Lily’s spine stiffened. Dad had been a gambler, a charmer, and a liar. She’d spent her twenties cleaning up his messes. “I don’t owe you anything, Rio.”
He helped her up, kissed the dirt from her cheek, and whispered against her ear: “I would have burned the world down to find you again.”
“Bought it last year. It’s empty.” His smile was the one she remembered — warm, boyish, full of wonder. “I was waiting for the right gardener.” The garden by the Aegean was bursting with peonies, roses, and wild herbs. Lily knelt in the soil, sun-warmed and happy, while Rio held their newborn daughter — a squalling, dark-haired miracle named Eleni.
And for the first time in her life, Lily Hart — now Lily Karras — believed in happy endings. lynne graham books
By nightfall, she was installed in his Athenian penthouse — a palace of glass and marble overlooking the Acropolis. Her room was down the hall from his. The bed was cold. She lay awake, staring at the ceiling, remembering the boy who’d once brought her wildflowers and told her she was enough.
The air left her lungs. “You… you bought my life?”
Lily’s eyes burned. “Then why marry me now? Revenge?” Lily’s spine stiffened
“I protected it.” His jaw tightened. “Until he died, I never called in the debt. Now I need something from you, Lily. And I will take it.”
That stung more than cruelty.
She let out a sob. “You absolute idiot.” “I don’t owe you anything, Rio
The ceremony was a blur of candles and chanting. When Rio slid a diamond band onto her finger, his thumb brushed her palm, and she felt a shock of heat she despised. Later, at the reception, he kept her close. His hand on the small of her back. His voice low in her ear. Smile. They’re watching. You look beautiful when you’re furious.
“He told me,” Rio said quietly. “On his deathbed, three months ago. The photos. The threats. Your ridiculous, sacrificial letter.” He set down the coffee and walked toward her. “You broke my heart to save my future. And I spent five years hating you for it.”
“No.” He stopped inches away. “Because my father also told me where you were. And I drove three hours to your flat that same night. But you weren’t there — you were at the hospital. Mabel’s surgery. You’d paid for it yourself, working three jobs. And I thought…” His voice cracked. “I thought, she’s still saving everyone except herself. ”
“The flower shop. The cottage in Cornwall. Even this miserable flat.” He held up a sheaf of legal papers. “All of it was collateral for a loan I gave him five years ago. The same week I left you.”