Smokescreen Marriage

by Sara Craven

  ‘So.’ Her voice had a metallic ring. ‘You came back. I did not think it possible.’

  ‘Well, don’t worry.’ Kate replaced her glass with care on the counter top, aware that her hand was shaking. But she kept her voice steady, and her glance level. ‘It’s only a short visit. I’ll be gone soon—permanently.’

  Victorine hunched a shoulder, her gaze inimical. ‘What have I to worry me? I am merely astonished you have so little pride that you return here.’

  ‘I came for Ismene’s sake, and at her invitation. No other reason.’ Kate lifted her chin. ‘But there is one thing. While I am here, you will not set foot in this house again. You and Michael must find some other corner to pursue your sordid little affair. Do I make myself clear?’

  Victorine shrugged gracefully. ‘As crystal, chère. But it makes little difference.’ She gave Kate a cat-like smile. ‘We can wait. Anticipation can be—most exciting, don’t you find?’

  ‘Why yes,’ Kate said calmly. ‘For instance, I can hardly wait to get out of here, and leave this whole squalid situation behind me.’

  Victorine laughed, her eyes hard. ‘You are being very sensible. No scenes. No whining. Be sure that Michalis will pay generously for your discretion.’

  No, thought Kate. I’m the one who’ll pay. For the rest of my life.

  Her voice was cool and clipped. ‘Kindly go now, Victorine, and stay away from me. Or I might change my mind, and blow the whole thing out of the water.’

  She retrieved her glass, and moved towards the window, deliberately turning her back on her adversary and, after a moment, she heard the receding click of her heels as the other woman retreated.

  She leaned against the wall, her shoulders sagging wearily, sudden tears thick in her throat. She’d won the encounter, but it was a hollow victory.

  But, if self-interest prompted the Creole girl to keep her distance, it might make Kate’s enforced stay on Kefalonia marginally more bearable.

  Certainly, it was the best she could hope for.

  She glimpsed her reflection in the window, the white strained face, the over-bright eyes, and trembling mouth.

  And thought, ‘You fool. Oh, God, you pathetic fool.’

  She took a long, warm bath, then lay on her bed, with the shutters closed, and tried to sleep. To stop her brain treading the same unhappy paths all over again.

  Selective amnesia, she thought, staring into the shadows. That was what she needed. The events of the past year painlessly removed from the memory banks.

  And if she’d only obeyed her instincts and not gone to the Zycos Regina with Lisa that night, she would never have met Mick, and none of this would have happened.

  When she eventually dozed, she was assailed by brief troublous dreams, which left her tense and unrefreshed.

  But she had no real reason to feel relaxed, she reminded herself ironically. She had the evening’s family dinner to get through.

  She pulled a straight skirt in sapphire-blue silk jersey from the wardrobe, and found the matching top, long-sleeved, and scooped neck.

  She was brushing her hair, and trying to decide whether to sweep it up into a loose knot, or leave it unconfined on her shoulders, when there was a swift tap on the door and Mick walked in.

  She swung round defensively. ‘I didn’t say “Come in.”’

  His smile did not reach his eyes. ‘But I’m sure the words were hovering on your lips, agapi mou,’ he drawled.

  He placed a velvet covered case on the dressing table, and put a small Tiffany’s box beside it.

  ‘Your pendant,’ he said. ‘I would like you to wear it tonight.’

  ‘And your orders naturally must be obeyed.’

  He said quietly, ‘I’d hoped you would look on it as a request, Katharina—but, so be it.’

  She touched the other box. ‘And this?’

  ‘Some earrings to match it.’ He paused. ‘I brought them back from New York some weeks ago, but you were not here to receive them.’

  Kate stiffened. ‘Another attempt to salve your guilty conscience?’ Her voice bit.

  He was silent for a moment. ‘What do you wish to hear? That I am not particularly proud of myself? I admit it.’

  ‘Big of you to say so,’ she said huskily. ‘Only, it doesn’t matter any more.’

  ‘It matters to me.’ He pushed the little box towards her. ‘Please open your gift.’

  ‘I prefer to regard it as an unwanted loan.’ She had to stifle a gasp when the blue fire of the exquisite drops flared up at her from their velvet bed.

