Something heavy and urgent and profound shifted inside me. The thought that I didn’t know this facet of the man I’d married and that I wanted to hit me square in the midriff, before flaring a deep yearning towards all the dark corners of my heart.

My smile felt frayed around the edges as I fought to maintain my composure, fought not to blurt out another prayer for things I didn’t deserve.

I’d been given so much already.

Gloom wormed through my heart, the fear of what lay ahead and of fighting an uphill battle I might not win casting shadows over the gift of another day.

I was still struggling to banish it when a knock came on the door.

‘Ah, right on time,’ he murmured.

With another heart-stopping smile Axios launched himself out of bed. Naked and gladiator-like in all his glory, he walked across the suite, stopping long enough to pull on a dark dressing robe before heading for the door.

He returned a minute later, wheeling a solid silver trolley loaded with breakfast dishes. Bypassing his side of the bed, he stopped the trolley close to me before hitching up a thigh and settling himself next to me.

I tried and failed not to watch him pour coffee for himself, tea for me, and lift a large, succulent bowl of ripe strawberries.

He waited until I’d put Andreos over my shoulder and begun rubbing his back to elicit a burp before he shifted closer. Dipping one end of a strawberry into a bowl of rich cream, he leaned forward and then held the plump fruit against my lip.

‘Taste.’ His voice was deep, low. Hypnotising.

I leaned forward, parted my lips and took the offering. He watched me chew with the kind of rapt attention that could wreak havoc with a woman’s sensibilities. Only after I’d swallowed did he help himself to a piece—minus the cream.

He alternated between feeding me and himself until the bowl was empty, and then he set about piling more food on a plate.

‘I can’t eat all that,’ I protested as I laid a very satisfied Andreos down beside me.

Axios shrugged, setting the tray in my lap. ‘Our son is very demanding. And I get the feeling that state is only going to get more challenging. You’ll need all the advantages you can get.’

About to tell him there was nothing I was anticipating more, the words stuck in my throat, and a bolt of heartache clenched my heart in a merciless vice.

Thankfully Axios was in the process of lifting a newspaper from a side pocket of the trolley, granting me a scant few seconds to get my emotions under control before he straightened and flicked the paper open.

Then a different sort of tension assailed me.

Seeing the pictures gracing the front page, I felt my gut twist. While I’d known we’d be under scrutiny last night, it hadn’t occurred to me that we’d actually make front-page news.