Chapter Sixteen
‘Xander, what are you doing here?’ Theo’s eyes widened as his brother strode towards him, cutting through the crowd of advisers and security personnel amassed in the palace chapel’s antechamber.
Dressed in a dark tuxedo, his hair trimmed and his jaw clean-shaven, his older brother looked commanding and unruffled, and a lot more like the man Theo remembered than the last time he’d seen him—holding his baby daughter so tenderly on the video call.
But from the dark scowl on Xander’s face, his brother looked a lot less relaxed, too.
Theo knew how he felt. It was less than an hour and a half to go until his wedding.
And the knots that had been in his gut for days now were starting to strangle him.
He’d been avoiding Freya, while handling the guardianship papers, the logistics of the land deal, and all the contracts that had to be signed.
And just as he’d suspected it had been torture, not to hear her laugh, not to touch her, not to smell her, not to hold her, not to make love to her.
Thankfully, though, he didn’t have much longer to wait.
Letting her believe theirs was a romantic liaison would have been a mistake, a betrayal of the promises he’d made to her.
There would always be limitations on what he could offer her.
But once they were married, he’d be able to show her how much better her life could be, with him, instead of her father.
He’d sent Xander a text to inform him about the marriage and the port acquisition, so Xander would be aware of the details before the official announcement appeared in the press.
His brother hadn’t replied. But then Theo hadn’t really expected him to. After all, he was far too busy now with his new wife and child. And he would no doubt assume that Theo was simply doing what Xander himself had suggested he do on that call…
But when Xander reached him, the scowl on his face told a different story.
‘Of course I’m here, Theo. I would not miss this wedding for the world.’
But Theo heard the edge in his brother’s voice—it was an edge he recognised from the night he’d had to crawl back to their apartment and Xander had gone ballistic over his night-time activities.
And also, from three days ago—when Xander had reprimanded him for ‘seducing’ Freya.
The frustration and disappointment in Xander’s expression made the knots tighten around Theo’s throat.
What was his brother so furious about now? He was trying to do the right thing here—for Freya and for their business.
‘Where are Poppy and your daughter?’ Theo asked, glancing over his brother’s shoulder, not sure he was ready to meet his niece for the first time, today, when his guilt over Freya was already weighing down his stomach like a stone.
‘Poppy stayed on Parádeisos with Gemma. The baby is too young to travel, and my wife is still recovering from the birth.’ Xander ground out the explanation, making no attempt to hide his annoyance.
‘So why are you here?’ Theo demanded, damned if he would endure his brother’s disapproval when he was making this sacrifice for everyone but himself. ‘I don’t remember sending you an invitation.’
Xander’s frown became catastrophic, but then he grasped Theo’s upper arm. ‘We need to talk, in private. Right now.’
Theo shook off his brother’s hold, aware of the palace staff and his own staff starting to stare at them. ‘I’m not sure what the hell we have to talk about,’ he replied, raising his own voice.
‘If you want to have this out in public, we can,’ his brother replied, in Greek this time.
‘But the press is right outside the door, waiting for this farce to begin, including several Greek reporters. And out of respect for your bride, perhaps you’d like to consider her reputation before we have a shouting match that they can overhear. ’
Farce?
Theo’s temper ignited. ‘You son of a bitch,’ he yelled back in English, not caring who heard him.
Then he marched out of the antechamber, and through the door across the hall, to find himself in a dressing chamber—where the bishop who was officiating the ceremony stood alone, wearing his robes and busy scanning some notes.
‘Could you give us some privacy?’ Theo snarled through gritted teeth, unable to remember the bishop’s name—or his title. Even though he’d been introduced to him less than twenty minutes ago.
‘Of course, Monsieur Caras,’ the bishop replied. ‘His Royal Highness has informed me he is currently awaiting his daughter’s arrival, but he has been told by her stylist she may be late.’
Theo nodded, even as his irritation and anxiety increased. He didn’t want to wait a moment longer than necessary to see Freya again. And get her the hell out of here.
As soon as the bishop had left the room, though, Xander turned on him. ‘Just tell me one thing—do you love her, Theo?’
The question was so far out of left field, Theo was struck dumb for several crucial seconds.
Who was this man? They had never spoken of such things before. Not ever.
