All was quiet except for the frantic pounding of his heart at every pulse point of his body.
For the rest of the hours before dawn he lay there in torment, going over their conversation in his mind.
Even if he’d used her while on vacation, Stephanie had claimed she wanted him to know in person that he was going to be a father. At the heartbreaking story of having all knowledge of her own father kept from her, Nikos had been moved beyond words.
To go to so much trouble and expense to find Dev Harris—to risk her health in the process—led him to believe she must be telling him the truth. Otherwise she would have sought out the other man she’d been with,
if
there was another man.
But if she’d been with another man before Nikos, no one had proof of paternity. Only a blood test after the baby was born would prove it. Any earlier attempt would be a risk to the unborn baby and possibly cause a miscarriage. He didn’t dare insist on it. Much as he wanted to believe he was the father, and that her true reason for coming to Greece was to inform him of the fact, he was still riddled with doubts.
Nikos closed his eyes tightly. When Kon had been confronted with a similar situation, before they’d gone into the military, he’d believed the nineteen-year-old girl who’d told him she was pregnant. Kon had gotten in over his head with an attractive French girl he’d met on vacation in Corsica, but before returning home, he realized he wasn’t in love, and had ended it with her while they were still together.
To his chagrin, she’d showed up a month later with a positive result on a home pregnancy test, claiming he was the father. She was terrified of having her parents find out. What should she do?
Kon was an honorable man and had been willing to take responsibility, so they got married privately at the local church, where Nikos stood as one of the witnesses. His parents accepted her into the family and they’d lived with them until Kon could afford to find a place for them to live on their own.
But two months later his friend realized she’d lied to him and there was no baby. He got medical proof from the doctor at the hospital. She was forced to admit she’d made up the fabrication because she loved him and didn’t want to lose him. If he thought they were going to have a baby, then they could get married. As it turned out her plan had worked...for a while.
Betrayed to the point he couldn’t look at her anymore, he divorced her and put the whole ghastly affair behind him. But there’d been a heavy emotional price to pay, and the divorce had cost him a great deal of money, which Nikos insisted on funding from his own savings account. It was the least he could do for his friend.
After the agony Nikos had seen Kon go through when he’d realized he’d been deceived, the possibility that Stephanie was lying, too, gutted him. He didn’t honestly know what to believe.
Short of making love to Stephanie to learn if she was truly pregnant, which wasn’t a viable option for too many reasons to consider right now, he could phone her doctor. Yet somehow that idea was repugnant to him.
The only sure thing to do was wait for physical signs of her pregnancy. In order to do that, he would have to keep her close for the time being.
When Nikos thought back to their first meeting, he recalled he’d been the aggressor. Unlike her friends, who worked at a local hotel in Crystal River, Stephanie had done nothing to come on to him. While they’d flirted with him, she’d kept her distance and been totally serious about diving.
It turned out they didn’t have her skills and snorkeled only part of each day. Oftentimes they preferred to laze on the beach and go shopping in town. Not Stephanie. Quite the opposite, in fact, which was why he’d asked her if she’d be willing to be his diving partner for the duration. He’d felt her reluctance when she’d said yes, but it was obvious she loved the sport and couldn’t go diving without a partner.
Scuba diving wasn’t for everyone, but she was a natural. Together they’d experienced the euphoria of discovering the underwater world. Besides her beauty, there was an instant connection between them as they’d signaled each other to look at the wonders exploding with color and life around each gully and crevice.
When they’d had to surface, he hadn’t wanted it to end, and had asked her to eat dinner with him. She’d turned down his first invitation, but the second time she’d agreed. That’s when he’d learned she’d grown up along Florida’s Nature Coast. She’d learned to scuba dive early with her mother. After college she’d gone to work for a water tour company that took tourists scalloping and swimming with the manatees. It explained her prowess beneath the waves.
If he was truly the only man she’d been with, then her news represented a miracle. Nikos was sterile now, the hope of ever having a child from his own body having gone up in flames during the explosion.
