He was having to face the fact that his love for the other woman was doomed. That his unsuitable wife was already pregnant. That because of his sense of what was right he could no longer contemplate handing over a large part of the coming child’s care into the hands of a woman he had admitted possessed not a single maternal bone in her svelte and sexy body.
Maddie, fiddling with the stem of her glass, could only suppose that his passion for the other woman had so clouded his judgement that he had agreed to the cruel plan in the first place as being the only way out of the impasse.
And that his deep passion for another woman was something she was going to have to deal with in private if their marriage had any hope of succeeding. It was something that savaged her every time she thought about it and had to acknowledge that she was a very poor second best in his estimation.
Suddenly conscious of his silence, the quality of his concern-filled golden eyes, the tension stamped on his taut bone structure, she knew he was waiting for something more—some further assurance that she had changed her mind about leaving him and was now content to settle for being the mother of his children. She knew she had to lighten the atmosphere.
So, finding a teasing tone, she released the hand that still lay in his, ran the tips of her fingers across the slash of his rigid cheekbones and down to the corner of his sensual mouth, and told him, ‘And, apart from the good parents bit, the sex is out of this world!’ Inwardly she quailed at the lightness and sheer shallowness of that remark when she loved him so much it actually hurt, but she forced a smile, managed a tiny shrug. ‘Why would I deprive myself of it?’
CHAPTER ELEVEN
ATHENS still sweltered in the late summer heat. It was pointless wishing he and Maddie were still on the island, safe and secluded. It smacked of cowardice, a head-in-sand syndrome, and that went against all he was!
But he couldn’t rid himself of the feeling that there was tension in the air, because he could sense it—an unwelcome and unprecedented feeling that something catastrophic was about to happen.
Dimitri closed the door to his aunt’s quarters behind him, and fought to control both his unease and his anger.
His father’s sister had been back home for three days, and each of those days had been peppered with increasingly petulant demands to know where Irini was.
‘I haven’t heard from her in weeks. I expected her to come and welcome me home!’ had been her latest complaint. ‘She’s not answering her mobile phone, and that’s most unlike her,’ she’d fretted. ‘If her parents know where she is, they’re not saying. I can’t imagine what the big secret is! If anyone knows, you do! I know just how close the two of you are and always will be, despite your marrying a girl who’s little better than a peasant, with her eyes on your fortune!’
A man would have felt the full force of his fist at that, and known what it felt like to be flattened against the nearest wall!
As it was, his bitten out, ‘If I ever hear you say one word against my wife again, or learn that you’ve spoken unpleasantly to her, then I shall forget the duty I owe you and ask you to leave my home,’ had had to suffice.
Now he made a conscious effort to relax his rigid shoulders, unclench his teeth, calm down, and stride through the relative coolness of the house looking for Maddie. Not finding her, he bellowed to his housekeeper for information on where his wife was hiding.
He wouldn’t have admitted it to a living soul, but leaving her, even for an hour or two, left him feeling wired-up, unable to forget that day—such an ordinary day, or so he’d thought—when he’d returned and discovered she’d left him.
Today, a crucial early-morning business meeting had necessitated his absence, and Alexandra had waylaid him on his return. And infuriated him!
He wasn’t a fool. He could put two and two together as well as the next man. Since his aunt’s return from Switzerland a subtle change had come over Maddie. She was strangely subdued, even with him, and that worried him. And in his aunt’s presence, especially at shared mealtimes, she seemed to shrink into herself, as if trying to make herself invisible.
Couple that with the way she had seemed similarly subdued and withdrawn during the few weeks prior to the time when she’d shocked him rigid by demanding a divorce, and it didn’t take a genius to work out that his aunt had been throwing a few poisoned darts in her direction!
Time to sort it out!
No one would get away with upsetting his wife while he had breath in his body!
