Page 62 of Reunited By the Greek's Baby

Theo hated the brittle edge to her usually warm voice and the tension he felt in her even as she lay naked against him.

‘I’m sorry, Isla. I never wanted to hurt you.’ He heard her swift intake of breath and continued. ‘But I knew you’d be hurt. The way I ended our relationship wasn’t ideal.’

‘It was brutal.’

‘Yes.’ He paused. ‘I was in a brutal place at the time.’ He didn’t have words to describe how terrible it had been, not just living in a cell, but the nightmare of it all, helpless to care for those who needed him.

‘I’m sorry, Theo.’ Warm lips pressed against his collarbone. ‘What I went through was nothing compared with what you suffered.’

‘Ah, Isla. Don’t apologise. I treated you badly even if it was for the best reasons.’

‘Tell me.’ She lay her head against him again and he felt the change in her, no longer taut with hurt but supple and receptive.

‘I was trying to protect you.’

She made a sound in the back of her throat, somewhere been a laugh and a snort of derision. ‘And I was trying to supportyou. You were the one locked up!’

‘And I appreciated it. Many so-called friends melted away once the news of my arrest broke.’ Fortunately his real friends hadn’t. ‘It meant a lot, knowing you believed in me.’

She snuggled closer. ‘I’m glad. At the time it didn’t seem like it.’

Guilt punched him. ‘I was brutal because I had to be. You kept turning up at the prison and it wasn’t a place for you.’ The thought of Isla, even in the waiting room of such a place, made him sick. ‘Ihadto send you away.’

Silence. Didn’t she believe him? But then he’d never fully shared this with her. His arms tightened, cradling her, his hand stroking her thick hair.

‘I felt tainted,’ he admitted at last. ‘And I wanted to protect you from that.’

‘Theo!’ He heard her outrage but ignored it.

‘My world caved in the day they arrested me, Isla. I truly hadn’t believed it possible they’d do such a thing and I wanted you well clear. I didn’t want you embroiled in something so sordid, especially when I wasn’t free to protect you. You’ve seen how fascinated the media is by you. Imagine what it would have been like if they’d learned you were my lover.’

He felt her shudder and knew that at last she began to understand. ‘It wasn’t just the almighty scandal. There was a dangerous edge to it with emotions running high and Stavroulis whipping up so much negativity. I feared for you. It even seemed possible the old man might take out his hatred on those closest to me.’

Before he hadn’t intended to share that with her, but he hated keeping things from her.

‘Oh, Theo.’ She shook her head, her hair brushing his skin.

‘I didn’t know how long it would take to clear my name.If ever.The authorities seemed unwilling to believe the evidence in my favour.’ For a while he’d feared he’d never be free. That still haunted his dreams. ‘I couldn’t allow you to stay in Greece, vulnerable to all that hatred.’

‘You pushed me away because you cared?’ Her voice was small, as if he’d taken her by surprise.

‘Of course. Even when I was released I couldn’t go to you. My mother and Toula needed me badly. I had to stay in Athens to support them. Toula was so fragile...’

Yet that had eaten at him. For the first time family obligation had grated, because it had prevented him going to Isla. He’d been falling for her, he realised with a quiver of recognition. He’d been enchanted by her, charmed, and hadn’t understood the depth of his feelings until he’d pushed her away.

No wonder he’d felt empty without her. She’d never been simply a romantic fling, had she? Even before her pregnancy, Isla had been important. She...

‘I wish you’d explained all that earlier.’

‘If I’d explained, would you have done what I wanted and left Greece?’

‘Probably not.’

Of course she wouldn’t. His woman was brave if reckless.

His woman.

Theo breathed deep, drawing in the truth of that to his very core. Islawashis woman. He felt it in his bones, in his head and his gut. He wanted to say it out loud, make her agree. But he couldn’t push her. He had to work for it. How was it that he knew, with every atom of his being, that they were meant to be together and Isla still couldn’t see it?

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