Husband By Request

by Rebecca Winters

  “I don’t want to talk about it anymore.”

  “Of course not. But to remain in denial won’t make the truth go away, Andreas. She always was a quiet little thing. It’s probably very hard for her to talk about her cancer with you.”

  Olympia understood a lot more than Andreas had given her credit for. Dominique had always shut him out when it came to the subject of her health. He’d had to tread carefully in order not to make her retreat inside herself.

  But those days were over.

  Seeing her again had left him reeling. It was time to act on his feelings before his agony reached its zenith.

  “I’m flying to Athens.”

  “You can look for her, but you won’t find her if she doesn’t want to be found,” Olympia reminded him. “Why not stay on the yacht with me and wait? She’ll be back when she’s ready. You know how timid she is. She’s probably hiding somewhere while she musters up the courage to approach you again.”

  “I’ve done enough waiting,” he ground out. Olympia had always been on his side, but, so help him, he couldn’t think, let alone talk right now.

  In the next breath he’d phoned Myron and alerted him he needed to go ashore.

  Once the launch had ferried him to the pier, he phoned Paul. All he got was his voicemail. Cursing under his breath, he walked to the village and grabbed a cup of coffee while he waited for the chopper.

  As he was draining the last of it, his cellphone rang. He checked the caller ID and clicked on.

  “What in the name of heaven happened, Paul?” he thundered.

  “Over the years I’ve been willing to do anything for you, Andreas. But when it comes to your wife you ask too much. If you want to fire me, go ahead.”

  His hand tightened on the phone. “Where is she?” he demanded.

  “I have no idea.”

  “Did she appear ill to you?”

  “Ill?” There was a long silence. “No. But you know she’s a master at hiding anything of a personal nature.”

  Andreas took a deep breath. “It was your job to find out what business she had in Athens!”

  “I’m not her husband.”

  His head reared. “How did Dominique get to you?”

  “Probably the same way she got to you.”

  Andreas heard the click.

  He stood there frozen.

  Paul’s silence on the subject of Dominique had always puzzled him. Long ago he’d decided his friend doubted her suitability as a wife for Andreas by virtue of the ten-year difference in their ages and her being of a different nationality. But his uncharacteristic behavior since flying to Sarajevo had dispelled that myth. In fact Paul’s willingness to risk saying something that could hurt their lifetime friendship was a revelation.

  If he didn’t know better, Andreas could be forgiven for thinking his friend harbored secret feelings for Dominique.

  While he grappled with a dichotomy of emotions, the helicopter came into view. Andreas paid for his coffee, then stepped off the terrace of the taverna into the sun.

  His mood fierce since talking to Olympia, he scarcely noticed the flight to the landing pad atop his office building in Athens.

  “Did Mrs. Stamatakis tell you what her plans were?”

  “No, sir. You would have to ask Mr. Christopoulos.”

  “If she calls you for any reason I want to be informed,” he told his pilot.

  The other man nodded.

  In a few minutes Andreas had called his driver once again. “Take me to the villa.”

  If Olympia was right, and Dominique had gone there to gather her courage before returning to the yacht, he would save her the trouble.

  Before this hour was up there was going to be a confrontation. He would force her to deal with the one painful issue they’d both avoided discussing from the beginning of their relationship.

  CHAPTER THREE

  PANOS TEXTILES was situated near Syntagma Square, where the Stamatakis office building was also located. Dominique paid the taxi driver and hurried inside the ground floor, where a receptionist greeted her. She was going to see Olympia’s husband—or ex-husband, as he seemed to be now.

  “I’d like to see Theo Panos, if he’s here.”

  “Do you have an appointment?”

  “No. If I could please speak to his secretary?”

  “What’s your name?”

  “Dominique Stamatakis.”

  The mere mention of Andreas’s name caused the woman’s eyes to widen before she spoke into the phone. A rapid conversation in Greek ensued. In a few minutes Dominique was cleared to go up to the top floor.

  When she emerged from the elevator Theo himself was waiting for her. He too was dark-haired, like Andreas, though not quite as tall or hard-muscled. She thought him quite attractive in white slacks and a light olive jacket with a darker green shirt.

  He studied her at some length, his expression sober. “The butterfly has broken out of her chrysalis. You look very, very beautiful, Dominique.”

  “Thank you, Theo. I appreciate your willingness to see me on such short notice.”

  “I never thought to lay eyes on you again. Come in to my private office where we can talk without interruption.”

  When he’d shown her through the suite to a comfortable leather seat opposite his desk, she said, “There was a time when I couldn’t imagine myself returning to Greece for any reason.”

  He walked over to the bar. “Sherry?” he asked, lifting a bottle.

  “Nothing for me.”

  “Not even Perrier water?”

  “No, thank you.”

  Taking her at her word, he carried a small glass of retsina to his desk and sat down. She watched him take a few swallows.

  “All right. Now tell me why you’ve entered enemy territory. Does your husband know you’ve come to my office?”

  “No. This is strictly my own idea.”

  Theo sat back. “Go on.”

  “I’m here to learn the status of your marriage to Olympia.”