  ‘Put them on,’ Mick directed softly. Standing behind her, he buried both hands in the silky mass of her hair, and lifted it away from her ears, watching as Kate, summoning every scrap of self-control she possessed, fastened the tiny gold clips into her lobes.

  ‘Beautiful.’ He bent his head, letting his lips graze the smooth curve between throat and shoulder, his hand gently stroking the nape of her neck.

  She felt a shiver run through her nerve-endings at his touch. Experienced the shock of need deep within her.

  She looked down at her hands, clenched together in her lap, refusing to meet the compulsion of his dark gaze in the mirror.

  She said in a stifled voice. ‘Don’t—touch me.’

  There was a silence, then he straightened, moving unhurriedly, away from her.

  He said mockingly, ‘You have a saying, matia mou—that old habits die hard. I suspect it may be true for us both.’

  A moment later, she heard the door close.

  But when she emerged from her room, he was waiting for her.

  ‘I regret the necessity.’ He spoke curtly. ‘But it will look better if we arrive together.’

  ‘And we must never forget appearances.’ She fiddled with the thin wool wrap she was wearing round her shoulders.

  ‘But, of course not. Isn’t that why you’re here?’

  And there was no answer to that, she reflected bitterly, as she walked up through the tall sighing pines, at his side.

  The evening was not, however, as bad as she’d expected. Petros was there, with his parents whom she had never met before. Dr Alessou was a squarely built, grizzled man, and his wife was tall with a shy smile, and Kate liked them both immediately. It was a pleasure to stand and talk to them, as well as a lifeline.

  Linda was also present.

  ‘Hi, stranger.’ She gave Kate a swift hug. ‘It’s good to have you back.’

  ‘Thank you.’ Kate’s smile was constrained, and Linda’s brows drew together as she studied her.

  ‘Come to lunch tomorrow,’ she said. ‘If Mick can bear to let you out of his sight.’

  Kate straightened her shoulders determinedly. ‘That’s—not a problem.’

  ‘Really?’ Linda queried drily. ‘I’ll expect you at twelve.’

  The only awkward moment came halfway through the meal, when Ismene, who was on bubbling form, spotted Kate’s earrings.

  ‘Are they to welcome you back?’ she demanded breathlessly. ‘How much he must have missed you, po, po, po.’ She sent a laughing look at her silent brother. ‘If I were Katharina, I would go away again and again. What will you bribe her home with next time, Michalis—a ring, perhaps, with a stone like a quail’s egg?’

  He was leaning back in his chair, out of the candlelight, so Kate could not see his expression. But his voice was cool even with a note of faint amusement. ‘I am saving that, pedhi mou, until our first child is born.’

  ‘What is this?’ Ari barked jovially from the head of the table. ‘Have you some news for us, my girl?’

  ‘No.’ Kate was burning from head to foot. Suddenly she was the focus of everyone’s attention—genial, interested, excited—and, in one case, poisonous. She just wanted to get up from the table and run. ‘No, of course not.’

  ‘They are both young.’ Dr Alessou looked at her kindly. ‘There is plenty of time. Ari, my friend.’

  ‘But times are changing.’ Ari Theodakis looked round the table commandingly
. ‘I have reached a decision. At the next full meeting of the board, I shall officially announce my retirement as chairman of the International Corporation. It is time I made way for new blood.’

  He inclined his head towards Mick. ‘I leave my companies in your safe hands, my son.’

  There was an astonished silence.

  ‘But what are you going to do, Papa?’ Ismene was wide-eyed.

  He smiled benignly. ‘I have my plans. My friend Basilis Ionides has just completed the purchase of his property, which as you know includes the old Gianoli vineyard. We are going to restore its fortunes—make wine together. And I shall tend my olives, go fishing, and sit in the sunlight. And play with my grandchildren.’ He grinned at Dr Alessou. ‘I may also find time for the occasional game of tavli, eh, my friend?’

  Kate still struggling to regain her composure saw Victorine’s face turn to stone, indicating that Ari’s announcement was news to her. She saw, too, the lightning glance that the other woman darted at Mick.

