Page 48 of The Arrogant's Surrender

He has a lean build but with muscles defined in all the right places. No one needs to tell me he works out, because his thighs are sculpted and his chest and arms look so deliciously firm I feel an urge to trace them with my hands.

Every so often, he looks at me without hiding what he's thinking, as if he can sense my desire too, and I have to make an effort to hide how excited I feel.

"They’re having so much fun. I never imagined Athanasios, with all that aloofness, would be good with kids," Eleanor says, smiling.

I haven’t told her about the conversation I had with him in the car, because I don’t want to ruin the weekend, especially since we decided to stay until Sunday. I let my mind torment itself with that madness alone.

"Maybe Silas won him over that first day," I finally respond.

"Yes, if there’s one thing to be said about our boy, it’s that he’s very charming." She takes a sip of the orange juice a staff member served earlier. "It was a good idea to move the boat trip to tomorrow. They’ll be wiped out from today’s travel. Anything that disrupts their routine tires them out by the end of the day."

"Yes."

"Why are you so quiet?"

"He asked me to go out on the yacht with him later, to watch the sunset at sea."

"And you don’t want to go?"

"I do, but should I?"

"Go, Brooklyn. God knows you’ve had your share of suffering in life. It’s time to be happy."

"And what if it’s not happiness I find but more pain?"

"You’ll never know if you don’t try, dear."

Eleanor steps into the water, offering to take over with the babies. She has a back problem she’s been treating, but in the pool, the weight of the twins is easier to manage.

As soon as she takes Athanasios's place, he walks over to me, standing in front of my slightly parted thighs but without touching me.

His gaze travels up my legs, stopping at the triangle of my bikini bottom, then my abdomen and chest. When it reaches my face, I feel like I’m on fire inside.

"Come with me for the boat ride later, Brooklyn," he asks again.

It’s not so much what he says but the way he says it that makes me feel like I might faint.

I nod, agreeing, and I think he wasn’t expecting that.

"Aren’t you afraid?"

"I am, but I want to go with you."

Athanasios

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

My intention wasto take her on the boat trip directly after lunch.

The desire between us is getting harder to control by the second, and I want some time alone with her.

However, as soon as we finish lunch, my phone rings. It's a call from Zeus asking to speak with me in private.

This morning, when we arrived, I called him to share new information about Enya and the opinion of my private investigator regarding Moses and her possibly being lovers.

I told him what Brooklyn had shared with me in the car: that the father of her children warned her not to let Enya get close to her or the twins.

Zeus then revealed he was conducting his own parallel investigation, which didn’t surprise me in the slightest. I know he’ll remove anything that might worry Madison or stand in the way of her happiness.

---