by Lucy Monroe
In many ways, the next week was idyllic. Helena loved the penthouse apartment and because she had her people around her, didn’t seem to miss the villa. A much more rested Polly got to take her daughter to the park, but didn’t have to do a lot of chasing because the two nursery maids had accompanied them to Athens for the week.
While Hero had already agreed to make the permanent move to Athens, and was very excited to be able to transfer to a brick-and-mortar university, Dora was still deciding if she wanted to move out of the area where her adult children continued to live.
Polly spent part of each day on the house hunt. Some days she did actual walk throughs on promising properties and others, she watched more virtual tours, narrowing down what she really wanted in their new Athens home.
She realized on about the third day in the city that she would miss the villa. Strange and unexpected as the feelings were, Polly nevertheless acknowledged she’d made friendships in the country now too. That even the villa, for all its sterility, had been her home for more than three years and she would miss it.
She brought it up to Alexandros during dinner that evening. They were eating at a Two Michelin Star restaurant while Hero watched over Helena back in the penthouse.
It was supposed to be a date night, and Polly had taken pains with her appearance, looking forward to the evening more than she wanted to admit.
“But we discussed this. You can keep the villa. No one is saying you have to sell it.” Alexandros laid his hand over hers, seemingly more interested in Polly than the gourmet food in front of him.
She’d brought up her surprising—to her—ambivalence about leaving the villa. Not because she thought they had to sell it, but because it had really surprised her that she was actually a little sad about moving to Athens. More excited than sad, but still. She hadn’t expected to be sad at all, and said so.
Alexandros gave her a look that went right through to her soul. “Of course you have mixed feelings. You have strong emotions and have built bonds as you are wont to do wherever you are.”
“You say that like it’s a good thing.” Only she could remember more than one occasion when he had derided her deeply emotional nature as he called it.
“I have a strong suspicion that our marriage would not have lasted past the first six months if you did not feel emotions as deeply as you do. I have just cause to celebrate and be entirely grateful for that nature.”
Out of nowhere her throat thickened and tears burned the back of her eyes. He was grateful for the soul-deep love that had prevented her from leaving him when she realized they might not be as well suited as their short, but intense, courtship had led her to believe.
She had cursed that same quirk of her nature more than once.
He reached across the table and took her hand, his eyes filled with affection. “Thank you for not giving up.”
She shook her head, not wanting to cry. This was a date, darn it. Time to change the subject. “You talk like whether or not to keep the villa is all my decision.” She winked at him. “It’s a family decision surely.”
And he’d said he’d like to keep the villa, so they could still spend time in the country as a family.
He shrugged. “It is your property.”
“I was shocked when you told me that,” she said with a smile.
She couldn’t help wondering what might have been different for her over the past few years if she had known that from the beginning.
“So I noticed, though you must know your lack of knowledge of that fact surprised me.” The waiter unobtrusively and silently refilled their wineglasses, before stepping away from the table.
Alexandros brushed his thumb back and forth across the palm of her hand, sending jolts of electric current through her. Such a tiny touch to elicit such a response in her body.
“How was I to know?” she asked, realizing how much she enjoyed having her hand in his in this public setting. It felt good. Sensual, yes, but also romantic. Though she would not make the mistake of saying so.
“But I told you when we moved in.”
Confused, thinking maybe she’d missed part of the conversation while focused on the effect of his hand on hers. “Told me what?”
“That I’d bought the house for you.”
She thought back to that emotionally tumultuous time and tried to remember what he’d said, certain it had not been that the house was hers lock stock and barrel.
“What do you think, yineka mou? I bought it for you.”
What she’d thought had not been at all charitable, and the row that had followed had been one of their worst.
“I thought you meant you bought it for me to live in.” Any other interpretation had never occurred to her.
Alexandros let out a sound of frustration. “I am beginning to see that you and I have a real problem with communication.”
“You think so?” she asked teasingly.
But his expression was as serious as she’d ever seen it. “If you didn’t realize the villa was yours, yes, we do.”
“The prenup.” To her, those two words explained her belief entirely that he would not have bought such an expensive property and put it in her name.
He gave her a pained look. “The prenuptial agreement was not my way of saying I didn’t see our marriage as permanent. Nor was it intended to prevent you from enjoying the gifts I wanted to give you. It was in fact, intended to protect you as much as me, if the worst happened.”
“The worst?”
“Something happened that made staying married impossible.” He sighed. “It wasn’t a contract intended to make you think I thought that something would happen.”
“When I first signed it, I didn’t think that,” she admitted. She’d been living in a dreamworld of love at first sight, where she was his forever soul mate. “But later, after things changed between us and I realized where I fit on your list of priorities, it did seem like a pretty airtight agreement to govern the eventual and maybe even inevitable dissolution of our marriage.”
