The Tycoon's Secret Affair (The Anetakis Tycoons #3)(29)

“Don’t ruin your chance at happiness, Piers. This is your chance to have it all.”

“Or lose it all again. Maybe I already have.”

“What do you mean?”

Piers took another gulp of the coffee and put the cup aside.

“She was going to leave me in the morning. Her bags were already packed when I found her on the floor in terrible pain.”

“Want to talk about it?” Theron asked carefully. “I’ve been accused of being dense once or twice by a certain woman in my life.”

“You seem so sure it’s me who is the problem,” Piers said dryly.

“You’re a man, and men are always in the wrong. Haven’t you learned anything yet?”

The corner of Piers’s mouth lifted in a smile. Then he sobered. “I was an ass.”

“Yes, well, it won’t be the last time. It seems an inherent part of our genetic makeup.”

“A male friend of hers showed up yesterday to come to her rescue. I didn’t take it very well.”

“No one can blame you for that. It’s part of being territorial.”

Piers snorted. “Next you’ll be telling me that we’re all cavemen stomping around and marking our territory like dogs.”

“Quite an image you’ve conjured there, little brother. I imagine that’s precisely what we do, just not in the literal sense.”

Theron glanced sideways at Piers.

“So she was going to leave you because you didn’t appreciate her male friend showing up?”

“I might have accused him of fathering her child and the two of them of running a scam to extort money from me.”

Theron winced. “Damn, when you decide to pull off the gloves, you go for the full monty.”

“As I said, I was an ass. I was angry. I told her that I wouldn’t grant her a divorce, and she told me to take my settlement and go to hell.”

“Doesn’t sound much like a woman after your money does it?”

He’d thought the same thing himself.

“I want to trust her, Theron.”

“And that frightens you.”

And there it was in a nutshell. Funny how his brother cut so quickly to the heart of the matter. Yes, he wanted to trust her, but he was afraid, and it infuriated him.

“I don’t want to ever allow a woman that much power over me again.”

Theron sighed and put his hand on Piers’s shoulder. “I understand, really I do. But you can’t shut yourself away from the world for the rest of your life just because you got hurt once.”

“Hurt?” Piers made a derisive sound. “I wish it was only hurt. She took from me what I loved most in the world. Somehow that goes beyond simple hurt.”

“Still, as cliché as it sounds, life goes on. I want you to be happy, Piers. Chrysander and I worry about you. You can’t go on traveling from one hotel to another your entire life. At some point you need to settle down and start a family. Jewel has given you that opportunity. Perhaps you should make the most of it. Give her a chance.”

“Mr. Anetakis.”

Both men yanked their heads up as a nurse appeared in the waiting room.

“Mrs. Anetakis is out of surgery. You can visit her in recovery for a moment if you like.”

Piers shot up and hurried over to the nurse. “Is she all right? The baby?”

The nurse smiled. “Mother and baby are fine. The surgery went well. The doctor will stop in to talk to you in recovery before she’s taken to a room. She’s going to be very groggy, but you can talk to her for a moment if you like.”

“I’ll wait here,” Theron said. “You go ahead.”

“Thank you,” Piers said sincerely. Then he turned to follow the nurse to see Jewel.

Thirteen

H er pain was different. It wasn’t as agonizingly sharp as before. Instead it had settled to a dull ache, not as deep as it had been, but on the surface. Jewel tried to shift and gasped when it felt as though her belly had been ripped in two.

“Careful, yineka mou. You mustn’t try to move. Tell me what it is you need, and I will help you.”

Piers. She opened her eyes, squinting as the light speared her eyeballs. She quickly shut them again and cautiously opened them a slit as she tried to bring him into focus.

And then she remembered.

“The baby,” she whispered. She reached her hands out in panic, feeling for her belly then gasping as more pain crashed through her system.

Piers took her hands and pulled them gently away from her belly.

“The baby is fine, as are you. See?” He carefully levered one of her hands to the swell of her belly but wouldn’t allow her to exert any pressure.

She looked down at the unfamiliar feel of bulky bandages, but the swell was still evident. Tears flooded her eyes as her insides caved in relief.

“I was so afraid. I can’t lose her, Piers. She’s everything to me.”

He cupped her cheek and rubbed his thumb over the damp trail underneath her eye. “Your surgery was a success. The doctor says the baby is doing well. They’ve been monitoring you for contractions.” He gestured toward a machine at the side of her bed. “See? You can see and hear her heartbeat.”

She turned her head and tuned into the soft whop whop whop sound that echoed in the still room.