The Marakaios Marriage by Kate Hewitt

Author:Kate Hewitt
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarlequinUKLtd
Published: 2015-03-31T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHT

[LINDSAY STARED AT ANTONIOS, saw sincerity blazing in his eyes as his words echoed through her. I want you to stay in Greece... I want us to stay married.

I want. I want.

And nothing about what she wanted. What she needed. What she’d felt, all those weeks in Greece. She took a deep breath, felt sorrow sweep through her; she was too tired and sad to be angry. She felt only disappointment at the realization that, as much as he was trying, Antonios still hadn’t changed. Still couldn’t see.

And yet she wanted him to. Wanted this to work, even though she knew it couldn’t. She couldn’t.

‘You’re speechless?’ Antonios said with a little laugh. ‘Say something, Lindsay.’

‘I don’t know what to say.’

‘Say you want that, too, then,’ Antonios answered. He was trying to speak lightly, but she could hear an edge entering his voice, signifying what? Irritation? Impatience? She wasn’t falling all over herself to say yes.

‘Oh, Antonios,’ she said finally. She shook her head, and his mouth tightened. ‘It’s not that simple.’

‘I think it seems quite simple. I love you. Do you love me?’ He tilted his chin a bit, as if bracing himself for a hit.

Lindsay stared at him miserably. ‘I don’t know,’ she said finally, but she knew it was a lie. She wouldn’t feel this terrible, this torn, if she didn’t love him. ‘I do love you, Antonios,’ she said, the words drawn from her reluctantly because she knew they would only make him insist all the more. ‘But it’s not enough.’

‘Of course it’s enough.’ Triumph blazed through his voice and Lindsay closed her eyes briefly.

Daphne’s words had been rattling around in her head all afternoon. To love and to be loved...is all anyone needs.

If only that were true. But she was all too afraid it wasn’t, at least not for them. Not for her.

‘I know what you’re thinking,’ Antonios said and Lindsay’s eyes flew open.

‘Do you?’ she asked.

‘You’re wondering how it will work, with your condition.’

She stilled, wondering just how he intended to fix this. Control it, because that was what Antonios did with everything.

‘A bit,’ she allowed.

‘I’ve thought about that,’ Antonios continued, leaning forward, the untouched meal before them momentarily forgotten. ‘We can make concessions, Lindsay.’

‘Concessions,’ she repeated, and knew she hated that word.

‘Adjustments,’ he amended. ‘We’ll curtail your appearances at public events. We can live separately from everyone else, in our own villa. We can even limit family engagements, although I hope in time you might come to accept—’

‘Stop, Antonios—’ she cut him off, unable to listen any more ‘—just stop.’

He sat back, confusion and irritation chasing across his features. ‘I thought you’d be pleased.’

‘That you’re willing to make so many concessions?’ she finished and his mouth tightened.

‘It’s just a word.’

‘No, it’s not.’ She shook her head, slumping back in her seat. ‘I don’t want you to make concessions, Antonios. I don’t want you to have to put up with me.’

‘I’m not putting up with you—’ he cut her off, his voice sharp ‘—I told you I loved you.

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