Now, he was somehow in his father’s place. He hadn’t cheated, but he’d accidentally lied. There was no party. He wouldn’t, couldn’t, bear to think of himself as the villain in this equation.
“I’m sorry,” he said tightly. Admitting a mistake was difficult for him. He resisted the temptation to make excuses, to blame her for expecting too much when he’d been swamped with the business deal. Setting his jaw, he said only, “I forgot about the party. I will have my secretary arrange it as soon as possible.”
“Your secretary?”
His jaw tightened further. “Would you rather have a gift? Jewels? A trip?”
She took a deep breath. He saw tears in her eyes. “What I wanted was your time.”
Seeing her tears hurt him so badly, he couldn’t help lashing out. “Then you had unrealistic expectations. Did you really think our honeymoon could last forever?”
“Yes,” she whispered. She looked down at the big diamond ring sparkling on her left hand. It glittered like the tears in her eyes. “I love you, Stavros. Can you ever love me?”
It had finally come. The moment he’d dreaded. He wanted to avoid the question.
But looking at her miserable face, he had to tell her the truth.
“No,” he said quietly. “I’m sorry, Holly. It’s nothing personal. I told you. I’m just not made that way.”
Her shoulders sagged. Then she looked up with a tremulous smile. “I’m sorry, too. This is what you meant, isn’t it? About the conqueror and the conquered.”
“Yes.” His heart felt radioactive. Grimly, he buried it in lead, beneath ten feet of ice. “I never wanted you to love me.”
“I know. And I was so mad when you told me this would happen.” Her expression was wistful. “That I wouldn’t be able to resist falling in love with you.”
His shoulders felt painfully tight. “You’re a good person, Holly. I don’t want you to suffer.” He pleaded, “Can’t you be happy with the life we have? Can’t you just take your love back?”
Holly stared at him for a long moment, then slowly shook her head.
“I can’t. I can’t pretend not to love you. I can’t wish it away. I’m sorry. I know I’m putting you in a position you never wanted to be.” Blinking fast, she tried to smile through her tears. “It’ll be all right.”
Stavros frowned, coming closer. He yearned to wrap his arms around her, to comfort her. But how could he, when he himself was the reason she was crying? “It will?”
Holly nodded. “It’s time for me to grow up. To see things as they really are.” She looked at him. “Not as I wish they could be.”
He felt her words like an ice pick through his frozen heart. And it was then that he saw her old overnight bag, sitting by the front door.
“You’re leaving me,” he whispered, hardly able to believe it.
Looking away, Holly nodded. Tears were streaking her face. “I knew what you were going to say. But I...I guess I just had to hear it aloud. To know there was absolutely no hope.”
Reaching forward, he grabbed her shoulders and searched her gaze. “You don’t have to leave. I want you to stay...”
She shook her head. “I saw Nicole today. Oliver’s left her for another woman. In the past, I would have been scrambling to try to fix her life, to smooth her path. But she doesn’t need that anymore. She’s stronger than I thought. And you know what? So am I.” Lifting her gaze to his, she said simply, “I’ve been on my own before. I can do it again.”
Stavros dropped his hands. “On your own?”
“I once thought the only way I’d be loved was if I sacrificed myself for others. It’s taken all this—” she looked around the elegant, sparsely decorated penthouse “—for me to realize that’s not how love works. You can’t earn someone’s love by giving them your soul. They either love you, or they don’t.” She gave him a tremulous smile. “It’s all right, Stavros. Truly. You’ll be better off this way, too. You have nothing to feel bad about.”
“Holly, damn it—”
“It’s no one’s fault.” She tried to smile. “Thank you for telling me the truth.”
“And this is my reward?” A lump was in his throat. “To have you leave?”
“No one will be surprised when we break up. You gave your baby your name. That’s enough.” Wiping her eyes, she gave a wry grin. “I mean, come on, a secretary and a billionaire tycoon? No one would ever think that marriage could last.”
“And Freddie?” he said hoarsely.