Page 39 of Greek's Temporary "I Do"

That wasn’t what she’d wanted or intended. But she could see the pain the separation between the two brothers was causing each of them. If she could do anything for either of the men who had been such important figures in her life, it would be this.

To bring them back together.

Once again, petals had been scattered across the table and the deck itself, but this time, when she looked closer, she realised that they weren’t rose petals. The shades of white, violet and red struck her immediately. Peonies. The colours of native Greek peonies.

Helena turned to look behind her as the Captain appeared on the deck with the other staff members.

‘We’ll be heading to the mainland now. Just call when you want us to return.’

Leo nodded as if he knew that this was going to happen.

Something like alarm rushed through her, not from fear of him, but from the thought of being alone with him out here. She could barely trust herself with people around. As if sensing her concern, he placed a hand on her shoulder, as if to anchor her, to reassure her, but that didn’t make it any better.

The Captain looked between them, and Helena forced a smile to her lips. ‘Thank you so much for all of this, it looks beautiful. I hope you have a lovely evening.’

Reassured, the Captain nodded and took her crew down to the main deck, where a small speedboat idled, waiting to take them back to the mainland.

‘I thought it would be easier not to have to pretend that I was Leander and we were married, so...’

Helena nodded, but was instantly regretful having lost the security that the staff members had provided. The barrier they had provided to her wants.

She looked back at the peonies on the floor and her heart hurt.

He remembered. He’d always remembered that they were her favourite flower.

Why did he have to do that? she thought, even as the lump formed in her throat.

‘What’s wrong?’ Leo asked.

Tears pressed against her eyes. She couldn’t let them fall, but it was all too much. Every time she wanted to put Leo in a box where she couldn’t touch him, he did something like this. He showed her that he was more than the unfeeling, cold, aloof man he pretended to be. Instead, he was a man who wanted her to have some fun, who had celebrated her success, who’d been devastated by his brother’s choice, and who still remembered her favourite flower. All of those complexities made it impossible to ignore her feelings for him. Feelings that she should deny, but she didn’t want to. Not any more.

As she ran the silver pendant across the chain again Leo’s gaze centred on it.

‘Thank you,’ she whispered.

‘For what?’ he asked, his voice as low as the last of the sun’s rays on the horizon.

‘For this,’ she replied.

He looked away to the table and took in the petals on the floor.

‘No,’ she clarified. ‘For this,’ she said, holding the necklace with her fingers and his gaze with her eyes.

The muscle at his jaw flexed as his eyes blazed with golden shards.

‘You knew?’ he asked. ‘All along, you knew it was from me?’

Helena smiled, a little rueful, a little sad. ‘Leander said he’d picked it because it was a pretty rose.’

‘It’s not a rose,’ Leo replied almost indignantly.

‘I know,’ she said, his response almost making her smile. ‘It was only you that ever remembered I loved peonies so much.’

‘Why didn’t you say something?’

‘Because at first it was easier for me to pretend and not cause any trouble for you.’

‘And then?’ he asked, his tone hesitant, as if he almost didn’t want to hear the answer but couldn’t help himself.

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