Page 30 of The Reason for His Wife's Return

God, the man could weave magic with those fingertips. On her feet, on her neck and shoulders and elsewhere. Suddenly, she felt stupid for churlishly refusing what he’d offered back in the penthouse. And sitting in relative dark with his fingers pressing into her feet, with his eyes devouring her, tension thrummed through her, seeking release.

“Because we’re looking for a new home. We won’t move for a little while but before your due date. Which one did you like the best?”

“I like the Carides mansion best. And Leo would be heartbroken if we moved out just when the babies are about to come. And Stella too.”

“He can live with the disappointment. Although he will have an invitation to come live with us if it pleases him.”

“Why are we moving at all?”

“The mansion is only accessible by the chopper or it’s a two-hour drive to the nearest city. What if you need something in the middle of the night? What if something goes wrong and we have to visit your specialist?”

“But you already employed an army of people to see to my every need, want and demand, Aristos. I don’t know if I should be ashamed or proud that this pregnancy and I have created an entire new economy.”

“It’s not enough to put my mind at ease, Mira.”

“And what about my peace of mind?” she said, unable to stop the words.

“Would it really bother you if I continued with my racing?”

“Of course it would. Why else would I make a big deal out of it?” She studied his gleaming gaze in the dark, wondering what he was thinking. “Please, Aristos. Tell me what’s going on in your mind.”

“I was angry that you didn’t tell me immediately. Angry enough that I wondered why I should make so many changes in my life for someone who doesn’t trust me. Who thinks the worst of me. Who doesn’t wish to—”

“None of that is true. Not anymore. And to show you good faith, I’m also willing to compromise, to put your mind at ease.”

He raised a brow.

“We—including Leo—will move to the penthouse a month before my due date. And stay there for a few months after the babies come. I checked the floor plan and there’s enough rooms to accommodate my sisters and Caio. Oh, and Stella. She’ll kill me if I exclude her. But eventually, I wish to move back to the mansion. Maybe after the first few months and we all get into a routine.”

“I didn’t know you were that attached to the Carides mansion.”

“I... I have good memories associated with that house. The summers we spent together... They mean something to me. They...were some of the most wonderful times of my life.”

“You want me to believe that you’re sentimental about the place because that’s where we—”

“We fell in love once, yes. Is that so hard to believe?” Mira didn’t wait for him to answer her. Because she knew where that road would lead. And she was so tired of looking back, of letting the past dictate her present and future. “And the fact that it’s only accessible by chopper works in my favor.”

“I can’t wait to hear the why of this.”

“Leo told me that you’d never return home every day if you returned to work full-time. Especially after the long break you’ve been forced to take due to the accident.”

He smiled and the warmth of it teased out her newly fragile hope. “My grandfather is a traitor.”

“I’m grateful for his advice on how to deal with you.”

“How to manipulate me, you mean?”

“We have hurdles enough as we navigate this... I don’t want to take the chance that I might become an afterthought once you go back to your corporate world and your thrill-seeking ways. It’s not selfish to want you close through this pregnancy and when the babies come, is it?”

“But you’re inviting the whole world into our lives, into our very home for the birth,ne? Do you still need me?”

And Mira heard it then. The doubts he hid beneath the silky taunt. Saw the tight jut of his jaw, the tension wreathing his frame. She didn’t understand the source of it—not unless he shared them with her. Not unless he trusted her enough to share them with her, and she had no idea how to bring that about. But for now, she did have the courage and hope to give him the truthful answer.

“Not the whole world, Aristos. Just my sisters and Caio. And Stella, of course. I want them all here. I want our babies to be surrounded by people who love them and adore them from the first moment. Did you know that they absorb everything around them—the sights and sounds and feelings—from the moment they come into this world?” Her throat ached but in the best way. “I want them to feel so much love that they never doubt how much they’re wanted. I want my sisters and Stella and Caio and Leo to spoil them rotten while you and I teach them right and wrong. And as for your second question... I want you close for myself. I need you there because I want to do this with you by my side. I want to share every high, every joy, every pain and every flinch with you during this whole thing and after because I—”

She never finished her thought, for Aristos was lifting her and depositing her in his lap. And then he was kissing her with a breathtaking intensity, lapping at her mouth, invading it with his tongue, stroking every inch of her, and Mira thought she might die of the sheer pleasure of his need.

His hands and mouth were everywhere on her, stroking and cupping, caressing and nipping, his words drawing a trail of heat wherever they touched.

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