Yet he could feel no joy if she’d set him up—no elation that a deceitful woman would be the mother of his child. If indeed he was the father...
But what if you are, Vassalos?
Think about it.
Your own flesh and blood could be growing inside Stephanie. The only son or daughter you’ll ever have.
More thoughts bombarded him.
After his last mission he’d hoped to resign his commission and go after her, marry her. What if she truly was innocent of every charge, and he’d totally misread the situation? If that was the case, then one misstep on his part could hurt her emotionally and damage any chance at real happiness, with their baby on the way.
He got up from the lounger and walked over to the railing, watching the moonlight on the water. His training as a SEAL had taught him that you had to set up your perimeter and have everything in place before you mounted an assault. This time Stephanie was the target. Unfortunately, after leaving her behind, he’d unwittingly planted an almost impenetrable field of land mines and booby traps that would destroy him if he wasn’t careful.
If his suspicions about her were correct—that she’d calculated every move since meeting him at the resort, in order to trap him—it meant maneuvering through them with surgical precision while he waited to see if she was pregnant, then awaited the DNA results.
How would he begin making it up to her if he was wrong?
In retrospect, Nikos realized he’d accused her of duplicity, when he’d been the one who’d committed a multiple number of sins. Not only had he forsaken her on the island without giving her an honest explanation, he hadn’t tried to reach her during his stay in the hospital.
The moment his father had handed him those snapshots, Nikos had been carried away by his own suspicions that she was after his money and the lifestyle he could provide her. His anger had quickly turned to white-hot pain at the thought she’d been only using him during that time on vacation. In retaliation, he’d treated her abominably.
Nikos let out a groan. Was he turning into his father? A man who’d believed the worst about the wife who loved him, because of a rumor? Whose doubts and suspicions had turned him into an impossible man to live with, catching Nikos in the crossfire?
Stephanie’s words still rang in his ears.
What we had together wasn’t love.
But what if it
had
been love on her part, and it was only her anger talking now? Otherwise why would she have gone through all she’d done to find him?
He owed it to both of them to discover the truth. Otherwise he might be dooming himself to repeat his father’s history. Until Nikos had proof, he decided he would believe her story, because his entire happiness could depend on it.
By the time the sun had risen above the horizon, he’d made his plans. The first thing he’d do was shower, then fix breakfast for the two of them.
Or the three...
* * *
A knock on her bedroom door brought Stephanie awake. It was ten after eight. She’d slept soundly, likely because of the gentle rocking of the yacht. But it didn’t feel as if they were moving now.
“Yes?”
“Your breakfast is waiting for you in the lounge down the hall, whenever you’re ready.”
She blinked. “Nikos?”
“Of course.”
There was no “of course” about it. Last night he’d told her to fix her own food. This morning it seemed he’d decided to be more civil. That was a good sign, since she needed to go home today, and couldn’t without his cooperation.
“Thank you. I’ll be right there.”
She took all her pills with a cup of water she’d put by the bed, and then got out from under the covers. Once in the bathroom she showered quickly, then brushed her hair and left it loose. A little blusher and lipstick and she felt ready to face Nikos.
Stephanie hadn’t packed a lot. She’d brought extra undergarments and a smoky-blue knit top she wore loose over her khaki pants, which were uncomfortable now. She needed to buy some maternity clothes the moment she got back to Florida.
In spite of the fact that she would have to go through the entire pregnancy alone, she was looking forward to it. Having found the baby’s father, and knowing his real identity, she felt a bit more lighthearted. Soon she’d start getting a nursery ready, and couldn’t wait.
After putting on her sandals, she left the bedroom and moved across the hall to the lounge, where she found Nikos at the table, waiting for her. He stood up when she walked in. She detected the scent of the soap he’d used in the shower. Her senses responded to it, though she tried to ignore them.