  Her question must have shocked him because his brows met in a distinct frown. “You don’t know?”

  She shook her head. “I left the courtroom after the opening statement at the trial and went straight to the airport to book my flight to Sarajevo. I never knew the outcome of the trial. I didn’t want to know anything. Once I was back with my parents, my attorney drew up divorce papers and sent them to Andreas on several occasions. But he never signed them.”

  “All this time he has refused you a divorce?” Theo sounded incredulous.

  “Until two days ago, when he sent Paul to Sarajevo. It seems he now wants to be free. I decided to fly back with Paul and have a meeting with Andreas before I signed anything. To my surprise I found Olympia on board the Cygnus with a little baby. She made no explanations or excuses. In fact she didn’t say anything except that she was expecting Andreas back from Athens shortly. That’s why I decided to come to you, to learn the truth of the situation.”

  He leaned forward. “You would believe me after I ruined your husband’s reputation in court?”

  She wanted answers, but wasn’t prepared for his blunt speaking.

  “Yes. I always believed you and I were friends. As horrible as I thought it was to make everything public, I think you must have loved Olympia a great deal to have been in that much pain. Please, Theo—tell me what’s going on?”

  Lines marred his features. “I haven’t seen Olympia for months, so I have no idea. If you’re talking about the trial, neither she or Andreas admitted to an affair. She testified that she’d been shopping in the Plaka and became ill. Because I was out of town she called Andreas, who told her to go to his nearby flat and wait for him. What she didn’t know was that I had lied about being away. Without her realizing it, I followed her that day and caught them together. She was in his bed.

  “The judge heard my testimony and didn’t buy the weak excuse either. In the end he granted me a divorce. Olympia’s been a free agent ever since.”

>   Dominique was the one in shock now. If Olympia had been divorced for a year, why had it taken Andreas so long to decide he wanted his freedom?

  She searched his aristocratic features. “Did you know Olympia was pregnant at the time?”

  “Yes.”

  Gearing up her courage she asked, “Whose son is Ari?”

  “Mine,” Theo answered baldly. “After the baby was born, a DNA test was done, confirming I was the father.”

  The unexpected revelation swept through Dominique, leaving her limp with relief. She bit her lip. “If that’s true, is there any possibil—?”

  “None!” he declared, with enough force that she believed him. “With hindsight I realized Olympia had married me because she couldn’t have Andreas. From early on it was clear that she had deep feelings for him. Though she’d always denied any involvement with him, I never believed her. Finally I got the proof.”

  Andreas had always admitted Theo had found them together.

  It isn’t what Theo thinks, he’d said.

  Dominique struggled for breath. What if it really hadn’t been what it looked like and there was another explanation?

  “Your husband tried to defend the situation by telling the court she’d been attacked by food poisoning, but I know what I saw. My wife never looked healthier,” he muttered. “Since it isn’t in me to spend the rest of my life living a travesty of a marriage, I took them to court. Because news of the pregnancy came out during the trial, and paternity couldn’t be proven until the baby was delivered, the judge came down on my side and only granted Olympia a modest monthly sum in the final divorce decree.”

  “I see. What about Andreas?”

  “I didn’t demand monetary compensation from him, if that’s what you mean. The damage to his reputation was enough.”

  Dominique shivered. He sounded so cold-blooded, but she had to remember what he’d been through.

  If she had jumped to conclusions over what Andreas had said about Theo finding them at the apartment together, she could just imagine how Theo had felt.

  To see his wife in another man’s bed, especially when that man was a good friend, had to have shattered him. No wonder he’d felt completely betrayed.

  “I don’t blame you for thinking the worst, Theo.”

  “Thank you, Dominique. If you want to know, I’ve applauded you for your strength in staying away from Andreas. After what you’ve been through, with your illness, you’re too good a person to be taken for granted.”

  “According to Olympia, you thought it was courageous of him to marry me in the first place.”

  A look of unfeigned surprise broke out on his face. “Courageous?”

  “That’s what Olympia told me you’d said.”

  “Then she lied to you. She’s good at that.”

  Dominique groaned.

  Theo eyed her frankly. “The only comment I ever made was that I thought Andreas a luckier man than he knew to have met you.”

  Somehow Dominique believed him. “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  “But you have to admit you thought I was a little mouse of a wife?”

  The first smile she’d seen broke at the corner of his mouth. “More a lovely, endangered baby bird who needed protecting.”

  It was an apt description.

  She had been like a nervous little bird. Paranoid that Andreas’s interest would eventually wear off, uncertain of herself in his sophisticated world of friends and business contacts, frightened of Olympia’s place in Andreas’s life, worried her cancer would come back, fearful she might not be able to give him a child or live long enough to be a proper wife. The list went on and on.

  “I’m sorry you were hurt so badly, Theo. Since you and Olympia share a child, it must be hard to work out visitation.”

  He shook his head. “I gave up my parental rights to him.”

  “What?”

  “Don’t look so horrified. After the trial, she informed me that as soon as you and Andreas were divorced they were planning to be married and Andreas would be raising Ari.”