‘H-huh?’ he stuttered, with no idea how to even process the question, let alone how to answer it. ‘Why are you asking me that?’
Xander thrust impatient fingers through his hair, sending it into haphazard rows, which reminded Theo of the man on the video call.
‘Because I want to know why the hell you’re marrying her, Theo.
Please tell me you’re not doing this for the port land, when I told you months ago we could find somewhere else to harbour the cruise business.
No business deal is worth destroying your life, or hers. ’
Everything gathered inside Theo, all the thoughts and feelings he hadn’t been able to control—or even understand really—ever since he’d first met Freya, months ago now.
Should he come clean with his brother and admit the marriage had nothing to do with the land deal?
That the real reason he had proposed marriage was that he wanted Freya, had always wanted her, ever since he’d first laid eyes on her—and in the last ten days he had come to the conclusion he would never be able to stop wanting her.
She was like those precious gems that he had once stolen but had never been allowed to keep.
But how did he explain that without appearing weak or being forced to discuss the one thing he knew he couldn’t give her?
‘I-I’m not doing it for the land deal…’ he managed, because pretending otherwise would only shame him more. And his brother was the one person who could always tell if he was lying.
‘Then why are you doing it?’
‘Because she needs my protection, from her bastard of a father,’ he blurted out, determined to believe it was true. ‘And I owe her that much…’
‘Why do you?’ Xander demanded, still looking at Theo as if he’d done something wrong. He hated that look, because it propelled him back to those dark days of their childhood, when he’d never been able to do anything right. It seemed.
‘She was a virgin, and I seduced her…’
‘Was she willing?’ Xander asked, insulting him again.
‘Of course she was, I would never—’
‘Then her virginity has got nothing to do with this,’ Xander interrupted him again.
‘What do you want me to say?’ Theo shouted back.
‘I want you to tell me how you really feel, dammit!’ Xander replied, his voice lowering to that weary tone. ‘Poppy thinks the princess is in love with you…’
‘Wh-what?’ The word came out on a husk of sound, even as the familiar spurt of adrenaline geysered up his torso and made his heart punch his chest wall.
‘She’s seen the pictures of the two of you, together, when you arrived from Finland.
The girl was prepared to run away from everything she knew, to get away from that bastard.
And yet she came back here, with you. Poppy says she recognised the look in the princess’s eyes.
It’s in all the damn papers, Theo. Poppy’s scared you’re exploiting that look, that you’re exploiting her—and so am I. ’
‘Poppy doesn’t know me,’ he said, feeling sick to his stomach now. Sick with remorse and regret. ‘And since when do you care about me exploiting her, when you were going to marry her yourself?’
Instead of looking angry, as Theo had hoped—because he could fight his brother’s anger—Xander simply looked sad.
‘Yeah, I know, because I was a bastard too until I met Poppy and she taught me that love matters. That it can heal. And until we had Gemma, and I realised how good life can be if you open yourself up to the possibilities. You can’t allow our past to define your future.
’ He rested a heavy hand on Theo’s shoulder, the regret in his face so much worse than the anger.
‘I’m sorry you grew up without a family, Theo.
That’s my fault. I should have let the authorities split us up when he left and find you a family.
Instead, I forced you to grow up without anyone to nurture and protect you… ’
Theo shrugged off his brother’s hand. ‘You protected me, you nurtured me. I didn’t need anyone else.’
Why was his brother rewriting history? And why was it making him feel as if a huge chasm were opening up under his feet and getting ready to suck him down into it?
‘I was twelve years old, Theo,’ Xander said, sounding broken, in a way Theo had never heard him sound before.
‘I didn’t know what the fuck I was doing.
I was selfish and scared, so I kept you with me.
Because of me, you didn’t go to school. You grew up without boundaries, without rules.
Which is why you think now that you can exploit that girl’s love, that you can do whatever you want and there won’t be consequences. But there will be.’
‘But I need her, and she needs me…’ he managed, trying to argue his corner, hating that deep down even his brother knew he could never be truly worthy of a woman as brave and smart and sweet as Freya.
‘It’s not enough, Theo,’ Xander said. ‘If you can’t or won’t or don’t know how to love her back, you have to let her go. Or she’ll end up hating you.’