‘And that is your fault for hiring an English lawyer,’ Nikos bit back in English, his father staying silent for once.
‘What did he say?’ David asked through the phone’s speaker.
‘Nikos was calling me seven shades of a fool for not having a DNA test done before bringing Anna and Amalia here,’ Dimitri explained, the fury he felt making his tone harsh. ‘I will make this clear once and for all. I would never allow my child to grow up knowing that her place with me was determined only by a positive test. Or growing up thinking that she’s only worth her DNA.’
‘Then you are a fool,’ stated Nikos.
‘She is my daughter. I know it. And, as her father, it’s my job to protect her from pain. Whether financial or emotional.’
Nikos looked as if he was about to reply, when his father cut him off.
‘If my son says that she is his, then she is his.’
It was as if a bucket of ice-cold water had been thrown over him. The hairs rose on his arms, and breath locked in his lungs. Never, ever had his father shown such confidence in him before. He stared at Agapetos, though the older man refused to meet his gaze, whether from discomfort at the emotional statement, or... Dimitri didn’t know what else it could have been. His entire life he’d been waiting, hoping for a sign of kindness, affection, even just support from his father, and it happened now? Did he feel guilty over Manos’s actions?
‘Leave us,’ Agapetos ordered his lawyer. There was a brief battle of wills, but eventually Nikos left the room, leaving him alone with his father. Feeling as if the ground had shifted beneath him, Dimitri waited.
‘You will marry her?’
‘I’m doing everything in my power to ensure that happens.’
‘Good. That is good.’
Dimitri frowned. He’d expected his father to say the words Nikos had uttered, not this. Not his desire to see him married with a child.
‘I’d...’ His father took a deep breath and pressed on. ‘I’d like to see this as a new beginning. A fresh start...for all of us. Anna and Amalia included. I’m not saying it will be easy, but I’d like to try.’
Dimitri could only nod, as his father swept an arm over his shoulder the way he had seen him do with Manos time and time again.
‘Then I’d like, very much, to see my granddaughter.’
* * *
Anna watched the two men leave the room from the shadowed enclave beside the study. She had gone in search of Dimitri after feeling his absence too long and had paused the moment she’d heard David’s voice on the phone asking what was being said.
She had listened, her heart in her mouth at Dimitri’s simple words, his resolute defiance of the man he called Nikos... They had struck her as something incredible. There was so much loaded into Dimitri’s response, Anna struggled to unpick it. His love for his child and the trust he had in her, trust that she had taken for granted. He’d asked her only once if Amalia was his daughter. That was all it had taken.
She wanted that for Amalia. A father who would care for her, protect her, stand up for her. Again, the bittersweet slice of pain each time Dimitri said or did something good reminded her of the lack that she had grown up with. She knew how easy it was for a father to turn away from his child, to fail in that one duty, even to replace that child with another family...
As Dimitri’s wife, that wouldn’t happen. As Dimitri’s wife, she would be ensuring that her daughter was protected, cared for and loved even. She might not be able to expect those things for herself, but she would secure them for her daughter. What she would, however, secure for herself was protection. For her heart.
CHAPTER FIVE
Dear Dimitri,
Today I made a deal with the devil.
DIMITRI PACED THE length of the patio, moonlight his only companion as Anna settled their daughter in her bedroom. He knew that she had something on her mind, having been quiet the entire journey back from his father’s house. And that suited him fine. He was still reeling from his father’s behaviour. He had cooed over his grandchild in a way Dimitri never imagined Agapetos had done with either him or Manos. Was it possible that they could have the fresh start his father had promised? Could he forgive the hurts of the past? Could he push away the difficult memories and feelings that he associated with his father, his childhood?
Anna came out onto the patio and hovered behind a seat at the large handcrafted table he’d bought from one of the local tradesmen. He watched as she ran her fingers over the fine grain of the wood, the moonlight glinting off the slight curls in her long, dark hair.
‘I...’ She paused, seeming to struggle over what she had to say. She pressed on again. ‘I will marry you.’
It was not what he’d expected. In fact, he had returned to the house, ready to counter her objection to marrying him with more threats and more anger. So it took Dimitri a moment to catch up with the elation that was coursing through his body.
‘But I have a few conditions.’
This was a different Anna to the one who had sat in the small staff area of her B & B, the one who couldn’t meet his eyes. This Anna was the Anna he’d met that night three years before. Calm, assessing, in control. As if muscle memory moved within him, the taste of arousal pierced his tongue. She was glorious again. He wasn’t concerned about her conditions, but he would let her voice them. Negotiation was about give and take. But what she didn’t yet know was that Dimitri intended to take everything that he wanted.