After the Greek Affair

by Chantelle Shaw

  She tried to put it out of her mind, but she felt a curious sense of dread in the pit of her stomach as she walked down the stairs to meet Chip, who was to escort her to the church. It was true that Loukas had never been enthusiastic about her decision to continue running Wedding Belle after they were married. But last night she had been surprised and pleased when he had offered to help her find new premises in Athens.

  But she wouldn’t need a new studio if the London warehouse had not been sold, her brain pointed out. And relocating her business to Greece was not ideal, because she would have to build up her clientele from scratch. She bit her lip. Nothing made sense. If Loukas really was the new owner of the warehouse surely he would have allowed her to keep her studio—unless he had hoped that she would give up Wedding Belle.

  ‘You look stunning, Belle,’ Chip greeted her, his face creased into a wide smile as he presented her with a bouquet of red roses. ‘The boss said to be sure to give you these.’ He paused, and then added softly, ‘You light up his life, you know.’

  His words tore at her heart. She had believed she knew Loukas, but now she was afraid she did not know him at all.

  ‘All set?’ Chip proffered his arm. ‘We’d better get over to the church.

  She hesitated, gnawing on her bottom lip. ‘Chip, did you say that Loukas owns a company called Poseidon Developments?’

  ‘That’s right. He has various companies under the umbrella of Christakis Holdings.’ Chip looked at her curiously. ‘Why?’

  ‘No reason,’ she said shakily.

  She gripped the roses tightly as she entered the cool, cloistered quiet of the church. It took a few seconds for her eyes to adjust to the dimness after the brilliant sunlight outside, and as she looked ahead to Loukas’s tall figure waiting at the altar panic swept through her. She trusted him, didn’t she? The fact that he owned a company with the same name as the new owners of the warehouse must be a coincidence. But what if it wasn’t? What if he had deliberately made it difficult for her to carry on with Wedding Belle?

  Her steps faltered. She was aware of Chip’s puzzled glance but she could not go on. She could not marry Loukas when there were so many questions in her mind.

  He must have wondered why it was taking her so long to walk the short distance to the altar, because he’d turned his head. She stared into his eyes, searching for some sign that the despair in her heart was unfounded.

  ‘Tell me that the Poseidon Developments who have bought the warehouse in London and given me notice to leave my studio is not the Poseidon Developments owned by you,’ she pleaded.

  He stiffened, and stood so still that it was as if he had been carved from granite. The nerve flicking in his cheek was the only indication of the fierce tension that gripped him.

  Disbelief turned to agonising reality. ‘Oh, no!’ she whispered, shaking her head, as if she could dismiss the terrible truth that she could see in his shocked gaze. Her heart felt as though it had been sliced open, and she was surprised that she was not bleeding down the front of her white wedding dress. ‘Oh, no!’ she bit her lip so hard that she tasted blood. ‘Why did you do it?’

  ‘Belle…’ He jerked forward and she immediately stepped backwards, holding out the bouquet of roses like a shield.

  ‘You wanted me to give up Wedding Belle, didn’t you? But why?’ she asked desperately. ‘I made it clear that I would always put the babies first.’ She drew a shuddering breath, pain and anger ripping through her. ‘I thought you were different than John. I thought I could trust you. But you are just like him. You want your own way, and you don’t care who you hurt as long as you are in control.’

  ‘No—it’s not like that.’ He took another step towards her and suddenly Belle’s control snapped. She could see Larissa’s startled face, Chip frowning, trying to understand what was going on. But nothing mattered except that she should get away from Loukas before he saw how much he had hurt her.

  ‘Get away from me!’ she yelled at him. ‘You can keep your goddamn roses.’ She threw the bouquet with such force that it hit him in the chest. Red rose petals scattered on the floor of the church like a parody of confetti, like drops of blood from her broken heart. There was a terrible silence, but she did not wait around to hear it as she turned and fled back down the aisle, emerging from the church blinded by tears and running as if her life depended on it—away from Loukas.

