Chapter 16
The Moustakas Estate…
Gemma burst into tears the minute she saw Damien. Her son reached out his tiny arms toward her. “Please, Leo...”
Leo was carrying her toward the stairs. He hesitated, finally lowering her to the ground, allowing her to hug the little boy close to her for several long moments.
“Mommy missed you so much, little man.”
Damien held onto her neck. When Tressa disengaged him so that Leo could continue carrying her up the stairs, he burst into cries for his mother. The sound nearly broke her heart. She was wailing loudly by the time Leo entered her rooms and laid her upon the bed. Seconds later, Damien scrambled to her side, wrapping his little body around her like a second skin.
“Shush, darling. Mommy’s here now.” Her head was pounding, but nothing could keep her away from her baby.
“Gemma, the doctor is here. Do you think Damien would come with me?” Leo knelt by the side of the bed. His expression was gentle as he looked down at her son, far gentler than she’d believed was possible for Leo.
She took a calming breath. “Hey, Damien, did you say hello to Uncle Leo? How about you go sit in that chair with him while the doctor looks at Mommy’s head?”
Damien didn’t immediately warm to the idea, but when Leo picked up one of his favorite books and offered to read it, he nodded and went to him. He turned and looked at her, wanting to make sure she wasn’t going to leave.
Gemma’s heart melted. I won’t leave you alone again. I promise.
“Kalimera, Miss Larsen.”
Gemma was greatly relieved that the doctor spoke perfect English. “Good afternoon, Doctor.”
He beamed at her. “Now, I understand you were on the open water during last night’s storm. I must say, you are a very lucky young lady.”
“It’s true,” she told him. “I must have fallen backwards in the boat and hit my head.”
“Let’s take a look, shall we?” He urged her into a sitting position and then prodded around her scalp.
Gemma was very aware of her audience. A blush stained her cheeks when the doctor inquired about various other injuries and bodily functions that might have suffered due to last night’s escapade. “I threw up earlier today and have felt nauseated off and on all day long but the achiness seems to have gone away.”
“The nausea is to be expected with a concussion. I would like to prescribe some antibiotics for you and plenty of bed rest. You may experience some dizziness, so take it easy on the stairs for a while.”
Gemma nodded. “Is there anything I can take for this headache?”
“Of course.” He wrote out directions for some over-the-counter painkillers and Tressa immediately sent a maid to fetch them from the household medical kit.
“Thank you, Doctor.”
“You are very welcome.” He packed away his medical instruments and then looked over to where Leo and Damien were huddled over a book. “It’s uncanny how similar to his father he looks.”
Gemma followed the doctor’s gaze and then shook her head, realizing he’d jumped to the wrong conclusion. “Leo is not his father. Alexi is Damien’s father.”
The doctor turned to look at her, shaking his head. “That is impossible.”
The doctor’s comments drew everyone’s attention. Silence fell over the room.
The medical man looked around and sighed. “I promised Alexi that I would never share his secret, but seeing as he is no longer here and you all believe Alexi is the father of this child, I cannot keep quiet.”
Vasil came forward. “What secret are you keeping?”
“This child is not Alexi’s. There is no possibility of that being so.”
Leo carried Damien over to the bed to cuddle with his mother. “Explain,” he demanded.
The doctor nodded grimly. “Alexi was very ill five years ago.”
“I remember that,” Tressa said. “He ran a very high fever and spent a few days in the hospital getting fluids and antibiotics.”
Leo translated the Greek for Gemma. She frowned, doing her best to follow along.
“After he recovered, he came to me. A young woman he’d been…seeing had suddenly announced she was pregnant. Alexi suspected she was lying. He initially wanted me to run a paternity test as he didn’t believe he could have fathered this woman’s child.
“I explained to him the possibility of there being some lasting effects from his illness. He asked me to run some tests, and I did. The results showed that the illness had left him sterile. Alexi was incapable of fathering children after his illness, most likely due to the extremely high temperature he ran for so many days.”
Tressa slowly nodded her head. “Alexi came to me almost a year later, upset that he would never be able to find a proper bride. He wouldn’t tell me why he was so concerned. Now it all makes perfect sense.”
Vasil looked at his wife and then at the doctor. His face became stony. “You kept this from me?”
The doctor adopted a neutral expression.“It was not my secret to share.”
Everyone then looked to Leo as the truth became clear to all. If Alexi hadn’t fathered Damien, Leo had. He looked stunned. Gemma felt as if the floor had been taken out from under her once again.
She’d been trying to come to terms both with her feelings for Leo and her guilt of sleeping with both brothers. Her guilt for having fallen for Leo while Damien was Alexi’s child had threatened to overwhelm her, but now she knew that was untrue…
The full reality hit her. Leo deceived me not once, but twice. The only way he could be Damien’s father is if he was pretending to be Alexi in Paris two years ago. God, does the man ever tell the truth?!
