Along Came Twins…
“Karmela still works for you, I see. And is still dropping in unannounced. As I recall, the last time we thought we were alone, Karmela dropped by with some papers for you. Though she didn’t find us making love, she certainly could have if we hadn’t been on the verge of divorce.”
That was the first time Kellie had truly feared Leandros had been unfaithful to her with Karmela. Before that time, she’d only worried about the other woman’s behavior.
“She was wrong to have done that, Kellie.”
“It certainly was wrong, but you didn’t say so at the time. I was so hurt when you let her come to work for you, and I told you as much, but you kept her on. We’re almost divorced, yet she still works for you. As I’ve told you many times, your sister-in-law always had a habit of insinuating herself around you.
“Even a little while ago she walked in without as much as a tap on the door, but it’s all right with you because she’s family.”
Why did she sound so bitter? Kellie wondered. It was no longer her concern what Karmela did with Leandros. They were getting divorced. But the thought that he’d replaced her so soon hurt more than she could ever admit.
His beautiful olive complexion darkened with lines. “It’s never been all right with me and I am going to do something about it. I’ll ask you again. Why are you here?” He seemed to have lost some color.
Clearing her throat, she said, “I have news that demanded I come here in person.” She was in possession of certain facts that would alter his world forever.
His hooded gaze pierced hers. “Has something happened to your aunt or uncle?”
Kellie could understand why he’d asked that question. He’d been wonderful to them from the moment he’d first met them. “This has nothing to do with them. They’re fine.” She moistened her lips nervously. “A week ago I was so nauseated, I went to the doctor in Philadelphia to find out what was wrong. I learned that I’m…pregnant.”
His dark head reared back in complete shock. “What did you say?” She heard excitement exploding inside him before he’d even had time to assimilate the news. Though he’d never given up hope they would get pregnant, Kellie had stopped believing such a miracle would happen to them.
She breathed in deeply. “I’m more amazed than you. It seems that the last artificial insemination procedure I underwent worked. Impossible as it sounds, Dr. Creer says I’m already seven weeks pregnant.”
A triumphant cry escaped Leandros. He leaped out of his chair, charged with an energy that transformed him before her eyes. Her pulse raced, because she’d known this would be his reaction. “The doctor said it’s the reason I fainted the night before I left Athens. My periods have never been normal, so I never suspected anything.”
Leandros came around and hunkered down in front of her, like a knight kneeling before his lady. When he grasped her hands, she could feel him trembling. Emotion had taken the blackness from his eyes, filling the gray irises with pinpoints of light. “We’re going to have a baby?” There was awe in his voice as he kissed her fingertips. The news had started to sink in, but he didn’t know all of it yet.
“There’s more, Leandros.”
Fear immediately marred his striking features and his hands gripped hers tighter. “Did the doctor tell you you’re a high-risk pregnancy? Is something wrong?”
“No,” she rushed to assure him. After he’d lost his first wife and unborn child, she didn’t want to put him through such anxiety again. He didn’t deserve any more trauma in that regard.
His expressive black brows furrowed. “Then what do you mean?”
Averting her eyes, she said, “The doctor ordered an ultrasound.”
“And?” His voice shook.
“The technician detected two heartbeats.”
“Two?” His explosion of joy reverberated off the walls of his office. “We’re going to have twins?”
She nodded. “They’re due March 12.”
“Kellie—”
The next thing she knew he’d picked her up and wrapped her in his strong arms, burying his face in her neck. She felt moisture against her skin as he crushed her against him. He’d been at the hospital with her to do his part while they’d gone through procedure after procedure. Every time it turned out she hadn’t gotten pregnant, he’d been there to comfort her and promise her it would happen next time. He never gave up, and now they were going to be parents. But it was too late for them. The situation had put too much strain on both of them.
His reaction to the news was all she could have wanted if they’d been happily married, but that was the excruciating point. Their marriage was over and had been for months.
