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Theo stared at her, his heart pounding. Snatching up a pillow, he rose from the bed. He turned to leave.
Then he stopped, staring blankly at the open door.
Emmie was his wife. If he kept her in the dark, yes, he’d remain safely in control. She couldn’t despise him for his past or use it against him.
But what would it mean for their marriage? Now that she knew he was hiding something awful, how long would it be before any chance of intimacy between them—physical or otherwise—was utterly destroyed?
Theo turned back to face her. “Fine,” he said hoarsely. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
AFTERAFRUSTRATINGnight when she’d tossed and turned, trying to understand the incomprehensible events yesterday, Emmie stared at her husband, scared to breathe, scared to break the spell. Was he finally, actually going to reveal his secrets?
Theo’s jawline, dark and unshaven, clenched as he looked toward the open porthole, out at the moon-swept sea. Outside, she heard the plaintive call of seagulls.
“The ruin was once my home,” he said softly. “Mine and Sofia’s.”
“In a mansion? On Lyra?” Her lips parted. “I thought you were found by your uncle, roaming the streets of Athens.”
“I was—later.” His lips curled humorlessly. “It’s only because I had so many names as a boy that no one’s ever learned the full story. Technically Sofia is my half sister. I was ten when she was born.”
“She lives on Lyra?”
He exhaled.
“Paris,” he said finally.
Honestly, it was like getting blood out of a turnip.
Clasping her hands in her lap over the king-size comforter, Emmie tried to control her desire to know more. She thought of the emotion she’d seen yesterday as Theo and his sister had watched the destruction on shore. To the untrained eye, he might have seemed stoic, but she’d seen his jaw tighten, his hands clench, his dark eyes blink hard and fast. Someone who didn’t know him well might have thought he was angry.
But she’d seen Theo angry. Many times. He’d even been angry at her once or twice, when she’d been distracted by her mother’s latest cancer prognosis and accidentally double-booked an appointment, then put a call through from an ex-mistress he was trying to avoid.
But what Emmie had seen in him yesterday went far beyond anger. There’d been an undercurrent of something powerful. Something he hadn’t known how to deal with. She’d watched his tender concern for his young sister, who’d seemed devastated. And Emmie had known, whatever this dark cloud was over the siblings, it was so awful it had changed the course of their lives.
Very gently, she asked now, “What happened?”
Sitting abruptly on the bed beside her, Theo searched her gaze, and for a moment she thought he wouldn’t answer. Then he said in a low voice, “I’ll tell you. Then you’ll never ask me about it again. Ever.”
“All right.”
“You know my father died when I was a baby.” Theo looked down, twisting the plain gold band on his left hand. “My mother was an addict. Not just drugs. She was addicted to falling in love. She made...bad choices. My stepfather was the worst. He was handsome, rich. After two divorces, when she met him she thought she finally had the fairy tale. I was ten when we went to live on Lyra. But his money didn’t last. He started blaming her. Hurting her. Then he hurt me when I tried to get between them. Then finally...” His throat seemed to close. He said hoarsely, “There was a fire. I was only able to save my sister.”
“Oh, Theo,” she whispered, reaching out to touch his arm. He didn’t seem to notice.
“My mother always thought love would save her,” he whispered. “It only brought her grief. And in the end...she died from it.”
Emmie saw the tightness in his black eyes, heard the faint wildness of his breath in the shadowy bedroom of the yacht.
“I finally was able to take possession of the house. What was left of it. And Sofia and I needed to see the final demolition. To remember.” His lips twisted. “Or maybe to forget.”
She could feel the violence of repressed emotion radiating from him in waves. Theo looked up, his handsome face stark.
“Is there anything more you want to know?”
Emmie’s heart was pounding. Did she need to know more? Did she evenwantto?
“Theo—”