  He’s got what he wanted, she thought. And now he can have her too. Once he’s officially chairman, there’ll be nothing to stop him.

  And Victorine likes the high life. She wants a millionaire not a Kefalonian farmer. Vines and olive groves will never be enough for her. Surely Ari must realise that.

  But there won’t be a thing he can do about it, once he’s given up the reins. So, there’ll be a ghastly scandal, the press will have a field day, and the family feud will break out all over again.

  She looked down at the golden gleam of her wedding ring. And she would be bound to be dragged into it too—splashed across the newspapers as the wronged wife. Made to relive every bitter moment all over again. A far cry from the quiet divorce she’d planned.

  But no one could hope to escape unscathed from this kind of situation, she reminded herself wretchedly. It was only astonishing that no enterprising journalist had managed to dig out the facts about this sordid little love triangle a long time ago.

  Or was it just proof of the influence the Theodakis family were able to wield, and the privacy their money had always succeeded in buying for them?

  But it wasn’t her problem. Not any longer. And in a few months she’d be free of it all, she told herself, sinking her teeth into her bottom lip. And her transient encounter with the rich and mighty would be eventually forgotten.

  Although, not by her. That was too much to hope for.

  She was sitting in her own little cocoon of silence amid the welter of laughter and surprised comment around the rest of the table when a slight prickle of awareness made her look up.

  Mick was watching her across the table. He was frowning faintly, his face taut, the dark eyes concerned, and questioning.

  Oh, please don’t worry, she assured him silently, and bitterly. I won’t rock the boat. Not at this juncture.

  I’ll run away again, as soon as Ismene’s wedding is over, and you can tell your father I couldn’t cope with the prospect of being the chairman’s lady. That I simply wasn’t up to it. The truth can wait for a more convenient moment—after the official announcement that you’re the new chairman.

  She drank some wine from her glass, then turned determinedly to Dr Alessou, an authority on island history, to ask a bread and butter question about St Gerassimos, who was Kefalonia’s patron, and to whom the village church was dedicated.

  He launched himself into his subject with enthusiasm, and when Kate next dared steal a glance under her lashes at Mick, she found he was talking with smiling courtesy to the doctor’s wife.

  The evening seemed endless, and wore the air of an occasion, thwarting any hopes Kate might have had of making an unobtrusive exit.

  Especially when Yannis entered ceremoniously with champagne.

  ‘A double celebration,’ Ari explained. ‘My retirement, and your return to us, pedhi mou.’

  Kate smiled, and felt like Judas.

  But at last the Alessous took their leave, and Kate felt free to escape too.

  She said a general ‘Goodnight,’ but she had only gone a few yards down the moonlit track to the beach house, when Mick caught up with her.

  ‘What do you want?’ She faced him defensively.

  ‘It’s our first night here together,’ he said. ‘It would be thought odd if I did not accompany you.’

  ‘It must be a relief to know that you won’t have to keep up appearances for much longer.’

  ‘So it seems.’ His tone was wry. ‘It came as quite a bombshell.’

  ‘The first of many, I’m sure,’ Kate said crisply, and set off down the track, shoulders rigid.

  ‘And for that very reason, we need to talk, my Kate.’

  She said unevenly, ‘Don’t call me that. And there’s nothing more to discuss. We established the terms for my return in London. Nothing has changed.’

  ‘You were very angry in London. I have been waiting—hoping that, perhaps, your temper had begun to cool.’

  ‘I’m not angry, kyrie. I’d just like to get on with the rest of my life.’ She paused, wrapping her arms defensively round her body, not looking at him. ‘After all, you’ve just achieved your heart’s desire.’

  He said slowly, ‘If you think that, agapi mou, then our marriage has taught you nothing.’

  ‘Then it’s as well it’s over,’ Kate returned curtly, and walked on.

  He caught her arm, and spun her round, making her face him in the moonlight. He said quietly, ‘I do not—cannot believe you mean that, Kate. Not in your heart.’

  ‘Fortunately I’ve started using my brain instead, kyrie. Something our marriage has taught me.’ She tried to tug herself free. ‘Now let go of me.’

