Those were days she would never go back to. Her feelings for him were already dangerous and she couldn’t afford to let them deepen further. Spending the night entangled in his arms was a danger too far.
By the time Xander returned, she’d gathered her clothes together.
He came to an abrupt halt to see her standing there.
Affecting nonchalance, she attempted a breezy smile. ‘I need to go back to my room. Loukas will be upset if he finds me in here.’
* * *
Xander, still trying to get a handle on what had just occurred between them, stared at her and tried to dissect what was going on in her head. When they’d been making love her eyes had been full of passion. Now the familiar shutters had come back down.
What they’d just shared had been better than anything he could have imagined. Better than he remembered it being and it had been damned spectacular then.
He’d felt as if he were a part of her.
And now she stood at the adjoining door acting as cool as if what they’d shared had been nothing but a pleasant interlude in a busy day.
And then he saw it. A flash of vulnerability.
For a spark of time he saw the old Elizabeth.
Yes. She should leave. Right now.
He ran a hand through his hair and gave a curt nod.
She hesitated only a moment, then gave a tight, awkward nod and slipped through the adjoining door.
She disappeared so quickly he could almost believe he’d imagined everything that had just happened.
CHAPTER TEN
XANDER ROLLED OVER, looked at his watch and gave a start. It was ten a.m.
He hadn’t slept in so late for years.
All those nights of patchy sleep had finally caught up with him.
Taking a quick shower, he dried, brushed his teeth and threw on a pair of jeans and an old T-shirt.
He found Elizabeth in the dining room sipping from a mug of coffee and reading something on her cell. Opposite her, drinking a glass of milk and playing on his tablet, was Loukas.
They both looked up when he entered the room. Loukas’s smile was wide, displaying his mouth of gappy teeth. Elizabeth’s smile was polite but wary.
His chest tightened to see her and he was immediately assailed with images of their lovemaking.
She’d clearly been up for hours, her drying curls springing in whatever direction they fancied. All he could see of what she wore was a long-sleeved black top. He wondered if she had anything on her feet and if she’d kept the blood-red varnish on her toenails.
With great effort, he slid onto the chair beside Loukas. ‘Have you two had breakfast?’
Loukas nodded, then said in Greek, ‘I wanted to come and see you but she said I wasn’t to wake you.’
He didn’t look at Elizabeth when he said she but for once Xander didn’t detect any animosity. If anything, the atmosphere between them when he’d walked in had been, if not comfortable, not uncomfortable.
‘Speak in English,’ Xander chided gently before asking where Loukas’s nanny, Rachael, was.
‘She’s popped out for an hour,’ Elizabeth said, not looking up from her screen. ‘I said I’d sit with Loukas.’
‘Are we going to see Mummy?’ Loukas asked.
‘I’ll give the clinic a ring and see how she is.’
‘Can you call them now?’
‘Okay.’
Xander made the call, his gaze drifting to Elizabeth as he spoke to the duty manager.
Theos, he could look at her for hours and never tire of the view.
He pushed thoughts of her naked breasts from his mind and put his attention to the call in hand.
‘We can visit,’ he confirmed when he’d finished.
Loukas beamed and excused himself. Xander knew his nephew was going to his room to select an outfit that would please Katerina. He’d done the same thing with his own mother when he’d been Loukas’s age. Starved for her company, he would make a huge effort when he knew he would be seeing her, always hopeful of an approving smile if not physical affection. A pat on the head was the most he or Yanis could have hoped for.
By the time Xander hit adolescence, he’d stopped hoping for any parent-son interaction and learned that to get attention from them all he needed to do was show interest in the family business.
As far as his parents were concerned, it went without saying that their sons would join the company. It was what generations of Trakases had done, future spouses selected on what they could bring to it. Mirela, Xander’s mother, had been the heiress of a luxury cosmetics company that had been gobbled up to sit alongside the rest of the Timos SE lines.
Unlike other Trakas spouses, Mirela had never been content to sit at home and play the dutiful wife and mother. An only child, she had been taught by her father everything there was to know about the cosmetics industry and she’d married Dragan Trakas with a determination to be an asset in the boardroom rather than the bedroom. Xander would admire her refusal to be pigeonholed as a wealthy adornment if she hadn’t been so inherently selfish.
Dragan and Mirela had formed a powerful union and taken Timos from strength to strength while severely neglecting their sons in the process. Until, that was, their sons were old enough to be taught the mechanisms of business.
Yanis had gone along with it half-heartedly. Business didn’t interest him. He’d wanted to be a musician but that had never been an option for him.
Xander had grabbed the opportunity with both hands. He’d been determined to outshine both his parents. He’d soaked up every crumb of information they threw at him, spent hours going through the accounts of the varying divisions, learnt the name of every employee in their Athens head office then progressed to the names of those in their European branches. If they’d had an American division he would have learnt those employee names too, but the US had proved to be a market his parents were unable to crack. Critics said their products were ‘too European’, whatever that meant.
