‘Read it.’
She glared at him then flicked the front page. Then the next. It was all standard legalese until she reached the division of assets list on page three.
‘This says that if we got divorced you’d pay out ninety per cent of your shares in Anastakos Inc. to me.’ She kept reading. ‘And give me the island?’ Her eyes lifted to his, her skin paling.
‘Keep reading.’
She swallowed and turned the page. ‘You’d give me shared custody of Cameron.’
‘If you agree to marry me, you’ll be his stepmother. I would never ask you to love my son as your own without affording you genuine parental rights. Including custody. I know you love him, Amelia, and he loves you. We’re family.’
‘Santos.’ She shoved the papers at him as though she’d been burned. ‘Stop.’
He shook his head. ‘I need you to understand that I’ve thought all this through. I’m not just offering to marry you on a whim. I’m prepared to go all in with this.’
‘I think you’re missing the point of a pre-nuptial agreement. They’re intended to protect your fortune.’
‘This one is to protect you.’
She shook her head, none of this making any sense. ‘So you end up married to me for a lifetime because you can’t afford to divorce me? Santos, no. Marriage shouldn’t be about money. It’s a leap of faith two people take together. Just loving you is enough for me—that’s enough to show me that I can trust our future. A pre-nuptial agreement that prepares for divorce? It makes me think you’re still just as afraid as ever.’
‘Afraid? I’m terrified. I’m terrified of hurting you, and I’m terrified of failing you, but my God, Amelia, what I am most afraid of is living my life without you. If I walk out of this lovely little cottage without knowing that I have made you understand how much I love you? That scares me more than I can say.’
She lifted her eyes to the ceiling, tears filling her lashes.
‘This pre-nuptial agreement is not because I don’t trust our future. It’s because I do trust it. I want to marry you, and I do not believe, for even one moment, that our marriage will fail. I am willing to bet everything I own, everything I am, on that because, as far as I can tell, there’s no way I can lose.’
Her eyes widened and she glanced at him, his words weaving through her, making her smile for the first time since leaving Paris.
‘You really love me?’
‘Oh, yes, agape, with every single fibre of my heart, and I always will.’
* * *
It was the longest year of Santos’s life, but it was what he’d promised Amelia and he had no intention of breaking that promise. He understood how important it was for her to finish her teaching year, but a few months after they’d agreed to marry all he wanted was to have his family together under one roof. His fiancée, his son, the rest of their lives ahead of them.
It was the right decision to wait, though. Cameron settled into a routine at school and had made some good friends. While Santos hadn’t doubted the strength of his love for even a moment, he was glad for Amelia’s sake that they’d waited a year because proving himself to her was hugely important.
Their wedding was small, just as they’d both wanted. Just a few friends, including Brent, some teachers from Elesmore, some of his closest friends, his half-brother and father. They’d married at Damen’s restaurant, the view of Athens glowing beneath them, and then they’d flown to the island, just the two of them, to start their married life in the very place his life had really started. It was only in meeting Amelia that he’d truly become whole.
On their first night as a married couple, Amelia lay with her head on Santos’s arm on a blanket spread across the beach, the sand beneath them, the water lapping close to their toes, looking up at the sky. Stars sparkled and the ancient beauty of the sky seemed to congratulate them. Of all the stardust in all the world, they’d found each other, and their happiness was perfect and for eternity.
* * *
If you found yourself head over heels for Hired by the Impossible Greek, you’ll love these other stories by Clare Connelly!
The Greek’s Billion-Dollar Baby
Bride Behind the Billion-Dollar Veil
Redemption of the Untamed Italian
The Secret Kept from the King
Available now!
Keep reading for an excerpt from Claiming His Unknown Son by Kim Lawrence.