Greek’s Shotgun Wedding (The Diamandis Heirs #1)

Chapter Ten

CHAPTER TEN

A CHILLEUS G EORGIOU SIPPED his coffee and studied his daughter with a frown. Her eyes were red-rimmed, her lovely face pale and strained, shadows suggesting a sleepless night. ‘Tell me what’s wrong,’ he urged her, thoroughly disconcerting her with that personal question.

‘There’s nothing wrong,’ Gigi hedged, even though she had barely slept the night before for fretting about losing Jace, losing her baby, losing Mo, losing any prospect of happiness. She had also fretted about her high blood pressure because now she had to doubt the healthy body she had once naively taken for granted. And then Jace, who had not come to bed with her because she had chosen to sleep with the dogs and the cat in the room next door, had greeted her at breakfast as though he had not a single care in the world. Furthermore, after learning that she was meeting with her father that morning, he had suggested that they lunch out later because she wasn’t working. As if she were capable of enjoying a lunch out in the mood she was in!

‘No, this is about something else,’ she warned her father, lifting the bundle of letters from the bag she had stowed them in and extending them to the older man. ‘I found them when I was cleaning out Mum’s attic.’

Achilleus had stiffened and he went through the unopened letters that spanned half a dozen years with frowning concentration. ‘Did Nadine not even open them to read?’ he muttered in dismay and astonishment.

‘Apparently not...it’s left me with questions I’d really like you to answer. What happened between you that she wouldn’t even read your letters?’

‘She said she would never forgive me if I left her and she kept her promise,’ he acknowledged heavily. ‘I need to start at the beginning. Katerina and I married as soon as we left school. We had the four boys, one after another, while I was building our first business. We hardly saw each other and ten years down the road she told me that she wanted a separation. I was devastated. At first, I didn’t think she was serious. I moved in with my mother to give her some space to think but it didn’t change anything. She went back to work and decided that she would be happier without me.’

Gigi had flushed with mortification because she had always doubted her mother’s contention that her father had been separated from his wife when they met but now it seemed that that was true. Furthermore, it was disconcerting to learn that her father’s marriage had broken down when they were both still young.

‘Katerina and I lived apart for months and during that period I met Nadine. Your mother and I fell in love and planned to make a life with each other—’

‘How long were you and my mother seeing each other for?’ Gigi cut in. ‘I always assumed you’d only spent a few days together.’

‘No. After our first meeting, we met up several times in London and Athens before Nadine realised that she had conceived. We were together about six months before that happened. I planned to get a divorce and move to London to set up a business there...but I’m afraid that turned out to be very much a fantasy.’ Achilleus winced in embarrassment at that memory. ‘But I was thrilled when Nadine told me she had conceived because I’ve always loved children. And then, unfortunately for all of us, real life and misfortune stepped in and what I had with your mother fell apart.’

‘What happened?’

His face shadowed. ‘First, I did my sums. I didn’t have enough money to provide for Katerina and the boys and start a new life in London. Your mother wanted to pay for everything but I refused to live off her and she couldn’t accept that. We began to argue—’

‘She could only see her own point of view—’

‘And she couldn’t compromise about anything. She wasn’t prepared to even consider moving jobs even after she was offered lucrative work in Athens,’ he confided heavily. ‘And then everything else went wrong all at once. Katerina got breast cancer. She didn’t tell me...my mother told me. I couldn’t leave Katerina alone to deal with the boys while she was undergoing chemotherapy. There were problems with me trying to manage the business long distance as well. I came home because I had to. Understandably your mother was furious. She felt betrayed. We were a couple and I was leaving her to come back here to support my estranged wife—’

Gigi frowned. ‘But your kids were still your responsibility.’

‘But so were you —although at that stage you hadn’t even been born. Nadine swore that if I returned to Rhodes, I would never be allowed contact with you. And that’s basically the whole story. Your mother ignored my letters and returned any child support money I sent. But I still can’t believe that she didn’t even read my stupid letters!’