Gemma met his eyes. They needed to talk. Now. “Tressa, could you all leave Leo and me alone for a few minutes? I need to speak with him in private.”
Tressa nodded. “Shall we take Damien with us?”
Gemma looked down and saw that he was almost asleep. She shook her head, albeit very gingerly. “I’ll keep him here with me.”
“Very well. Call if you need anything.” Tressa indicated the bedside telephone.
“I will. Thank you.”
Gemma waited until everyone but Leo had left. Only then did she meet his eyes. “Why did you lie to me?” She was trying not to jump to conclusions, but she needed to hear something that would help her deal with yet another of his deceptions.
Leo stared at her. He walked slowly to the side of the bed and sat down. “I don’t have a good reason for my actions.”
“Try,” she urged him. “What were you doing in Paris that night?”
Leo explained about the art auction and how Alexi had been called away to deal with company business. He even shared with her what kind of man he’d been at that time. “But things have changed.”
“But why didn’t you tell me who you really were that night?” She was so confused. Tell me something that makes this better. Please, Leo! Help me understand.
Leo looked at her. “I would have but you disappeared on me. I had no way of looking for you without even a name to go on. I didn’t know if you were a bidder at the auction, an employee of the hotel, or just someone who’d attended to look at the paintings.”
Gemma blushed, looking down at Damien. “I was so ashamed of my behavior the next morning. I had a flight to catch and I knew I’d been reckless…I’d never had unprotected sex until that night. I ran away, not thinking I would ever see you again.”
“But Alexi found you?” he asked.
She nodded. “He was given my card and the restoration estimate for the painting he…I mean, you…purchased for your mother at the auction. I thought he was you when he showed up and he never corrected me. He was different, but I just figured that night had been a one-time thing.”
“Different? How?” Leo paused to pull a lightweight blanket over the now sleeping Damien. He looked at the sleeping child, a tender expression on his face. “I can’t believe he’s mine.”
Gemma watched him softly caress their son’s head. Her heart twisted inside her chest. He loves him! I wonder if he recognizes the emotion for what it is?
“Gemma?” he asked, bringing her eyes back to his.
“Alexi was softer and not as aggressive. The chemistry between us was okay, but nothing like what you and I shared. I’d had too much champagne that night and chalked the difference up to my faulty recollection of how things had really been that night. And then you showed up in D.C. and the chemistry flared again. It was very confusing.”
“I was just as confused. I’ve never felt this way about another woman and frankly, it scared me. I didn’t want to settle down, but after being with you…I can’t imagine myself with anyone else.”
Gemma felt the same, but she had to know the answer to one more question. “Why did you sleep with me that first night you came back and I assumed you were Alexi?”
Leo looked ashamed. “Because I needed you to sign the stock certificates over to me. And frankly, seeing you again started up a hunger inside of me I couldn’t resist.”
“And that time on the beach?”
Leo nodded once. “The same—or so I told myself. I couldn’t admit that my feelings for you were changing. It wasn’t until I learned what Petrina had done that I knew I couldn’t risk losing you. Gemma, I love you. I want you to stay here in Greece with me.”
Gemma was stunned. Leo loves me! Joy burst inside her chest at hearing her own feelings expressed in his voice. She knew she loved him, but so much had happened...Is love enough?
Leo slipped onto the bed, brushing the back of his fingers tenderly over her bruised cheek. “This all started because of those stock certificates, but I can’t and won’t force you to give them up.”
“What will happen if I don’t sign them over?” Gemma asked him quietly, recognizing the extreme sacrifice he was preparing to make for her. She was overwhelmed with the knowledge that Leo was willing to give it all up. For her. Because he loves me! The reality of that knowledge staggered her.
“The board of directors will expect me to either marry Petrina to secure her uncle’s stock, or give up my own. I would rather have you than the company.”
What? Gemma’s cheeks flooded. The subject of marrying him was not something she was willing to discuss right this minute. Too much had happened and her head was still pounding away.“Is there any chance of getting them to change their mind?”
Leo looked grim. “There’s one way to find out. They will be meeting in an hour. I plan to be there.” He stood up, looking down at her. “Are you sure you’re going to be okay?”
Gemma gave him a small smile. “Once my head stops hurting, I believe I will be fine.” She watched him leave.
Leo’s going to challenge the board! There has to be something else…some other way… Leo can’t give up everything his father has worked so hard for. What happens if he has to give up his stock?
The more she thought about Leo and the path he was on, the more upset she became. There has to be another way.
Gemma’s head throbbed, but for the first time since being rescued, her physical discomfort wasn’t the most important issue in her mind. She’d hoped to have some time to process everything that had happened the last few days, but circumstances made that impossible.
Leo’s getting ready to give up everything for me. Am I willing to do the same? I already know I can trust him with my life. Gemma looked down at the sleeping child nestled against her. Can I trust him with my heart?