Trust: Betrayed (28 page)

That only made Sophia cry harder.
If Gabriel were alive, I wouldn’t have met Alistair Connor. But how can I even wish for a split second that he weren’t alive?

“Please,
mo gràdh.
Don’t cry,” he whispered on her hair, rocking her in his arms. Alistair tightened his arms around her, soothing and warming her with his big body. “Christ, Sophia. I can’t take it. Tell me what I can do. Tell me what you need.”

“I don’t want to feel this. I don’t,” she whispered, leaning onto him, needing the comfort he offered so readily. She buried her head in the hollow of his neck, hugging him fiercely.

“How are you feeling? Do you want me to call your doctor? Tavish Uilleam?”

His strength anchored her. Sophia sucked in a shuddering breath, shaking her head, “No. It’s okay. I’m okay, I’m just... I’m overwrought.”

As she smelled his male scent, her head spun.

She had to mourn Gabriel. She had to make peace with her sins.

If she wished to move on.

“Sophia,” he murmured on her hair, “I’m sorry I said you were lying to me. But I- I know what secrets can do to a relationship.”

“I’m sorry too.”
More than you can imagine.
“But I can’t tell you,” she said quietly. “Not now.”
Not ever.

Niarchos Angepopoulos’s house.

Saturday, January 28
^th
, 1989.

11.58 a.m.

Ethan was salivating. And he was sure he was drooling too. He could’t keep his eyes away from Eve’s gorgeous body as she wore her tiny bikini, running to the sea. He looked down at his swimming trunks and shook his head at himself.
How am I going to explain this... this...

“Ethan! Come!” She waved at him from the sea. “The water is delicious.”

He looked at his grandfather, who was lounging in a reclining chair next to Isis and then looked down pointedly at his crotch.

The old man just smiled and jutted his chin at the sea and said to Isis, “Shall we go inside? I want to show you the new Francis Bacon I bought. It reminded me of you.”

As they walked behind Ethan’s chair, Isis put a hand on his shoulder. “Please, Ethan. Go in with her. I’ll be worried if she’s alone in the water.”

He craned his head back to look at the beautiful woman. He blinked nervously a few times before he answered, “If you wish.”

“Ethan swims marvelously, Isis. You don’t need to worry.” Niarchos put his arms around Isis’s shoulder and winked at Ethan. “We are going up to our rooms to change after I show Isis the painting, but don’t worry about the time, my son. I’ll order a late lunch today.”

“Yes, Grandpa.” Embarrassed at his aroused state, Ethan rose from the chair. When no one commented about the bulge in his swimming trunks, he shrugged and walked to the water.

Ethan loved the private beach in front of his grandfather’s house. The smooth sand under his feet and the sensation of the water around his body were soothing balms for his confused soul. He felt secure there.

Eve splashed him as he approached her. He laughed and dived, resurfacing near her. She giggled at him and swam away, going further out. Ethan watched her, mesmerized by her slim waist and rounded buttocks. He swam after her, but she stopped when the water reached his armpits. She threw her arms around his neck, her puckered nipples rubbing against his chest and her thighs grazed his half-erection, turning it hard in a second. He hissed and her eyes open wide.

“You want me, too,” she whispered.

“Eve, you are the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen,” he said and blushed.

She bit her lip and looked at him through her lashes. Her hand toyed with the ends of his hair, her nails grazing his nape, “Do you want...”

Ethan remembered his grandfather’s words.
There is nothing to be ashamed of.
He dipped his head and whispered, “Yes, I want you.”

She blinked and a naughty smile spread on her face when she asked, “Can we just play?”

“Play?” His head lowered a bit more.
I don’t want to play. I want to kiss you.

She wound her legs around his waist, moving up and down over the bulge of his swimming trunks tormenting him. Just before she kissed him, she breathed, “I want to play.”

1.35 p.m.

Ethan smiled at his image in the mirror and turned to look proudly at the nail marks on his back.
Jesus! Sex! Why haven’t I started this before?

He blinked nervously at himself remembering that awful evening at his parent’s house. However, Eve’s beautiful and delicate face superimposed his mother’s. And the blinking stopped, as another happy grin spread on his lips.

