An Offer She Can't Refuse (17 page)

The commitment was made now.

Ari felt right about it—more right than he’d ever felt about anything else in his life. And he’d make it right for Christina, too. It would take more than a night to do it. It might take quite a long while. But he was now assured of all the time he would need to wipe out her doubts and win her trust. When that day came—he smiled to himself—all of life would be good.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

T
INA
was determined not to regret marrying Ari Zavros but to view her time with him—regardless of what happened in the end—as an experience worth having. In any event, she would not lose Theo or any other children they might have. The signed prenuptial agreement was in her keeping.

Everyone was happy that a wedding would soon take place. The Zavros family seemed particularly pleased to welcome her into their clan and Theo was over the moon at belonging to so many more people. Plans were quickly made. Her mother had no hesitation in deciding that Athens would be the best place for her to live—much closer to her daughters—and Maximus immediately offered to find the best property for her while they dealt with winding up their lives in Australia.

Ari accompanied them back to Sydney. He organised the sale of the restaurant to the head chef and the head waiter. Tina suspected he financed the deal. Everything in their apartment was packed up by professionals—also organised by Ari—and stored in a container which would be shipped to Athens. He was a whirlwind of activity, determined on moving them out with the least amount of stress. Her mother thought he was wonderful.

Tina couldn’t fault him, either. He was attentive to their needs, carried out their wishes, and to Tina’s surprise, even purchased an extremely expensive three-bedroom apartment overlooking Bondi Beach.

‘To Theo it’s the best beach in the world,’ he explained. ‘He might get homesick for it. You, too, Christina. We can always take time out to come back here for a while.’

His caring for their son was so evident, so constant, it continually bolstered her decision to marry him. Theo adored him. Her reservations about his constancy where she was concerned remained in her mind but were slowly being whittled away in her heart. He was so good to her, showing consideration for whatever she wanted in every respect.

Within a month they were back on Santorini. Her mother was to be a guest in the Zavros villa until her furniture arrived for her new apartment in Athens. Maximus, of course, had found the perfect place for her. She quickly became fast friends with Ari’s mother who had been organising the wedding in their absence. It was almost the end of the tourist season when most places closed down on the island. They only had a week to finalise arrangements—a week before Tina’s life began as Ari’s wife.

Cass had been informed of the situation via email and was delighted that everything seemed to be working out well. She insisted on buying Tina’s wedding dress and kept sending photographs of glorious gowns until Tina chose one. She let Cass select her own bridesmaid dress. George was to be best man—a reversal of their previous roles.

The same church was to be used for the marriage service and the same reception centre. Both places had also been chosen for the weddings of Ari’s sisters. Apparently it was customary for the Zavros family and Tina didn’t raise any objection although privately she would have preferred not to be following in her sister’s footsteps, being reminded of the real love Cass and George had declared for each other.

She didn’t feel like a bride. She looked like one on the day. And despite the lateness of the season, the sun was shining. It made her wonder if Ari had arranged that, too, everything right for the Golden Greek. It was a weird feeling, walking down the aisle to him—more like a dream than reality. Everything had happened so fast. But her feet didn’t falter and she gave him her hand at the end of the walk, accepting there was no turning back from this moment.

Her ears were acutely tuned to the tone of Ari’s voice as he spoke his marriage vows. It was clear and firm, as though he meant them very seriously. Which Tina found comforting. She had to swallow hard to get her own voice working at all, and the words came out in jerky fashion which she couldn’t control. But they were said. It was done. They were declared man and wife.

To Tina, the reception was a blur of happy faces congratulating her and Ari and wishing them well. Everyone from both families was there, along with Ari’s close business connections and friends. Tina couldn’t remember all their names. She just kept smiling, as a bride should. Ari carried off the evening with great panache and he carried her along with him—his wife.