“It looks like you’ve made a fabulous breakfast.” He’d fixed coffee, too, but so far she hadn’t been able to tolerate it. “We could have eaten in the galley and saved you the extra trouble.”
“True, but you’re a guest, so I thought this might be more enjoyable.”
“For a prisoner who has to stay below deck, you mean,” she muttered.
He ignored her comment. “Let’s hope there’s something here that you can keep down.” He helped her into a chair before he sat opposite her at the rectangular table.
“Those rolls and fruit look good.” So did he.... This morning he was freshly shaved and wearing a white crew neck shirt with jeans. It was sinful how handsome he was!
While he ate eggs and a roll, his jet-black eyes played over her several times. “Your hair is a little longer.”
“So’s yours.” But she refused to tell him how much she liked it.
He appeared to drink his coffee with pleasure. “What did your doctor tell you about swimming and scuba diving in your condition?”
The question was totally unexpected. “I can do some limited swimming, but diving during pregnancy increases the risk to the fetus, so I’m not taking any chances. Why do you ask?”
One black brow lifted. “Your job. Now that you’re pregnant, the kind of work you do swimming with the manatees will have to be curtailed.”
She munched on a banana. “I realize that and plan to discuss it with my boss when I get back. Which raises the question of when you’re going to take me to Chios so I can get a flight home.”
“That all depends.” He bit into a juicy plum.
Stephanie fought to remain cool-headed. “On what?”
He finished it, then lounged back in the chair, eyeing her for a long moment. “I have a proposition for you.”
“I’m not interested.”
“Surely after all the trouble you took to find me, can’t you admit you’re a little curious?”
“That curiosity died when I didn’t find Dev. You’re the dark side of him, a complete stranger to me with your lies and secrets. I have no desire to listen to anything you have to say, except to hear that you’ll let me go.”
“Be that as it may, you’ve convinced me you were an innocent tourist on vacation in the Caribbean. I take full responsibility for finding you attractive and pursuing you. Since you’re pregnant, it’s only right that I take care of you and the baby you’re carrying.”
For him to say that to her now... Pain ripped her apart. “For the last time, I don’t want your money, just my freedom.”
His eyes narrowed on her features. “You can have it in time
if
it’s what you want. That’s what divorces are for.”
Shaken by his words, she sprang from the chair. “What are you talking about?”
“Our marriage, of course. You came all the way from Florida to let me know I’m going to be a father. But that’s not all I want. I want my name on the birth certificate along with yours. To a Greek male, it means everything.”
“Since when?” she blurted.
“Since learning that you’ve known nothing about your own father—not even his name. I can see how devastating that has been for you, which makes it more vital than ever that the baby growing inside you has my name so it can take its rightful place in the world.”
Stephanie reeled in place, clinging to the back of the chair. “You don’t want to marry me.” Her tremulous words reverberated in the lounge.
Now Nikos was on his feet. “On the contrary. It’s all I thought about during the night.”
“Why?” she cried in torment.
“Because this baby is already precious to me.”
Her anger flared. “Last night you questioned if it was even yours.”
“Last night I was in denial that a miracle had happened.”
She shook her head. “What do you mean?”
“A lot has occurred since we last saw each other.” He didn’t need to tell her that. Her whole world had been turned upside down. “I was in a boating accident that landed me in the hospital with a spinal injury.”
Stephanie bit her lip, pained by the news. “I knew something was wrong,” she whispered. “Sometimes you’re a little unsteady. I noticed it wh-when you were holding me.”
“Nothing gets past you, does it? Your unexpected presence on the
Diomedes
gave me away. Fortunately, I’m getting stronger every day and use the cane only when I’m tired. But I’m not the man I once was and never will be. Furthermore, the accident had certain repercussions I can’t do anything about.”
Her mouth went dry. She was almost afraid to hear. “What are they?”
“For one thing, my injury left me sterile.”
Sterile?
A slight gasp escaped her lips, for she knew that kind of news had to be soul wrenching to a man. “Surely it’s only a temporary setback?”