  The path led down to the beach, and he caught up with her as she stumbled along the sand. ‘Belle—please, you have to listen to me.’ He was pale beneath his tan and his face was haggard, but she was unmoved, too hurting inside to care.

  ‘Why should I? You’re deceitful and a liar, and no way on earth am I going to marry you.’

  He jerked his head back as if she had slapped him. ‘You have to,’ he said hoarsely. ‘You have to marry me, Belle.’

  She lifted her chin, scorn blazing in her eyes, determined not to reveal that she was breaking apart inside. ‘Why? For the babies’ sake? So that you can be their father? Maybe they will be better off with no father than one who wants to control everyone around him.’

  He put a hand across his eyes, and Belle felt her heart jolt with shock when she saw that his cheeks were wet. ‘You don’t mean that.’ His voice shook and he swallowed hard. ‘I don’t want to control you—I just want to take care of you. And you have to marry me—not for the babies, not for any reason other than…I love you.’

  She swayed as the blood drained from her face, and squeezed her eyes shut as if she could make him go away. ‘How can you say that after what you’ve done?’

  He walked towards her, his eyes intent on her face. ‘Because it’s the truth,’ he said fiercely. ‘I love you, and I will keep saying it over and over, until the end of time if necessary, until you believe me.’

  ‘How can I believe you?’ she asked him, brushing away her tears with a shaking hand. ‘You knew that if I lost my studio I would struggle to find new premises for Wedding Belle and that I might even have to give up my business.’

  ‘Yes, I knew. That’s why I did it.’ He saw the confusion in her eyes and his face twisted. ‘I wanted to keep you on Aura, where you would be safe—you and the babies. If I could, I would wrap you in cotton wool,’ he said thickly. ‘I didn’t want you to spend time in London, away from me. I wanted you with me always, so that I could protect you. I will never forget how my father died. I have seen how dangerous the world can be and I couldn’t bear the idea of something happening to you.’ His voice cracked. ‘I know I wasn’t thinking rationally, but I lost both my parents in terrible circumstances, and then my child. I could not bear to lose you too.’

  He raked a hand through his hair. ‘I know what I did was wrong. When I saw how much Wedding Belle meant to you I realised what a terrible thing I had done and immediately instructed my lawyers to sign over the deeds of the warehouse to you. You’ll be able to expand your studio, and if you decide to set up a sister company in Athens I have already found suitable premises. It will be your choice as to where you base your company, and I will support any decision you make.’

  Belle was struggling to take it all in. ‘You lost a child?’ she said faintly. ‘What happened? Who…?’

  ‘Three years ago Sadie was pregnant with my baby,’ he said harshly. ‘But she didn’t want the baby and she had an abortion.’ He saw the shock in Belle’s eyes. ‘I need to tell you about Sadie,’ he said heavily. ‘Will you hear me out, Belle?’

  She stared at him, and her heart turned over at the haunted expression in his eyes. ‘Yes,’ she whispered. ‘Tell me about her.’

  He reached for her hand, and after a second she slipped her fingers in his and allowed him to lead her down to the shore, where lazy waves rippled onto the sand.

  ‘I first met Sadie when my family moved to New York,’ he said harshly. ‘Back then she was Sadie Kapowski—Blaine is her stage name. Her parents were Polish immigrants, mine were Greek.’ He grimaced. ‘The Kapowskis were the only people I knew who were poore
r than us. Sadie shared my determination to leave the rough streets of the Bronx and make a better life, and we were both given a chance when she won a place at a performing arts school and I was awarded a college scholarship.’

  He stared out towards the sea, remembering his father out on his fishing boat. ‘But then my father was killed, and my mother died not long after, and I had to leave college to take care of Larissa. The responsibility of bringing up a child when I was so young myself was tough,’ he admitted. ‘Being with Sadie was the only good thing in my life. But she was focused on making it as a dancer and ended our relationship. It hurt like hell,’ he admitted roughly. ‘But I understood how much she wanted fame and a career on the stage, and so we went our separate ways and I put all my energy into the property development business I’d started.’

  Belle frowned. ‘I thought you said Sadie was pregnant with your child three years ago?’

