Greek Pregnancy Clause - Page 65

She smiled, taking his breath away. ‘He’s excited.’

‘Ne. He boasts to everyone who will listen that his daughter-in-law decorated the tower.’

Her stunning silver eyes widened. ‘Really? But I only designed a fraction of it.’

‘An important fraction to him. To me,’ he tossed in after a second.

He sensed her gaze on his face, and with a compulsion he couldn’t resist he met hers.

‘To you or to your team?’ she asked, a touch hesitantly.

‘I am my team.’

And your husband.

Eyes still clinging to his, she swallowed. He wanted to trace the line of her throat with his fingers so badly he had to clench his fist to kill the temptation.

Because he was becoming painfully aware that he’d taken a wrong turn somewhere along this journey. That he’d clung for far too long to slights that had been out of her control. Her care and affection towards his father these last few months had been eye-opening. And even while they’d been apart she’d thought about them, prayed for him. The way she’d cared for herself and their unborn child during this pregnancy…

If he’d caused her irreparable harm—and he was fearing he had—did he deserve her?

The question shook him to his core, his whole body jerking in reaction to it.

‘Ares?’

He shook his head, feeling a rare panic—the kind he’d experienced only once before, when Bartorelli had seized her in Athens—crawling over his skin.

He’d been dealt with once and for all, thankfully. But what now? Would he succeed this time around? Or was he fated to let her slip through his fingers like she had all those years ago?

He glanced down at her, attempting to harden himself against impending pain. Because if he failed…

‘Everything is fine,’ he reassured her, despite not believing a word of it.

He could fix things. Couldn’t he?

Those two words plagued him all the way to their destination—his greatest business achievement to date.

Ares stepped out after they’d pulled up to the red carpet leading into the tower he’d spent three years pouring his vision into. He ignored the intense flashes of cameras as he helped Odessa out, and then he simply couldn’t pull his gaze away as she stared up at the structure he’d named after her.

He’d wanted something unique, to stand out against the many stunning masterpieces of the Abu Dhabi city landscape. The end result far surpassed his exacting expectations.

Set entirely on a raised concrete platform, surrounded by a shallow lake that jetted plumes of water into the air, the soaring sixty-floor O-shaped design was set in ten concentric silver mirrored rings, each a reflection of her stunning eyes in every mood. Powerful spotlights lit the structure from below, while strategically placed lighting silhouetted it beautifully against the night sky. Reflections from the rippling water made the whole building glimmer, seeming to move in hypnotic beauty.

Not unlike the woman next to him.

Ares hadn’t quite known—or perhaps had readily accepted—his subconscious’s intentions when he’d selected the colour, but now he did.

Everything he did was influenced by her in one way or another.

It was time to stop fooling himself that she wasn’t important. That all he wanted from her was the child she was carrying and the other children she’d agreed to provide him.

It was time to have faith.

Every other outcome left a searing hollow in his chest that intensified the panic gripping him.

‘I’ve never seen it at night-time. It’s even more breathtaking,’ she said, her voice low, husky.

Perhaps it was not meant for his ears alone, but he couldn’t help hoping it was.