The Greek's Stolen Bride (11 page)

"I don't know. It came on me gradually, this realization, this need--" He broke off helplessly. "I didn't want to become emotionally involved with you. To--to love you. I love you, Ariana."

"You love me," Ariana said slowly. Theo nodded.

"I went to Athens because everything I'd worked years for was set up, in place, and I had to act quickly to be able to arrest your father, before he could hide the evidence or escape. I couldn't walk away from that. At least, I didn't think I could."

"But?" Ariana prompted, and heard how cynical she sounded.

"But I did. I got my revenge and I still felt empty. Unsatisfied, because I knew what I really wanted was you."

Ariana blinked hard and looked away. "So you came here."

"Yes."

She shook her head. "You made your choice this morning, Theo. I don't blame you for wanting revenge. I don't even blame you for acting on it." She drew in a shuddering breath. "What I blame you for--what I can't forgive--is that you weren't honest with me. The whole time we were together, you were living a lie."

"I didn't know how to tell you."

"Are you really going to make excuses?"

Theo stared at her for a long, hard moment and then shook his head. "No. I'm sorry, Ariana. I can only ask you to forgive me."

And she wanted to forgive him. She wanted to walk straight into his arms and stay there, forget any of this had ever happened. But she knew she couldn't. She'd wanted to be strong and independent and now she had her opportunity. If Theo did truly love her, he would meet her as an equal. She wouldn't be rescued again.

"If you mean what you say," she said slowly, "then you can come find me."

"Find you--"

"I've lived my life for other people, Theo. By their demand or request and I won't do that now. I'm going to make my own decisions, and live my own life. And if, in a few months, you still feel the same..." She lifted her chin and gave him a hard smile. "Then come and find me. Perhaps a little time will help us both to decide if what's between us is real and lasting."

"But where will you go? How will you manage--"

"I'm resourceful, remember?" She hoisted her bag once more. "I'll manage."

And with her back straight and her head held high she carried on walking down the road. Theo didn't stop her.

CHAPTER TEN

Three Months Later

Theo gazed at the charmless, concrete apartment building, its roof tiles crumbling and its iron balustrades rusted. The place was a dump. It was also the home of the woman he loved.

He'd kept his eye on Ariana, from a distance, knowing she needed her space. She needed to prove herself, and God knew he understood that. Once upon a time he'd felt the same. Still he couldn't keep from checking that she was okay. Healthy. Safe. He knew she'd taken a job teaching at a girls' school in Corinth, covering someone's maternity leave. She'd sent for her mother, and they were living in a tiny apartment in this wreck of a building. She hadn't touched a single euro of the five million he'd deposited to an account in her name, sending her the bank details. She had, inexplicably, sent him a cheque for three hundred euros as some sort of repayment--Theo didn't know what for.

And he'd given her three months to live independently, to do what she needed to do, and each day had felt like a huge sacrifice. A day without her. He couldn't take anymore.

Squaring his shoulders, Theo walked up to the front door of the building with its peeling paint and rusty hinges. He pressed the button for 4B, and heard a wheezy ring echo in the cavernous building.

And then her voice. Her sweet, sweet voice, barely audible through the static of the ancient intercom. "Hello?"

"Ariana?"

A pause. "Theo?"

He smiled just at knowing she recognized him, remembered him. "Yes."

She buzzed him up.

Theo took the steep, winding stairs two at a time. Ariana stood in the doorway of her apartment, her eyes narrowed even as a little smile played about her mouth. She looked, Theo thought, fantastic. He let his gaze rove over her, drinking her in, savoring her, because he'd missed her so damn much.

"You took long enough," she said and with a surprised shout of laughter he pulled her into her arms and kissed her soundly. Ariana wrapped her arms around him, pressed her lush body against his until Theo had her backed up against the door. "Theo," she murmured against his mouth, "my mother is in the apartment."

"I don't care," he growled. "Do you know how much I've missed you? Wanted you?"

"Why did you wait so long?"

"You told me to. You told me to wait a few months. It's been ninety days exactly since I left you walking all the way to Hora, afraid for your life."

She smiled against his mouth. "I did get horrible blisters."

"I knew you needed to do it on your own. You didn't want me to be your knight in shining armor, even if I wanted to be."

She pulled back and gazed at him seriously. "How do you know me so well, Theo?"

"How do you know me so well?" he countered, smiling. "We're two sides of a coin, Ariana, meant to be together."

"Soul mates."

"Yes."

"I'm glad you waited. I needed to live a little, on my own two feet. It wasn't easy, but I'm glad I did it."

"And now? Will you come away with me and marry me and live with me forever?"

"What, you don't want to live here?" she teased, her eyes dancing before she grew serious. "My mother stays with me."

"Of course."

"And I won't be trapped, Theo. I don't want you to shut me away in some villa on an island--"

"Why on earth would I do that? I want to live with you, Ariana, and love you, wherever you want to be. Athens, Paris, London, Rome. Name your city."

She touched her fingers to his mouth. "You are an amazing man. And I want to live wherever you are, so you might as well take your pick."

"I have an apartment in every one, so we could have them all."

She pulled him into her arms and kissed him soundly, the kiss of a woman who had both lived and loved. "I feel like I have everything already," she said, and Theo had to agree.

They both had everything they could ever want or need. They had each other.

THE END

Kate Hewitt has been writing creatively since she was five years old. She wrote a lot of angst-ridden poetry in high school, and then moved onto writing and directing plays about the meaning of life while in college. After her first child was born she began to write short stories--the perfect amount of words to complete during nap time. After selling over 200 short stories to various women's magazines around the world, she started to write for Harlequin Mills & Boon, a long-held dream. She has written over 20 romances for Harlequin Presents, and has been both a RITA and Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice finalist. She has also written several historical novels for a UK publisher. After living in both Yorkshire and New York City, she now resides on the remote coast of Cumbria with her husband, four children, and a Golden Retriever puppy. To learn more about her books, visit Kate at
http://www.kate-hewitt.com