This will get even better.
Ethan quickly dress himself and walked to Niarchos’s bedroom. He wanted to tell him everything that had happened. He knew that soon, very soon, he would have Eve completely and he was going to make sure he did everything right.

Atwood House.

Friday, March 26
^th
, 2010.

08.27 a.m.

Alistair woke up to soft knocks on Sophia’s bedroom door. He rubbed away the remaining sleep from his eyes and checked on Sophia. She was sleeping peacefully on her side, facing him. He brushed away the hair that had fallen over her face and noticed that her color was back to the normal light tan and her lips were dark red again.

He jumped from the bed and opened the door to stare at Gabriela wearing a Christian Dior pink pleated houndstooth dress and Chanel flats. Her long blonde hair was tied in pigtails with pink ribbons. He shook his head amazed and crouched on his haunches to look into her blue eyes. “Good morning, Fairy. You look beautiful.”

“Good morning.” She kissed and hugged him with her chubby arms. She stepped back, held the hem with her fingers and pivoted in front of him. “Thank you.”

Alistair’s smile widened even more.

She beamed at him and asked, “Where is Mama?”

He put a finger on his lips and whispered, “She is sleeping.”

“Still?” Gabriela blinked. A confused look appeared on her face as she tilted her head to the side studying his wrinkled T-shirt and shorts and his messed up hair. “Did you sleep with her?”

Fuck.
“Aye.”

“Are you going to marry her?”

Fuck. Double fuck.
It was Alistair’s turn to blink. Sometimes Gabriela made him speechless.

“Can I come in? I promise not to wake her up.”

You’re blocking the entrance to her mother’s bedroom, stupid.
Alistair scowled at himself and picked Gabriela up, closing the door behind him.

The little girl looked at her mother and then at Alistair and put her finger on her lips, “Shhh, she is sleeping.”

When he sat on the sofa by the glass doors and put her beside him, she rose on her knees and murmured in his ear, “Can we have breakfast together? On the terrace?”

“We’ll wake her if Aisha and Lucy come through the room,” he whispered.

She shook her head, “No. There’s another door in the TV room.” Her eyes glittered. “Can we?”

“All right, then.”

She smiled, “I’ll ask Aisha- Ah... What do you like for breakfast?”

“Surprise me.”

Gabriela jumped down from the sofa happily and froze as Sophia sighed and shifted on the bed. She bit her lip and looked up at him, sheepishly.

“Go on,” he whispered. “I’ll meet you outside in five minutes.”

She grinned and bobbed her head as she tiptoed silently through the room with lots of ideas churning in her mind.

09.08 a.m.

Alistair was more than enchanted by the little girl. She had asked for the breakfast to be extra special, so the maids had prepared an array of delicious food served on Sophia’s best china and silverware, arranged over a white embroidered towel and a vase full of yellow and orange daffodils that Gabriela picked from Sophia’s garden.

As they sat down to eat, the little girl told him about Narcissus’s legend. She truly believed that the young Greek man had drowned himself in the small pond in their garden and that was why the daffodils grew there. And when Alistair chuckled at the story, she shook her head at him with lips pursed sternly, her pigtails bouncing around her small face.

“All right, all right. I have to agree with you,” he conceded, as he checked on Sophia through the open glass door. When his gaze returned to Gabriela’s face, he noticed she had stopped eating her scrambled eggs and was eyeing him intently, her teeth digging in her bottom lip.

“What is it, Fairy?”

Her delicate eyebrows lowered when she chastised him, “You didn’t answer my question, you know?”

He composed his face restraining the smile that wanted to curl his lips up. “What question, sweetheart?”

“Are you going to marry Mama?”

Jesus, Mary and Joseph!
Alistair decided to play safe for the moment. “Do you want me to?”

Gabriela’s face glowed as she answered, “Yes.”

Christ. What now? I can’t tell her
I
want to marry Sophia too.
He drank his tea while he tried to put his thoughts and feelings in order. His gaze swung back to Sophia. An idea took form in his mind. “Do you want to go to Craigdale again, Gabriela? Today? We could spend the weekend there.”

“Is Lachlann going to be there? We could look for fairies again.”

“Very well, then. Wait here, I’ll be right back.” He rose from the chair and went into the bedroom to grab his cell phone and returned in a moment.

