Page 42 of Her Greek Inheritance

“I remember that,” Tressa said. “He ran a very high fever and spent a few days in the hospital getting fluids and antibiotics.”

Leo translated the Greek for Gemma. She frowned, doing her best to follow along.

“After he recovered, he came to me. A young woman he’d been…seeing had suddenly announced she was pregnant. Alexi suspected she was lying. He initially wanted me to run a paternity test as he didn’t believe he could have fathered this woman’s child.

“I explained to him the possibility of there being some lasting effects from his illness. He asked me to run some tests, and I did. The results showed that the illness had left him sterile. Alexi was incapable of fathering children after his illness, most likely due to the extremely high temperature he ran for so many days.”

Tressa slowly nodded her head. “Alexi came to me almost a year later, upset that he would never be able to find a proper bride. He wouldn’t tell me why he was so concerned. Now it all makes perfect sense.”

Vasil looked at his wife and then at the doctor. His face became stony. “You kept this from me?”

The doctor adopted a neutral expression.“It was not my secret to share.”

Everyone then looked to Leo as the truth became clear to all. If Alexi hadn’t fathered Damien, Leo had. He looked stunned. Gemma felt as if the floor had been taken out from under her once again.

She’d been trying to come to terms both with her feelings for Leo and her guilt of sleeping with both brothers. Her guilt for having fallen for Leo while Damien was Alexi’s child had threatened to overwhelm her, but now she knew that was untrue…

The full reality hit her.Leo deceived me not once, but twice. The only way he could be Damien’s father is if he was pretending to be Alexi in Paris two years ago. God, does the man ever tell the truth?!

Gemma met his eyes. They needed to talk. Now. “Tressa, could you all leave Leo and me alone for a few minutes? I need to speak with him in private.”

Tressa nodded. “Shall we take Damien with us?”

Gemma looked down and saw that he was almost asleep. She shook her head, albeit very gingerly. “I’ll keep him here with me.”

“Very well. Call if you need anything.” Tressa indicated the bedside telephone.

“I will. Thank you.”

Gemma waited until everyone but Leo had left. Only then did she meet his eyes. “Why did you lie to me?” She was trying not to jump to conclusions, but she needed to hear something that would help her deal with yet another of his deceptions.

Leo stared at her. He walked slowly to the side of the bed and sat down. “I don’t have a good reason for my actions.”

“Try,” she urged him. “What were you doing in Paris that night?”

Leo explained about the art auction and how Alexi had been called away to deal with company business. He even shared with her what kind of man he’d been at that time. “But things have changed.”

“But why didn’t you tell me who you really were that night?” She was so confused.Tell me something that makes this better. Please, Leo! Help me understand.

Leo looked at her. “I would have but you disappeared on me. I had no way of looking for you without even a name to go on. I didn’t know if you were a bidder at the auction, an employee of the hotel, or just someone who’d attended to look at the paintings.”

Gemma blushed, looking down at Damien. “I was so ashamed of my behavior the next morning. I had a flight to catch and I knew I’d been reckless…I’d never had unprotected sex until that night. I ran away, not thinking I would ever see you again.”

“But Alexi found you?” he asked.

She nodded. “He was given my card and the restoration estimate for the painting he…I mean, you…purchased for your mother at the auction. I thought he was you when he showed up and he never corrected me. He was different, but I just figured that night had been a one-time thing.”

“Different? How?” Leo paused to pull a lightweight blanket over the now sleeping Damien. He looked at the sleeping child, a tender expression on his face. “I can’t believe he’s mine.”

Gemma watched him softly caress their son’s head. Her heart twisted inside her chest.He loves him! I wonder if he recognizes the emotion for what it is?

“Gemma?” he asked, bringing her eyes back to his.

“Alexi was softer and not as aggressive. The chemistry between us was okay, but nothing like what you and I shared. I’d had too much champagne that night and chalked the difference up to my faulty recollection of how things had really been that night. And then you showed up in D.C. and the chemistry flared again. It was very confusing.”

“I was just as confused. I’ve never felt this way about another woman and frankly, it scared me. I didn’t want to settle down, but after being with you…I can’t imagine myself with anyone else.”

Gemma felt the same, but she had to know the answer to one more question. “Why did you sleep with me that first night you came back and I assumed you were Alexi?”