Soon they’d be divorced. Having his babies wouldn’t solve what was wrong between them. When he lifted his head to kiss her, she put her hands against his chest to separate them, but he wasn’t having any of it.
“Don’t push me away, agapi mou. Not now,” he cried. Before she could move, he drew her back into his arms and lowered his mouth to hers, kissing her with startling hunger. She could taste the salt from his tears. Her mind and body reeled from the passion only he could arouse.
For a moment she responded, because it had been so long since she’d known his touch, and because she simply couldn’t help herself. But when he moaned and deepened their kiss, she remembered why she was here.
Since he was physically powerful, her only weapon was to refrain from kissing him back until he got the message. He went on kissing every inch of her face and hair till it slowly dawned on him she was no longer participating.
A tremor shook his tall, hard-muscled body before he released her with reluctance. Dazed by his passion, she sank down in the chair behind her. His eyes searched her features, trying to read her. “Are you still suffering from morning sickness?”
“No,” she answered honestly. Though she’d love to use it as an excuse, she couldn’t. From here on out, everything she told him would be the whole truth and out in the open.
Dr. Creer was very worried about her going through a divorce right now. He’d warned her that since she didn’t want to burden her aunt and uncle with her problems, then she needed to find an outlet to deal with all her emotions. Keeping them bottled up inside was the worst thing for her at a time like this. She could tell Dr. Savakis had been worried about her, too.
After being alone with her thoughts for the last month, she realized the doctor was right. She’d gone about things wrong in her marriage. She was sick of trying to protect herself, Leandros and everyone else. But no longer. No more mistakes if she could help it. That’s why she’d come all this way. “The doctor has given me medication for it.”
His hands went to his hips, as if he needed to do something with them. Unfortunately, he stood too close to her, affecting her breathing. “This pregnancy puts a different slant on our impending divorce.”
“I know. That’s one of the reasons I’m here.”
“You do realize that a great deal of our pain came from trying to get pregnant without results,” he reminded her grimly.
“So now that I’m carrying your child, you think that erases everything?”
“No,” he murmured, “but you’ve just brought me news I’m still trying to assimilate. One moonlit night on the sailboat, after we’d been disappointed a second time, you lifted tear-filled eyes to me and asked me if it was asking too much to reach for the stars. I told you we’d keep reaching for the stars and the moon. Now you’ve just told me we’ve been given both!”
“I remember.” She averted her eyes. “Please sit down so we can talk.”
Studying her through veiled eyes, he hitched himself on a corner of his desk. It still wasn’t far enough away from her, but that was as much room as he was willing to give her. “I have a better idea. We’ll go to our suite at the hotel, where we won’t be disturbed.”
He was referring to the Cassandra, the main Petralia five-star hotel in Athens, where he kept an elegant, permanent suite. It was like a small house, really, with three bedrooms, a dining and living room and kitchen facilities.
When she’d stayed at the hotel with her aunt and uncle on their first trip to Greece, that’s where she’d met him. Some of her happiest memories of their life together were associated with the Cassandra before they were married. It would be painful to go there.
“Why do we have to go to the hotel? Why not the apartment?”
He moved off the corner of the desk. “We can’t go to the apartment because I sold it to Frato three weeks ago. I’m living at the hotel.”
CHAPTER TWO
LEANDROS HAD SOLD his fabulous penthouse to his cousin? Kellie couldn’t believe it. Stunned by the news, she said, “What’s to stop Karmela from hurrying over to the hotel with something important for you before the day is out?”
He breathed in sharply. “It’ll never happen again.”
Kellie blinked. “That sounded final. She must have received quite a shock to see me in here with you a few minutes ago, but no worries. I won’t be in Athens much longer.”
In the tangible silence that followed, Kellie lowered her eyes and opened her purse. Inside was the paper her attorney had drawn up. “If you’ll please read through this and consult with your attorney, then we’ll sign it and our divorce can go through as scheduled.”
Leandros made no move to take it. She should have known this was going to be a battle to the end. “That’s all right. I’ll read it to you.
