Kate Walker - Ruthless Revenge - Sinful Seduction - Demetriou Demands His Child / Olivero's Outrageous Proposal / Rafael's Contract Bride

‘I wanted you to tell me. I want to know.’

‘I feel guilty,’ Iolanthe burst out, her voice low and tormented. ‘Sometimes I wonder if Niko would have done better with me alone, rather than with a father who had no time for him. If I’d been more confident I wouldn’t have married Lukas. I would have struck out on my own, looking for that adventure I once told you about.’ She smiled through her tears and it felt like a fist closing around Alekos’s heart. ‘I wish I had. Maybe then...maybe then Niko wouldn’t have the struggles he has now.’

Her voice broke on the last words and Alekos reached for her. ‘You can’t lose yourself in regret,’ he said as he stroked her hair and she nestled against him. ‘You have to look towards the future.’ The feel of her body pliant against his pushed his self-control to the limit. He longed to tilt her face up towards his, kiss the tears from her cheeks and then plunder her plush mouth. But Iolanthe needed his comfort and compassion now, not his lust.

‘I suppose you’re right,’ she murmured, staying in the shelter of his arms.

It was advice he gave without taking himself, Alekos knew. For fourteen years he’d let the past guide and control him, shaping every action he took, even now. But unlike Iolanthe he had no regrets. Petrakis deserved to have his company destroyed. It had been built on Alekos’s hard work, after all. Even now he couldn’t let go of that knowledge, that goal. Especially now. Talos Petrakis had conspired to take his son from him as well as his business. He could have told Iolanthe the truth about what had happened long ago, could have allowed her to make up her own mind about who to marry.

Are you really going to blame Petrakis for your own failings? You’re the one who drove her away. Who told her to leave.

Perhaps Iolanthe felt the new tension in his body for she moved out of his embrace, turning her head away from him. ‘It feels strange to be comforted by you.’

Alekos flinched as if he’d been dealt a body blow. ‘I suppose it does.’

‘I’m not used to depending on anyone.’ She turned to face him, her gaze as clear as a full moon. ‘I’m afraid of depending on you, Alekos, of Niko depending on you.’

Alekos tried to keep the affront from his voice. ‘I won’t let you down.’

‘That requires a certain level of trust,’ Iolanthe answered as her gaze flitted away from his. ‘And trust has to be earned...for both of us.’

He hated the thought that she feared he’d fail her. Again. ‘Which is why we’re here. To get to know one another. To learn to trust one another.’

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