not just because of how much the company meant to her, but because she was a young businesswoman who wanted to prove herself so much that she’d gone to such extreme lengths. Lengths that were dangerous, both financially and emotionally.

Surely it would have been much simpler just to borrow the money? Or was he just looking for something, anything, that would have removed the barrier of her wedding to his brother?

‘Why did you ask Leander to do this for you?’ he asked, struggling anew with the resentment he felt about this entire situation. ‘Did he not offer to lend you the money?’

‘Of course he offered to lend me the money,’ she explained. ‘But I have the money. It’s my money. I just...don’t have it yet.’

Before him was a woman who had to fix things herself. Who didn’t want to rely on someone else, who had learned from her father’s absence and her mother’s neglect that she could only rely on herself. Didn’t he know that for himself? But why, when he thought of Helena being like that—like him—did it feel like a punch to the chest? To the heart?

‘But as to why Leander,’ she went on, interrupting his thoughts. ‘Because I trust him.’

Leo couldn’t help but scoff. ‘Trust? Leander?’ he demanded, his tone harsh, his instinctive reaction to his brother’s betrayal near primal.

‘Yes. Trust. I knew that he would be discreet and I knew that he would be there for me when I needed him.’

‘That’s just wishful thinking. As evidenced by the fact that he’s not here when you need him,’ Leo replied hotly.

But Helena shook her head. ‘I know him. I know that whatever it is that came up, whatever it was that he needed space for...it was something incredibly important.’

Leo shook his head, a bitter sneer across his face. ‘Leander is selfish. He will always put himself first, make choices that benefit him most, without any compunction or thought for anyone other than himself.’

‘That’s not true,’ Helena replied gently. ‘It’s just what you want to see in him.’

Helena’s open expression and flat denial floored him.

Hot anger, old, dark and thick, something nasty, built in him. He’d been softening towards his brother. He’d felt it. Not because of anything he’d done, but because he’d seen how others saw Leander. Right up until just then, when Helena had said that she trusted him. Because Leander had lied to him. Made Leo believe that his brother wanted what he wanted.

Right up until the moment when his father had asked the question, Leo had thought he’d known how his life would be. What it would look like, how it would go. Throughout their teenage years they’d developed a way of thinking that completed each other, balanced each other. Applying that to a business context for their family company would have made them unstoppable. But, beyond that, Leo had believed that they wanted the same things. He’d believed that he’d had companionship, trust, safety with his brother. It had been them against the world.

‘I want to take the money.’

That was what had been more important to Leander than he had been.

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