“Point One. If and when one or both children are born, the mother will retain custody at her address in Parkwood, Pennsylvania.”
“Why if?” he demanded in an anxious voice. “Is there something you haven’t told me?”
“No. My attorney simply wanted to cover every contingency.”
Shadows darkened his features.
“Point Two. Liberal visitation rights will be offered to the father.
“Point Three. Both mother and father will discuss times when the mother will bring said child or children to Athens for visitation, and when the father will travel to Parkwood for visitation.
“Point Four. The mother asks for no additional money. The father can decide what monies he will afford for the child or children’s upbringing.”
She looked up at him. “It’s all very simple and straightforward.”
His eyes glittered a frostbite gray. “If you think I’m going to agree to that, then you never knew me.” The words seemed to come from a cavern miles underground.
“You’re wrong, Leandros. After being married for a while, I discovered the real you. That’s why we’ve reached this impasse.” Heartbroken, she stood up and left the paper on his desk.
With a grimace, he immediately wadded it in his fist before pocketing it. “When did you fly in?”
“Yesterday morning. I’m staying at the Civitel Olympic near the north park. You can reach me there after you’ve talked with your attorney.”
Leandros moved like lightning, preventing her from leaving the room. Standing in front of the door, he talked into his cell phone and rapped out instructions. When he clicked off, he said, “You won’t be going back to the Civitel. I’ll send Yannis for your personal belongings and have him bring them to you. We’re flying to Andros right now.”
Where else would he take her? It was his favorite place on earth. Hers, too, except… “You mean where Karmela and her family drop in on a regular basis to visit your family whenever you’re in residence there?”
His eyes narrowed to slits. “They come to visit my parents in their villa. As for my family, they’ve already left for the yearly reunion in Stenies village and will be gone overnight, so no one will be around. In any case, we’ll be staying in my villa. Shall we go?”
So much had happened in the last month, Kellie’s mind was spinning. Since he’d dictated the location for the conversation they needed to have, she was left with no choice but to go along with him.
After grabbing his briefcase, he opened the door that led to the elevator, and stepped in behind her. Their bodies brushed, sending darts of awareness through her as they rode to the roof, where the helicopter blades were already rotating.
She smiled at his pilot, Stefon, before climbing in the back to join Christos. Kellie had done this so often in the past, she strapped herself in before Leandros could do it. She watched him take the copilot’s seat and put on the earphones. Soon they were airborne for the short flight to Andros, an hour and a half from Athens by car and ferry. There was no airport, but with a helicopter, Leandros could be where he wanted in no time at all.
That pang of familiarity attacked her in waves as they left Athens and headed for the fertile green island in the Cyclades that Leandros called home. It was a contrast of craggy mountains, woods, valleys and streams rising out of the blue Aegean.
The Petralia estate was located on the eastern slope of a hillside with its share of vineyards, lemon and walnut groves near Gialia beach. To Kellie, the island was glorious beyond description.
Close by was the picturesque stone village of Stenies, with its paved streets. The cluster of villas on the estate had been built in the same traditional stone architecture of the region. Parents, grandparents, uncles and aunts, cousins…all lived in the vicinity.
Leandros loved it because tourism hadn’t been developed in this quieter area, thus preserving the whole place’s authentic character. After their wedding, at the church in Chora, Kellie had thought she’d found paradise on her honeymoon here, until she learned the Paulos family, among other wealthy families, lived on the same part of the island. The two families had enjoyed a warm relationship over the last fifty years.
Once she’d realized this was where Leandros had fallen in love with Petra, Kellie never felt as excited when they flew over on the weekends he didn’t have a business commitment elsewhere. To her growing discomfort, she’d often discovered Karmela and her parents were there visiting Leandros’s family at his parents’ villa. They would always call Leandros and ask him to join them. Their presence had to be a reminder of what he’d lost.
Since his feelings for home were intertwined with his memories of Petra, Kellie imagined he was a prisoner of both. To fight her pain, she’d preferred they stay at the apartment in Athens when she wasn’t traveling with him on business.
