Chapter 9 #2
She handed her the gift-wrapped box and then stepped away. Ava glanced down at the card, which simply stated her name in Christos’s bold handwriting.
“I’ll give you a minute to yourself,” Laurette said, and joined Augustina and Sheri.
She unwrapped the box slowly. It was made of hardwood and inlaid with gold. The design on the top of the box was the Theakis family seal, something she’d seen many times over the last few weeks.
She opened the box and the fresh scent of cedar assailed her. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply. Then she opened them and looked inside. There was an embossed notecard. She lifted it out and read it quickly.
All Theakis are of the sea and here’s something to to remind you that now you are a Theakis, too.
She set the card aside and pulled out the velvet jeweler’s bag beneath it.
She loosened the tie at the top of the bag and pulled out the necklace inside.
It was a beautiful diamond-and-sapphire encrusted choker with a platinum anchor dangling from it.
There were matching earrings and a bracelet inside as well.
She caught her breath staring at them.
“Baba said these remind him of your eyes,” Theo said, touching one of the sapphires.
She looked at her son and the women in the room and knew she was taking the right step. More than the jewels, Christos’s words convinced her that, despite the fact that this wasn’t her kind of wedding, she wasn’t lying to herself. Marrying Christos was the right thing to do.
With the sun setting behind them, they repeated their vows on the terrace of the Theakis compound overlooking the Aegean Sea.
Christos kissed Ava at the end of the ceremony with raw possessiveness, stamping his claim on her mouth to go along with the ring on her left hand that showed the world she was his.
Flashbulbs went off during the kiss and Christos felt a sense of impending doom. He’d invited several celebrity photographers, including one who would be doing a story on the wedding for one of the Sabina Group’s magazines. But the public spotlight wasn’t always kind, especially to Ava and him.
The flashbulbs brought back the anger he’d felt when the tabloids had broken the story of Ava’s affair with Stavros.
He lifted his head and wrapped his arm around Ava’s waist as they walked back down the aisle between their family and friends.
“Christos?”
“Hmm?”
“Why are you acting so…”
He glanced down at Ava. He couldn’t begin to figure out what he felt, but he knew happy was too tame a word for it.
He banished the thought of the past as he looked at her.
Knew the only way he was going to find any semblance of peace was to stay focused on Ava and Theo and the future he was slowly carving out for himself.
He arched one eyebrow at her. “So…?”
“Possessive, I guess. I’m yours now,” she said.
There was a note in her voice that he couldn’t place and he didn’t try. “About damn time.”
“Do you mean that?”
“Moro mou, I’m not indecisive about anything especially if it involves you or Theo.”
She hugged him tightly to her, standing on tiptoe and kissing him. “This is one of the happiest days of my life. I can’t believe we’re married.”
“Well, believe it. You are my wife.”
She blinked back tears, then rubbed her nose and tried to turn away. “Oh no. My makeup is going to be ruined.”
Christos had no idea how to stop her tears.
Didn’t understand where she’d gone in her head to start crying, so he did the only thing he could think of.
He took her face in his hands and kissed her.
Not with the raw masculinity that he’d used to brand her in front of his friends and family earlier.
But with all the pent-up and unrevealed emotions that were coursing through him.
She clung to his shoulders, holding on to him, and he realized this was what he wanted. Like the symbol on the necklace he’d given her, he wanted to be her anchor when the seas of life got stormy and she didn’t have anything or anyone else to cling to.
He lifted his mouth. Her eye makeup was safe, but her lipstick was completely obliterated. Her lips were soft and pink from his kisses, slightly swollen, and he couldn’t wait to get to their room.
She touched her fingers to her lips. He stared down into her eyes, let his gaze drift lower over the long length of her neck to the choker he’d given her.
It looked perfect there. He skimmed his finger around her neck, tracing the seam where skin met diamonds and sapphires.
He ended with a touch of the silvery anchor.
“You have the prettiest eyes I’ve ever seen,” he said.
“They remind me of the sea.” The truth was, he lost a little bit of himself each time he looked into her eyes.
They were wide and held depths that he was only beginning to realize she had.
This time around, their relationship was so much stronger, he thought.
And though he’d never admit it to a soul, he thought that Ava had been very wise to insist they not sleep together until they were married.
She flushed a little. “I like your eyes, too.”
“We’re married now,” he said as their bridal party joined them on the steps of the main house.
He noticed that Tristan and Sheri were standing off to one side.
Tristan’s body language wasn’t all that hard to read as he leaned over his surprisingly interesting secretary.
He was definitely attracted to her. Sheri said something and Tristan’s laughter echoed in the air.
Christos couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen Tristan that relaxed with a woman.
“Yes, we are.”
He hugged her close as a photographer bustled around arranging the group for the shot. Christos brushed his lips over Ava’s ear. “I can’t wait for our wedding night.”
She swiveled her hips against his and then reached up with one hand, wrapping it around his neck, drawing his head forward. She kissed him with the same possessiveness he’d shown earlier in front of their wedding guests. “Me, neither.”
Tristan clapped him on the back. “Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Theakis! Are you sure you know what you are getting into, Ava?”
“Yes, Tristan, I’m sure. Christos is the man I’ve always dreamed of marrying.”
Ava was drawn away by the women to fix her makeup before the photographer started taking more pictures, and her words lingered.
“A woman’s dreams are fragile things,” Tristan said.
So were a man’s, if the ghosts in Tristan’s eyes were any indication. “Are you all right?”
“Fine. I’m happy for you. You’ve been alone too long.”
“I’ve never been alone,” Christos said. He’d made it a point to ensure he always had a lovely woman on his arm or in his life.
“My mistake. I like Ava.”
“I do, too,” Gui said, coming up behind them. “And this little monkey.”
Gui lifted Theo up on his shoulder and Christos felt blessed for the first time ever, not only by the friends he had in his life but by being a Theakis.
With Theo by his side, he didn’t feel that he was second best, and when he glanced down and saw his father smiling while he chatted with one of the Theakis relatives, he realized that he felt almost at peace.
He scowled. He didn’t trust the feeling and from the past knew it couldn’t last. Not for the first time, he resented the fact that he had to plan for a future that was as stormy as the seas during a hurricane.
But at the same time, his reality was that, whenever he got this feeling of rightness…
something bad was waiting around the corner.
“Christos?” Gui had been watching his friend’s expression.
“Yes?”
“You okay, man?”
“I’ve fulfilled my destiny as a Theakis. Of course I’m okay.”
Gui gave him an odd look, but Christos turned away and chatted with some business associates, faking an enthusiasm he no longer felt.