He called Tavish asking if he could go with them. He wouldn’t be in peace if he took Sophia to Ardaneaskan without a doctor or a nurse. When his brother instantly agreed to the trip, he called MacKeenan asking him to inform his crew they would depart from London City Airport to Craigdale Castle at one o’clock.

“Can we invite Ariadne?”

“Anyone you want, sweetheart.”

She squealed and immediately put a hand over her mouth. Alistair chuckled as he called Alice and invited her too.

He finished the call and turned to Gabriela, “All set.” He glanced at his watch. “I think we’d better wake your mother. She has therapy in an hour.”

Before he rose, Gabriela put her small hand over his. Her pretty face was serious when she asked, “Can I tell you a secret?”

“I’m all ears,” he smiled.

“But you can’t tell Mama. Promise?”

“Fairy.” Alistair grimaced and covered her hand with his other one. “I can’t keep secrets from Sophia. And you shouldn’t either. But I will promise you this,” he put two fingers over his heart, “if it’s something Sophia doesn’t need to know, then we can keep it between us. Okay?” He’d learned the hard way that some secrets did more damage than good, but he did want Gabriela to trust him.

Gabriela bent her chin to her chest, avoiding his stare while she thought about Alistair’s counterproposal.

“You can trust me. But Sophia is your mother. She loves you and she’s your best friend-”

“I know. That is why you can’t tell her. It’s going to make Mama sad.”

What?
“Hmm. Very well. Tell me your secret.”

She stared at him with her beautiful blue eyes and whispered, “Sometimes... I miss my Daddy. I don’t cry anymore, but I still miss him.”

Alistair swallowed with difficulty. His hand gently squeezed her little one, giving comfort.

“Alistair, if you marry Mama, would you be my father?”

“If you wish,” the words rasped from his throat as a lump formed in it.

“Then can I call you Daddy?”

Daddy!
Even now, Alistair could hear Nathalie calling him. The memory was raw and the pain, fresh. It was too much for him to bear stoically. He looked down at their hands, so she wouldn’t see the tears that gathered in his eyes. His chest hurt when he breathed in deep and his voice was loaded with emotion when he said, “I’d be honored to be your father, Gabriela.” He could hardly speak without revealing his strong emotions. “Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me.”

9.21 a.m.

Gabriela’s kiss awoke a still groggy Sophia. Despite everything that had happened yesterday, she was feeling refreshed. When she stretched out lazily and opened her eyes, Gabriela sprinkled kisses on her cheek.

“Wake up, Mama,” she said impatiently, so excited she was practically bouncing on the bed. “We are going to Craigdale.”

That made Sophia blink and fully wake up. She rubbed her eyes and pushed up, seeing Alistair standing by the edge of the bed, “Hey, good morning. We’re going to Craigdale? Today?”

“Aye,” he sat by her side. “After your therapy session. I’ve spoken with Dr. Colton-”

“You’ve spoken with Dr. Colton,” she repeated dryly, tilting her head to study his face. Sophia didn’t know if she should be irritated with the way he had decided everything without consulting her. She wasn’t used to having someone else make the decision. “When?”

“He called about ten minutes ago. He wanted to know how you spent the night.” He tucked back a strand of her hair behind her ear. “Tavish Uilleam is coming with us, you don’t need to worry.”

Sophia smiled, amused.
He orders everyone around
.

“And Alistair let me invite Ariadne, Alice, Michael and Leonard,” Gabriela complemented. “Everyone, Mama! Can I choose your clothes?”

Sophia’s smile couldn’t be contained anymore. Gabriela’s happiness was her priority in life and if Alistair made her daughter happy, she would put up with some meddling in her life. Right now, it was the lesser of her problems.

Kensington. Dr. Guilhermina Kent’s Office.

10.14 a.m.

Guilhermina Kent opened the door to her office and smiled, welcoming Sophia in with a kiss on each cheek. She was Columbian and looked thirty, despite being forty-five years old. She had olive skin, very short brownish hair and brown expressive eyes. She didn’t dress conservatively; she didn’t talk pompously; she used just a hint of makeup. She encouraged her patients to call her by her nickname, Mina, and she talked - really talked - during the sessions. And smiled a lot. No stern looks or frowns from Dr. Kent.