‘This early?’
‘Not generally.’
She sipped her tea.
‘What woke you?’
There’s always a happy ending for you, Annie.
Emotions flooded her. She traced one of the ornate patterns on the rim of the cup, lost in thought.
‘I have these dreams.’ She sighed. ‘More like memories. Of the bed-time stories Lewis used to tell me.’
‘What kind of stories?’
Her smile was nostalgic. ‘Oh, about dragons and castles and magical caves—stories that would take you to a far-away world or a different star system. There were always monsters and I was the only person who could save the world. I wish he’d written them down—though I’m probably the only one who’d appreciate them.’
Dimitrios was quiet for so long, she shifted to face him.
‘You must miss him a lot.’
Annie nodded. ‘Yes.’ What else could she say? After Lewis died, she’d been completely alone. Her parents hadn’t factored. Briefly, there’d been hope—Dimitrios—but whatever comfort she’d gained from their night together had been very, very short-lived.
‘Me too.’ He tapped his fingertips against his knee, his eyes distant, as though he had travelled back in time. ‘He was my best friend. I couldn’t believe it when he died.’
‘No,’ she murmured, taking another sip from her tea. ‘It was so sudden—but that was merciful, given how much he hated being sick.’
Dimitrios nodded. ‘He had so much potential; what a cruel twist of fate to lose him at only twenty-four years of age. So young.’
‘So young,’ she agreed.
‘I notice Max talks about his Uncle Lewis.’
Annie nodded. ‘I’ve made sure he knows about him. Being an only child, that sibling bond is quite foreign to him.’
Dimitrios reached out, brushing a hand over her hair, then letting it drop to the back of the sofa. ‘Would you have liked more children?’
‘I always thought I would have more than one,’ she said with a little lift of her shoulders. ‘I loved being a sister. I liked having someone to tell my secrets to, and Lewis was—a great brother.’ She cleared her throat. ‘What about you?’
‘I never even thought about having children, up until a few years ago.’
‘What happened a few years ago?’
‘Nothing in particular. Actually, it was hot on the heels of this.’ He gestured to their feet. ‘Expanding our operations in Singapore. I was on such a high—I felt like Zach and I could do no wrong. We inherited this business that our grandfather built from the ground up, and we’ve worked so hard to make it bigger and better, but for what? Who’s all this for? With no kids, where does it go?’
His fingertips traced an invisible circle on her bare flesh, sending goose bumps along her skin.
‘I’ve never wanted to get married. I’ve always, always known that about myself.’
Annie’s chest felt as though it were being tightened.
‘I appreciate how strange that must sound to you—my wife—but our marriage is different. I didn’t want to have the emotional pressure of being married. A wife who loved me and needed my love in return.’ He grimaced. ‘And, as you wisely pointed out, most marriages are based on a presumption of love.’
‘Not ours, though,’ she said quietly, surprised her voice sounded so stoic when the admission did something strange to her insides.
‘No.’ His agreement was swift, his nod a further confirmation of that. ‘I didn’t want to raise a child as I was raised—going back and forth between a mother and father. So I felt my options were pretty limited. Until I was contacted about Max and everything fell into place.’
A dart of something like resentment moved down her spine. It was all so convenient for Dimitrios. Oh, missing six years of Max’s life wasn’t ideal, but presumably that was a small price to pay for having a ready-made heir waiting in the wings, and a woman he could draw into exactly the kind of marriage he wanted.