  Loukas nodded. ‘When we met again we had both realised our dreams and built successful careers. I think one of the reasons I was drawn to her was because she had known my parents—she was a link with them, and the only person who shared my memories of them because Larissa had been so young when they died.’

  Belle understood why that must have been important to him, and how alone he must have felt since he had lost his parents.

  ‘So you fell in love with her just as you had done years before?’ she murmured, hating herself for feeling jealous. After losing his parents in such tragic circumstances Loukas had deserved to find happiness.

  ‘I believed we were destined to spend the rest of our lives together. I had achieved greater success and wealth than I had ever dreamed of, but something was missing from my life. Meeting Sadie again felt like the final piece of the jigsaw was in place. I fell for her hard, and I thought she loved me. But Sadie always had her own agenda,’ he said darkly.

  ‘We had been lovers for almost a year. Sadie had moved into my apartment in Manhattan and I’d bought Aura and commissioned an architect to design a house that I hoped would become a family home for us once we were married.’ Loukas’s jaw tightened. ‘One evening Sadie collapsed during a performance and was rushed to hospital. The news that she was pregnant was a shock to me, but not to her. She admitted she had known for several days that she had conceived my child. I was over the moon at the prospect of being a father. I couldn’t wait to create my own family and to love my child just as my parents had loved me. But without my knowledge Sadie checked into a clinic and made sure there was no baby.’

  Belle let out a shaky breath. ‘I’m so sorry.’ The words seemed inadequate. She placed her hand on the slight swell of her stomach where her babies were nestled inside her and thought emotively of the child Loukas had lost. ‘Why did she—?’ She broke off, unable to say the words.

  ‘Her career,’ he answered harshly. ‘Sadie had made it to the top. She was an acclaimed Broadway star. But she was terrified of her fame slipping. To her mind, having a baby would have compromised her career. She could not bear the thought of losing her figure and refused to take even a few months away from the stage in case some rising star took her place. And she admitted that the idea of living on a tiny Greek island and bringing up children was her idea of hell,’ he finished bitterly.

  So many things made sense now, Belle thought heavily. Loukas must have been so hurt by Sadie’s cruel betrayal. Instinctively, she held his hand against her stomach. ‘I used to think that Wedding Belle was all that mattered to me—until I fell pregnant. I had no idea that I would feel like this.’ She could not put into words the feeling of protectiveness and love she felt for her unborn twins.

  ‘Sadie ripped my heart out, and I swore that I would never fall in love again.’ Loukas paused and then said quietly, ‘And then I met you. I saw a tiny, beautiful blonde standing on the quayside on Kea and my heart stopped,’ he said softly.

  Her eyes widened. ‘You tried to bribe me to go back to England!’

  ‘You bet I did. I knew I was in trouble right from the start, and I was sure that if I took you to Aura my life would never be the same again.’

  Belle’s heart was beating too fast and she took a ragged breath. ‘I felt like that too,’ she admitted. ‘When I stepped onto your boat I had a strange feeling that everything would be changed from that moment. And it was. We had a few weeks of great sex, and that should have been the end. But I fell pregnant,’ she said flatly.

  ‘I agree the sex was incredible, but was that really all we had?’ he asked softly.

  She thought back to the heady days of their affair. Their desire for one another had been explosive, but as well as passion there had been companionship, laughter, a sense of closeness that she had never felt with another human being. Afterwards, when she was back in London, she had told herself she had imagined all those things.

  ‘You walked away from me at the airport without looking back.’ She had cried for the entire four-hour flight back to England, and the memory caused tears to clog her throat.

  ‘It took every ounce of willpower I possessed not to turn back and snatch you into my arms. It took three weeks of missing you like hell while I was in South Africa to make me see sense—and then I came back for you.’ He paused, and then said quietly, ‘When I first found you on the Saucy Sue I was not aware that you were pregnant.’

  She had forgotten that. With everything that happened afterwards she had not thought about the reason for his unexpected visit. ‘You told me you were in London on business,’ she said warily.

  ‘I lied. I came because I realised that I had fallen in love with you.’