He winced when she mentioned his list of priorities, but only said. “That is the intention of a good prenup, but I saw divorce as neither eventual or inevitable.” His tone held the kind of conviction she could not simply dismiss.
His honesty deserved some of her own. “Your sister and your mom were aware of the fine details of the contract and used them to poke at me whenever the occasion arose. They wanted me to realize that you didn’t see me as a permanent fixture in your life.”
Rage flared in his dark gaze before it banked and only sincerity remained. “But that is a lie. I married you. I consider marriage a lifetime commitment.”
Which was something they had discussed during their whirlwind courtship. When had she started believing other people’s opinions about how her husband viewed the permanence of their marriage commitment?
Probably around the same time she realized that his mother’s and sister’s feelings and attitudes were more important to Alexandros than Polly’s were.
He let his mother literally change her name and he’d followed suit.
“This is heavy discussion for a date night,” Polly said ruefully.
“I suppose dating in marriage is a little different than out of it, but I’m still hoping to get lucky later,” he teased, clearly attempting to lighten the atmosphere between them.
In the mood to let him, Polly grinned back. “I think that might be arranged…but then again, I might make you wait.”
His low laughter was sexy and warm.
When they left the restaurant, Alexandros surprised Polly by taking her to a swank city hotel rather than back to the penthouse.
“What are we doing here?” she asked as he helped her out of the car.
“As much as we both love our daughter, I thought we could use a night for just us.” Alexandros took Polly’s arm and le
d her inside, bypassing the large and elegant lobby. “We have a suite on the top floor.”
“Helena will be sleeping by the time we get back to the penthouse,” Polly pointed out.
“Yes, but if she wakes in the night, or earlier than we do, Hero will be there for her.” He smiled down at Polly with devastating charm. “While I will be there for you.”
“Oh, you think I might wake in the middle of the night?”
“I plan for you to be awake, whether you will have gotten any sleep is debatable.”
A frisson of anticipation zinged through Polly. “I love that tone you get.”
“What tone?” he asked as he led her onto the elevator and then used his keycard to access the top floor. “The one that says I want you?”
She would have answered, but he tugged Polly into his body and covered her lips with his own, the kiss claiming and intentional and everything she loved about being the focus of this man’s sexual desire.
The doors of the elevator opened a moment later, but Alexandros did not pull away. He just shifted, so she was protected in the corner as he continued to kiss her.
Polly was peripherally aware of a woman’s voice and a man’s low chuckle, but even knowing they shared the elevator, she could not make herself break the amazing kiss. Alexandros was not one for public displays of affection, and knowing that made the way he held her and continued to move his lips against hers, even hotter.
Alexandros moved his mouth to her ear, breathing softly in her ear and sending chills through her. “Finally. We are alone.”
“We are?” she asked breathlessly.
He laughed low and husky. “Didn’t you notice the other couple get off a moment ago?”
“No.” She turned and nibbled that spot on his neck she knew drove her husband crazy. “Maybe I should be worried you did.”
“I am always aware of our surroundings when I am with you. It’s my job to make sure you are protected.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
“I WISH YOU’D felt that way about your mother and sister.” The words were out before she’d even thought them, old wounds too deep to ignore completely. She sighed. “I’m sorry.”
He leaned back and looked down at her, his expression searching. “Why are you sorry?”
The elevator stopped and the doors opened. Polly stepped into the elegant foyer, inhaling the heady scent of jasmine as she noticed a beautiful bouquet on the marble table. “Which is our room?” she asked, indicating the four doors off the foyer.
“This way.” Alexandros led her to the right and swiped his keycard to open the door.
She stepped inside, where the scent of her favorite essential oils permeating the room. Jasmine that had so delighted her when they stepped off the elevator mixed with vanilla and just the hints of orange and myrrh. It was a mix that had been prepared especially for her and that she used only in the diffuser in her room in the villa.
She looked around for a diffuser, but couldn’t find it at first, until she realized a gorgeous clay pot glazed in deep blues and browns had mist coming from the stylized top. “Where did you get my aromatherapy mix?” she asked, a little awed.
Yes, he was a billionaire. Yes, her husband was scarily efficient, but to have gotten her scent he had to have noticed it that one time he’d been in her room.
It was the kind of attention to the tiny details in relation to her that he had shown when they first got together, but much less frequently since marriage and her move to Greece.
“I asked the housekeeper at the villa why your room smelled so perfectly like you.”
Polly smiled, flattered he considered the delicious blend of scents as much her as she did. “That diffuser is a work of art.”
“Literally. I contacted an artist you like and asked if she had anything that could be made into a diffuser.”
“When did you do that?”
“Last week.”
“She worked fast.”
“She had the art piece. It was just a matter of installing the water chamber, etc.”
