Attempting to dissipate it, I waved the phone at him. ‘He’s fine, by the way. According to Sophia, he went down without a fuss.’
Axios shrugged. ‘He’s almost four months old. I believe that as long as he’s warm and well fed he has very little to worry about.’
‘It’s a little more complicated than that. He needs love and laughter. He’s also at the stage where he’ll really start recognising his mother’s absence.’
Bleakness flashed across his face, momentarily slashing my insides. ‘What about his father’s? And whose fault is it that I’m not fully equipped with that information, Calypso?’ His voice throbbed with raw emotion.
‘Axios—’
His hand slashed through the air a split-second before he closed the gap between us and settled his hands on my shoulders. ‘I want to move on from this. But there are questions you still haven’t answered.’
My heart dipped. ‘Like what?’
‘What’s the big secret about your whereabouts? I hunted for you high and low. My investigators visited Nicrete—discreetly, of course, since I had to protect my family from untoward gossip. The general consensus there was that Calypso Petras was far too level-headed, far too considerate to have made such a selfish move. At least without assistance or coercion of some sort. Perhaps from a source no one had considered.’
‘What source?’
His tension heightened, his whole body seemingly caught in a live electric feed. ‘You tell me.’
‘Maybe a secret admirer? Perhaps even another man?’ I taunted.
A fierce little muscle ticked in his jaw. ‘Was it? Considering you were a virgin, I wasn’t inclined to think you would jump into another man’s bed that easily. Tell me I wasn’t wrong,’ he bit out.
He hadn’t thought the worst of me.
The idea of it left me nonplussed for several seconds, considering he still had no idea of my whereabouts for the past year. Considering he had to have overheard some of the blatant whispers at the party.
‘Why the interrogation? I thought you were all about keeping up appearances? Convincing the world that my absence was a well-orchestrated plan?’
‘That’s been taken care of. The results will be evident soon enough. Let’s discuss us,’ he said, then immediately frowned as if he hadn’t expected to say that.
Pe
rhaps he hadn’t. After all, wasn’t he the man who’d never engaged in a relationship that lasted more than a few weeks?
‘Us? Are you sure? You seem as surprised by that word falling from your lips as I am to hear it.’
For the longest time he stared at me. Then he shrugged. ‘Only a fool stays on a course that’s doomed. Perhaps I’m embracing new changes. Attempting to be...different.’
My heart lurched, even as I tamped down fruitless hope. All this meant nothing. Not if my prognosis was as dire as my senses screamed that they were. Not if this marriage was ticking down to dissolution.
‘Can we not do this here? I’d like to go back in.’
‘Why? So Stavros can succeed at working his angle?’
I blinked in surprise. ‘What are you talking about?’
He edged me back a step, following me so we were wedged against the stone balustrade. ‘Just a heads-up. His marriage is on the rocks. He’s attempting to raise his stature by undermining my authority every chance he gets—chances which, unfortunately for him, haven’t been readily available. I’d rather not see you be his pawn,’ he breathed, his voice absolutely lethal while being so soft.
Too late, I accepted that the fire inside me was building out of control. His body surged closer, reminding me in vivid detail of the hard-packed, streamlined definition of muscle beneath his bespoke suit. And the fact that his body could render me speechless with very little effort.
‘You can stand down. I can take care of myself.’
‘Ne, I’m beginning to see that,’ he murmured, and again there was the barest hint of grudging acceptance in his eyes.
But I didn’t get the chance to explore the discovery because his head slowly lowered.
Hot, sensual and commanding, his lips slanted over mine. With a gasp that was way too husky and way too revealing I threw up my hands. Somewhere in the back of my head I was aware that I’d dropped my phone. But it didn’t seem to matter, because his tongue was delving between my lips, seeking entrance I was helpless to deny.