Did she thank him for it or did she brazen it out with an inappropriate remark? In the end, she did neither. Just nodded and stood up, suddenly feeling caged in her own skin.
She wanted to, needed to, hate Stavros. And seeing this side of him was slowly but surely eroding the entire foundation of her life.
“What kind of party requires that we stay there for a week?”
“Katrakis Textiles is celebrating its fiftieth year anniversary. Tonight’s grand celebration is to honor everything Giannis has accomplished in the past fifty years. And then we will spend a week with him.”
Katrakis Textiles—Giannis’s legacy for Dmitri, Stavros and her. “I want no part of it.”
“I don’t believe you.”
Trembling with panic, Leah locked her hands by her sides, the urge to pound at him rising again.
“I’m not lying about this. Dmitri and you are welcome to it. Now if you could please tell your pilot to turn around and head back to your estate—”
He didn’t even blink. “I won’t. Maybe I forgot to mention it, but this is one of the conditions you have to meet for your freedom, Leah.”
Her throat felt like it was made of glass. “You can’t do this.”
Rising from his seat, Stavros planted himself in her way. He frowned, taking in the trembling of her shoulders, the real flare of panic in her eyes. “Leah, what’s going on?”
Her chin tilted up, her gaze slowly focusing on him again. Jaw gritting, she squared her shoulders. “I don’t want anything to do with Giannis or his legacy. He...rejected my mom without looking back just because she fell in love with my dad. He didn’t even come when she died, he never accepted my dad.”
“He was heartbroken that he had driven your mother away, Leah. And she...she was just as stubborn as him.”
“He loved you and Dmitri more than he ever loved her or me. He took me in because he had no choice after my dad died.”
“He tried to make amends for his mistakes.”
Leah shook her head, forcing the words to come. “He did what he failed to do with my mom, to me. He...he ruined my life by bringing you into it. He took away my freedom by forcing you to marry me.”
“He did not force me, Leah. I owed him everything in my life. I would have made any sacrifice he...”
She recoiled from him as if he had struck her.
Christos! She was a complex puzzle he would need to spend a lifetime to understand.
Beneath the reckless defiance, beneath her constant animosity for him, did Leah want his approval?
“Of course,” she said, her voice trembling. “The great Giannis Katrakis who’s made kings of his godsons, plucked them from poverty and obscurity...and the honorable Stavros Sporades who would do anything for him, to the point of marrying his obnoxious granddaughter...and whose life has been ruined by it?
Mine.
“I’m not an instrument in achieving redemption for Giannis or for you to show your gratitude.”
“You don’t understand how much he longs to—”
“And you do? You understand feelings and fears, Stavros? Even Calista’s death...all it means to you is a failure...Do you ever miss her? Did she ever mean anything to you other than being a responsibility?”
Tight grooves appeared by his mouth, his stunning face white beneath his dark skin. He looked haunted. “I took care of her since she was a crawling toddler. I—”
“You took care of her, you protected her, you bought her clothes and jewelry, but did you ever love her? Does Giannis mean anything to you other than a debt to repay? Am I anything but a penance for your supposed failure? God, it’s like your heart is nothing but stone.”
Pure fury wreathed his features and yet, he didn’t scare Leah. All she wanted was to hurt him for pushing her to this.
First her father, then Calista—they had left her shattered, inconsolable, alone. Yet, somehow she had managed, she had found something she loved and started pouring her heart and soul into it.
She couldn’t risk getting attached to her grandfather, she couldn’t survive another loss.
“Everything you have ever done has been self-serving, and you dare to question me?” he shot back.
“Yes, I dare. You have no fears, no doubts, nothing that holds you back from what you think is right. Don’t pretend like he means something to you.”