Except that everything seemed to have conspired to do exactly that. There had been so many obstacles in the way of their love. Quarrels, misunderstandings, interference from other people. And yet somehow Kate had always believed that the overwhelming emotion that tied them together would carry them safely through. Deep down she had no doubt whatever that Philip was the only man in the world for her, but did he also believe that she was the only woman for him? After two days without a word from him, her faith was beginning to waver.
Late on the second day of her imprisonment, she finally made a bitter admission to herself: Philip wasn't going to come and save her. He simply didn't care enough. In fact he had probably gone back to Irene by now. Up until this moment Kate had scarcely rested at all, expecting any moment to hear the knock at the door that would signal her release. But now she flung herself down on the bed, sobbed until the pillow was wet with tears and then fell into an exhausted sleep.
She was woken a couple of hours later by the grating of the door-handle.
Assuming it was only the policeman with a trayful of food that she didn't intend to eat, she lay listlessly with her eyes closed and her face to the wall.
Then suddenly a powerful pair of arms closed around her.
'Katarina!' said a deep, husky voice. 'Can you ever forgive me?'
Two hours later and still incoherent with bliss, Kate found herself tucked up in the front seat of Philip's white Saab, cruising through the starlit darkness of northern Sithonia.
'I still can't believe this is real,' she murmured with a stifled yawn. 'I keep thinking that if I fall asleep you'll vanish.'
'I won't vanish,' he promised, reaching over and patting her knee. 'And I think a sleep would do you good.'
She nestled dreamily into the woven Greek rug that wrapped her comfortably.
'Explain it all to me again,' she begged. 'I'm not sure I understood it the first time.'
'Wait until we get to where we're going,' ordered Philip.
'Where are we going?'
'You'll see.'
She did sleep after that, and when she woke she found herself in a small whitewashed village. Dogs barked mournfully and a street-lamp sent the elongated shadows of a fig tree dancing on a high wall. The seat beside her was empty, and for one dreadful moment Kate thought that Philip had abandoned her. Then she saw the sign on the door of the house opposite.
'DOMATIA ENOIKIAZONTAI'. Rooms to let.
'Ayfa Sofia!' cried Kate in delight as Philip came striding across the road towards her. 'You've brought me back to Ayia Sofia!'
'It's the one place in Greece where I didn't think the reporters would find us,'
he agreed. 'And the landlady only remembers me as the poor man who was
stranded here on the night of the earthquake. Although she did ask me how my pretty little wife was.'
Kate grinned.
'Well, agapimou, are you fit enough to go inside?' demanded Philip.
'Oh, yes!' agreed Kate. 'In fact, I think I'd kill for a shower and a hot meal right now.'
Philip smiled as they entered the whitewashed house, and gave her a gentle push.
'Well, you go and take the shower and I'll organise the meal,' he ordered.
'Oh, you'll want some fresh clothes. You'd better take these. They are just a few things I picked up for you in Paris.'
He thrust a very elegant paper carrier bag into her hand.
'Paris?' echoed Kate, watching his departing back. 'Oh, never mind!'
After the interior of the police cell, the tiny bathroom looked positively luxurious to Kate. It was sheer heaven to rotate under the warm spray of the shower and feel all the grime of the previous days being sluiced away. When at last she wrapped a towel around herself and padded into the bedroom, she felt an exhilaration beyond measure. Whatever else might be wrong, at least she and Philip were back together where they belonged. After rubbing her hair briskly she set down the towel and opened the carrier-bag. Her fingers met tissue paper, and she shook the contents out on to the bed. Then her eyes widened. A shimmering evening dress in green silk with matching handmade underwear, silk stockings, silver sandals and pearl earrings and necklace. Bought by Philip in Paris? But how? Why? Baffled beyond measure, Kate picked up the lace-trimmed jade teddy and began to dress.
When she emerged on to the terrace fifteen minutes later Philip was standing outlined against the shimmering silver backdrop of the sea. He turned and caught his breath as she came towards him.