When he’d returned from St Francis it had been with a renewed determination to not only live his life under his own terms but to be master of his own destiny and in the process wreak revenge on his parents for their part in Ana’s death and the steady ruin of Yanis’s life.
He’d made a deal with them. He would launch their products in North America and turn a hundred-million-dollar operating profit within three years. If he succeeded, they were to step down as joint bosses and pass the mantle to him. They’d been so dismissive of him succeeding where they had failed that they’d agreed. Indeed, they’d laughed at him. If they couldn’t succeed in the American market then he certainly couldn’t.
They hadn’t reckoned on his stubbornness or the anger that fuelled him. He had no doubt he could make a success of himself elsewhere but that wouldn’t give the same satisfaction as wresting control of his parents’ own company and shifting the balance of power into his own hands.
Three years to the day after they’d made their deal, Xander became the official boss of Timos SE. His parents’ had never forgiven him, even though he’d kept them on, valuing their business acumen and talents. In that one regard he was like his parents—why cut off an asset that was making you money?
Now, alone with Elizabeth, who was still studying her phone, he was awash with memories of how he’d constantly needed to touch her all those years ago. He hadn’t been able to keep his hands off her, and not just because he’d wanted to be inside her all the time. She’d been the same with him. They couldn’t even eat a simple meal without locking their ankles together. It was a relationship like nothing he’d experienced before, as intense as the descent of the steepest roller coaster.
If there wasn’t a steady flow of staff busy around the villa he would be tempted to take her in his arms right then.
‘Would you like to visit Katerina with us?’
She put her phone down. ‘I don’t think that’s a good idea.’
‘She’s curious to meet you.’
‘Louka
s is just starting to get used to me. I don’t want to ruin it by barging in on his time with his mother. He won’t see her for another week and doesn’t need me intruding on their time together.’
He gazed at her through narrowed eyes. ‘Or is it that you don’t want to spend time with him?’
He’d seen the affection she had for Loukas the other night during his nephew’s nightmare but it concerned him that she seemed unwilling to draw him out of the shell he formed when she was around.
To her credit she didn’t pretend not to understand what he was talking about. She sighed and scrunched her hair in her hands. ‘I don’t want to push him, Xander. He’s a scared little boy and any friendship has to come from him. I do want him to be comfortable with me—that’s why I was happy to amuse myself on my phone while he played with his tablet, so he could just be while with me, but I’m wary of getting too close. If he gets too used to me it’ll be even harder on him when I go back to New York.’
Needles dragged up his spine at the mention of her going back.
He rubbed his forehead with a knuckle and gave a stiff nod.
A member of his household staff came into the dining room with his breakfast and a fresh pot of coffee.
Elizabeth watched Xander cut into his poached egg on toast and her heart beat a little faster. There was something about the way his throat moved when he ate that made her belly tighten and her heart want to weep.
She cradled her coffee with both hands and gazed at the priceless paintings that lined the walls of this great room. Xander’s Athens home was as grand as his Diadonus one but had a darker, more oppressive feel to it.
She longed to return to Diadonus and the lightness she found there.
She could feel his gaze on her, and closed her eyes as fresh memories of Xander being deep inside her rushed through her, turning her insides into liquid...
‘How do you understand Loukas so well?’
Her head was so filled with their lovemaking that it took a moment to understand what he was asking.
‘I was like him at that age,’ she said simply when she’d gathered her thoughts together. ‘Lost.’
‘Is that when your parents divorced?’
‘It’s when they decided their marriage was over. Loukas’s mom’s and dad’s addictions are very public so he’ll be dealing with school friends asking questions about it and telling him the “facts” they’ve picked up when listening to their own parents discuss it.’
His brows drew together. ‘You’ve dealt with something similar?’
‘My parents’ divorce got so vicious it made the New York dailies.’
He gave a slow shake of his head.
‘They spent so much on legal fees fighting each other over the silliest things that the judge basically hauled them into court and gave them a public dressing down.’ She gathered all her hair together in a big bunch at the nape of her neck and sighed. ‘They’re both attorneys so you’d think they’d know better.’
‘What started it all? Did one of them have an affair?’
‘The one thing they both agree on is that there was nothing specific. It was an accumulation of things. I can’t remember a time when they weren’t at loggerheads. I was seven when Dad filed for divorce but they lived under the same roof for five more years because neither of them was prepared to give any ground. They both wanted the house and all the contents. They were like a pair of big cats marking their territory in it.’
‘Who got the house?’
‘Neither of them. They were ordered to sell it and split the proceeds.’ She dropped her hold on her hair and swallowed back the nausea thinking of this period always induced. ‘I was so relieved when they finally got their own homes. I honestly thought things would get better if they weren’t in each other’s faces every day but, jeez, it got worse. Both of them were determined to believe the other had diddled them and sneaked out stuff belonging to the other. Can you believe my mom reported my dad to the police over a photo frame?’
Xander’s breathing had become heavy. When she dared look at him she saw his features had darkened.