He took her to Odessa for a honeymoon. It was a beautiful city, called The Pearl of The Black Sea, and for the first time since her future with Ari had been decided, Tina could really relax and enjoy herself. There was nothing that had to be done. Theo was undoubtedly having a great time with his doting grandparents. She was free of all responsibility. And Ari was intent on filling their days—and nights—with pleasure.

The weather was still hot and they lazed away mornings on the beach, had lunch in coffee shops or restaurants beside lovely parks, browsed around the shops that featured crafts of the region—marvellous cashmere shawls, beautifully embroidered blouses, and very different costume jewellery.

They went to a ballet performance at the incredibly opulent opera house—totally different architecture and interior decoration to the amazing hotel in Dubai but just as mind-boggling in its richness.

When she commented on this to Ari he laughed and said, ‘Europe is full of such marvels, Christina, and I shall enjoy showing them to you. When we go to Paris, I’ll take you to Versailles. You’ll be totally stunned by it.’

He was as good as his word. In the first six months of their marriage, she accompanied him on many trips around Europe—Spain, Italy, England, France, Germany. All of them were related to business but Ari made time to play tourist with her. He was the perfect companion, so knowledgeable about everything and apparently happy to spend his free time with her.

There were business dinners they had to attend, and parties they were invited to which invariably made Tina nervous, but Ari never strayed from her side whenever they were socialising. He bought her beautiful clothes so that she always felt confident of her appearance on these occasions and he constantly told her she was beautiful, which eased her anxiety about other women.

They had decided on Athens as their home base. Tina wanted to be close to her mother and it was easier for Theo to be enrolled in the same private English-speaking school as his cousins. He accompanied them on trips which didn’t interfere with his schooling but at other times he was happy to stay with family while they were away.

However, when Tina fell pregnant, as happy as she was about having a baby, the morning sickness in the first trimester was so bad she couldn’t face travelling anywhere and she couldn’t help fretting when Ari had to leave her behind to attend to business. Each time he returned she searched for signs that he was growing tired of her, finding her less attractive, but he always seemed pleased to be home again and eager to take her to bed.

She expected his desire for her to wane as her body lost its shape but it didn’t. He displayed a continual fascination with every aspect of her pregnancy, reading up on what should be happening with the child growing inside her, lovingly caressing her lump, even talking to it in a besotted manner and grinning with delight whenever he felt a ripple of movement. He always smiled when he saw her naked, his eyes gloating over her as though she presented an incredibly beautiful image to him, pregnant with his child.

Tina reasoned that obviously having children meant a lot to Ari. He had married her because of Theo and being the mother of his children did make her uniquely special to him. If he never fell in love with anyone else, maybe their marriage would become very solid and lasting. She fiercely hoped so because she couldn’t guard against the love that she hadn’t wanted to feel with him.

It sat in her heart, heavy with the need to keep it hidden. Pride wouldn’t let her express it. Sometimes she let herself imagine that he loved her, but he never said it. Their marriage was based on family. That had to be enough.

She was eight months pregnant and looking forward to the birth of the baby when fate took a hand in ending her happy anticipation. She’d been shopping with her mother, buying a few extra decorations for the newly furnished nursery at home; a gorgeous mobile of butterflies to hang over the cot, a music box with a carousel on top, a kaleidoscope to sit on the windowsill.

They planned to finish off their outing with a visit to a hairdressing salon which was located a few blocks away from the department store where they had purchased these items. Tina felt too tired and cumbersome to walk that far, so they took a taxi for the short trip. It was crossing an intersection when a truck hurtled across the road from the hilly street on their right, clearly out of control, its driver blaring the horn of the truck in warning, his face contorted in anguish at being unable to avoid an accident.

It was the last thing Tina saw—his face. And the last thing she thought was
the baby!
Her arms clutched the mound of the life inside her. It was the last thing she did before the impact robbed her of consciousness.

Ari had never felt so useless in his life. There was nothing he could do to fix this. He had to leave it up to the doctors—their knowledge, their skill. He was so distressed he could barely think. He sat in the hospital waiting room and
waited.

