Blackmailed by the Greek's Vows

by Tara Pammi

  “Lie to yourself all you want, Kairos, but don’t equate what I feel for you with them.”

  “Don’t make this hard, Valentina. I... I have an upcoming trip to Germany in four days. I’ll be gone for almost three weeks. I’m trying to tie up everything before I leave. But even then, I... I think you should return to...”

  “To whatever hole I crawled out from?”

  He flinched. “Like you pointed out, Helena is going to be furious. She’s focused all her anger on me now. I’ve no idea what she’s going to throw at me next and I would rather you were a thousand miles away than here when that happens.”

  “Per piacere, Kairos! Treat me with respect and give me the real reason.” Pain crystallized, morphed into fury and Tina embraced it with everything she had. “Shall I send you divorce papers then? Shall I have my powerful brothers throw everything they have at you so that I can take half of everything you own? What does leaving here mean, Kairos? You will damn well spell it out for me!”

  When he stayed silent, her heart slipped from her chest.

  He simply stared at their clasped hands as if they were talking about the weather. “It will mean divorce. It will mean you can take me for everything I have. You can bring me to my knees.”

  “You’re a bastard!”

  “You have no idea how close to the truth you are.”

  “That’s not what I meant. You could have left me well alone. You shouldn’t have...you should have let me think you were nothing but a ruthless jerk, Kairos.”

  He clasped her cheeks with such reverent tenderness that her heart broke a little more. “But I am, Valentina. What I feel for Theseus is gratitude. Don’t you see? You were right. It is only a transaction for me. He gave me everything so I repay as much as I can.”

  “That’s not true.” She fought against his grip even as he was kicking her out of his life.

  “But you... I was wrong about you.” Another hard kiss, another piece of her heart forever lost to her. “When Leandro said any intelligent man would know that you are worth more than a hundred companies, he spoke the truth. You deserve everything a man can give you, Valentina. You deserve more than I can give you.”

  “You’re just choosing not to.”

  “No,” Kairos repeated, steeling himself against the bright sheen in her eyes. “I don’t know how to love you, Valentina. And I do not wish to learn. Go back to your brothers, pethi mou. Tell Leandro, for once in his life, he made a bad bet. Tell him he was wrong about me. Tell him—” Kairos ran his thumb over her lower lip, a cold void opening up inside him “—that I do not deserve the precious gift he gave me.”

  If only he could embrace it...this, her. If only he was capable of giving her what she deserved. Needed.

  She felt like home. Like warmth and acceptance. Like a splash of color to his gray canvas. After years of near starving, of no companionship, that was how Maria and Theseus’s home had felt. He had been so cautious at first, but eventually they had won him over. He hadn’t asked for anything but they had given kindness, care and love again and again, in so many ways.

  Until he had believed it all. Until he had forgotten the cautiousness he had learned on the streets. Until he had forgotten the wretchedness of being alone.

  Until he had started loving them, until they had simply become a part of him.

  And then everything had been taken away. In one moment, everything had been lost. Seven years ago and now again...

  If he trusted Valentina, if he opened himself up to everything she made him feel and things fell apart...it would be so much worse. A million times more painful. And he would break this time. If she took it away like Theseus and Maria had done, if suddenly he found himself all alone after having had a taste of...

  Oxhi!

  That was a fate he couldn’t even indulge in.

  He was not ready for the weight of her love.

  He was never going to be ready for her.

  For this.

  For them.

  She would only starve for affection with him. He’d already trampled her spirit. If he broke her because he couldn’t love her, he couldn’t bear it.

  “You’re right.” She pushed the silky mass of her hair away angrily, the innate sensuality of the gesture stealing his breath. “You don’t deserve me. I always thought I was not good enough for you. That I had to earn your love somehow. But this has nothing to do with me. You’re the coward, Kairos. You’re unworthy of me, not the other way around. You want to choose a miserable existence instead of trusting me, instead of taking a chance on us, fine. Then please stay in the other bedroom until you leave for your trip.”

  Her words hit him hard. “I can have you flown back to Milan tonight.”

  She backed out of his reach, a fiery tenacity to her expression. His shirt hung on her, baring most of her sleek thighs. Curves he’d never touch or feel wrapped around himself again. “I’m not leaving, you are.”

  He jerked his gaze back up, the void in his gut only deepening. “Valentina—”

  “I have three more weeks left with Chiara. People are counting on me to do my job. I will not let them down, I will not let myself down because you’ve decided you’ve had enough of playing marriage. I will not disappear in the middle of the night from Theseus and Maria’s lives as if I had done something wrong. As if I’m responsible for this debacle.”

  “I don’t want you here,” Kairos said before he could stop himself. Her mouth pinched into a thin line. “Helena—”

  “I can handle Helena. At the least, I know what to expect from her. I want to finish my work here, work the contacts I made. Maria will need someone to look after her, too.” She gazed at him for a few seconds that felt like an eternity. He couldn’t bear the disillusionment in her eyes. Broken hope.

  He took a step toward her, but she shook her head and backed away. “Goodbye, Kairos.”