  When Belle made no response, simply stared at him with huge, stunned eyes, he continued. ‘I was going to ask you if we could be lovers—not just a sexual affair, but a committed relationship where we could get to know each other properly and share more than just our physical desire. I planned to woo you with romantic dinners and flowers—the works. I guess it sounds corny, but I wanted to make you happy, and I hoped to persuade you to fall in love with me.’

  She could not believe it was true—dared not believe the fierce emotion blazing in his eyes. ‘Do you really love me?’ she whispered.

  He stroked her hair back from her face, his hand shaking as much as his voice. ‘With all my heart and soul,’ he vowed deeply. ‘Is it so hard to believe, glikia mou?’

  Her mind flew back across the years and she was a little girl again, wearing a new dress for her birthday and excitedly running to show her father. ‘Do I look pretty, Daddy?’

  Cold eyes looking her up and down. John’s voice sneering. ‘You really are an unappealing child.’

  The excitement had drained away, her birthday ruined. There must be something very bad about her if her own father did not love her.

  She snapped back to the present and stared at Loukas’s handsome face, feeling as though her heart was going to burst. ‘It’s just that I have wanted you to love me for so long,’ she admitted raggedly, tears overspilling and sliding down her cheeks. ‘The weeks we spent together were the happiest of my life. I love you, Loukas.’

  ‘Belle…’ he groaned, as he snatched her into his arms. ‘I need you in my life, my beautiful Belle,’ he confessed, his voice aching with emotion. ‘You make me complete.’

  He kissed her with such gentle reverence that she could not hold back her tears. ‘I thought I would be lonely for ever,’ she whispered. ‘I love you so much.’

  He lifted his head and stared into her eyes, his love for her filling every pore in his body. And then he dropped to his knees in front of her and reached into his jacket. ‘I have wanted to give you this for a long time,’ he told her as he took her hand and slipped the ring onto her finger. ‘Will you come back to the church with me, Belle, and be my wife, my lover, the love of my life for eternity?’

  The sapphire on her finger reflected the colour of the sea, and the diamonds surrounding it glistened as brightly as her tears. But they were tears of joy, and she smiled softly at him as she knelt on th
e sand and wrapped her arms around his neck.

  ‘I will,’ she vowed softly.

  EPILOGUE

  SEVEN months later their twins were born by Caesarean section. Belle had been disappointed when her obstetrician had advised against a natural birth because she was small and her babies were a good size, but Loukas was secretly relieved. Having watched a film on childbirth at one of the antenatal classes, he had become frantic with worry that Belle would suffer a long and painful labour.

  ‘I feel a failure,’ she had told him when she was wheeled into the operating theatre, clutching his hand as he walked beside the trolley.

  ‘How can that be, when you are the most amazing woman in the world?’ he’d reassured her. She had coped with the demands of pregnancy without a word of complaint, even though he knew that she had found the last weeks exhausting. He would have done anything to take her place, but had had to be content with rubbing her aching back and truthfully assuring her that he found her pregnant shape utterly beautiful.

  But when her son was placed in her arms, followed a few minutes later by her daughter, Belle forgot that she had hoped to bring them into the world surrounded by scented candles and the sound of a recorded whale song.

  ‘They’re here safely and that’s all that matters,’ she whispered as she and Loukas stood over the two cribs and watched their newborn infants sleeping.

  They named them Petros and Anna, after Loukas’s parents, and took them back to Aura when they were two weeks old. ‘When he’s older I’ll take him fishing, like my father did me,’ Loukas promised, cradling his son in his arms.

  ‘And Anna too,’ Belle said, looking down at her tiny daughter’s pretty face. ‘Don’t forget her.’ She knew that Greek men often favoured their sons, but Loukas understood her fears and was quick to reassure her.

  ‘Of course Anna too—we’ll all go. We’re a family.’ He slipped his arm around Belle’s waist and felt his heart overflow as they stood together, holding their babies. ‘I love our children with all my heart,’ he said deeply. ‘But you, Mrs Christakis, are the love of my life.’