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Ellie and Alek had chartered a boat from Athens, which had taken them out to his childhood island ho a foah the wine-dark sea as they journeyed They had arrived on a spring entle hills and the sea was crystal clear as it lapped gently against the fine white sand

As he had looked around hihtly dazed eyes, Alek had told her the place had changed beyond recognition So plans for their trip but seeing them with his own eyes had really driven ho ever stayed the saht his father’s old fortress and razed it to the ground, putting in its place a boutique hotel, which was fast beco as famous as his iconic London Granchester

But Alek had chosen to rent a villa instead of staying there and Ellie was glad, because she didn’t want to spend a single night on the spot where a young boy had spent so many miserable years

She leant across the ruertips over his bronzed cheek, and her touch seemed to stir him froht about her question

What was it like being back?

Reflectively, he stroked her hair ‘It is a bit weird,’ he adlad I cahost laid to rest I like the fact that Zak’s hotel has brought work and prosperity to the island and that the place is no longer ruled by fear and oppression’

‘I’ up closer

‘But I’s,’ he said ‘Mainly for my beautiful wife and my equally beautiful son, who provide ht existed’ He tilted her chin with the tip of his finger, so he could see the gleaot a brother, although—’

‘Although Loukas has his own demons,’ she finished slowly

‘Yes, he does But it isn’t Loukas I’ about at this moment, poulakiwith the tumble of her hair as he felt the softness of her body beneath hi I as I’d spent h I didn’t want to I’ve learnt’

‘What have you learnt?’ she questioned softly as his voice tailed off

He shrugged ‘That it’s better to face up to the truth rather than to block it out And that feelings don’t kill you—even the very toughest ones Everything that’s worth knowing, you have taught me and I love you for that, Ellie Sarantos—and for a lower of a frown ‘Even though you have stubbornly refused to let me announce that particular piece of information to the world’

He traced a thoughtful finger over the angled line of her collarbone He had wanted to go through a second litzy occasion at the Greek Cathedral in London, intended as a mark of his love for her because he felt she’d been short-changed last ti a wedding planner and hearing about the rivalquartet versus an old-fashioned bouzouki band for the reception Until oneat breakfast, she’d told hiestures That it was enough to know he cared, and in the private moments of their precious relationship his heartfelt words of love meant more than a truckload of confetti

And wasn’t that another aspect of her personality which s she cared about weren’t the things which so many people strived for She didn’t need to put on a show orDiah she wore silky tea dresses because she knew he liked them, she was happiest in a pair of jeans and a T-shirt She was still Ellie—the sahtforward, uncomplicated woman he’d first fallen for—and he wouldn’t want her any other way

He reached for her breasts and cupped the little sound in the back of her throat, because she liked it Theos, but he liked it, too But then he liked everything about his soft and beautiful wife

‘Shall I make love to you now?’ he questioned