‘Who got custody of you?’ he asked tightly.
‘They had to share me, which pleased neither of them. One week with Mom, the next with Dad. No deviations apart from Thanksgiving and Christmas, which I was court-mandated to alternate between them. They both fought it. Dad became vegetarian just to spite her and tried to get a court order to force her to only feed me vegetarian food too. Mom retaliated by trying to pay a doctor to falsely diagnose me with anaemia, which she could blame on the vegetarianism and so declare him a bad father.’
She’d been like a toy to be played with. A weapon to be used against the other. They hadn’t loved her. They just hadn’t wanted the other to have her.
Xander’s stomach churned violently, cold fury sweeping through him at such despicable behaviour from the people who’d been supposed to love and protect her. ‘Some people don’t deserve to have children.’
‘Agreed,’ she replied softly, looking away from him and blinking rapidly. ‘They only married because she got pregnant. They were united in their belief the other was at fault for that too.’
A sudden burst of mirthless laughter escaped from her. ‘If I were to write a book about them everyone would think it was fiction. No one would believe two fully grown people could behave so childishly.’
Xander couldn’t even bring himself to smile. His fury remained, coiling like a snake in his chest.
There were many words to describe her parents’ behaviour. Childish was the mildest of them, by far.
He thought of how Elizabeth had been all those years ago: open-hearted, warm and optimistic. He’d taken her at face value, never dreaming that she’d lived through such hell.
How could someone so loving come from a union mired in such bitterness?
Their conversation was interrupted when Loukas’s nanny came in, back from her short trip out and looking for her charge.
Elizabeth jumped to her feet, thankful for the interruption. Remembering those horrible years was never easy but worse was remembering how desperately she’d clung to the belief that her life would be different. She would marry the right person for her and it would be true love that lasted for ever. The children they had would be so loved they would never doubt their own worth for a second.
She must—must—remember her old romantic ideals were nothing but a myth.
A myth she’d contributed to, she acknowledged ruefully. She’d gone to St Francis full of romantic dreams but also, she now realised, grieving for her grandmother. Her granny had been the only person in the world to love her, and, though their time together had been limited, Elizabeth had adored everything about her. Her death had devastated her.
When she’d arrived in St Francis she’d been that deadly combination of vulnerable and idealistic. She’d been desperate for love, and so willing to throw caution to the wind when love finally presented itself in the form of Xander.
‘I’ve got some stuff I need to catch up on,’ she said, already heading for the door.
‘I thought you’d wrapped the business up.’
‘I’ve a few loose ends to sort.’
He nodded. ‘I’ll take Loukas to visit Katerina and then we can get something to eat before we return to Diadonus.’
She smiled her agreement and left, thankful to make her escape without discussing the one thing that had echoed between them. The night they’d spent together.
She knew that when they next found themselves alone again, things would be different.
* * *
While Xander took Loukas to visit Katerina, Elizabeth took a cab to Monastiraki, wanting to explore the area that had captured her attention through the car’s window the previous evening. As it was Sunday, most shops were closed, but there was a flea market to wander around before she found a small art museum to while away more time. None of the art particularly grabbed her attention but it had an excellent gift shop and she spent an
age browsing the goods.
She trailed her fingers over the notebooks, remembering her obsession with stationery when she’d been young. When she’d moved out of her mother’s house, she’d binned almost one hundred notebooks filled with childish scribblings, a childhood where she’d created her own worlds on paper, worlds where parents loved their children and there was someone for everyone to love.
She hadn’t written anything creative in ten years. The notebooks she’d used for her business had always been plain and professional-looking.
On impulse, she snatched a notebook up. Its cover was a reprint of a gorgeous nude painting of a woman sleeping. Helping herself to another and a couple of pretty pens, she paid for her purchases with a thumping heart.
For the first time in a decade she felt the compulsion to write. To create.
Back out in the cool sun, she fished for her shades and found a café to wait for Xander at, firing off a message to him with her location.
While she waited, she sipped on a coffee and, a slight tremor in her hands, removed one of the notebooks’ clear wrappings.
* * *
Xander’s driver dropped them off round the corner from the café Elizabeth was waiting at for him.
Holding Loukas’s hand, he passed through the throngs of people meandering through the streets.
He spotted her immediately, alone at a table, shades atop her curly hair, her head bent forward. As they got closer, he saw she was writing. It was a sight that inexplicably made his heart clench.
‘You look busy,’ he said when they reached her.
She dropped the pen and looked up, colour suffusing her cheeks as she sat her forearm over her notebook.
He liked that she blushed to see him. He very much liked that her eyes took on a glazed look when he held them with his.
He could hardly wait to get her alone.
‘Just passing the time.’ She shoved the book in her bag, then pulled out a different notebook with a reprint of a painting depicting Zeus on its cover and handed it, along with a pen, to Loukas. ‘A present for you,’ she said with a smile.
Married for the Greek's Convenience Page 11