“For a date night?” she asked, just a little stunned.
“For a gift. I thought using it tonight would make the gift more special.”
Polly couldn’t help herself, didn’t even want to. She reached up and hugged him exuberantly and kissed him the same way before leaning back. “Thank you. It’s lovely.”
“I am glad you like it. Now, why were you sorry in the elevator?”
Polly sighed and then grimaced. “We’re having such a nice date. I don’t want to ruin it.”
“That is the second time you have said that. Believe me when I tell you that the only thing that would ruin this date is if you were to leave.”
“I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t be thrilled if we didn’t make love.” She would not be keen on such an outcome either.
“I love your body, my dear wife, but even if you were not to share it with me tonight, I would still count myself a very lucky man to be here with you.”
“You used to say stuff like that all the time.” She’d noticed when he stopped.
“And you used to kiss and hug me several times a day.” He had noticed when she’d stopped too.
Was it possible he’d felt something of the insecurity that had plagued her when their relationship changed?
“Hugging and kissing you isn’t a hardship,” she offered before doing both again.
He kept her close and deepened the kiss when she would have pulled away. Somehow she found herself sitting on a cream sofa in front of the fireplace in the sitting area, making out with her husband. He did something with one of his hands and then the fire flared to life and Polly couldn’t help smiling.
“You know how much I love a fire in the evening.” Not that fires were necessary but a few nights a year in the Mediterranean climate.
“I’m in all-out seduction mode, if you hadn’t noticed.” He said it lightly, like he was teasing, but something in his gorgeous espresso gaze said he was entirely serious.
“Let me let you in on a secret, Alexandros. When it comes to you, I’m a sure a thing.”
“That is good to hear, agape mou, but I have learned not to take anything about my very precious wife for granted.”
“You’re turning into quite the romantic.” And she really didn’t care if that was prompted by his need to prove he was as good a, or better, husband than his brother.
His smile flashed, his entire face covered in happiness.
But before she could ask him why he seemed so happy, he kissed her again. This time, hands came into play. Dragging an inciting hand up her leg and her inner thigh, and cupping her breast with his other hand, his thumb playing over her already stiff nipple, Alexandros seemed intent on driving her insane with need before they even got their clothes off.
He teased reactions from her body like a man who had spent years studying it, like she was the specially crafted instrument and he the prodigy who would spend the rest of his life playing it.
Not a passive lover by nature, Polly gave as good as she got, touching her husband as only she was allowed to do. That truth had never gotten old. She was way more possessive than she ever thought she would be, but in his way, Alexandros was too.
One thing she never worried about was that he would have a roving eye. Because, like hers, his possessive streak was accompanied by a bedrock of loyalty that would not be shaken.
Needing more intimacy than they could achieve with their clothes on, Polly sat up and shook her head. “Stop for a minute, Andros.”
Her husband went so still, she wasn’t even sure he was breathing.
“I didn’t meant freeze.” She laughed. “Just get your clothes off.”
“The love, it is still inside you. Perhaps buried very deeply, but still there.”
She wasn’t having some heavy conversation in the
middle of sex. Not today. “Get naked.” When he still didn’t move, she said, “Please.”
“Say it again and I will do whatever you wish.”
“Say what again?” she demanded, ready to recite the alphabet in both English and Greek if it meant getting his suit off.
“Call me Andros.”
Nonplussed, she stared at him. He was serious. She wasn’t sure why it was so important to him that she call him by the nickname she’d once used exclusively, but she wasn’t about to say no. Not if it meant getting what she wanted.
“Andros, take off your clothes.”
He shuddered, like she’d touched him in the very way she was longing to do. “Ne. Ne. Anything you want, yineka mou.”
He stood up and stripped out of his suit before she even got the zip undone on her dress. Lately she wasn’t keen on zippers, but when she knew her evening would end with her husband, that was something different.
He loved unzipping her, and she loved how he kissed her nape and between her shoulder blades when he did.
So why was she even trying to undo the zip herself?
Because she wanted naked. Now. Only… Maybe she still wanted that little bit of pampering too.
“Could you?” She meant to turn and offer him her back but the view of his body arrested all movement on her end.
She loved the olive-toned skin that rippled over muscles honed by a strict workout regime some athletes would find it difficult to maintain. But Polly’s husband never did anything by halves. He had to be the best at whatever he did.
Which meant he’d worked out his training schedule with a trainer who also served top echelon athletes.
The results were fantastic as far as Polly was concerned, both because she loved looking at her husband’s amazing body but also because she knew he was taking care of his health.
Ensuring he would be with her and their children for a very long time to come.
But that amazing body that turned her on so much?
Also served as a reminder of how important it was to Alexandros to be the best. Not second, and definitely not a poor shower, especially, she thought, when compared to his brother.