'You look magnificent,' he said softly. 'Just the way I've always pictured you.'
Kate smiled.
'Thank you,' she murmured. 'But, Philip, what were you doing in Paris?'
'First things first,' insisted Philip.
He drew back her chair for her and bent foward to plant a warm kiss on her naked shoulder. Kate shivered with pleasure.
'Retsina?' he asked.
'Yes, please.'
She sipped the pale straw-coloured wine with its strange aroma of pine needles, and flashed a warm smile at Philip. He was sitting opposite her now, and he looked more attractive than ever with the lamplight burnishing his hair and lending fierce highlights to the sculpted angles of his face.
Reaching across the table, Kate let her fingers trail over the fine dark hairs on the back of his lean brown hand.
'Thank you for the clothes,' she said with a hint of a question in her voice.
His low, vibrant laugh echoed round the terrace.
'And you'd like to know what the hell I was doing in Paris buying you clothes while you were languishing in prison?' he responded. 'It's a long story, my love. I'll tell you over dinner.'
At that moment Kyria Georgia appeared with a platter of hot pitta bread, charcoal-grilled octopus and assorted dips. Only when Kate had done full justice to these dishes did Philip speak again. As the kyria cleared away the empty plates he drew a folded piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it across the table to Kate.
,'This is for you, too,' he said tersely.
Kate unfolded the paper and peered at it in the dim light.
'I don't understand!' she exclaimed. 'This is a bank cheque for a hundred thousand dollars.'
'Compensation,' agreed Philip. 'I tracked down Leon Clark at Stardust International and threatened to sue them for libelling you. They agreed to settle out of court. I thought a hundred thousand was an appropriate figure, since that was the amount he was pretending to have paid you for your story.'
'Pretending?' echoed Kate. 'Then you do believe that I didn't sell it to him, Philip?'
Philip took a swift gulp of his wine.
'Yes, I believe you,' he admitted. 'I think I always did, deep down, but I was so jealous of that swine that I was prepared to believe anything, no matter how ridiculous. And he did handle it all very cunningly. He made it appear as if he'd done the interview with you and then pocketed the fee himself.'
Kate stared at him, aghast.
'He actually admitted that to you?' she demanded.
'Oh, yes. He was extremely co-operative once I offered to strangle him with my bare hands.'
Kate choked with laughter.
'You barbarian!' she exclaimed. 'All the same, he deserved it!'
'He certainly did,' agreed Philip in a hard voice. 'If only for seducing you when he was already married to another woman. Katarina, why didn't you tell me about all that? If I'd known about that episode in your past perhaps I wouldn't have reacted so violently when I read that wretched article.'
Kate flushed uncomfortably under his gaze.
'I was afraid to tell you,' she admitted. 'You just assumed that I was a virgin, and I didn't want to disillusion you. And I suppose I was afraid you'd leave me if you knew.'
Philip's hand caught hers in a grip so hard that it was almost painful.
'I might have,' he admitted, 'but I wouldn't have stayed away for more than twenty-four hours. I love you, Katarina, and I can't pretend to be overjoyed that another man has possessed you in the past.
But what matters to me now is the future. And I want to hear you say that I will be the only man in your life from now on.'
Kate's fingers fluttered nervously, and she gave a low, shaky laugh.
'Well, of course you will,' she murmured self-consciously.
'Say it,' ordered Philip implacably, still gripping her fingers. 'Swear it to me.'
She darted a swift glance at him and saw that he was totally serious. His liquid dark eyes blazed like candles in his face, and his expression was solemn. Suddenly her own embarrassment fell away, and she lifted her head and looked at him squarely.
'I swear that you will be the only man in my life from now on,' she said clearly.
He caught her hand and kissed it.
'And I swear that you will be the only woman in mine,' he responded.
They were still sitting with their hands entwined, gazing at each other, when Kyria Georgia appeared. She set down a plate of sizzling doner kebabs and a salad of tomatoes, olive, cucumber and feta cheese, and they both came back to earth. Kate helped herself to a couple of the aromatic skewers of meat, and smiled warmly at the older woman.