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  KAIROS STARED AT the society pages of a leading online fashion magazine, his breath hurtling through his chest and throat like a hurricane.

  Valentina was laughing in this picture, standing in between her friend Nikolai and Ethan King—an American textile magnate whose burgeoning alliance with Conti Luxury Goods was all the rage in the news.

  He’d known Leandro had been hunting for a new CEO for the board of CLG for months now. The initial prize he had promised Kairos himself. The prize Kairos had thought important enough to take Valentina on.

  Thee mou, he’d been such an arrogant fool.

  Leandro had stepped down himself after he had discovered he had a child with Alexis seven years ago. When Kairos had looked askance, he’d laughed and said that he would understand one day.

  Luca had married Sophia, who headed her stepfather’s company Rossi’s. The playboy genius still did his own thing, as he had always done. He’d never had any interest in CLG except to thwart Kairos because Luca had assumed that Kairos would only hurt their sister. He’d been right.

  Ethan King was a good choice. For the CLG board.

  His gaze returned to her in the picture.

  She’d fashioned her silky hair to fall over one side. A pink pantsuit made everything of her long legs. A thin chain glittered at her neck and disappeared into the neckline of her blouse.

  Frantically, he clicked through more pictures to see if she’d kept the pendant he had bought for her. But he couldn’t spot it.

  Christos! What was he doing?

  Her arms around Nikolai and Ethan, her eyes glittering with laughter, she looked gorgeous.

  She looked...happy.

  Seven weeks since he’d last seen her. Since she’d told him defiantly that she’d finish her position before she left. Since he’d walked out of her life for good.

  By the time he had returned from Germany, she’d been gone. Every trace of her removed from their bedroom, from the villa.

  The first time she had left he’d been so angry.

  This time, it felt like she had taken a part of him with her. A
s if she’d ripped him apart, never to be whole. Everything was so blank, so dull since he’d returned. As if all the color in the world had been leached out.

  He’d been so sure that he’d done the right thing by her. For once, he’d put her happiness, her well-being before his. Before his own ambitions.

  Somehow, he’d been getting through his days.

  Until she’d sent him divorce papers.

  Until suddenly, she’d exploded into the news again in true Valentina fashion. She’d partnered with Sophia to launch a full-service fashion boutique—for clients who had personal styling needs and a host of other services.

  She had collaborated with major fashion brands to launch an online vlog in which she had models of different sizes showcase the latest creations from designer brands.

  The camera loved Valentina. She was a natural.

  The vlog had exploded within a week of launching, drawing more than a million hits on the internet and her business had taken off.

  She’d already hosted a fashion show on a morning talk show to advertise her services. Stylish and sophisticated, she was already adored by the media. She had appeared in numerous TV style segments.

  His heart in his throat, he clicked Play on a small news clip that had been recorded on another talk show.

  “I always used to think my talent was useless. But then I learned that I was wasting my potential by denying myself the connections I did have. So I partnered with my sister-in-law and launched the boutique. It was she who gave me the idea. Sophia, for example, is an exceptional businesswoman but had always had problems dressing herself because she—” a fond laugh here “—she wasn’t as she says, ‘a giraffe with legs that go on forever.’ She’s curvy and sexy, and it was my pleasure to help her find clothes that showcased her body, to make her feel confident in her own shape.

  “I love dressing people and now I can put my expertise into making someone else feel comfortable in their own skin. Be confident in themselves while they go out to capture the world. Everyone needs fashion advice...” She hesitated and then laughed—that husky full-bodied sound—when her brothers walked onto the stage in matching dark gray suits. She stood up and walked to them until they were both standing on her sides. “Even my handsome, powerful brothers, the legendary Conti men.”

  Kairos closed his laptop hard. He had watched the same damn clip a hundred times.

  Leandro and Luca had walked onto the show to give their support to their sister—a spectacular publicity move he was sure had been orchestrated by Sophia, to thrust Valentina’s fashion venture into the limelight. With their backing, with Sophia’s business acumen and Valentina’s own talent, he had no doubt her business would reach unprecedented heights.

  She had found her place in the world.

  He should be happy that she had taken his advice. That she had used what was at her disposal to fuel her dream, to launch her dream career.

  He should be happy that he hadn’t...damaged her permanently.

  But then Valentina had an unquenchable spirit, a fierce strength, a generous heart. She drew people to her wherever she went.

  If not today, if not this month, if not this year, she would find that happily-ever-after that she so desperately wanted. Some man would see what a beautiful person she was, inside and out, and love her as she deserved.

  Suddenly the picture of Ethan King and her laughing into the camera at some new nightclub he was launching flashed in his mind’s eye.

  With a curse, he strolled to the bay windows.

  Would Leandro go down that path again? Would Valentina let him find her a husband again? Or had she already found someone who did appreciate what an extraordinary woman she had grown into?

  Had she finished with him already?

  Bile rose through his throat at the thought of the man holding his wife, touching her, kissing her. At the thought of Valentina surrendering all that passion, surrendering her heart to another man.