‘I’m sorry it ended like that. I’m sorry that you tried to have a relationship with me but she wouldn’t allow it—’

‘I could’ve visited, not often but enough that you would have known me as your father!’ Achilleus argued plaintively.

Gigi leant forward and grasped his hand to squeeze it with sympathy because he had ditched his pride to tell her the whole story. ‘It means so much to me that you tried to have a relationship with me,’ she confessed. ‘Why didn’t you tell me all this when I first arrived on Rhodes?’

‘It was so messy, and nothing can change the fact that I did let your mother down and she was entitled to be bitter and unforgiving,’ he said heavily, guilt hanging over him like a dark cloud.

‘You owed your first loyalty to the children you already had, and you had to support them as well. Mum didn’t neglect me. She wasn’t the most affectionate of mothers, but she did the job,’ Gigi contended.

Tears shimmered in the older man’s eyes and he looked hurriedly away before vaulting upright and taking an uncoordinated walk round the room. ‘I would have loved you very much if she’d given me the opportunity.’

‘I believe that.’ And Gigi did. ‘I gather that you and Katerina found your way back to each other.’

‘Yes. Her illness made us both grow up fast and we grew together. It was hard for her to accept you when you arrived on the island. She assumed that you would hate her because I’d reconciled with her and that made her feel uncomfortable.’

Gigi forced a smile. ‘She needn’t worry. My mother’s past isn’t my present.’

But as her father was leaving, she did question her own final statement. In truth her mother’s past and conditioning had always influenced her life. Nadine’s bitterness and distrust of men had given Gigi toxic expectations of the opposite sex and had made her afraid of ever trusting a man or depending on one. Involuntarily, she had brought that baggage into her relationship with Jace, judging him before he even spoke, always making assumptions, never giving him the benefit of the doubt, invariably assuming the worst. She was in a troubled mood of reflection when she joined him for lunch.

‘Where are we going?’ she asked.

‘It’s a surprise.’

‘Do you think I’m in the right mood for a surprise?’ she muttered tightly.

‘No, but you need one to lighten up...and we need to talk,’ Jace decreed, steadying her to step into the launch with the dogs.

Her heart sank. What she had forced him into admitting the night before had made it impossible for them to continue breezing along as though they were any other newly married couple. Putting an end date on a marriage made a nonsense of that marriage being a normal one. She had brought her mother’s bone-deep pessimism into her relationship with Jace and he fully recognised the fact. It shamed her to accept that she hadn’t had the maturity to think for herself, hadn’t once questioned her low expectations of him or compared his actual behaviour to her damaging convictions.

The limousine pulled off the coastal road into a leafy lane. Laced branches created a tunnel effect above them. ‘Where on earth are we?’ Gigi demanded.

‘Wait and see,’ Jace urged as the car pulled up outside a big sprawling cream house and he sprang out, letting the dogs run free as well.

‘Have we met the owners?’

‘They’re not here. They’ve already moved to Corfu to be near their daughter.’

‘So, what are we doing here?’

‘We’re having a picnic lunch,’ Jace told her cheerfully. ‘Indoors. It’s not really warm enough to eat outside.’

Withdrawing a key from his pocket, he herded her to the front door.

‘I’ve never had an indoor picnic,’ she confided.

‘You haven’t lived,’ Jace teased.

But she could see that he was nervous. Probably about the necessity of them talking and exchanging damaging bouts of honesty. Such as he fancied the socks off her, couldn’t keep his hands off her but didn’t want to be married to her for ever. Fair enough. No, it wasn’t fair enough, another voice said inside her. It was blasted unfair, after he had tempted her into falling in love with him.

Jace led her into a cosy entrance hall and she shivered even though she was only cold on the inside, cold with fear about what confessions they were about to exchange. ‘So, talk,’ she urged him with helpless impatience, not wanting to wait for the axe to fall.

Jace held up a silencing hand. ‘We eat first.’

