‘If you’re unhappy then it’s your own fault.’ There was no sympathy in his face. ‘If you’d stayed at home with your family instead of destroying it, your life wouldn’t be falling apart.’
‘I did not destroy our family! You did that.’
‘You are a hopeless dreamer. You always have been. You’re a sitting duck for the first guy who comes along and shows you some attention.’
‘That is enough.’ A cold, hard voice came from behind her and Selene turned to see Stefan standing there in all his powerful fury, that angry gaze fixed on her father. ‘You don’t speak to her again—ever.’
‘And why would you care, Ziakas? You used her.’
‘No. It was you who used her. You used her to project the image of a happy family but you’ve never been a father to her. And I care because I love her and I won’t let you upset someone I love.’
Selene couldn’t breathe.
She’d wanted so badly to hear him say those words. Even though she knew he’d only said it to protect her from her father, she felt something twist inside her.
There was a long silence and then her father laughed. ‘You don’t believe in love any more than I do.’
‘Don’t bracket us together.’ Stefan’s voice was pure ice. ‘I am nothing like you.’ He took her hand, his touch firm and protective as he drew her against him. ‘Let’s go. There’s nothing for you here.’
* * *
Stefan steered her through the crowd and down into the gardens. She was pale and unresponsive, walking where he led her but not paying any attention. Only when he was sure they were in private did he stop walking and that was when he saw the tears.
Her face was streaked with them, her eyes filled with a misery so huge that it hurt him to look at it.
‘He’s not worth it.’ He cupped her face in his hands, desperate to wipe away those tears while everything inside him twisted and ached just to see her so unhappy. ‘He isn’t worth a single tear. Tell me you know that. Theé mou, I wish I’d punched him again just for having the nerve to approach you.’
‘He waited until I was alone.’
‘Like the coward he is.’ Seriously concerned, he gathered her close, hugged her tightly. ‘I had no idea he was even here or there is no way I would have let you walk away from me. Takis is here, but because you were with me—’
‘I can protect myself. I’ve done it my whole life.’
‘And the thought of you alone with him, growing up with him, horrifies me. I can’t bear to think of it.’
‘You grew up alone. That’s worse.’
‘No. It was easier. All I had to do was move forward. You had to escape before you could do that. Every time I think about how I messed that up I go cold.’
‘It was my fault for not telling you. Don’t let’s go over that again.’ She eased out of his grasp and brushed the heel of her hand over her cheeks. ‘Sorry for the crying. I know you hate it.’
‘Yes, I hate it—I hate seeing you unhappy. I never want to see you unhappy.’ He realised that he’d do anything, anything, to take those tears away.
‘Thank you for what you said in there. For standing up for me when he said all those awful things about you just being with me to get back at him.’
When he thought of the contempt in her father’s eyes he felt savage. Shocked by the extreme assault of emotion, he pushed aside his own feelings and concentrated on hers. ‘What he said wasn’t true. You do know that, don’t you? Tell me you’re not, even for a moment, thinking to yourself that he might have been right.’
‘I’m not thinking that. I know what we had was real.’
The fact that she put it in the past tense sent a flash of panic burning through him. ‘It is real.’
But she wasn’t listening. ‘He called my business pathetic.’
‘He will eat those words when he sees the success of your business, koukla mou. And he will see it.’
‘Thank you for believing in me. You’re the first person to ever do that. Even my mother didn’t think I could do it.’
‘But you believed in yourself. You came to me with your candles and your soap and the beautiful packaging you’d made yourself. You are so talented. Your business idea is clever and you work harder than anyone on my team. If you weren’t already making a success of being an entrepreneur, I’d employ you straight away.’