  A breeze ruffled the papers he had left on the side table. He should just sign the divorce papers and be done with her.

  Give her whatever she wanted.

  Release her from this marriage. Release himself from the grip she seemed to have on his heart. Be done with it.

  He’d made the safe choice, for once in his life, so why couldn’t he just live with it? Why couldn’t he accept it and move on?

  “Kairos?”

  He turned around to see Maria standing at the door, wary and hesitant.

  He frowned, wondering how long she’d been standing there. He’d mostly avoided her since the night of their anniversary party and she had let him.

  “Does Theseus need something?”

  “Oxhi. He’s resting.” She looked at her hands and then back up again. “I... I wish to speak to you. Do you have a few minutes for me?”

  “Of course,” he said, forcing himself to move from his spot.

  He watched her silently as she flitted around the room restlessly. As always, she was elegantly dressed in a dark sweater and neatly pressed white capri pants. Her nails had been done with that signature red color for as long as he could remember. Her hair had grayed considerably, still cut into a short bob.

  Only now did he realize how much weight she had lost in the last year. She’d been tirelessly caring for Theseus for so many months now. Not to mention whatever hell Helena had put her through.

  He poured out water from a jug and placed a glass for her on the side table.

  “Is everything okay?” he prompted, her restlessness increasing his own anxiety.

  “No. It is not.”

  “What can I do to help?”

  “You would help, Kairos, still?”

  Something in her gaze made him uncomfortable. “Of course, I would, Maria. You have but to command me.”

  A brittle laugh fell from her mouth. “Theseus is right. I am a foolish woman.”

  He hardened himself against the emotion twisting his gut. It had to be about Helena, about all the decisions he’d been making about the company.

  He could take whatever she threw at him, he reminded himself. He could take it and still stay standing. After all, Helena was her daughter and he was...an outsider.

  Since the minute Theseus had decided he would adopt Kairos, Maria had welcomed him unflinchingly. She had only ever shown him kindness. And he would pay it back a million times over.

  “Maria, whatever it is, you can say it to me without hesitation. I understand how hard this must be for you. And whatever you request for Helena, I promise I will try to do my best to accommodate it. I just can’t... I can’t let her be a part of the company anymore. Not if I have to do what’s best for the business. And for Theseus and you.”

  She flicked another wary glance at his face and then away. Then she sat down and gestured for him to do the same. Her head down, she looked at her clasped fingers. When she looked up, there were tears in her eyes.

  Tears that cut through his heart.

  “He’s so angry with me. So angry. But it was the right thing to do,” she half muttered to herself.

  Any walls he had erected against her crumbled at the sight of her tears. He took her hands in his. “Maria, what are you talking about?”

  “Can you believe it...in fifty years of marriage, today is the first time he wouldn’t look at me. The first time he said he was disappointed in me. He is ashamed of me, and I deserve it.”

  He sat back, shocked. “You and Theseus never fight.”

  “I told him everything. Everything Helena ever did. Everything I shielded from him. Everything she...lied about. About the pregnancy. About the stock and the takeover. About...my part in it. About all the disgusting things she’d planned to do to discredit you in his eyes.”

  “What?” Shock robbed his words. “Is...is Theseus okay? Thee mou, Maria! What would that accomplish except jeopardize his health? The last thing he needs just when he is finally recuperating is to learn that you—”

  “That I betrayed him. That I betraye
d everything he has always stood for.” All the hesitation was gone from her face. “That I treated you so horribly.”

  “You didn’t. You...only ever showed me kindness.” He walked away, unable to look into her eyes. Unable to stop the dam within him from bursting. “Theseus brought me home, yes, but you welcomed me with open arms. You encouraged me when I thought I would never leave behind my dirty roots. You...gave me everything, Maria. More than I had a right to.”

  “But I didn’t love you like I should love a son. When he told me that day that he wanted to raise you, that he had decided it, in true arrogant Theseus fashion—” laughter burst through the tears running down her cheeks “—that you were our son now, I promised him I would love you like one. That I would embrace you in every way. But I did not. I...was weak. I let my love for Helena blind me. She came so late into our lives...when I had given up on the idea of a child completely that I didn’t see how much I was spoiling her.”

  “You don’t need to explain.”

  “I do. I need to. I didn’t just let Theseus down, and you down. I let myself down, too.”

  He felt her stand next to him, the subtle floral perfume she always wore twisting through him. His belly clenched, the scent of her enveloping him in kindness, filling him with longing. Filling him with an endless need for acceptance, for love.

  His jaw clenched, a lump of emotion in his throat. “She is your daughter. I do not begrudge you your love for her. I never expected to be the same. Believe me, I understand. I...never expected more.” But he hadn’t been able to stop himself from wanting it anyway. From needing it.

  “Oh, but it is your right to have everything, Kairos. It is your right to be loved unconditionally, not to be second to her. It is what I promised myself that day we brought you home with us. I’m sorry for forgetting that. You’re everything Theseus said you would be. You are not just his. You’re my son, too, and I am so sorry for...my actions.”

  “Please—”