left the island to escape her. She doubted he was in any hurry to see her again now.
‘You shouldn’t have come back.’
Theo’s voice was thready, weak, and Lukas tried not to let his shock show on his face. His father looked half the man he had been only a day ago as he lay in bed, his usually thick shock of white hair thin and flat against his head.
‘Of course I should have,’ he replied evenly. ‘You’re my father.’
‘I’m fine.’ Theo spoke in fits and starts, his voice slightly wheezy. At times he struggled for over a minute for a certain word or phrase.
It made Lukas ache to hear his father like this—to see a man who held the deeds to the most desirable real estate in all of Greece in one triumphant fist reduced to such weakness and misery.
‘There was business to attend to,’ Theo continued with effort.
‘I’ve seen to it.’ Lukas stared blindly out of the window. ‘Is the doctor acceptable? We can hire a nurse, of course. One of the best from Athens.’
Theo shook his head.
Lukas heard the movement, the rustling of covers, and turned. ‘What?’
‘I have a nurse.’
It took a moment for him to realise, and then he stared at his father in surprise. ‘You mean Rhiannon?’
Theo nodded. ‘She suits me.’
It was the last thing he’d expected his father to say. To admit.
‘And,’ Theo continued in a stronger voice, ‘she suits you too.’
This shocked Lukas all the more. His face went blank and he turned back to the window. ‘I don’t know what you mean.’
‘You do.’ It was all Theo could afford to say, yet somehow it was enough.
Lukas was silent, but a familiar restless energy was now pulsing through him. She suits me. Yes, she did. All too well. Yet he could not give in to the desire, the need. He knew where that led, had seen the destruction.
The weakness.
‘Marry her, Lukas.’
He swivelled, stared in shock. ‘What? You are joking.’
Theo shook his head. ‘No.’
‘You know I’ve said I’ll never marry.’
‘I know. But now…Annabel…she needs a family.’
‘She’ll have one—’
‘Not some patched affair!’ Colour rose in Theo’s gaunt face. ‘A real family. I’d rather pass this company on to a girl who grew up in a loving home than to a drunken lout like Christos. Marry her, Lukas.’
Lukas shook his head. ‘But it would not be a loving home.’
Theo’s eyes brightened shrewdly. ‘Wouldn’t it?’
He stiffened, turned back to the window. ‘I can’t.’
‘Why not?’
The room was silent save for Theo’s laboured breathing. ‘I can’t allow…’ Lukas stopped, shook his head. He wouldn’t go there. Wouldn’t admit the truth. ‘Because she wouldn’t have me,’ he finally said, shrugging carelessly.
‘What?’ Theo was so surprised he laughed. ‘What—what woman wouldn’t have you? You, the most desirable bachelor in all of Greece? Pah. Of course she’ll have you.’
‘You don’t know her.’
‘I don’t need to. If not for you, then for Annabel. She’ll do it for the child.’
The child. Would she? Instinctively Lukas knew she would…if she were given the right incentives, the right words.
He could have her.
It was too tempting, too dangerous. Too possible.
And yet…he wouldn’t love her. Wouldn’t allow himself that luxury, that weakness. But he could have her, enjoy her, and make her life better than whatever pathetic existence she’d had in Wales.
It could happen. He could make it happen. He saw his father watching him with bright, shrewd eyes and he jerked his head in the semblance of a nod.
‘We won’t talk about this again.’
‘As you wish.’
Rhiannon scrambled up from the sand as Lukas approached. Annabel was playing happily next to her with some new toys, but she clapped her hands in delight when she saw Lukas’s long-legged stride down the beach.
‘You saw Theo?’ Rhiannon asked, and Lukas nodded.
‘Yes.’ He paused, his mouth a hard, unwilling line. ‘He’s not well.’
‘No, he isn’t.’
‘I didn’t expect…’ He shrugged. ‘Thank you for your care of him.’
‘I was glad to do it.’
‘My father has taken a liking to you,’ Lukas said. ‘He would like you to continue as his nurse, as time allows.’
‘I would be happy to,’ Rhiannon replied, and realised she spoke the truth. Caring for Theo would give her a purpose on this island besides waiting for results. Answers. Perhaps it would extend her stay?
‘This…changes things,’ Lukas said slowly. ‘As long as my father has need of you I would like you to stay.’
‘Of course.’
‘Perhaps…’ He spoke carefully, choosing his words. ‘Perhaps it will give us time to think of alternative solutions.’
‘I have thought of something—’
Lukas held up one hand. ‘We will discuss this later. The doctor is coming back tomorrow. I’ve arranged for him to take a sample of Annabel’s blood for the paternity test. I know it’s only a matter of form now, but it’s still necessary.’
Rhiannon nodded. ‘Fine.’
Lukas dug his hands in his pockets. ‘When does Annabel nap?’
‘After lunch. Why…?’
‘We’ll talk then.’
After Annabel had been settled in, Rhiannon found Lukas in his study, half buried in papers. He looked up as she peeked cautiously around the door.
‘Rhiannon!’ His smile was, quite simply, devastating. Rhiannon wasn’t used to such a fully-fledged grin, showing his strong white teeth and the dimple in his cheek. For a moment he looked happy, light, without care.
Then the frown settled back on his mouth, his brows, and on every stern line of his face. It was the look she was used to—the look she expected. Yet for one moment she hadn’t seen it, and now she wanted it banished for ever.
The thought—the longing—scared her with its force.
‘I have asked Adeia to watch Annabel,’ he said, and Rhiannon blinked in surprise.
‘Are we going somewhere?’
‘Yes. You’ll need a hat…and a swimming costume.’
Rhiannon’s brows rose. ‘I thought we were going to talk!’
‘We are, but I’d much prefer to do it in pleasant surroundings, enjoying ourselves,’ Lukas said. ‘Wouldn’t you?’
Yes, she would. Even if it was a mistake. A temptation. ‘All right. I’ll get my things.’
Her heart was fluttering with a whole new kind of fizzy anticipation as she slipped on a bikini and topped it with the yellow sundress Lukas had bought her.