For the next little while Irena relived the nightmare that had come close to destroying so many families. “I still don’t know how Deline is handling it. Besides being pregnant with Leon’s baby, she’s taking care of the twins he fathered on board the yacht with Thea Turner that night.”
“She must love him very much.”
“She does. I believe their marriage has a good chance of making it. But if I were to tell Andreas about our baby, it could destroy not only him, but his marriage, too. Gabi’s an innocent in all this and went through hell when her half sister died in childbirth. Until Gabi contacted Andreas, she was the one who took care of the twins for the first four months of their lives. If this baby is Andreas’s, how would this news affect her?”
Vincenzo moved his hand to play with the ends of her hair. “The more the plot unravels, the more it sounds like my own complicated family saga.” This was the second time she’d heard him mention anything about them.
“All the families have been in crisis, including mine. My parents had been counting on my marriage to Andreas. They’ve been grief stricken since he married Gabi. They think I’m heartbroken over it! If they knew it was his baby, they’d insist he take responsibility.
“And Andreas would insist on taking control, because that’s the way he’s made. But then everyone would get in on the act to make things right with me. Nothing would ever be the same again.”
Hot tears rolled down her cheeks. “It would ruin so many lives—that’s the reason why I have to keep this a secret from Andreas.”
Vincenzo cocked his dark head. “Does anyone else know you’re pregnant?”
“Does it matter?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“If we’re going to get married, I insist that everyone believe the baby is mine.”
Irena gasped. “Vincenzo, what I said earlier…You don’t want to marry me! Especially not now.”
“Irena, the baby you carry has as much chance of being mine as Andreas’s. As you have explained, he already has a wife, therefore I insist on taking responsibility. You need a husband, the baby needs a father and I need a wife.”
“Vincenzo…”
“I’ll ask you the question again. Does anyone else know you’re pregnant besides me and your doctors?”
“Yes.”
“Who is it?”
She bit her lip. “It’s Deline.”
Vincenzo rubbed the side of his jaw. “Under the circumstances she’s probably the only person you know who could be trusted. Do you think she’d be able to take our secret to the grave?”
Our secret. Irena couldn’t fathom that he was really considering the idea of marriage to her, especially after what she had just told him.
“If I didn’t believe that, I wouldn’t have told her in the first place.”
“Does she support you in keeping this from Andreas?”
“No. She’s afraid that if I don’t tell him, it’ll come out one day anyway. But she would never betray me.”
“Can you trust the doctors not to contact Simonides? He’s too well-known for them not to make the connection.”
“I did what you did when you told Dino my last name was Spiros. How did you know that by the way?”
“When you came before, I saw the name on your passport. Irena Spiros Liapis.”
She blinked. “I’m surprised you would remember.”
“I’ve forgotten nothing about you, Irena.” His velvety words melted through to her insides.
“When I went to the E.R., I told them my name was Irena Spiros. I was referred to the OB under the same name. Including the doctor I saw yesterday, none of them has any idea I was the other woman mentioned in the headlines about Andreas.”
“Then it’s settled. We’ll be married as soon as I can arrange it. Since you don’t subscribe to any religion, we’ll say our vows in a civil ceremony.”
“Stop, Vincenzo!” She shook her head. “You’re going way too fast for me…and yourself.”
“Don’t presume to tell me my own feelings, Irena. If it had been possible, I would have married you when you were here before.”
She took a shaky breath. “Without my having met your son first?”
“I would have introduced you. The three of us would have spent the day together before I asked him if he wanted to watch us get married.”
Irena averted her eyes. “Whether he approved of me or not, he would have said yes because he loves you. He’ll do anything to make you happy.”
“But I wouldn’t marry a woman unless she could make him happy, too.”
“You hardly know me, Vincenzo. We hardly know each other.”
“I know one of the most important things about you, Irena. You have an exceptionally kind nature that spoke to my son. After last night and today, Dino knows it, too. Shall I tell you what he whispered to me in the foyer before Mila appeared? He said he hoped you would be with me at the next visitation.”
Her eyelids smarted. “He’s very sweet.”
“You took the time to play with him and make him feel like he was an important person.”
“All children are important.”
“Not everyone feels that way inside. I watched you with him last night. You put him at ease.”
“I’m glad.”
“Glad enough to marry me and help me raise my son while I father our baby?”
She avoided his gaze and stared out the side window. “It couldn’t be that simple, Vincenzo.”
“Of course not. I never suggested otherwise. We’ll be one of those families of this generation that fits all the odd parts into one new whole. Hopefully it will work, but there are no guarantees.”
Irena let out a sad laugh. “We’re nothing alike.”
His eyes grew hooded. “You and Andreas came from the same world, but you didn’t make it to the altar. I wasn’t as lucky as you, Irena, and didn’t escape in time. My family thought I should marry someone like me, and you see what happened. I think being opposites with no expectations will be very good for us.”
He’d said that before.
“I was in lust with you the second you walked in my office. That hasn’t changed.”
Her heart jumped. His honesty shocked her, but it was also that quality which had first attracted her. And his looks…She couldn’t deny how physically appealing he was to her. Knowing he was already a father, having met his son, it surprised her that she found him more desirable than ever. But she couldn’t allow that magnetism to blind her to the realities of the situation.
“I don’t care what you say about Dino liking me. If we were to marry, he would feel another loss. You say you only get to see him one weekend a month and twice a year for a week. If we were to marry he would then have to share that precious time he has with you with me. The poor little darling would be so hurt.”
In the next breath Vincenzo pulled her into his arms and buried his face in her hair. “Once we’re married, everything will change for the better for both of us.”
“Vincenzo—we can’t even think about it without Dino having a part in the decision.”
“I’m