Page 84 of Loving the Greek Billionaire

“Leo barely had time to grieve for Nia when the sharks started circling him, hungry for his fortune.” Nessa’s words turned bitter. “He was in mourning, and all those women saw were dollar signs. In an act of self-preservation, Leo turned recluse and switched roles with Stavros. The previous nanny was with this family from almost the day Adonis was born, so she was aware of the arrangement from the beginning.” Nessa stopped walking and laid a hand on Rose’s arm. “We assumed you knew too. It never occurred to us that Leo wouldn’t say anything, that he would leave the temporary nanny in the dark. Theo and I feel terrible that we sprang the news on you the way we did. We hope you can forgive us.”

Rose squeezed Nessa’s hand. “I do. It’s not your fault. It’s Leo’s. He should have told me.”

“Yes, he should have. The question is, why didn’t he? And can you leave tomorrow with not knowing?” She embraced Rose. “I’ve taken enough of your time tonight. I hoped if you understood what Leo went through it might give you a better picture of the man he is.”

“Thank you.” From the corner of her eye, Rose saw Leo and Stavros walking to the house from the beach.

Nessa noticed too. “I’ll let you say goodnight to Nefeli. The children will be sad to see you leave in the morning. They’ve grown quite attached to you in such a short amount of time.”

“I’ve grown fond of them too,” Rose said.

“I think you’ve grown more than fond.” Nessa said. “Leo isn’t the only one with a great capacity to love.” She kissed Rose’s cheek and headed for the house.

Rose turned back to look at the waves, processing all that Nessa had told her and the questions she’d posed. Could she leave without knowing Leo’s reasons for leaving her in the dark? Would she ever get closure if she didn’t?

She stared at the waves, willing them to give her heart an answer. The call of a bird in flight caught her attention. The bird dived into the water and came up empty.

As signs went, that was unhelpful.

Rose sighed.

She heard someone approaching, and all her cells went on high alert, attuned to his presence. Without looking, Rose knew it was Leo. She’d lingered too long, and he’d finally caught her alone.

♥ ♥ ♥

Leo’s heart thumped so loudly that he thought for sure Rose could hear it as he approached.

A twitch of her shoulders as he neared told him she was aware of him.

She looked beautiful but sad bathed in the twilight as the sun sank to the horizon on the opposite side of the isle.

With every step, he expected her to flee as she had since arriving at his home. She stayed, seemingly rooted to the spot. He stood next to her and waited. This was his last chance. He didn’t want to blow it.

Without looking at him, she said, “I’ll give you five minutes.”

Leo took a deep breath. “I was wrong to not tell you who I was from the start. I hadn’t planned to tell you because you’d only be here a month, and there didn’t seem to be a point.”

She gave a slight inclination of her head which he hoped meant that she understood his rationale.

“What I didn’t expect was to fall in love with you.” There. He’d said it.

Rose sucked in a hard breath, and a shudder went through her.

Leo wasn’t sure what that reaction meant. He moved to stand in front of her but didn’t touch her, even though every fiber of his being cried out to gather her in his arms and never let her go.

She kept her eyes trained on the sand.

He said, “As my feelings for you grew each day, I found it a little harder to tell you the truth, fearing you wouldn’t forgive me.”

She twisted her ring, trembling and silent.

Leo continued. “And each night I determined to tell you the next day. But then all my fear would come rushing back, and I stayed silent. You were so determined to dislike Mr. Papadakis from the first day. And once you shared your past treatment and reasons for despising the wealthy . . .” He ran his hands through his hair. “I believed you’d see my omission as a betrayal, as a manipulation tactic, and never forgive me. How could I tell you I was a billionaire without you hating me? How could you see me as a man who loves you and happens to be a billionaire? I’ve wrestled with these questions with no answers. Usually women only see me as money, not as Leo. You saw me as Leo. I was afraid of how you’d look at me once you knew the whole story. After my wife died . . .”

Rose raised a hand as if to touch his arm but then dropped it and curled her arm across her chest. “Nessa explained about Nia’s death.”

Her voice was so quiet, he had to lean in to hear her, catching the scent of her intoxicating perfume.

“She did?” He couldn’t keep the surprise out of his voice. He’d only concocted the plan of asking for his mother’s help a few minutes ago but hadn’t spoken to her yet. As always, his mother was one step ahead.

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