Grinding his teeth, Stavros clawed back his dark hair. “Look, if you don’t trust me, why are we even married?”
Folding her arms, she glared at him in turn. “Yes, why, when Freddie and I barely see you anymore?”
Exhaling with a flare of nostrils, Stavros glanced at his watch, imagining the conference call had already started. If he didn’t hurry, it might cost his company millions of dollars. But that wasn’t the reason he had to get away from her, from the bewildered suffering he saw in her expressive green eyes.
“Fine,” he growled. “We’ll talk. Tonight.”
“All right.” Biting her lip, she lowered her arms and said uncertainly, “I just remembered. Today is the anniversary of your diagnosis last year. How are you feeling?”
“Never better,” he said shortly. “I got a clean bill of health last month. Still in complete remission.”
A warm smile lit up her face. “I’m so glad. I wish you’d told me you—”
“Look, Holly, I don’t mean to be rude, but can this wait? I have a conference room full of lawyers waiting.”
“Yes. Yes, of course.” She blushed a little, looking sweetly shy. “I’m looking forward to tonight. Will you be home early?”
“Unlikely,” he said shortly, wondering why she’d be excited for him to come home tonight so they could argue, and he could tell her, to her face, what she should have already known—that he’d never love her. “I’ve got to go.”
“All right.” She came closer, her eyes glowing, her expression caught between hope and fear. “There’s something I want to tell you. Something important. I—”
But as she looked at him, something made her expression change. Something made her back away.
“Never mind,” she choked out, shaking her head. “It doesn’t matter. I’ll see you later—”
And she turned, and fled his office with the baby.
Stavros exhaled, relieved. Maybe he’d been wrong. Holly wasn’t falling for him. She was too smart to give her love to a man who didn’t deserve it. And what could a man like Stavros ever do to truly deserve her love and light?
He couldn’t. So there was no point in trying. It would only lead to loss and darkness—
Pushing away the twist in his gut—it felt like being punched—he clenched his hands into fists. Striding out of his office, he barked at one of his assistants, “Call my lawyer. I want the deal with my cousin canceled at once.”
He didn’t slow down to hear the reply. Because if there was anything his illness had taught him, it was that life was short. You had to do the important things now, because you never knew if there would be a tomorrow. You had to know what was really, truly important.
And blocking out all emotion from his soul, Stavros hurried to the conference room, where a billion-dollar deal waited.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
SHE’D ALMOST MADE a horrible mistake.
Holly was still shaking as she pushed the stroller down the long city block toward the small café where she was supposed to meet her sister for coffee.
She’d been heartbroken when she’d woken up to discover Stavros had never come home last night. When her sister had invited her out for her birthday, she’d chosen a café near his office. She’d gone there with her heart on fire, half longing for him, half hurt.
And she’d nearly blurted out that she loved him. Surely, once he knew that, once he understood that he held her heart in his hands, he would treat her with greater care?
But looking at his coldly handsome face in his office, Holly had suddenly realized that he wouldn’t. Because he already knew.
He knew she loved him. But he didn’t want her to speak the words aloud.
Because then he’d be forced to admit he didn’t love her back.
Now, hurt and grief threatened to overwhelm her as she maneuvered the stroller down the Midtown sidewalk, crowded with last-minute holiday shoppers. The windows were full of brightly decorated Christmas scenes. But in her current mood, as her eyes fell on the vestiges of melted snow in the shadowed places on the sidewalk, the city seemed gray and dirty. Just like her dreams.
Her baby gave a little plaintive cry from the stroller, snapping Holly back to reality. Stopping on the corner to wait for the crosswalk light, she caressed Freddie, even as she fiercely blinked back tears. Reaching into his blankets, she found his pacifier and popped it back into his mouth, causing him to settle back into the stroller.
Straightening, Holly took a deep breath. As the light changed, she crossed the street surrounded by happy, smiling crowds laden with holiday gifts. Looking down at Freddie in the stroller, she felt her heart in her throat as Stavros’s words came back to her.