Page 26 of The Billionaire’s Siren (S.E. Smith Signature Romance: Heart & Soul #1)

Sixteen

Twilight wrapped the room in a hush, the kind that made the world feel far away.

Faint light filtered from the bathroom, casting shadows that danced across the stateroom.

The faint scent of soap and Alexandros lingered in the air where they had showered earlier, only to return to bed again before they could get dressed.

Dani lay curled against his side, her cheek pressed to the steady rise and fall of his chest. One of his hands traced slow, lazy circles along her spine, the motion soothing and unhurried, as if he had all the time in the world to touch her.

She wanted to stay in this moment forever.

But she knew he deserved answers.

Her chest tightened.

Her chest tightened as a phantom ache curled low in her stomach, rising from something old and buried. Her muscles tensed before she could stop it. The memories came too fast. Too sharp.

Alexandros felt it immediately.

He didn’t speak at first, didn’t ask what was wrong. He wrapped his arms around her, tucking her beneath his chin, his hand spread protectively over her hip .

His breath was warm against her hair when he finally whispered, “Why did you run, Dani?”

“You have no idea what that did to me,” he murmured. “Why would you leave me? I was terrified something would happen—and I wouldn’t be there to stop it.”

Her lips trembled.

She didn’t answer right away—her throat too tight to speak.

His arms stayed around her, firm and patient, like he could hold back the ghosts just by not letting go.

“I do know,” she whispered at last. “I know exactly how that fear feels. All too well.”

He said nothing—waiting for her to continue.

She closed her eyes, breathing him in, grounding herself in his warmth before the words came—soft, faltering at first, then gathering strength like a river breaking through a dam.

“My parents were happy,” she began. “The kind of happy that made other people smile just watching them. They were best friends. Soulmates. They did everything together—not because they had to… but because they couldn’t imagine not being near each other. It was like watching two halves of a whole.”

She felt him nod against her hair, his hand still stroking her back.

“When they looked at each other, it was like… like they were seeing the most beautiful thing in the world. Every single time. When they were apart, even for a few hours, the reunion was always… radiant. Their smiles—God, it was like the sun came out just for them.”

Alexandros’s voice was rough. “My parents are like that too. Theo and I used to make fun of them. We told them they were setting an impossible standard… how could anyone ever live up to a love like that?”

Dani smiled faintly, but it faded just as fast.

“Everything changed when I was fifteen,” she said quietly.

“We were flying to a remote lake house in Alaska for a summer break. My dad was a pilot. He flew us to different places all the time. It wasn’t supposed to be a big deal.

Just us, two weeks off the grid, with mountains, fishing, and hot cocoa made on a dumb wood-burning stove that never worked right. ”

Her fingers curled against Alexandros’s ribs.

“We’d only been in the air thirty minutes when something went wrong. An engine light. A sputter. I remember my dad’s voice going tight. Calm, but clipped. He said we needed to return to the airfield. He promised that everything was going to be fine.”

Her voice hitched. “But it wasn’t. It never would be again.”

Alexandros’s arms tightened around her. Still silent. Still listening.

“The plane clipped the top of the trees before it crashed into the mountain. I don’t even remember the impact—just the sound. Metal screaming. My body hit something hard. Then pain.”

She paused. Took a breath that felt stale and tight in her lungs.

“My arm was broken, and I had bruised ribs and several deep cuts. I was lucky. My dad…” Her voice cracked. “He died on impact.”

A tear slipped down her cheek, soaking into Alexandros’s skin. He continued caressing her, soothing her. He was her light in the darkness.

“My mom was still alive,” Dani whispered. “A tree branch pierced the windshield. It impaled her side. She was conscious. In shock. Bleeding out. But still fighting. She was calling to him. Reaching for him like… like she could pull him back just by touching him.”

Her breath hitched again.

“I tried to help her. Tried to calm her down. But she just kept… breaking. Her breathing got worse. She said life without him would be too empty. That her heart wasn’t strong enough to stay.”

