so quickly.’
Letty slid the ring onto her finger, relieved that it fitted, her face warming with colour. ‘How soon do you expect the wedding to take place?’ she asked apprehensively.
‘Within a couple of weeks.’
Letty was aghast at that short time frame. ‘But—’
‘Now that we’ve agreed on how to move forward, why would we waste time?’ Leo incised. ‘I would appreciate it if you tried to spend some time with the children between now and then.’
‘Of course. I only have to give a week’s notice at work,’ Letty mumbled, flustered by the fast pace of events and feeling more than a little overwhelmed by the prospect of marrying Leo, even though it wouldn’t be a normal marriage, no matter how hard they tried to pretend otherwise.
‘I’ll organise a list of surgeons for you so that you can have your mother booked in for the procedure she requires. I would also suggest that you look at a list of properties I have available to choose accommodation that would suit your mother and brothers better than your current home,’ Leo added. ‘My lawyers will contact you with regard to the legalities of our agreement. Unfortunately, I’ll be in Greece over the next few days handling the amalgamation of your grandfather’s company with mine. If you need to contact me, you have my number.’
Letty breathed in deep and slow to steady herself. All of a sudden she was seeing that her world was about to be turned inside out and that while the end result might be a great improvement, it would also be even more challenging than she had expected.
‘Er… I hate to mention it,’ she muttered uncomfortably as she considered her family’s most pressing problem and the state of sleepless anxiety that same problem kept her mother in. ‘That loan—’
Leo studied her, dark golden eyes hardening to a bright diamond glitter. ‘That will be dealt with without your input. It will be settled, and those men will never bother you or your family again,’ he swore. ‘You will also have a security team protecting you from now on.’
‘For goodness’ sake!’ Letty began in disbelief.
‘And a car and driver to take you wherever you want to go,’ Leo completed as if she hadn’t spoken. ‘I want you to be safe. I don’t want to take the risk of anything happening to you. On our wedding day you will become my wife and Isidore Livas’s heiress and such precautions are, sadly, necessary in the world that we live in.’
‘I disagree,’ Letty protested.
‘You don’t have to agree with me. As of today, I am taking full responsibility for your safety and that of your family. You will no longer need to keep a cricket bat behind the front door,’ Leo informed her grimly. ‘Anyone who threatens you now will have me to deal with!’
‘Careful, Leo,’ Letty murmured after she had got her breath back, her eyes colliding with his shimmering angry appraisal. ‘Your crocodile instincts are showing…’
Leo expelled his breath in a hiss. ‘The sight of that cricket bat incensed me,’ he admitted grudgingly. ‘I will not have you living in fear any longer.’
‘HE’S A LITTLE like a magician,’ Gillian Harbison contended as she looked out dreamily at the little garden of the ground floor apartment she had moved into the day before. ‘Leo, I mean. He just waves his magic wand and suddenly your wildest dreams come true.’
‘That’s Leo.’ Letty studied her mother, seated in her wheelchair by the patio doors that led out into the garden. The lines of stress and tension had eased on the older woman’s face. She was booked in for surgery at a private clinic the day after the wedding. Her sons would be staying with their father until she was back on her feet again and her best friend was moving in with her to support her during her recovery. The bright modern flat with three bedrooms and more space than Gillian had enjoyed in years was simply the icing on the cake. It was the moment when Letty accepted that any sacrifice had to be worthwhile when it made her nearest and dearest so much happier.
That was why she had bitten her tongue and surrendered to almost every demand that Leo had made of her. Accepting his generosity without complaint or protest, not to mention his insistence on security precautions, was a key challenge for her independent soul but seeing her family blossom in response was her reward. Furthermore, she couldn’t pretend to be a loving bride and fight with Leo at the same time, particularly when she was currently only able to fight with him on the phone, for Leo had been in Greece longer than he had expected. He had uncovered suspect financial practices in her grandfather’s company that required his immediate attention.
Letty had visited the children every day since Leo’s departure. She would go over in the afternoon, share an evening meal with them and then stay until bedtime. The night before, Popi had given her a hug after she had read her and Sybella a bedtime story. Slowly but surely the barriers were coming down as Letty became more familiar to the children. Since she had handed in her notice at work she had been incredibly busy, dealing with the wedding planner, shopping for a wedding gown and coordinating the million and one things that she now had to do. That had included searching for outfits for the children to wear at the wedding and dealing politely but firmly with her grandfather’s demand that he play a bigger part in the ceremony. Isidore Livas had been keen to walk her down the aisle but Letty’s mother was fulfilling that role in her wheelchair, having already confided that it would be the proudest moment of her life.
‘So, what are you wearing for the hen do tonight?’ Gillian asked with a smile.
Letty hadn’t wanted a hen party, but her friends and former work colleagues did and it had felt mean to deny them the chance of a good night out because once she had mentioned her plans to Leo, he hadn’t scrupled to organise that for her as well. He had obtained entry for all of them to a VIP section in an exclusive nightclub where their entertainment and their drinks would be free and, much as Letty had resented him taking over, she hadn’t had the heart to rain on everyone else’s parade.
‘We’re all wearing denim shorts,’ Letty revealed with a grimace. ‘I haven’t worn shorts since the summer before university and I had to buy a new pair because I’ve expanded since then. We’ll freeze.’
‘Not with a limo ferrying you round,’ her mother said quietly. ‘Letty…you’re only young once. Enjoy it. You don’t get a rerun when you realise what you’ve missed out on. Go out and have a good time tonight with your friends.’
‘I will. I promise.’ Letty bent down to hug the older woman, annoyed that she had put a troubled furrow between her brows.
‘You are so lucky to have found Leo. I couldn’t be happier for you,’ Gillian confided. ‘He takes such an interest in all of us. I just don’t understand why you haven’t already moved into his home… I mean, you’re trekking back and forth to his house every day and I can manage fine on my own.’
Letty had coloured at her mother’s natural assumption that she was already sleeping with Leo. ‘Leo and I will be together soon enough… It’s only forty-eight hours until the wedding,’ she pointed out.
‘And you do love him, don’t you?’ Gillian pressed anxiously. ‘His wealth and those looks of his haven’t turned your head too much? Because neither of those things
