Page 47

Elina

CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

“Odin?”

He doesn’t answer.

When I enter our room, I see he's sitting on the floor by the window. Head down, arms at his sides.

It's like he's given up.

I feel my heart being crushed.

Seeing him like this reassures me that no matter what we have to go through, there is no chance of happiness apart from my husband.

I approach slowly because some part of me still fears rejection, but my love is much greater than my fear. “Why are you there?”

Silence.

I kneel in front of him, but when he still doesn't react, without asking permission, I climb into his lap.

I kiss him. Once, twice, over and over, until I finally feel him hold me in his arms. “I love you.”

“You shouldn’t.”

“Maybe not, but there's nothing I can do about it.”

“Elina, are you expecting our child?”

I take his hand and place it on my stomach. “Yeah. He's growing right here.”

“Are you going to leave me?”

“I can’t. I’ve been fighting with myself for hours. I saw the photographs yesterday. I finally understood what you lost and also who you were before my father came into your life.”

“You left our house.”

“No, I was thinking.”

“About us?”

“About myself, mostly.”

He threatens to speak, but I shut him up with another kiss.

“I thought about everything we've lived through so far. Since you brought me here, our relationship, the wedding...and now, the baby.”

“Our son.”

“Yeah. There's a new life in here, and I didn’t go for a walk because I knew you were hunting Leandros but because I knew I didn't want to raise my son in an environment filled with heartache and pain, Odin. I grew up in a family without any love.”

“There's a lot of love between us.”

“I know, but there's a lot of hurt in here.” I place my hand on his chest. “I'm sorry I went through your stuff, but I needed to know. I couldn't read the letter, however. As if my reading difficulties weren't enough, I think it’s in another language. Will you tell me what's in it?”

He nods.

“Did you save it to remember?” I run a hand over my face, a little frustrated. “See? I know almost nothing about your past. I've never asked for this before because, more than anyone, I respect secrets, but now I need to think not only about myself but my son as well.”

“I received everything in that box along with my inheritance.”

“Inheritance?”

“Yeah. From the man who saved me. Christos found out that he was my mother's brother. Half-brother, actually. Ingvar. The night he died, in addition to making me his heir, he left me this box and made me promise that I would only open it when I had completed my revenge.”

“Have you completed it?”A sudden anxiety makes my pulse quicken.

“I'll get to that part in a moment. Let me tell you what you want to hear and then you can decide what you want to do.”He looks away, which bothers me.

“Okay.”

“A few months ago, Christos decided to investigate my savior. I didn't want him to, but my cousin argued that he needed to know. I never touched that box, because I gave my word that I wouldn't. I felt indebted to the man who had saved me, but from the moment Christos told me about our blood bond, I questioned Ingvar's motives. Pieces of the puzzle began to emerge, but some didn't fit.”

“Why?”

“I always thought he was related to my mother. Despite the different surnames, who besides a relative would be so bent on revenge? Anyway, I silenced that voice inside me because of my promise.”

“You said you suspected he was related to your mother, but that's just by name? Because he's Scandinavian?”

“No, mainly because of the hatred he had for your father. Despite everything I went through, I was just a kid, and sometimes I wanted to live like a normal kid, but he never let me forget. When he thought I was losing focus on our plans, he would tell me everything he saw that night again and again, how there wasn’t even enough left of my family to be buried.”

“God, Odin. That is inhumane.”

“Then we got to a point where he didn't have to do that anymore. I was already so conditioned that I lived and breathed hate.”

“You never hated me.”

“I tried.”

“Tried?”

“Yeah. Not to hate, but before returning to the island, I tried not to have mercy on any of the Argyroses, even though it was never my intention to take revenge on you or your mother.”

“But contrary to what you had planned, you always took care of me.”

“There was no other option for me.” He takes my hand, kisses it, and places it over his heart. “From that first day, when I took you from the sheik's arms, I wanted you for myself.”

“Coming with you was the best decision I have ever made. It wasn't until after some time here that I realized how scared I'd been my whole life. I pretended to be indifferent, but the truth is that I was afraid of everything, and above all, I found myself incapable of overcoming my difficulties. You helped me have faith in myself.”

“I'm not a good man, Elina.”

“Yes, you are, but maybe you're not ready to hear that yet. Please finish telling your story. What did that letter say?”

“He lied.”

“About what? Wasn't my father the one who hurt your family?” God, just saying it out loud fills me with pain.

“Not about that. That part is true. I was there, remember? But he lied about my mother. That's what the letter was about. So that I wouldn't give up my revenge, he let me believe that my mother was a part of it, and that it was her relationship with Leandros that triggered their deaths, but that wasn't true.”

“Jesus Christ!”

“She never wanted anything to do with your father and asked Ingvar for help getting rid of him. But when he arrived, it was already too late.”

“He used you.”

“In a way, yes.”

“No, Odin, he used you completely .”

“Elina, after what I've seen, I think I'd have taken revenge anyway. The one thing I can't forgive him for is making me hate her all these years. I hated her almost as much as I hated your father.”

“Why did you have to go to Greece this time?”I'm not sure I really want the answer, but I meant it when I said I wouldn't raise my son on the basis of a lie.

He sighs, and after giving me a kiss on the forehead, he gets up with me in his arms. Then he sits me on the bed and paces the room. “I discovered your father's whereabouts. I've hunted him all these months, since the day he ran away, and when we finally caught him, I asked them to take him there.”

“And what happened when you faced him?”

“I've imagined that moment for many years, you know? The moment when I would destroy him. When we were face-to-face, however, the monster that haunted my nightmares no longer scared me—it just disgusted me.”

“Did you kill him?”

“No, but I didn't save him.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means I wasn't his only enemy. The islanders appeared at the boathouse. In addition to several other crimes, your father was responsible for the disappearance of many girls from our island as well as the neighboring ones. The men who arrived were their fathers. They asked me to let them settle accounts with Leandros, and I left. I didn't want to, but I went.”

“You did not want to?”

“No. He confessed that my mother had never given in to his harassment. In fact, he laughed when he told me that. He laughed because I'd spent all these years thinking she'd been unfaithful. That's when I was sure he needed to die.”

“Why did you leave, then?”

“Because I found out you were pregnant. I'd pushed everything we have together to the back of my mind because I wanted to go back and honor my family, but when Christos told me you were expecting our child, it was as if a curtain had been pulled aside.”

He kneels in front of me. “You are my life. My present and my future. You said you don’t want our son growing up in a hateful environment. Neither do I, but you need to know that while I didn't kill Leandros with my bare hands, I left him with those who would and I didn't feel any remorse for it.”