Page 28 of Reunited By the Greek's Baby

She’d captivated him though he hadn’t been able to put a finger on why, exactly. She was more down-to-earth than his previous lovers. More self-sufficient. More earnest about her work. Yet when she gave herself, it was unstinting, opening her mind and body in a way that made him feel like he’d been given the world.

She was a woman whose beauty and personality transcended clothes. Yet the male in him hungered to see her in satin and lace, beckoning him to her bed.

‘I care about you, Isla.’

No matter what he’d let her believe, what he’d told himself in prison, it had never been merely sex between them.

‘You’ve got a strange way of showing it.’ Her eyes flashed and it was like summer lightning stabbing out of a blue sky. ‘You lied about who you were then you rejected me. That’s not caring.’

Theo nodded and sat back as the waiter brought their food. He wasn’t used to explaining his motives. In the years since he’d taken control of his father’s company, he’d grown accustomed to making decisions, not just for himself but setting the direction for a commercial enterprise worth billions.

Perhaps that was why he felt unsettled. It couldn’t be nerves at the idea Isla wouldn’t accept his explanation or his plan to marry.

He waited till she’d begun to eat, wanting to make sure shecouldeat. But she tackled her food with no sign of nausea, as if she preferred to focus on that rather than him.

‘You’re right. I should have told you who I was from the start. I suppose I was used to being accepted as simply Theo when I came to the village. And Simon doesn’t treat me any different because of the money.’

‘But the money does make a difference when you’re talking about billions.’

‘True. Can you understand why it was appealing, connecting with a woman just as Theo? To be accepted for myself and not for status or material things?’ He hadn’t realised how important that was until he met Isla.

‘You mean you’re a poor little rich boy?’

Theo grunted with laughter. ‘Hardly. I know how lucky I am to have all I do. And I have no trouble identifying people who are genuine and those who aren’t. But it’s a fact that people who meet me are aware of my wealth. It’s not unusual for them to want to make my acquaintance because of what I can do for them. It’s why my short breaks on the island feel precious, as if I’m reconnecting.’

Theo frowned. He hadn’t thought about it in those terms before but it explained why increasingly he’d gravitated there and why he was considering building a house on the land where his great-grandparents had lived.

Athens didn’t hold the appeal it once had, not surprising given recent disastrous events. On the island everyone knew who he was but treated him as an equal. They protected his privacy from outsiders, which was why the rest of the archaeological team hadn’t known his identity.

‘Reconnecting to what?’

He took his time, chewing a morsel of food while he collected his thoughts. What, indeed? He hadn’t grown up on the tiny island where he and Isla had met.

‘I wasn’t born to money, you know.’

He saw her puzzled expression. She must be one of the few people who hadn’t researched his life from the multitude of media reports. Theo didn’t know whether to be pleased or disappointed.

‘My mother was born on the island, in that little house where you and I stayed. She left to work in Athens before I was born. That’s where she met my father and where I grew up.’

‘It must have been a big change for her, from life on a tiny island to being the wife of such a wealthy man.’

‘It was. More than you imagine.’ Theo’s smile felt tight. ‘Constantin Karalis wasn’t my biological father.’

It was clear from Isla’s expression that she didn’t know.

‘My mother fell in love with a man who wasn’t good enough for her. He dumped her when he discovered she was pregnant and she never saw him again. She spent the next ten years working every hour she could to support herself and me.’

‘She didn’t go home?’

Theo shook his head. ‘Her father had very traditional views about children born outside marriage. I think she wronged him and hope he’d have welcomed her back. But she’s stubborn too.’

‘A family trait?’

He smiled. ‘Could be. But we were happy together, we made a great team. I couldn’t ask for a better mother. But believe me,’ he leaned across the table towards the woman who carried his baby, ‘I know how tough it can be raising a child on your own.’

She stiffened. ‘You think I’m not up to it?’

‘Not at all. I’ve never met a more determined, self-sufficient woman. If anyone could do it well, you could.’

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