'Oraia,' she complimented her. 'Efharisto.'
The Greek woman beamed as she withdrew.
The meat was tender, juicy and flavoured with aromatic herbs, and for several minutes they both turned their attention to eating. But at last Kate sat back with a sigh.
'That was delicious!' she said. 'But there are still some things I don't understand. Philip, did Leon tell you how he got into the house? He didn't really break in with a nail-file, did he?'
'No,' replied Philip. 'Stavros let him in.'
'Stavros?'
'Yes. And you, my little love, lied through your teeth to me. You told me that you didn't let Stavros inside the house, but you did, didn't you?'
Kate shifted uncomfortably under his stern gaze and then nodded.
'Why did you lie to me?' asked Philip grimly..
'I don't know,' said Kate in a troubled voice. 'You were so tired and cross that night you came back from Thessaloniki, and you seemed absolutely furious just because I'd played tennis with Stavros. It didn't seem worth starting another argument about the fact that he'd been inside the house.
Especially when he'd done no harm there.'
'No harm!' sighed Philip, closing his eyes and pressing his fingers to his forehead. 'Oh, Kate, that's the understatement of the year.'
'Well, I didn't know then that he'd let Leon in,' retorted Kate defensively.
'Why on earth did he do that anyway?'
'Because he was determined to ruin you in my eyes,' replied Philip grimly.
'He knew how I hated reporters, so when Leon came sniffing around for a story it wasn't difficult for Stavros to hatch a plan that suited both of them.
Stavros wormed his way inside, then left a window open for Leon and
carried you off for a game of tennis so that Leon could search the house to his heart's content for your private letters and photos.'
Kate stared at him in horror.
'But that's despicable!' she cried. 'Anyway, why on earth would Stavros want to do such a thing to me?'
Philip's face set into a tense mask of lines and angles.
'I think he hoped that by discrediting you he would drive me back to Irene,'
he replied.
'And he really thought she was so much in love with you that he was prepared to destroy me in order to bring you back together?' asked Kate.
Philip gave a mirthless laugh.
'No,' he said steadily. 'I'm sure Stavros realised that Irene felt nothing but indifference towards me. It was his own interests he was trying to protect, not hers. As his future brother-in-law, I've been bailing him out of trouble and paying his debts for years. He knew that would stop if I married you.'
'Debts?' repeated Kate. 'But Stavros is rich, isn't he?'
'Yes and no,' replied Philip. 'Old Con Marmara was nobody's fool, and he was very worried about his son's character. Before he died he made a will which tied up all Stavros's assets in a trust until he reached the age of thirty.
I was the chief trustee, so Stavros was very dependent on my goodwill. And he knew that my sense of family honour would make me cover up his worst escapades if I were married to Irene. But not if I married you. So he was quite ruthless about trying to destroy you.'
Kate gave a small, shaky sigh.
'I can't believe it,' she said. 'Stavros always seemed so nice. So charming.'
'Well, his charm won't do him much good now,' retorted Philip drily. 'I don't think any judge will consider it an adequate defence for the possession of heroin.'
'Heroin?' cried Kate.
'Yes, haven't you figured it out yet?' said Philip. 'When you left Ayios Dimitrios, Stavros paid someone to follow you and plant the talcum-powder tin in your luggage. He also concealed heroin in our bedroom at Ayios Dimitrios to try and discredit you.'
'What?' demanded Kate.
'He wasn't taking any chances,' explained Philip wearily. 'One way or another he was determined to frame you. What I would like to know is why on earth you ever let him into our bedroom to plant the stuff.'
Kate blushed delicately.
'It was because of Irene's necklace,' she said in a low voice.
'Irene's necklace? What the hell are you talking about?' retorted Philip.
'The diamond necklace you gave her on the night of the hotel opening.
Stavros said Irene had left it in your room when she stayed there overnight.'