He thrust open a door into a spacious room packed with comfy seating. A tiled Scandinavian stove emanated heat in one corner. The windows overlooked more trees that parted to frame a view of the sea. An elaborate picnic basket awaited them on the table and he opened it to set out plates and food and drinks.

Self-conscious as always, her mind in turmoil, Gigi ate several tiny snacks, prepared by their chef, and then embarked on a quiche. A sandwich in one hand, she paced the floor. ‘That’s a fabulous view,’ she remarked.

‘Do you want to tour the rest of the house?’

‘We might as well,’ she conceded as he drained his coffee cup and set it down to vault upright.

‘Is this the house that isn’t officially on the market yet?’ she asked.

‘Yes. It belongs to friends of Yaya’s. If we like it, we can move in whenever we like and spend the winter here before we make a decision,’ Jace told her.

Gigi strolled round, noting the spacious reception areas, seeing where updating would be required in utility areas. There was an indoor pool and a gym in the basement. She slowly climbed the stairs to find that there were plenty of bedrooms and a fabulous roof terrace, which overlooked the beach and the water.

‘The house comes with several acres and it’s very private—’

‘It’s a little big for one couple and a baby,’ she remarked awkwardly.

Jace shrugged, striving to play it cool. ‘But there might be more than one baby and then we’d be glad of the space,’ he dared.

‘I beg your pardon?’ Gigi almost whispered. ‘I thought you only wanted to stay with me until our daughter was born.’

‘No, that is what I assumed you might decide when we first married but it was never my plan. I want to keep you until we’re both old and grey, so room for more children in a house seems only sensible,’ Jace countered steadily.

Gigi blinked rapidly, convinced she had imagined that statement.

‘Of course, you’re now about to come up with forty reasons why what I just said can’t be true. But listen to me instead,’ Jace suggested, hands closing over her arms to direct her to a seat in the corner of a big bedroom and gently push her down on it. He squatted down in front of her and gripped her hands in his. ‘I’m sorry I checked out emotionally when we found out about the baby. I was in shock, but I wasn’t willing to share that with you. I thought it would make you feel worse, so I attempted to focus on only the practical things, only that seems to have rebounded on me. I could feel that I was losing you...’

Suddenly she had the guy she loved back and he was finally talking to her again about what really mattered. She stroked the back of his hands with loving fingers.

Jace breathed in deep. ‘I fell for you almost the same moment I met you, although it took me weeks to realise it. I don’t know why I fell for you, so there’s no point asking me why. Obviously, I was strongly attracted to you, but I love your personality even more. Your loyalty, your intelligence, your fondness for animals, your kindness, your warmth. I’m insanely in love with you and I can’t face my life without you in it. Before you, it was empty, directionless, boring—’

‘Jace...?’ she whispered shakily, looking dizzily at him. ‘Are you really saying this stuff?’

‘Are you finally listening?’

‘Of course I’m listening.’

‘Getting you to the church felt like trying to catch a tiger by the tail and stick it in a cage. I wasn’t at all sure I could persuade you to stay with me, but I’d have said anything to get that wedding ring on your finger. I mentioned the inheritance issue because it was practical, and you are always very practical. I didn’t want to risk upsetting you by telling you that I felt more for you than you did for me. I didn’t want you telling me that I was deluded or crazy to develop such strong feelings for you so quickly. So, I kept quiet because I was afraid of frightening you off—’

‘I’m not going anywhere...you couldn’t frighten me off,’ Gigi told him dreamily. ‘I’m mad about you as well and that has been such a worry because I had no idea at all you felt the same way. I just assumed you were being charming and nice because I was pregnant—’

Gorgeous green eyes collided with hers. ‘You love me? Then why did you make me freak out last night by asking me how long you can expect this marriage to last? That was horrible!’ he exclaimed with a look of strong reproof. ‘I want you with me for ever and ever and you don’t get time off for good behaviour or time to think about how you feel about me...you’re stuck with me! I need to be with you—’

‘I think I would quite like being stuck with you for eternity,’ Gigi admitted with a growing smile of happiness and the first sense of real relaxation she had experienced in months. It was a relaxation of tension, of constant worry and insecurity. The prospect of a real future with Jace filled her with pure, unalloyed joy.

