One Hour to Midnight by Shirley Wine Read Free Book Online Page A

Jordan's darling face, totally uncaring of my heartbreak .
    Veronica bit her lip and blood bloomed in her mouth.  
    Assailed by a far too familiar, hollow emptiness, she wrapped sensitive arms around her midriff to assuage an ache powerful enough to rip her apart.  
    An ache ten years had done little to diminish.
    What seventeen-year-old girl fully understood the ramifications of relinquishing her child? Veronica knew she'd not understood the heartache that awaited her.  
    "You were always free to be a part of his life, our family." Leon's measured tone intruded  
    "Would you settle for such a distant role in your child's life?"
    "It was all that was on offer." Leon put down his cup with a decided click.
    She shivered and inched her chin higher. "It wasn't one I wanted or could accept."
    "Yannis was no longer around to give you the role you aspired to." He gave her a measured glance. "Always providing his wife would have divorced him first."
    The silky observation hit a raw nerve. "I didn't know your brother was married."
    "Would it have made any difference if you had?"
    "Of course it would! What sort of woman did you think I was?" She stared him, horrified. No sooner had she uttered the impetuous words than she wanted to claw them back.  
    "I'm sure you don't want me to answer that, Veronica."  
    She flinched and heat surged up her neck. She leaped out of the chair and walked to the window, remembrance twisting a knife in her heart.
    Leon had been kind and sheltered her from the scandals that erupted in the wake of Yannis's suicide. But beneath it all, lay a scarcely veiled contempt.  
    A small sound made her turn as the door closed behind him. She sucked in a shaky breath and leaned her hot face on the cool glass.  
    Why does he have the power to hurt me after all this time?
    At last she sat and poured another cup of tea. Nothing could stem the rush of memories. Some so uncomfortable they made her cringe.  
    The fantasies she wove. She'd regarded Leon as her white knight, sent to rescue her from the consequences of her own foolishness. When had that intense awareness of him begun?
    Looking back now with the benefit of maturity, she realised it had been at their first meeting. She shuddered and leapt from the chair, chewing on her knuckles. Nothing could subdue the excoriating memories.  
    I was so naïve, so fucking stupid. I thought Leon was my white knight, sent to rescue me from the consequences of my foolishness.  
    Instead he was the devil, already plotting my downfall.  
    And that quickly she was back at Jacobs Well—
     
    — the baby was as restless as I was.  
    No matter how I moved, the baby turned making that position just as uncomfortable. I rubbed my belly but nothing eased the discomfort.
    When would Yannis come?
    I just knew something was wrong. Is Yannis lying about his brother not wanting us to marry?  
    Unable to sit still, I paced. I opened the door, but the blast of heat had me shutting it just as quickly.  
    Only the air conditioning made the Queensland summer bearable.
    No matter how often I glanced at the clock, the hands never moved. Where is Yannis? He promised he'd stay with me until the baby comes.  
    I must have dozed because the cottage door opened on a blast of hot air and Yannis was there. And my worry faded like mist before the sun.
    Tall and dark, Yannis Karvasis was fantasy in the flesh. His pale grey eyes sparkled with charm, and were such a striking contrast to his tanned face. My heart turned over. I loved him so much. "You're here."  
    Yannis chuckled as he scooped me into a tight hug. "Miss me?"
    "Do you have to ask?"  
    He held my face between his hands and his expression set my heart racing in panic. I wasn't mistaken.   Something was very wrong. "What is it?"  
    "I have to go away again." He kissed me. "Will you be okay?"
    "How can you leave? You've barely stepped inside the door."  
    "I have no time to explain." He avoided looking at me. "Leon will relent. Then