Now there was no apartment, but none of that mattered at this point. Wherever Leandros took her so they could talk, nothing would change the fact that they were getting a divorce, children or no children. There were some things they just couldn’t overcome, no matter how much her heart broke at the thought.
She’d done the right thing by coming to him with the news of his impending fatherhood. It was his Godgiven right. If he found a way to prevent the divorce from happening as soon as she’d anticipated, she would still go back to Pennsylvania day after tomorrow, and let her attorney deal with it.
While she was deep in thought, Stefon flew them over the capital town of Chora, where the tourists came in throngs to see its charming Venetian architecture. Farther on she spotted the seventeenth century tower of Bisti-Mouvela and the nearby church of Agios Georgios. Soon they were passing over the Petralia estate. It was a wonderful place with an old olive press building, all part of Leandros’s idyllic childhood and an intrinsic part of who he was.
The first time Kellie ever saw his romantic stone farmhouse with its flat roof, she’d fallen instantly in love with it. When she stayed there with him, she enjoyed the many terraces planted with fruit and nut trees that flourished in the climate, as well as shrubs, flowers and kitchen gardens. Hidden in the foliage was a small swimming pool.
One of her favorite features was the kitchen with its open fireplace. They could eat on two of the terraces, one alcoved between the kitchen and living room, the other above the master bedroom with its own garden and a view of the beach just steps away. Farther along the beach was the private boat dock housing various watercraft, including the sailboat he’d given her. One thing she’d learned early: Leandros loved the water and swam like a fish.
She thought about the babies growing inside her. After they were born, they’d enjoy this legacy from their father. When they came on visitation, they’d become water babies, too. But their roots would be firmly planted in Philadelphia.
There couldn’t be two places on earth more unalike. Almost as unalike as the way she and Leandros viewed their marriage and what was wrong with it. Kellie couldn’t bear to look back at what had happened to destroy their happiness, and fought tears as Stefon set them down on the east side of his parents’ villa.
Leandros was already removing his headset. Now that she was pregnant, she had to expect that he would watch over her with meticulous care for the short time she was back in Greece. He didn’t know any other way. That was one of the reasons she loved him so much.
Too much.
As he helped her down from the helicopter, his pulse raced to see moisture glazing those velvety brown eyes that used to beg him to make love to her. Until this minute, Leandros hadn’t seen a sign of emotion from his normally loving, vivacious wife.
Since Kellie had first told him she wanted a separation, she’d turned into an ice princess, erecting walls he couldn’t penetrate. For the last month they were together, he hadn’t been able to get through to her on any level. The hurt he’d felt had turned to anger.
During the months when she’d gone through one procedure after another to get pregnant, and been so brave about it, they’d both felt the strain. Every time her period came, they both suffered depression and had to fight their way out of it.
Sometimes the strain made them short with each other. Other times there were periods of silence over several days. The emotional turmoil took its toll. By the last month, he didn’t feel he knew his wife anymore. His disillusionment was so total, he’d been devastated.
Only the pregnancy could have caused her to venture back here. Though he was euphoric to learn he was going to be a father, his world would never be right again if the divorce went through without one more attempt to try and heal their wounds.
That’s why he’d planned to leave today, with a proposition to save their marriage before it became final. For her to have flown here with news of their babies had saved him from flying to Philadelphia. Leandros couldn’t have asked for a greater gift than her presence right now.
While the men disappeared to the guest cottage, she walked ahead of him, strolling down the flower-lined path to his villa in her pale orange sundress and jacket. His eyes followed the feminine lines of her hips and legs as she moved. In the summery outfit, his wife took his breath away.
Once upon a time they’d paused and kissed as they made their way along the ancient paths. But he had to push those rapturous memories to the background of his mind and start over with her again in a brand-new way.
Kellie waited for him to unlock the door, then stepped past him into the beamed living room with its simple white walls and hand-carved furniture. Her arm brushed against his, triggering a surge of desire for her with an intensity that caught him off guard. They’d been apart too long.
