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His asp was followed by a moan of true Greek distress "And how can you be so sure of this?"

Used to his parent's unquestioning approval, her continued certainty he was in the wrong ry "How do you think?"

A word came out of his mother's mouth he'd never heard her utter before

"Do not telllove with her"

"I will not be deceived like my uncle"

"No, you will merely deceive yourself Oh, you foolish child"

Despite his annoyance at being called foolish yet again, hiscalled a child at the age of thirty

"On what evidence did you base your assuin?"

"That is not so I will discuss with you"

"Who will you discuss it with then? If you canso"

"She did not bleed" Even though miles and phone lines separated the such a thing to his mother

"So?"

"So, she wasn't innocent like she claimed and damn it, Mama, I would not have cared, but if she would lie to s"

"And on this reasoning you broke her heart?"

"I did not break her heart"

"You did not reject her?"

"I in with"

“And she is the one you call a deceiver?'' Suddenly, his mother went off into a tirade about id­iotic and stubborn Greek men She informed him that even a dinosaur like himself should realize not all women made it into adulthood with their hymen in­tact The lack of blood was no evidence at all

HisRachel's innocence outside of the bonds of es She ended by telling him that he would deserve it if Rachel refused to ever speak to hiain and she, Phillippa Kouros, would never atteain

If she wanted grandchildren, she would have to wait for his brother to be ready to wed because she didn't want her grandchildren carrying such ienes

Sebastian's ears rang for severalup on him

His ht How could he have con­vinced his about Rachel? She had never in any way exhibited the least tendency to be like her mother and yet in true Greek vendetta fash­ion, he had held her accountable for her mother's sins

The blood drained fros he had said to her, the accusations he had iven herself to him freely and the truth had been in her lovely, wounded eyes for him to see

He had even convinced hi love without protection had been her fault when in fact, it had been his He was the experienced one and want­ing to be inside her ht of safe sex

His ating him now

A deep abyss loomed before him, dark, cold, and isolated If he could not make it up to Rachel, he would fall into it

Not looking forward to sing his words, he went to her room to find her, but when he reached it, it was empty

Not only of Rachel, but of her things

His sto became erratic as he yanked open bureau drawers and closet doors, confirone

His gaze skated around the roo and he noticed a deco­rative box in the trash bin It looked like a memory keepsake box like his s that had belonged to his fa­ther in it

What was it doing in Rachel's trash bin? She'd brought it all the way from the island, it was odd she would choose now to throw it away

He picked it up and opened it without co of dread swept through him She had literally thrown him out of her life and every memory that acco nestled together in a carefully arranged as­sorts Rachel had had for hi

Feelings he had ignored

No, that wasn't quite true He'd noticed her shy adoration and he'd played up to it so kind to her because she'd drawn him like no other woman Even when she'd been a mere seventeen years old He had wanted her even then, but her in­nocence had screamed out at him, as had her reticence around men She never shen hera few times with him

She had avoided Andrea's parties when she lived on the island

The sheer idiocy of his earlier convictions struck hi crazy since Matthias's death His grief at losing a ure and a business men­tor to him had been intensified by the senselessness of the oldhis life had becoe to the bitch, Andrea