He shook his head. But he had awoken from enough nightmares lately that he was having trouble sleeping. It angered him that he was getting the bad dreams. He thought he was over them, that he had moved to the next level of healing and could get on with his life. Instead, it was as if he had a setback once he’d found out that he was going to be a father.
“Tonight was different,” he confessed. Stergios clasped Jodie’s hand against his chest. “When I dreamed I had seen a glimpse of him, it wasn’t his face. It was mine.”
Her fingers flexed, her nails scratching his skin as the surprise rolled through her. “You are not going to turn out like your father,” she whispered.
“You don’t know that.” He had inherited many traits from Elias Pagonis. He was ruthless and ambitious just like his father.
“I know what kind of man you are, Stergios. I’m well aware of your flaws but you don’t have an ounce of evil in you.”
A hardened smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. “Don’t be too sure.”
“I am sure,” she retorted. “I’m also certain that your father had made some choices that took him down a path you wouldn’t take. Elias Pagonis had to have made some questionable decisions before the kidnapping.”
“He was a cheat and a fraud.” He had forgotten about Pagonis’s other sins. The kidnapping eclipsed everything. With Jodie’s prompting, he remembered some of the actions his father had taken. It was as though he’d been building up to kidnapping and extortion. “There were a lot of questions about his finances.”
“You are not your father.”
At times he was worse. Stergios let go of Jodie’s hand. Elias Pagonis had not been the worst man he’d faced. The more power he had accumulated, the more monsters came crawling out, determined to tear him to pieces.
“Your father was a danger to your family,” she pointed out, “but you protect them from the likes of Pagonis.”
“You don’t know my methods.” At times he was just as terrifying as the monsters he battled when it meant keeping his loved ones safe.
“You take care of those who are most vulnerable,” she continued, stroking the side of his neck. “You will never allow anyone to harm a child.”
And it would destroy him if something happened to their child. Or worse, if he shared more than Pagonis’s blood. “I can’t do this without you,” he said gruffly. “You need to let me know if I’m becoming my father.”
Her hands froze. “Stergios, it’s not going to happen.”
“Promise me, Jodie,” he pleaded, his voice raw at the edges. He knew he could trust her. She had the courage to tell him when he was wrong and she was the only person who would care about their child as much as he did.
“I promise,” she said with great reluctance. “But you’re asking too much of me. I couldn’t hurt you like that.”
“I’d rather you hurt me than...” The memories started to crowd his mind and he turned away from Jodie. “I can’t fail my child.”
She pressed her hand against his shoulder. “And that, Stergios,” she said softly, “is why you will never be like your father.”
* * *
Jodie murmured and sighed with contentment as she gradually stirred from her sleep. She was surrounded by heat and wiggled closer. She frowned when she felt Stergios’s big hands grasp her arms as the delicious heat faded.
Stergios carefully held her away. “You could tempt a saint, Jodie.”
Her eyelashes fluttered as she slowly opened her eyes. “What’s wrong?” she asked, her voice groggy from sleep. The bedroom was dark but she saw the first streaks of dawn filter through the curtains.
“You’re too close.” He growled in her ear. “I knew this would happen if we shared a bed.”
Too close? She blinked a few times and discovered that instead of keeping a safe distance, she was clinging onto Stergios. Her head rested against his bare chest as she listened to the solid beat of his heart. She had draped her arms around him in a loose embrace and her hips were flush with his.
At some point in the night she had gravitated to his warmth and strength. She had turned to Stergios in her sleep because she couldn’t stay away. Jodie didn’t want to hold back anymore. She knew now that Stergios Antoniou wasn’t going to hurt her. He cared for her and for the baby.
Jodie unhooked her bare leg from his muscular thigh. His pajama bottoms hung low on his hips and the thin cotton couldn’t hide his thick erection. Heat flashed through her pelvis, her core tightening, as she remembered the masculine power he demonstrated when he had thrust inside her.