On the arrival of the stout personage of his long-time housekeeper, he learned that Kyria Kouvaris was in the garden. He huffed out a long sigh of relief, mentally chiding himself for doubting her, for fearing that she might have broken her promise to stay with him, make their marriage work.
He who had feared nothing in the whole of his life, believing whole-heartedly that he could bend any circumstance to his will, overcome anything that life threw at him, had discovered his Achilles’ heel!
She was reclining on a lounger beneath the shade of the vine arbour, a pristine folder held loosely in her hands, her eyes closed.
For a moment he allowed himself the sheer luxury of feasting his eyes on her. She wore a filmy sundress in a cool cream colour that drew attention to the honey-gold tan she had acquired on the island, the tiny shoestring straps revealing the smooth perfection of her arms and shoulders, the soft fabric of the dress moulding those beautifully formed breasts, skimming her waist and flowing around her lovely legs.
You had to look very hard to detect the swelling of her tummy—something he allowed himself to do at leisure each time he stripped her willing body.
Abruptly he pulled himself together, his long mouth twisting wryly. He only had to see her to want her, and now was not the time!
He moved towards her. She felt his presence, turned her head and smiled radiantly for him. ‘You’re back. Good! Come and see what we’ve got!’
Shifting into a sitting position, she moved her legs to one side, making room for him to perch on the end of the soft lounger.
Her eyes gleaming with pleasure, Maddie opened the classily presented folder. ‘Look. It was delivered by hand this morning.’ Spreading the enclosed papers around them, she revealed detailed sketches of the nursery Dimitri had commissioned from the team of top-flight designers he’d chosen with such care. ‘It looks perfect. I love the colour scheme—pale lemon-yellow, off-white, and touches of that misty green—perfect for a baby boy or girl. And will you just look at that rocking horse? Should we give them the go-ahead to start work?’
‘Of course.’ Her delight was infectious. So easy to let himself get caught up in it, in the more than welcome return of the sunny smiles and easy chatter that had been markedly absent for the last few days.
But.
He collected the sketches and replaced them in the folder, then took her hands in his, his eyes serious, holding hers. ‘Maddie, we’ll look at them together later. Right now, I want you to tell me the truth. Has Aunt Alexandra said or done anything to upset you? Something’s taken the spring out of your step since she returned. I know from experience that she has a vicious tongue when she feels like using it. And I promise you, if she has upset you and continues to do so, she will be asked to live elsewhere.’
Maddie’s body clenched to stillness and her eyes smartly evaded his.
The truth? How could she?
Her joy in the morning fled. Gone was the snatched tranquillity out here, away from his aunt and the hurtful remarks the old lady had made on finding her breakfasting alone. The relaxation of the soft lounger in the welcome shade, the excitement over the plans for the nursery that had helped push the latest insult to the back of her mind faded.
‘So you’ve got yourself pregnant? No doubt you’re pleased with yourself for cementing your position as the wife of one of the wealthiest men in Greece! Well, don’t make too many plans for a long-term future—I know my nephew better than you do. It won’t last. He’ll see through you and you’ll be histo
ry!’
How could she tell him that his aunt hated her and lost no opportunity of letting her know it? The old lady had brought him up—probably done the best her intrinsically cold nature had let her, and looked on him as if he were her own son.
She couldn’t in all conscience cause a family rift. And how would the old lady feel about being thrown out of the home that had been hers for so many years?
Much as she would prefer Aunt Alexandra’s absence to her presence, she couldn’t do it!
Conscious of his watchful silence, the increased pressure of his hands, she lifted her eyes to his and told him, trying to smile, ‘There’s no question of your aunt losing her home here with you. She’d be dreadfully hurt, so you mustn’t even think of it! I’m a bit of a disappointment to her, that’s all.’ She shrugged, aiming to portray the subject’s lack of importance. ‘And it’s understandable if you think about it, because, reading between the lines, I guess she secretly had her heart set on you marrying Irini. She’s bound to be miffed because that didn’t happen. Give her time and she’ll get over it.’
