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There were definite shadows under her eyes and he could see pain and grief in the tight lines around her lush mouth. She was very pale, the black making her seem even paler, and yet...
Still so beautiful.
‘I can,’ he said, ignoring the kick of desire inside him that wouldn’t seem to leave him alone. There was a reason he’d avoided her since coming back to this place and all the memories associated with it, and, while he had himself under tight control, there wasn’t any need to make things any more difficult than they already were. ‘And to be clear, it’s not the inheritance I want. In fact, once you’re my wife, I’ll sign ownership of this island and Kalathes Shipping over to you. I have Eleos and don’t need anything else filling up my already limited time.’
Those feathery golden lashes fluttered as she blinked yet again. ‘So, what? You’ll just marry me and give me children and I’ll get to stay on Kalifos?’
‘Why not? You can manage the company if you so choose, or sell it. I don’t care what you do with it. And you’ll have the family you always wanted.’
‘But...it’s marriage, Atticus. We have to stay married for five years. And do you really want children?’
He wasn’t sure why she was arguing with him, a bad idea with this knot of temper still sitting in his gut. ‘I don’t, no. But you want them, I’m assuming?’
‘Yes, but—’
‘Then what’s the problem? I can give you children and you can bring them up on Kalifos. You’ll have a family of your own.’
She took a little breath. In her hands was a damp tissue that she’d wadded up and was in the process of tearing apart. ‘A family that won’t include you.’
‘No,’ he agreed. ‘But I’m not the one who wants a family.’
‘And my idea of a family includes the father of my children.’
He lifted a shoulder. ‘We can compromise on a few things.’
‘You can’t want to marry me,’ she insisted.
‘I don’t want to marry anyone.’ He paused. ‘But you should be provided for.’
She glanced away, giving a strange, bitter-sounding laugh. ‘So, what? You care about me all of a sudden? After sixteen years? The sex must have been really good.’
Another sharp pulse of anger went through him, though since he’d spent the whole week gripping his emotions by the throat, he certainly wasn’t going to release it now.
There was no point giving in to his fury at his father, or at himself for those sixteen years of no contact with her, not even once. He’d thought she would have forgotten about him, but it was clear she hadn’t.
And then you had sex with her, before telling her it was a mistake. She was a virgin, you heard her lie about that, and you let that go, treating her like you’d treat any other of your lovers. She deserved more from you.
He didn’t like the feeling that sat inside him, the defensiveness and beneath it the shame. Firstly that he hadn’t contacted her while she was growing up and then that he’d let her lie. That he’d taken her on the couch and even now couldn’t get the memory of the feel of her skin and the taste of her body out of his head. Her passionate kisses and the way she’d called his name.
You’d like her to be your wife. You’d like to give her children.
He ignored the voice in his head, ignored the desire that still gripped him and the anger that lay burning in his gut. Ignored the way his attention kept focusing on the beat of her pulse in the hollow of her throat and the way the deep V neck of her black dress revealed the soft shadows between her breasts.
‘The sex was good,’ he said, because she deserved that truth from him at least. ‘In fact, the sex was phenomenal. And you’re wrong to think I didn’t care. I kept tabs on you while you were growing up. I wanted to make sure Aristeidis was looking after you properly.’
She gave him a sudden, piercing look. ‘But you never contacted me, not once.’
‘No. I...thought it would be better if I didn’t.’ It was the truth. He had thought that. He’d wanted her to forget him, to forge a relationship with his father instead. ‘And I expected you to forget me.’
Emotions flickered over her face, gone so fast he couldn’t read them all. But he thought he saw pain and grief and the sparks of something hotter, probably anger. ‘Yes, well,’ she murmured. ‘I didn’t forget.’ She was still tearing up the tissue in her hands and his gaze kept getting drawn to the neckline of her dress, and he could smell her scent, the tart sweetness of apples. It made him want to take a bite right out of her...
He gritted his teeth. ‘Regardless of the past, we need to sort this out now. My offer stands. I rescued you all those years ago, Elena. I wanted to give you a family and a home, and it’s not your fault that you’ve now lost that family and home. You deserve to have another chance at one.’
‘So, it’s your guilty conscience talking, then.’
Another flicker of anger caught at him, loosening the stranglehold he had on his detachment. ‘Does it matter?’ He didn’t bother hiding the impatience in his voice. ‘You need to stay here, where you grew up, and if that means marrying me then I don’t see the issue. I can give you everything you ever wanted, Elena. It’s only a couple of signatures on a piece of paper. It’s no big deal.’ He hadn’t consciously imitated her saying sex was no big deal, but he heard the echoes of it all the same.
It didn’t matter, though. And it wasn’t a big deal. His focus would always be Eleos, and marriage wasn’t going to change that. He wouldn’t live here, not in this house full of memories. Memories of the big brother he’d lost and the father who’d turned his back on him. A father who was now gone and good riddance to him.