  No wonder Olympia had paled when she’d caught Dominique in the stateroom holding Ari. If she and Andreas were on the verge of getting married, the last thing she would want was trouble from Dominique.

  “For six months I lived with the assumption that the baby was Andreas’s child. By the time he was born and I received the DNA results learning he was my son, I decided it was best to leave it all alone.”

  The room tilted for a moment. She clung to the armrests of her chair. “That’s tragic! You’re a wonderful person. I can’t bear it that your son won’t ever know you.”

  He stared at her mournfully. “Andreas has been Ari’s father since the day he took Olympia and the baby home from the hospital. I’m not up to a lifetime of battles.”

  “You could live to regret that decision, Theo,” she cried.

  “Perhaps. But I hope to marry again. Next time I’ll choose a gentle creature like you, who will love only me and give me a son or a daughter.”

  He studied her for a brief moment. “Andreas had it all and didn’t even know it. What a fool he is.”

  Theo was still in a state of complete denial about his feelings for Olympia and the baby. Dominique sensed his pain. Something wasn’t right here.

  If Dominique didn’t have that talk with Andreas soon, she was going to explode.

  “Thank you for answering my questions, Theo. I wish you well. I really do.”

  “I want your happiness too.”

  She got up from the chair on shaky legs. He hurried around his desk and cupped her elbow to escort her out of the office to the elevator.

  “How long will you be in Greece?”

  “I’m not sure.” More than ever she needed time alone with Andreas, away from Olympia.

  “For old times’ sake, would you allow me to take you out to dinner tonight at Zorba’s?”

  “I’d like that a lot, but I’m still not divorced.”

  Since the trial, Dominique had learned to avoid the appearance of evil. If a journalist were to catch them dining at the famous restaurant, where the four of them had eaten after they’d come home from their honeymoon, it would create more adverse sensationalism for Andreas in the press.

  She couldn’t help but wonder how much damage the bad publicity from the trial had already done to his business interests, let alone his personal life.

  After a silence, “You’re a rare breed of woman, Dominique. Whatever possessed Andreas to treat you in such a cavalier manner is beyond my comprehension. Good luck to you, my dear.”

  He kissed her cheek.

  The last thing she saw was the glint of pain in his eyes before the elevator door closed. It haunted her all the way to the airport, where she took a commercial helicopter back to Zakynthos.

  She could have returned to Andreas’s office building and taken his private helicopter, but she’d already created a minor sensation by showing up there with Paul earlier. In order to minimize the gossip, she thought it wise to keep the rest of her agenda private.

  The moment she returned to the villa, Eleni fluttered around to make her comfortable. While Dominique did laps in the pool, to release her nervous energy, the housekeeper brought her dinner and put it on the patio table.

  After an exhausting workout, Dominique climbed out of the water and wrapped her hair in a towel before seating herself. It seemed the cook had outdone herself, preparing Dominique’s favorite seafood salad and buttered rolls.

  Because the exercise had whipped up her appetite, she ate everything in sight. While she was finishing off a second cup of coffee, she heard the telltale sound of a helicopter approaching.

  Her heart thudded unmercifully hard.

  Was it Paul, on another mission from Andreas? Or had her husband decided to take matters into his own hands and get rid of her himself before the night was out?

  Maybe he’d brought Olympia and the baby with him.

  Though she was a
lmost jumping out of her skin, Dominique forced herself to remain at the table and wait.

  At the first sight of Andreas’s arresting features and tall, well-honed physique, in beige trousers and a white crew neck sport shirt, her body melted with desire.

  He had the most beautiful olive complexion she’d ever seen. The twilight brought out lines of experience around the mouth which used to kiss her with such passion she could hardly breathe just thinking about it.

  Gazing at the combination of black eyes, and hair with a tendency to curl, she marveled that he’d once chosen to marry her when he could have had any woman he wanted.

  If he’d brought Olympia with him she was nowhere in sight.

  He approached the table. His strong, suntanned fingers curled around the back of the chair opposite her.

  “Exactly where did you go today?” he demanded.

  “I needed to visit someone.”

  “But you didn’t tell Paul?”

  “It wasn’t his business.”

  His eyes smoldered in anger. “Anyone I know?”

  “Does it matter?”

  “Dominique!” His harsh tone caused her to flinch. “Did you have to see a doctor?”

  “No—” she cried, bewildered by the question.

  “Don’t lie to me.”

  “I’m not. I had a checkup in New York before I came to Greece. If you don’t believe me, call Dr. Canfield.”

  She could hear his mind working. “If that’s true, then there’s only one person I can imagine you going to see. It was Theo, wasn’t it?”

  Dominique colored.

  “I can see in your face I’m right.” He shook his head. “Don’t you realize what you’ve done?”

  “What’s so terrible about it? I decided to talk to the one person who could give me some answers.”

  “So you appealed to my arch enemy instead of me?”

  ‘Oh, really, Andreas!” She made an exasperated gesture. “Since you made it clear it was goodbye last night, I had no choice but to go to the one person who knew what happened at the trial.”

  “My attorney sent yours a full transcript.”

  “I know, but I could never bring myself to read it.”