That was as far as she could go. And if it caused him pain with the reminder that he had loved Irini for years but felt unable to marry her because of her infertility, she regretted it.
That rang true, Dimitri conceded heavily. Alexandra had doted on Irini since the day she was born, and had wanted to see her in Maddie’s place. She probably did look on his poor darling as a usurper. But, ‘There’s more? Has she actually come out and said she finds you unwelcome?’
‘No.’
It was horrible to lie to him. But the truth would hurt both him and his aunt. And for what? The relief of ridding herself of the old lady’s insults and snide remarks? Seeing her banished would hang heavily on her conscience. Too great a cost.
It was time, more than time, that she stood her ground and refused to let Alexandra Kouvaris make her feel worse than worthless.
She found a reassuring tone. ‘I guess your aunt doesn’t make friends easily, but she’ll come round after our baby’s born—you’ll see!’ And if she didn’t she would learn to live with it, ignore it.
‘You’re sure?’
Her eyes slid from his again, he noted. Her affirmative nod was ready. Too ready?
Releasing her hands, Dimitri stood. His shoulders tensed beneath the fine fabric of his smoothly tailored business suit. One of the first things that had drawn him to Maddie was her transparency. Hiding her emotions didn’t come easily to her.
She was hiding something now. Something wild horses wouldn’t drag from her.
But loving patience might?
Right now patience was a virtue he was struggling to achieve. He said, as evenly as he could, ‘It’s time for lunch. Bring the folder. We’ll look at the plans in detail together.’
Misery engulfing her, Maddie swung her sandalled feet to the ground, gathering the folder of sketches and colour swatches that had earlier so delighted her.
He had sounded so flat. He was going away from her, distancing himself. Deep in the stark reminder of his lost true love?
Telling herself that she was going to have to live with the knowledge that she was second best, pretend she didn’t know that savagely cutting fact for the sake of their long-term future, waiting for the gift she so longed for—the precious gift of his eventual love—she walked to where he was waiting for her.
Maddie jolted awake, naked beneath the thin cotton sheet. The house was silent as evening approached. Dimitri was no doubt still in his study, concentrating on the raft of paperwork that needed his attention—a fact he’d imparted when after lunch she’d pleaded a sudden and very real weariness and come up to their room to rest.
She had slept the whole afternoon away. Was sleep an escape mechanism? she pondered wryly, remembering how she been itching to get away from the lunch table. Away from the atmosphere.
Dimitri had been distant, as if he were lost in thought, and his aunt censorious when she, Maddie, had made the first approach of conciliation after their run-in earlier, determined not to act like a wimp and let herself be walked all over.
Passing the folder over to the old lady, she’d found a smile. ‘These are the designs for the new nursery. What do you think? We’d value your opinion.’
Ignoring the folder—and the tentative peace offering—Alexandra had replied repressively, ‘One doesn’t read at meal-times. Besides, my opinion is unnecessary. My nephew wouldn’t dream of using a designer who did not cater to his impeccable taste.’
Another put-down.
Maddie had left the room, left them to it, the atmosphere brittle.
Swinging her feet to the floor now, she noted that her slight headache had been joined by a dull ache in the small of her back. She ignored both and headed for the en suite bathroom and a quick shower. She would freshen up, find something pretty to wear from the lavish wardrobe Dimitri had provided after that party of unfond memory when she’d first come to Athens as his bride.
She would find Dimitri and sparkle. Coax him out of that distant mood—if he was still in it! She had recently discovered that he liked her chatter. That, according to him, she could charm the birds from the trees with it!
Did Irini babble on about this, that and everything else? Or were their private conversations more serious, more intense, centring on their love for each other? The possibility of their marrying was now never to happen, because Dimitri had gritted his teeth and settled for second best for the sake of the family he was creating, his belated sense of honour making him discard their original plans.