Philip choked on his wine.
'And you believed that?' he demanded angrily.
Kate nodded miserably. 'He showed me the necklace,' she said.
'And were you in the room when he found it?' demanded Philip.
Kate thought back. 'No, I wasn't,' she said slowly.
Philip snorted impatiently. 'Of course you weren't,' he said, 'because that was just another bit of Stavros's low cunning, designed to drive a wedge
between us. Irene didn't leave her necklace there when she slept with me because she's never slept with me in her life.'
'Truly?' asked Kate huskily.
'Truly,' insisted Philip.
A warm glow seemed to spread through Kate's entire body.
'I'm glad,' she said softly. 'Philip, you didn't really think I'd use heroin, did you?'
'Of course not!' said Philip emphatically. 'Stavros really over-played his hand there. Not that I was even there when the police found it, but they phoned me in Paris and asked me about it. And apparently they questioned Anna Vassiliou, the chambermaid, very closely about your habits. I'm told Anna was extremely indignant about the slur on your character, denied vigorously that you would do such a thing, and told them that in any case you were allergic to talcum powder.'
Kate smiled.
'Dear Anna,' she said. 'But, Philip, you still haven't told me what you were doing in Paris!'
'Apart from buying underwear for you?' teased Philip. 'Well, I'll tell you, Katarina. I was negotiating with a new backer for the Hotel Ariadne.'
'What?' cried Kate. 'Oh, Philip, with all that's been happening I'd forgotten all about that! Did you succeed?'
Philip swirled his wine in his glass with the intent, excited look of a master chess-player about to make his final move.
'Yes,' he said.
'So the Hotel Ariadne is safe?' insisted Kate.
'Yes. After all the panic and uproar, I think the hotel and the village can look forward to living happily ever after,' he said with a contented sigh. 'Rather like us, I suppose.'
He rose to his feet and stretched out his hand to Kate.
'Come and look at the moon over the water,' he invited.
Every nerve in her body quivered at the touch of that warm brown hand on her skin. When they sat down together on the parapet she leaned against him, revelling in his powerful male presence. His breath stirred her hair, she could smell the spicy aroma of his cologne and his arms were warm and comforting about h
er.
'Look!' he said softly. 'It's so clear tonight that you can see all the way across to Mount Athos.'
Kate shielded her eyes against the silvery, shimmering radiance of the moonlight and, sure enough, there behind the brightness were the dark, razor-edged peaks of the holy peninsula.
'Isn't it beautiful?' she breathed.
'Doubly beautiful when you are here to share it with me,' replied Philip softly.
Kyria Georgia came out at that moment with a tray of fresh fruit and coffee.
She stopped and smiled fondly at the couple on the terrace. Then, coming forward, she murmured something to Philip.
'What did she say?' asked Kate.
'She asked if I'd like to borrow the bouzouki again,' said Philip with a smile.
'After all, what's a moonlit night without music? Nai, nai, efharisto, Kyria.'
After they had finished their coffee and fruit, the Kyria came back with the graceful honey-gold instrument in her hands. For the next hour Kate listened entranced while Philip played haunting love-songs, wild dance music and
traditional laments. But at last he laid aside the bouzouki and cupped her face in his hands.
'I'm sorry we quarrelled at Ayios Dimitrios,' he said huskily. 'It was my fault.'
Kate smiled and her hands moved up and covered his.
'It doesn't matter,' she assured him, trailing her fingers along the dark hair on the backs of his hands.
He gave a faint groan and she saw the sudden flare of desire in his eyes.
'When we were here last time you asked me what would happen if you were really my wife and we quarrelled. Do you remember?'
Kate nodded, feeling a delicious, tingling warmth spread slowly through her veins.
'You said the quarrel would certainly be settled in bed,' she whispered.
Philip's lips came down on hers, warm and fresh and persuasive. His kiss grew deeper and more urgent. She arched her back, moulding her body to his as he caught her savagely against him. At last he caught his breath and thrust her away from him.
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