Modern Romance December 2016 Books 1-4. Кейт Хьюит

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СКАЧАТЬ me, I know. A very long seven years, at least in that regard.’

      ‘Why haven’t you...? I mean, there must have been women in Athens.’ Her mouth curved in a playful smile that he traced with the pad of his thumb. ‘And what about all those nannies who crawled into your bed? Maria told me about them.’

      Angelos gave a mock shudder. ‘I did not want any of them. They were brazen, grasping. But the truth is...’ He let out a sigh. ‘I had no desire for a woman, or for any of life’s pleasures. I felt numb...frozen even, after all the fire and then its aftermath. Survival was all I could manage. And like you, I hid away from life.’ He grimaced. ‘And now I have realised that Sofia paid the price.’

      ‘And, like me, you won’t hide away any more,’ Talia said softly. ‘Will you?’

      ‘No. For Sofia’s sake I will allow her to go to school on Naxos, and come to Athens with me on business trips. I decided that tonight. I’m not ashamed of my daughter, Talia.’

      ‘I know you’re not.’ Fresh tears shimmered on her lashes and she blinked them away. ‘You’re a good man, Angelos, even if you haven’t believed you are. I know you did everything you could the night of the fire, even if you refused to believe it. You couldn’t have saved them both. You couldn’t have.’

      Angelos’s face contorted for a second and then he threw his arm over his face as he took a few deep breaths. ‘I know you believe that...’ he began, and Talia pulled at his arm, needing to look at him, to have him see her and how serious she was.

      ‘You need to believe it,’ she said. ‘For Sofia’s sake as well as your own.’

      ‘I’m not sure I can.’

      She pressed her palm on his chest, felt the steady thud of his heart underneath. ‘In time, then,’ she said softly. ‘I know it isn’t easy. One boat ride doesn’t cure my claustrophobia, and living life outside the walls of my grandfather’s estate isn’t going to be easy. But with time, all things are possible.’

      ‘You believe that?’

      ‘I need to. And so do you.’

      He let out a sigh and then gathered her into his arms, resting his chin on top of her head. ‘Thank you,’ he whispered. ‘For giving me a second chance at life.’

      ‘You deserve one.’ They lay there quietly for a moment, their arms around each other, and Talia wondered if she would ever possess the courage to say all the things in her heart. That she loved him. That she didn’t want this to be some kind of fling. That she was already dreaming of for ever with this man, even though she knew it was crazy and unrealistic and maybe even impossible.

      But what if it wasn’t?

      What if they could have a love that healed their old hurts and brought them both a second chance at life, made them into the family Sofia needed, that they needed? What if?

      In that moment, with Angelos’s arms around her so securely, it all seemed possible, like a promise shimmering on the horizon, almost able to be grasped if she just dared to reach for it. If they both did.

      Angelos stroked her hair and she snuggled against him, contentment vibrating through her bones, sleep beginning to settle over her.

      Her eyes were starting to drift closed when her gaze settled on the book lying on the bedside table. A slender, leather-bound tome with hand-tooled engraving. Giovanni’s book.

      Her gaze snapped open and every nerve twanged with realisation as she struggled out of Angelos’s embrace.

      ‘Talia...’ His voice was fuzzy with sleep. ‘What...’

      ‘The book,’ she said, the words spilling from her. ‘You really do have the book.’

      She felt Angelos’s body stiffen in surprise and he propped himself up one arm. ‘Book? What book?’

      ‘This...’ Reverently Talia reached for the book of poetry. The leather was butter-soft and worn. She flipped the book open and let out a gasp of both surprise and satisfaction at the sight of the inscription, which she read aloud: ‘“Dearest Lucia, For ever in my heart, always. B.A.”’ She smiled, feeling emotional all over again. ‘Just like he told me.’

      Belatedly Talia registered the tension emanating from Angelos’s body. He withdrew from her, sitting up, his arms folded across his chest. ‘Just like who told you, Talia? And how the hell do you know about my wife’s book?’

       CHAPTER FIFTEEN

      ANGELOS WATCHED AS Talia slowly closed the book and turned to him, her smile sliding off her face, her eyes shadowing, her shoulders starting to hunch. Guilt. That was what was written on her face, all over her body, in bold, stark letters. Guilt.

      ‘Well?’ he bit out. ‘Do you have an answer?’ He didn’t even know what to think, how to process what she had said. How could Talia possibly know about Xanthe’s precious book? And what on earth had she meant, he really did have it? Suspicions formed on the horizon of his mind, a boiling black cloud of fear and anger that was moving closer, drowning out all rational thought. ‘Why can’t you explain it to me?’

      ‘I can,’ she said. Her voice sounded small and she was clutching the book to her chest.

      ‘Put down the book,’ Angelos barked out, driven by a deep and overwhelming emotion he couldn’t name; he only felt himself trapped in its clutches. ‘Don’t you dare touch it.’

      Talia’s gaze widened and carefully she returned the book to his bedside table. ‘I’m sorry.’

      ‘So am I.’ Angelos rolled out of bed, swearing under his breath as he reached for his clothes.

      ‘Angelos, please. Don’t...’

      ‘Don’t what? Ask questions? Demand answers? Why do I feel like there is something you are not telling me? Something big?’

      ‘There is,’ she admitted, and her words were like a hammer blow to his fragile, taped-together heart. Everything inside him shattered. She leaned forward, kneading the sheet between her fingers, her golden-brown hair falling over her freckled shoulders, making him desire her even now, a realisation that sent disgust following hard after. ‘But, Angelos, please,’ she said. ‘It doesn’t have to be big.’

      ‘Why don’t you let me be the judge of that,’ he snapped, and yanked on his trousers.

      ‘Please,’ she whispered. ‘If you could just see...’

      ‘See what? That you lied to me?’ He grabbed his shirt and thrust his arms through the sleeves. ‘Because that’s what you did, isn’t it?’ He pointed to the book lying on the bedside table, the book his wife had cherished. ‘How did you know about that book?’

      Talia swallowed hard, the muscles jerking in her slender throat. ‘My grandfather once owned it. It was a treasured possession of his.’

      ‘Another lie,’ Angelos dismissed. ‘That book has been in my wife’s family for generations.’ She paled at that and he gave a hard, derisive СКАЧАТЬ