She buried her face in his chest, her tears burning hot and fast.

“She slipped into unconsciousness shortly before the rescue team arrived. She never woke up.”

Alexandros’s hand moved up to cradle the back of her head, his thumb stroking her temple as she sobbed.

“I was only fifteen,” she choked. “I needed them both, but if I couldn’t have both, at least one. I watched my mother give up because her heart was too broken to go on.”

Her words dropped into the silence like stones in a still pond .

“I’m terrified, Alexandros,” she confessed. “Of loving someone that much. Of losing them. Because I know what it looks like… I know what it feels like when love breaks you. It doesn’t just hurt—it undoes you. And I—I don’t think I could survive that again.”

He kissed her hair. Once. Twice.

She clung to him.

“I didn’t run because I didn’t love you,” she whispered. “I ran because I do. I love you so very much.”

Her words were muffled against his chest, but they vibrated through him all the same.

For a long moment, neither of them moved. He just held her, like he could absorb her grief, her fear—all the years she’d spent burying her pain.

When he spoke, his voice came—low, fierce, and full of devotion.

“I’m not your past, Dani,” he murmured. “You’re not alone anymore.

I will love you the way you deserve to be loved.

Steady. Certain. Every day. For as long as I can.

There are no guarantees in life, but if it’s within my power, I’ll stay by your side for all of it.

And… if I can’t, or you—.” He drew a deep breath before he continued.

“I want you to know that every single second I have with you would be worth the pain because the love I feel for you is too great to deny.”

He shifted, tilting her face up to his, brushing the tears from her cheeks with his thumbs.

“So fall,” he whispered. “Fall in love with me. Take the chance… I’ll catch you. Every damn time.”

She looked into his eyes—and saw no fear, no hesitation.

Just love.

And this time, she didn’t run.

She let herself fall—and Alexandros’s love caught her.

The gentle chug-chug-chug of the engine blended with the rhythmic slap of waves against the hull of The Gentle Breeze .

Alexandros leaned back against the bench seat, a glass of wine in hand and the sun warm against his chest. Dani sat next to him, guiding the trawler through the channel.

She reached across him for another piece of the peeled clementines he had placed in a bowl for them to snack on.

Her fingers were sticky and orange-scented, and he wanted to lick the juice off. He knew if he did that they would have to anchor out of the channel because it would never stop with him licking just her fingers.

He couldn’t take his eyes off her.

She was laughing—laughing—with that low, throaty sound that made his stomach tighten. She’d just finished telling a ridiculous story about slipping into the water at the marina while trying to impress a group of retired fishermen with her knot-tying skills.

“They still tease me about it,” she said, popping a piece of fruit into her mouth. “I swear Kostas told the story four times before lunch.”

“They adore you,” Alexandros said, smiling. “Even the one with three teeth.”

“Ah, Spiro,” she chuckled. “He keeps offering to find me a ‘nice Greek husband’ who can build me a fishing boat from scratch.”

Alexandros arched a brow. “Should I be worried?”

She licked her lips and studied him with a sultry expression. “Jealous, Mr. Kallistratos?”

He leaned forward, plucked a piece of clementine from her fingers, and said, “Terribly. But I hear you’re already quite taken with a Greek man who owns a ludicrously large yacht and scowls like a storm cloud when he catches you driving too fast on that scooter from hell you own.”

She laughed again and shoved his shoulder. “I was going fourteen kilometers an hour. That’s barely faster than a jog.”

“I have seen death glare at me with less intensity than your Vespa.”

She rolled her eyes, but her grin softened as she tilted her face to the fading shafts of sunlight. The wind tugged at her hair, wild and fiery in the light. Sun-kissed and barefoot, she looked more like a sea nymph than a billionaire’s heir.

No one would guess who she was .

Alexandros didn’t care. She was his Danika. His mermaid. His mechanic. His lover. And he hoped that soon he could add his wife to the list.

He loved this version of her. He would never tire of watching her barter with dockhands, flirt information out of grumpy mechanics, and chat with fishermen about carburetors and fishing lines as if she’d been born to the sea.

