Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 68810 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 344(@200wpm)___ 275(@250wpm)___ 229(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68810 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 344(@200wpm)___ 275(@250wpm)___ 229(@300wpm)
He reached the ballroom, pushing through the crowd, completely unaware of how everyone seemed to be crying around him.
All he needed to see was his family.
He saw the twins first, and they rushed to him, throwing their arms around his waist and hugging him like they hadn’t seen him in forever.
They seemed all right, Kyr thought dazedly. So what was wrong?
He lifted his gaze to his wife, and he saw her still at the stage, Leo in her arms, and Annalisa and the nanny behind them.
They seemed okay, too.
What was happening?
He watched Pollyanna lift her hand, as if waiting for him to take it.
And then he heard her choke out, “What do you say when you hurt someone you love?”
Ah.
He had heard that too many times not to know what it meant.
And Theo, but he found himself loving her a thousand times more than he did the past second.
His eyes stung, and he said brokenly, “I don’t know if I deserve this.”
Below him, Ella said disappointedly, “No, Papa. That’s the wrong answer.”
“Oh?” His voice was hoarse.
Dio nodded seriously. “You just say, sorry.”
“Is...that...so?” He raised his gaze back to his wife, and she nodded at him even as she started to cry. He took hold of the twins’ hands, and the three of them climbed the side stairs towards the stage.
She cried harder as he approached her.
When he took Leo from her arms, his younger son beamed at him, clasped his cheeks, and said, “Zoji.”
Ah.
So damn simple.
“Kyr.”
Ah, God. He had thought he would never hear her say his name again.
“Ne?”
Her smile was the most dazzling thing in the world, but her voice shook as she asked, “W-what do you say?”
And this time, he saw that she truly was ready to hear it.
And accept it.
And he thought, God, I don’t know what I did to deserve another chance, but thank You.
He looked into his wife’s eyes. “Sorry.” His voice broke. He slowly let Leo go, so he could kneel in front of her. “Sorry.”
And he felt her small, soft hands clasping his face, and her mouth brushing against his. He tasted her tears and his, and most of all, he tasted her love as she whispered, “You’re forgiven.”
Epilogue
Coming back, he wooed her without having to say a word, and she let him, knowing that they both needed it. He came to stay with them at the townhouse in Athens, and during the weekends, she and the children stayed with him on the yacht.
He gave her flowers, sent her text messages that were longer than usual, and he made her smile when he even wore an apron for her while cooking them dinner.
She told him she loved him, even when the words still terrified her, but more than that, she allowed herself to think of him, allowed her heart to love him and not feel defensive and miserable because of it.
She loved him, and he loved her.
It was up to them to make sure that their love became their strength and not their weakness.
Days became weeks, weeks became months, and it was in June, on the twins’ eighth birthday, that Pollyanna woke up, knowing she was okay.
Maybe time really did heal all wounds, maybe it was love, or maybe it was both. She didn’t really know the answer to it. All she knew was that the last fears and doubts in her heart had vanished, and she knew that even though the pain of her heartbreak could still haunt her, it would not make her love waver.
That morning, she bided her time, trying but failing to hide her restless excitement. Her husband and the twins kept giving her odd looks, and when the children finally left for school, Kyr went to her, asking abruptly, “What’s wrong?”
Spinning on the bar stool to face him, she didn’t bother saying a word, simply choosing to answer him by throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him.
He froze for a second.
It had been their first real kiss, their first embrace, since that night at the yacht.
But then her husband recovered, and he began kissing her back. He kissed her so hungrily, it was like he was ready to devour her. He kissed her with such devastating passion, his hands roaming over her body so seductively, that by the time he lifted his head so she could breathe, her head was reeling, and she remembered nothing but his name.
Kyr.
Kyr.
Her Kyr.
He carried her to the master bedroom and she let him, her heart banging against her chest almost as hard as it had the night they first made love.
Kyr stiffened when he heard his wife let out a sob. Laying her on the bed, he asked hoarsely, “What is it?” A part of him dreaded hearing her say that she had made a mistake, but he told himself if it was so, he would be patient. He loved her, would only love her, and so he could never wait for her long enough.