“Christ, Athena, I’m a mere man. I’m exhausted,” he sighed, kissing her lips.

“I told you I’ve always been a demanding hussy,” she murmured, her head on his shoulder.

“And I love every nanosecond of it. What do you command now?”

“Go to sleep for a little while.” She kissed his shoulder. “It’s early yet.”

“Yeah, but don’t let me nap more than fifteen minutes.” He yawned and closed his eyes. “I love you,” he murmured, already half asleep.

“I love you,” she whispered back.

Ripped in two between fear and love, she drew up her knees, ran her fingers through her damp, tangled hair, and watched him sleep.

When the clock reached the appointed fifteen minutes, she wanted to throw it in the closet or drown it in the bathtub. Stop time.

So much precious time had passed with them apart because, torn between love and fear, she’d betrayed his trust. She could do it again.

He’d been young and vulnerable then. But he wasn’t an impetuous boy now, nor she a naive, terrified young girl.

She touched his shoulder. “Drew, it’s time to go.”

He opened his eyes and blinked. Turning his head, he gazed at her with such open trust, she knew in her soul that she hadn’t made a mistake.

“I hate leaving you.”

“I know. Do you want me to drive you to the airport, since you left your Porsche last night for Connor?”

“No, the driver will pick me up here, stop at Clayworth’s for my luggage, and then go on to the airport.” He gave her one quick kiss and flung back the covers. “The only way I’m getting out of here is to take a cold shower.”

“And I’ll go make you hot coffee.” Trying to be mature when she wanted to launch herself into his arms, she threw on a silk robe instead.

She heard the shower as she padded toward the kitchen. The doorbell ringing stopped her.

The driver had arrived early. No sense in hiding the obvious. Athena opened the door.

Tall, his pure white hair still as thick as a sable pelt, eyes the identical aquamarine of hers and her sisters’, Athena’s father stood staring down at her.

“Dad!” Athena gasped, clutching her robe tighter across her chest.

“I know it’s early, but I landed an hour ago and I wanted to come here first to see for myself that you’re all right.” He lifted one thick eyebrow. “Aren’t you going to let me in?”

“Athena, have you seen my wristwatch?” Drew, his tux shirt hanging open over his trousers, wandered down the hall.

His eyes locked with her father’s, and all the oxygen seemed to be sucked from the room.

Drew recovered first, coming closer, buttoning his shirt. “Hello, Alistair.”

Her father nodded and stared down at her.

She felt totally vulnerable, but she flung back her head and returned his gaze, searching his face for answers.

“I’m with Drew, Dad,” she said simply.

“I see that. I’ve interrupted. We’ll talk later.”

“No, Dad, wait!” She reached out to stop him, but he didn’t turn, his back ramrod straight.

The door swung shut, and she stared at it, dazed with disbelief.

She swayed back, and Drew caught her in his arms, holding her. She turned, burying her face in his chest, and soaked his tux shirt with her tears.

“I can’t believe Dad found out this way,” she shuddered, trying to breathe between her sobs.

“I’ll talk to your dad. Make him understand.”

His voice sounded so full of warmth and love, she believed he could make anything happen.

“Yes.” She looked up at him through her tears. “We’ll fix whatever’s wrong between you and my dad. Together, we’ll make this right. All of it.”

He cupped her wet cheeks in his palms and stared into her eyes. His were so brilliant, and open like she’d never seen, even when they were making love.

“I love you, Athena. I want a life with you. A life based on truth and trust. You hurt me for what you believed to be the right reasons, and it separated us for years while we grew up. I don’t want something I did for what I believe to be the right reason to tear us apart.”

His fingers tightened around her face. “We can’t fix what happened with your dad and Clayworth’s. He’s guilty of going outside the boundaries of his fiduciary responsibilities. Then he went further to make up his losses. Took bigger financial risks than he should have, and it put the store in jeopardy. Mine was the deciding vote to reprimand him and demand his resignation.”

The warm air in the hall became frigid. Drew had said she wasn’t a statue. Now she might have turned to stone.

“But he can’t be guilty of doing that. You know what kind of man my father is. The years he devoted his life to Clayworth’s. How could you have voted against him if you weren’t absolutely sure?”

“I am sure, Athena. The only other people who could have signed off on the transactions are my family. I know none of them would have done this.”

The truth slammed into her.

Clayworths closing ranks. Standing shoulder to shoulder.

I can’t fix this.

“Oh, yes. The famous Clayworth family loyalty.” Her voice cold, her body shivering, she pulled away from him. “So to protect them, you made my father the scapegoat. When were you planning to tell me? Why didn’t you tell me when I asked you on the boat?”

“I was afraid it would tear us apart before we had this second chance.”

She knew the truth was doing exactly what he’d feared.

All the joy she’d felt withered into a hard, cold stone in her chest.

“You’re right. It has—I don’t know how to fix this. You’re a Clayworth. You’ll never turn against your family. And neither will I.”

“Christ, Athena, you know we can work this out somehow. Not let it come between us. We’ve come too far to let this happen.” He reached for her, but she flinched back, drawing her robe tighter around her like a shield.

The doorbell rang again. This time she knew it must be the driver.

“You need to go.” She turned her back on him.

“Come with me!” He pulled her around to face him. “I want you there. I need you there. We’ll work this out.”

She closed her mind and heart to the anguish in his eyes, his voice, too filled with her own. “How, Drew? I know Clayworths always stand together no matter what. So do Smiths. I’ll never believe my father did anything wrong, and you always will. How can we be together with that between us?”

His fingers bit into her arms. “I’m not leaving. I’m staying here. To hell with the Fastnet. To hell with everything except you.”

For one beat of her heart she believed the Fates had brought her to this moment to save him again. But she was wiser now and knew she had a choice. She needed to let him go, find his own way, like she needed to find hers.

“You need to go, Drew. I want you to go. Now,” she said softly, pulling away from him.

His gaze bore into her. “Promise me that you’ll be here when I get back?”

“I can’t. I’m not sure of anything except that I will never again make you a promise I can’t keep.”

CHAPTER

19

At Clayworth’s, Connor sat in the office that had once belonged to his dad. He cast one long look at Drew’s tux trousers and open shirt and smiled.

“I see you had your own party with Athena while you threw me to the lions.”

“I need the G-V to get to London. I missed my flight, and I need to get to Cowles. I’m not going on a business trip. I’m racing in the Fastnet.” Drew blurted out the truth.

Connor shot him another long, narrow look and picked up the phone.