He still remembered the way she’d waved goodbye to the marina crew two weeks earlier, oil-stained gloves hanging from her belt like a badge of honor.

They’d spent nearly a week on his yacht, giving Dani time to finish the engine repair she’d promised at the marina.

He’d pretended to protest, but truthfully, it had been some of his favorite days—sitting nearby, sipping espresso, reading reports half-heartedly while sneaking glances at her bent over an engine block, her hair twisted into a messy knot and her tank top clinging to her back in the heat.

He hadn’t taken this much time off work in… ever.

He didn’t miss it.

Not the boardrooms.

Not the meetings.

Not the women.

He looked at Dani now and felt the same fierce surge of something he didn’t have a name for until she’d walked into his life.

Love.

He was in love. And not in the way he’d always thought it would happen—with caution, control, and timing. No, this was the headfirst, heart-wrecking kind. The kind that made him want to rewrite every plan he’d made for his future just to make space for her.

Especially when someone new might already be on the way.

His gaze drifted to her stomach. Flat and tan. Beautiful. He knew she hadn’t had her period since they’d been back together. Nearly three weeks. A flicker of hope stirred deep inside him.

Could she be pregnant?

The thought didn’t scare him. It thrilled him.

The idea of Dani—his Dani—carrying their child, her body rounded with new life, her laughter and the sounds of a baby’s coo filling their home…

His chest tightened with emotion.

She caught him staring and raised an eyebrow. “You’re looking at me like I just grew a second head.”

He cleared his throat and gave her a crooked smile. “Just wondering if we might be welcoming a third crewmember soon.”

Her brow furrowed. “Is that your way of suggesting we adopt a cat?”

He barked a laugh. “God, no. I enjoy breathing—and remaining in one piece. Cats hate me.”

She smiled but tilted her head, watching him with curious eyes. “Then what?”

He hesitated. Should he bring it up now? Or wait until tonight?

Dani leaned forward, studying his face. “You’re fidgeting.”

“I do not fidget.”

“You fidget when you’re nervous.”

“I’m not—” He paused. Sighed. “Okay. Maybe I am a little nervous.”

She set the bowl of oranges aside and shifted closer. “Talk to me.”

He drew in a breath and reached for her hand. “Dani, these last few weeks… they’ve been the best of my life. I don’t say that lightly. You know me. I don’t—romanticize—or I didn’t until I met you. Now, it seems to be all I do.”

She giggled and nodded. A tiny smile curved her lips as she studied his face.

“I’ve never felt this way about anyone. And I’ve never wanted a future with someone the way I want one with you,” he continued.

Her eyes widened slightly. Her lips parted.

“So, I need to ask you something. Two things, actually.”

She didn’t speak, but her grip on his hand tightened.

He reached into the pocket of his shorts and pulled out a small velvet box. “First,” he said, opening it to reveal a delicate diamond and emerald eternity ring nestled in the folds. “Will you marry me?”

Her breath caught. Her eyes filled with tears .

“And second,” he said gently, “do you think you might be pregnant?”

Her silence stretched into stunned stillness… then broke with a laugh that was half-sob, half-disbelief.

“Oh my God,” she whispered. “You really don’t waste time.”

He smiled. “I’ve wasted enough. I want you, Dani. All of you. For the rest of my life. And if there’s a little heartbeat joining us soon…” He touched her flat belly with reverence. “…that just makes this moment even more perfect.”

Her cheeks flushed with a delicate pink. “Yes,” she whispered. “To the first. And… maybe to the second. I was going to get a pregnancy test the next time we stopped.”

He leaned in, kissed her lips that tasted of tangy orange, and wrapped his arms around her.

“We’ll do even better, I’ll make an appointment for you to see a doctor—after we are married. I don’t want to wait until spring,” he groaned, kissing her neck and sliding his hand under her top to cup her breast.

“Anchor. We need to put the anchors out,” she breathed, twisting the steering wheel and pulling back on the throttle.