  ‘How easy you make that sound.’ Mick’s voice was bitter. ‘But perhaps I am not ready to give up on us so easily, matia mou.’

  She took a step backwards. ‘You can say that.’ Her voice shook. ‘You dare to say that.’

  ‘Katharina.’ He sounded almost pleading. ‘I know what I did was wrong, but is my fault really so unforgivable? Could we not—negotiate some new terms?’

  What do you want from me? she cried silently. To go on with this charade—pretend we have a marriage? Enjoy the money and the prestige and turn a blind eye to your other pleasures? Because I can’t. I can’t…

  She said tautly, ‘That’s impossible, and you know it.’

  ‘I know nothing any more.’ Mick’s voice was harsh. ‘Except that, for one stupid act, my life with you has been destroyed.’

  ‘I was the stupid one,’ Kate said bleakly. ‘Thinking I could ever be content with the kind of half-life you had to offer.’

  ‘Agapi mou.’ There was real anguish in his tone. ‘Believe me, I never meant to hurt you like this.’

  No, she thought. Because I was never meant to find out. I was expected to stay the naïve innocent until you decided otherwise.

  ‘Oh, my Kate.’ His voice sank to a whisper. ‘Even now, couldn’t you find it in your heart to forgive me? Offer me another chance? We could be happy again…’

  ‘No.’ She began to walk down the track again. ‘I’m not the same person. Not the blind idiot you married.’

  She knew that note in his voice. It had always been the prelude to lovemaking. And she had always responded to it.

  He was still holding her arm, as he walked beside her, and she felt his touch through the silky sleeve, scorching her flesh, burning her to the bone. She was falling to pieces, suddenly, blind and shaking. Her reason fragmenting.

  And soon—all too soon—they would reach the house where the lamps would have been lit in their absence, and the wide bed in the main bedroom turned down in readiness, just as always.

  That room, where the pale drapes shimmered in the breeze through the shutters, and the moonlight dappled the floor.

  Where she heard her name whispered in the darkness and opened her arms to him in joy and welcome.

  That was how it had been only a few short weeks before.

  And how it could never be again.<
br />
  That was the truth—the rock she had to cling to as emotion and stark need threatened to overwhelm her.

  ‘I’ve changed too, agapi mou.’ His voice reached her softly, pleadingly. ‘Surely—surely that could be a start—a way for us to find each other again.’

  ‘You said you wouldn’t do this,’ Kate accused raggedly. ‘Oh, why the hell did I come back here? Why did I ever trust you?’

  ‘Did you really believe I would just let you walk away?’ Mick followed her into the dimly lit hallway. ‘And I said I would allow you to sleep alone—not that I wouldn’t fight to get you back.’

  ‘Well the battle’s over, kyrie.’ She wrenched herself free from his detaining hand. ‘And you lost.’

  ‘Are you so sure?’ he asked quietly. His eyes went over her, registering the widening eyes, the tremulous parted lips, and the uncontrollable hurry of her breathing.

  He moved towards her, and she took a swift step backwards only to find further retreat blocked by the wall behind her.

  Slowly and deliberately, he rested his hands against the wall on either side of her, holding himself at arm’s length, not touching her in any way, but keeping her trapped there just the same.

  Over his shoulder, she could see the half open door of his bedroom. All the flowers had been removed, but their scent still seemed to hang in the air, sweet and evocative.

  ‘Shall I show you that there are no certainties between a man and a woman, matia mou—just an infinite range of possibilities?’ There was a note of shaken laughter in his voice. ‘Won’t you let me make amends for the past?’

  Kate lifted her chin, making herself meet the power—the unconcealed hunger of his dark gaze with white-faced defiance.

  ‘What are you suggesting, kyrie—that we should solve everything by having sex?’

  His brows lifted ‘It might at least provide a beginning—a way back. And I had hoped that we would make love to each other,’ he added with cool emphasis.

  Kate shrugged. ‘Dress it up however you want. It comes to the same thing in the end.’

  ‘No,’ he said with sudden bitterness. ‘It does not, my innocent wife.’ He looked down at her, his mouth tightening harshly. ‘Do you wish me to demonstrate.’