And because the sex was good. More than good. Though he wouldn’t confide that slice of information to Irini!
Furious with herself for her unacceptable bout of morbid introspection, she dragged the door of the hanging cupboard open and pulled out the first garment her hand encountered. A silk shift, the colour of cornflowers. Dimitri had said it matched the colour of her eyes.
Surely he was beginning to love her just a little? Or at the least feel fondness?
It wasn’t too much to hope for, was it? Because it certainly felt that way. As if he meant to play a full and dedicated part in their marriage’s fresh start.
As if he was now putting her needs and happiness first, relegating Irini and his love for her to the past. So, okay, he had gone all quiet and distant on her when what she’d said had forcibly reminded him of the love he had put away from him. That was to be expected. It was early days yet, and he was to be excused because he had done the right thing, decided to make their marriage work for the sake of their coming child. Talked of their having more children in the years to come.
Promising herself that she had to believe that, she brushed her hair until it fell in soft, silky curls and tendrils around her face, applied the minimum of makeup, and set out to run him to earth.
But he seemed to be missing. The house was silent, the atmosphere heavy, as if a storm were about to break. Maddie felt perspiration on her upper lip, between her breasts. The aggravating dull ache in the small of her back seemed to be getting more intense. She must have slept in a awkward position. Strained a muscle.
When Dimitri turned up she would suggest they eat out tonight—anything to get away, to be alone with him, out of reach of the woman who always made her feel so worthless.
Yet…
Running away from a problem wasn’t her style. Or it had never used to be. Only since coming here as Dimitri’s bride. Irini’s poisonous revelations, the way his aunt lost no opportunity to drum the fact of her nephew’s enormous wealth and high social standing down her throat, contrasting it with her own lowly status, the fact that she wasn’t fit to touch the ground he walked on, had turned her into a cringing wimp!
Time to sort it out! Ignoring a sudden gripping sensation in her pelvis, she headed over the main hall, making for the door that led to Alexandra’s quarters. She was determined to tell the old lady that the put-downs had to stop, to suggest they try to be friends. And if she couldn’t manage
that, then politeness and respect would do.
Her legs felt unaccountably heavy, slowing her progress, but through the open main door she glimpsed Dimitri, jeans and T-shirt-clad, approaching along the wide driveway. He must have been for one of the long walks he was so fond of.
About to put a spurt on, let herself into his aunt’s quarters before he reached the house, because for the sake of family peace the conversation she was intent on having had to be completely private, she frowned in annoyance as the telephone on a rosewood hall table shrilled out imperatively.
She couldn’t simply ignore it, she decided frustratedly. But there would be other opportunities to confront the old lady, she told herself as she lifted the receiver and gave her name.
‘Oh—it’s you! I need to speak to Dimitri. Now! Fetch him!’
Irini!
She sounded hysterical. Maddie’s heart went into overdrive, constricting her breathing.
‘I can give him a message,’ she managed, more or less evenly. Had Dimitri broken the news that he was going to stick with his marriage? Was that why the other woman sounded so manic?
A series of what sounded like curses in her own language almost split Maddie’s eardrum, then, on a wild crow of spite, ‘I phoned Alexandra this afternoon. She tells me you’re pregnant. So don’t come the high and mighty with me! The moment you’ve given birth you’ll be yesterday’s wife—I warned you, remember?’
Speechless, Maddie felt the colour drain from her face. Was he still putting his love for Irini first? It couldn’t be true. She wouldn’t let it be true!
Aware for the first time of Dimitri’s presence at her side, his questioning frown, she handed him the receiver and sagged back against the wall, fighting a tide of nausea as she heard him say tersely, ‘Where are you calling from? Here in Athens?’ He fell silent, listening intently to what the other woman was saying, those wide shoulders tensing. Then, ‘I’ll be with you in fifteen minutes. Do nothing. Promise me? Let me hear you say it!’
The Kouvaris Marriage Page 12