Jace tugged her upright into the circle of his strong arms. ‘Eternity mightn’t be long enough, glykia mou . I’m fully committed and passionate about our marriage. And yet you fuss endlessly about all the small stuff. Like taking time off work when you’ll only be restricted for a few months. I’ll live anywhere in the world that you want...all I want is you and our daughter and I want you to be happy with me. You make me happy. It’s simple enough.’

Gigi gazed up at him in growing wonder. ‘I’m sorry I got so caught up in my work that I didn’t realise what I was doing to you. Sadly, there wasn’t anything but work in my life until you came along...and that was a major change for me. It made me vulnerable because I wasn’t used to feeling what you make me feel. I’ve been worrying so much. I couldn’t sleep last night—’

‘Do you think I slept? You even took my dog with you,’ Jace pointed out in reproof.

Gigi reddened and wrapped both arms round his neck. ‘Only because he knows I’ll let him into bed and you won’t.’

‘No dogs in our bed. That’s an unbreakable rule,’ Jace decreed.

Gigi pouted. ‘I was going to tell you how much I loved you until you said that,’ she teased.

‘Not falling for it,’ Jace warned, claiming a passionate kiss from her readily parted lips, edging her towards the bed.

‘We can’t...this isn’t our house!’ she exclaimed in dismay.

‘We’re about to become tenants. No reason we can’t check out the bed. I mean, you do like this place, don’t you?’

‘Space for the dogs and us and our baby, what do you think? I like having the sea right on the doorstep,’ she confided abstractedly, gazing up at him in slight amazement. ‘You love me this much that you’re happy to go the domestic route and lose your freedom?’

‘Ecstatic. You’re everything I didn’t know I needed and my day looks a lot brighter with you in it,’ he confided, spreading her across the bed, inching off her sweater by covert inches while kissing her, lean hands smoothing down over her slight frame possessively.

‘Why did you tell your family I was pregnant before the wedding?’ she queried.

‘I was happy about it and I couldn’t share that with you because you were freaking out. I was surprised by my own reaction. I realised that I was the guy who wanted to trap you with his child and it embarrassed me,’ Jace admitted, gently tugging her out of her skirt. ‘I don’t think I could have hung onto you if I hadn’t got you pregnant. I didn’t think you were that struck with me. You were too suspicious of me. I wanted more from you from the start and I told myself all sorts of things before I realised that I loved you...and then it all seemed so simple.’

He made slow, careful love to her, gazing down at her with tender green eyes, and her heart felt as though it were swelling inside her chest. Happiness filled her to overflowing in the aftermath when he told her again how much he loved her.

‘I fell for you the first night we had dinner...gosh, I was such a pushover!’ she groaned in mortification.

‘You were a total party pooper who went home and left me lying awake half the night fantasising about you,’ he contradicted.

Gigi brightened and laughed. ‘Serves you right. Oh, I have to tell you about my father...’

Jace listened, frowning several times. ‘Your mother was hard on him. As I see it, he didn’t have much choice.’

He talked about future plans for the house, one hand possessively splayed across the slight swell of her stomach.

Gigi snuggled close and listened. ‘That unbreakable rule you mentioned about the dogs—’

‘Not in the bed unless you want us to end up with a bed the size of Noah’s Ark,’ he quipped. ‘You’ll bring more dogs home in the future. You know you will. We’ll make them comfy somewhere outside our bedroom... OK?’

‘A Noah’s Ark filled with dogs kind of sounds cosy to me,’ she admitted drowsily.

‘But we will have children as well,’ he reminded her gently. ‘And they might want to share our bed too. Go to sleep, Gigi...’