He set down his briefcase. “Why don’t you rest on the couch by the window and I’ll get us something cold to drink.”
“Thank you.”
When he returned a minute later with an icy lemon fruit drink for her, he found her seated on one end of the sofa, staring out at the beach. He handed her the glass. “Wouldn’t you like to put your legs up? Since we’re having twins, I’m sure the doctor told you to stay off your feet after your long flight from Philadelphia.”
“You’re right, but I had a good night’s sleep at the hotel and ate breakfast in bed before I took a taxi to your office.” She sipped her drink. “It’s a hot day and this tastes wonderful. Thank you.” Her controlled civility was anathema to him.
“You’re welcome. When you’re hungry, I’ll fix us some sandwiches.”
“I’m fine for now, but you go ahead.”
He frowned. “I haven’t had an appetite lately, but I can’t claim the excuse of pregnancy.” It wasn’t meant to be a joke and she didn’t take it that way. “How are you feeling physically?”
She avoided looking at him. “Dr. Creer says I’m in great shape. No problems in sight so far, but twins require special monitoring and I intend following his advice.”
“That’s good. Are you taking any other medicine besides your antinausea medication?”
“Just prenatal vitamins.”
He drank part of his drink, then got to his feet, too restless to sit there. “When you walked in my office, I was on the phone with Frato.”
“I know. I recognized his voice.”
Leandros stared at her moodily. “He’s taking over for me while I’m gone.”
That statement caused her to lift startled eyes to him. “Where are you going?”
“I told him I needed a vacation, but no one knows my plans.”
“You’re taking another one?”
It didn’t surprise him she’d ask that question. A month ago he’d taken time off to fly her back to Philadelphia. He was pleased to detect a note of concern in her voice before she smoothed her hands over her knees in what he recognized was a nervous gesture. “That’s right.”
“For how long this time?”
“For as long as it takes.”
She stared at him. “I don’t understand.”
Leandros rubbed the back of his neck. “I was going to take my jet and fly to Philadelphia today to talk to you about giving us another chance. If you hadn’t come to the office this morning, we would have missed each other.”
Her eyes widened, then grew shuttered, and her lovely features hardened. “It’s too late. Our divorce will be final soon. The fact that I’m pregnant changes nothing.”
“I get that, Kellie, but I’d like you to hear me out first.”
“What more is there to say?” The bleakness in her question crushed him. “I only came to discuss future visitation for our children and get it in writing.”
He had to weigh his words carefully. “Our babies haven’t arrived yet. Until they do, we have a lot to talk about that impacts our lives right this minute. What I need you to know is that I did listen to what you said to me before I flew home from Philadelphia a month ago. To my shame, it took me until last week to come to terms with it. I can’t lose you, so I’ve made a decision that will affect both of us.”
A troubled expression entered her eyes. “That sounds ominous.”
He sucked in his breath. “I’m willing to do as you asked and go to marriage counseling with you.”
Looking dumbstruck, she put her glass on the coffee table. “I thought you didn’t believe in it. I brought up the subject a year ago, but you were adamantly against it.”
He scowled in self-deprecation. “It’s my nature to believe only in myself, but after being apart from you this last month, I recognize how arrogant that was of me. Since you suggested counseling as a last resort, I’m willing to try anything to save our marriage.”
Besides her inability to get pregnant, which had tested them to the breaking point, there’d been other side issues throughout their marriage to exacerbate what was already wrong. One of them was Kellie’s insistence that Karmela had a crush on him. Whenever she’d brought it up, he’d dismissed it, telling her Petra’s sister was simply a clingy girl who needed lots of attention. Her behavior didn’t mean anything. In fact, Petra had asked him to be extra kind to her.
But, he remembered, when Karmela had said last night that Kellie wasn’t good enough for him, something in him had snapped. Mostly because in trying to do as Petra had asked, he hadn’t taken Kellie’s concerns seriously enough, he realized.
She got to her feet, as if on the verge of running away.