Theo was taken care of. His parents had flown over from Santorini to collect him from school and take him back home with them. He was to be told that Mama and Papa had been called away on another trip. There was no point in upsetting him with traumatic news. When the truth had to be told—whatever it turned out to be—Ari would do it. He would be there for his son.

His sisters had wanted to rush to the hospital, giving their caring support but he’d told them not to. He didn’t want their comforting gestures. He was beyond comfort. Besides, it would be a distraction from willing Christina to get through this. She had to. He couldn’t bear the thought of life without her.

Cassandra was flying in from Rome to be with her mother. He didn’t have to worry about Helen—just bruises, a broken arm, and concussion. Her relatives were sitting with her and she would be allowed out of hospital tomorrow. She was frantically worried about Christina. They all were, but he didn’t want to listen to any weeping and wailing. He needed to be alone with this until the doctors came back to him.

Head injuries, smashed clavicle, broken ribs, collapsed lung, ripped heart, and damage to the uterus, but the baby’s heart was still beating when they’d brought Christina into the emergency ward. A drug-induced coma was apparently the best state for her to be in while undergoing treatment for her injuries and it had been deemed advisable to perform a Caesarian section. It wasn’t how Christina had wanted the baby delivered but he’d been told there was no choice in these circumstances.

Their second child.

A brother or sister for Theo.

They’d been so looking forward to its birth, sharing it together. Now it felt like some abstract event … in the hands of the doctors. No mutual joy in it. A baby without a mother unless Christina survived this.

She had to, not only for their children, but for him.

She was his woman, the heart of his life, and his heart would be ripped out if she died. Just thinking about it put one hell of a pain in his chest.

One of the doctors he’d spoken to entered the waiting room, accompanied by a nurse. Ari rose to his feet, his hands instinctively clenching although there was nothing to fight except the fear gripping his stomach.

‘Ah, Mr Zavros. The Caesarian went well. You’re the father of a healthy baby girl.’

The announcement hit the surface of his mind but didn’t engage it. ‘And Christina?’ he pressed. ‘Your wife will be in the operating theatre for some hours yet. The baby has been taken to an intensive care ward and placed in a humidicrib. We thought …’

‘Why?’ Ari cut in, fear for the life of their child welling up to join his fear for Christina. ‘You said she was healthy.’

‘Purely a precautionary measure, Mr Zavros. She is very small, a month premature. It is best that she be monitored for a while.’

‘Yes … yes …’ he muttered distractedly, his mind jagging back to Christina. ‘The injuries to my wife … it
is
possible that she can recover from them?’

‘One cannot predict with certainty but there is a good chance, yes. The surgeons are confident of success. If there are no complications …’ He shrugged. ‘Your wife is young and healthy. That is in her favour.’

Please, God, let there be no complications,
Ari fiercely prayed.

‘If you would like to see your daughter now …?’

His daughter. Their daughter. Seeing her without Christina at his side. It felt wrong. There was a terrible hollowness in his heart. It should have been filled with excitement. And that was wrong, too. Their baby girl should be welcomed into this world, at least by her father.

‘Yes … please …’ he replied gruffly.

He was escorted to the maternity ward and led to where his daughter lay in a humidicrib attached to monitoring wires. She looked so little, helpless, and again Ari was assaulted by a wretched sense of powerlessness. Right now he couldn’t take care of Christina or their child. He had to leave them both in the hands of others.

A smile tugged at his lips as he stared down at the shock of black hair framing the tiny face. Christina’s hair. Her lips were perfectly formed, too, just like her mother’s.

‘Would you like to touch her?’ the nurse beside him asked. ‘Yes.’

She lifted the lid of the humidicrib. He reached out and gently stroked the super-soft skin of a tiny hand. It startled and delighted him when it curled tightly around one of his fingers. Her eyes opened—dark chocolate eyes—and seemed to lock onto his.