by Lynne Graham
Bee lifted a hand to silence him. ‘Stop right there. I really don’t want to hear about your marriage, Jon. It’s none of my business.’
‘Perhaps I want to make it your business.’
‘More probably you’re barking up the wrong tree—I’m in love with my husband,’ Bee responded impatiently. ‘And now I think it’s time I went. I want to get back to the hospital.’
As she got up Jon leapt up as well and the doorbell went in one long shrill shriek as if the caller’s finger had accidentally got stuck to the button.
‘A shame your PR lady is arriving so late,’ Bee remarked.
‘That was just a ruse, Bee,’ Jon snapped, his fair features twisting with bad temper and momentarily giving him the aspect of a disgruntled little boy.
‘Evidently, Sergios was right to tell me that I’m too trusting,’ Bee was saying as Jon angrily yanked open the front door, annoyed by the timely interruption.
Bee was totally shattered to see Sergios poised on the doorstep. ‘What are you doing here?’ she asked in astonishment. ‘How did you find out where I was?’
His eyes had a smouldering glitter and were welded to Jon’s discomfited face. ‘Why did my wife say that I was right to call her too trusting?’
Bee really couldn’t be bothered with Jon at that moment. The whole silly lunch set-up had thoroughly irritated her, but she didn’t want Sergios to thump him. And that, she sensed, very much aware of the powerfully angry aggression Sergios exuded, was quite likely if she didn’t act to defuse the tension.
‘I was just joking. We were discussing a charity dinner—’
Sergios closed a hand round her wrist and drew her out of the apartment as if he couldn’t wait to remove her from a source of dangerous contagion. His face hard as iron, he studied Jon, who was pale and taut. ‘Leave my wife alone,’ he instructed with chilling bite. ‘What’s mine stays mine. Try not to forget that.’
What’s mine stays mine. Bee could have been very sarcastic about that assurance had she not been outraged by Sergios’s intervention and sexist turn of phrase.
‘Sometimes you’re very dramatic,’ she commented lamely, recognising that quality in him for the first time and surprised by the discovery.
‘What were you doing in Townsend’s apartment alone with him?’ Sergios shot at her, visibly unrepentant.
‘None of your business.’
As the lift doors opened on the ground floor Sergios shot Bee an arrested look. ‘Explain yourself.’
‘Are we going to pick up Eleni?’ Bee enquired coldly instead, picturing Melita with her smug cat-got-the-cream smile. Nausea pooled in her tummy again and turned her skin clammy.
‘Eleni was released an hour ago. Karen phoned me and I told her to take Eleni home.’
‘Oh.’ Bee made no further comment, stabbed by guilt that she had forgotten the little girl was due to leave hospital that afternoon. She felt drained by the emotional storm of the past couple of hours. The man she loved had a mistress whom he regularly slept with and would not give up. Where did she go from there? Did she really want to lower herself to the level of arguing about Melita? Did she want to run the risk of exposing how deep her own feelings went for him?
Or did she do the sensible thing? Take it on the chin and move on? Obviously no more sharing of marital beds. That kind of intimacy was out of the question with Melita in the picture. But she had signed up to a long-term relationship for the sake of her mother and for the children. Every fibre of her being might be urging her to make some sort of grand gesture like walking out on her marriage, but too many innocent people would be hurt and damaged by her doing that. Even Sergios had said that she wasn’t a quitter and he had been right on that score. She gave her word and, my goodness, she stuck to it through thick and thin.
Even through Melita? Could she still stick to her word in such circumstances? Pain slivered through Bee and cut deep like a knife. They had roamed so far from their original agreement. Far too many tender feelings had got involved. Stepping back from that intimacy, learning to be detached again would be a huge challenge, she acknowledged wretchedly. Had she really once believed that she could treat Sergios like a rather demanding employer? Looking at Sergios’s beloved face now, she was no longer sure that she had the strength to stand by her promise and survive the sacrifices that that would demand.
How could she bear to turn her back on what she had believed they had and know that Melita was replacing her in every way that mattered? From now on it would be Melita he kissed awake in the morning, Melita he took to dine in cosy little restaurants where nobody recognised him, Melita he bought whopping big diamonds for. How could Bee live with knowing that he had only made love to her because she was there when more tempting sexual prospects were not? What had meant so much to her had evidently meant very little to him. A cry of anguish was building up inside Bee. She felt as though she were being ripped apart.
The limo came to a halt. White-faced, she got out without even looking to see where she was going and came to a sudden bemused halt once she realised that they had not alighted at the mansion that was their London home but outside an apartment building she had never seen before. ‘Where are we?’
‘I own an apartment here.’
‘Oh…do you?’ she queried drily, wondering if this was where he had come on their wedding night to make love with his Greek blonde. She was ready to bet that he had not had to nudge Melita towards the sexy lingerie. Gut instinct warned her that Melita already had that kind of angle covered, or uncovered, as regarded his preference, she thought bitterly. Had she seriously considered dying her hair blonde? Had she really been that pathetic? Where had her pride and her independence gone?
Love had decimated those traits, she decided painfully, standing, lost and sick to the soul, in the lift on the way up to the apartment she had not known he possessed. Love had made her hollow and weak inside. Love had made her want to cling and dye her hair and wear the fancy lingerie if that was what it took to hold him. But her brain told her that that was nonsense and that those were only superficial frills, not up to the challenge of keeping a doomed relationship afloat. And a relationship between plain, ordinary, sensible Bee Blake and rich and gorgeous Sergios Demonides had always been doomed, hadn’t it? A union between two such different people was unlikely to be a marriage that ran and ran against all the odds…unless you believed in miracles and wild dreams coming true. And Bee had so badly wanted to believe that she could have the miracle, the dream.
Virtually blind to her surroundings while that ferocity of emotion remained in control of her, Bee preceded Sergios into a spacious lounge that had that slightly bare, unlived in quality of a property not in daily use. ‘So this is where you and Melita—’
Sergios froze in front of her as though she had said a very bad word, his face clenching hard, sensual mouth compressing. ‘No, not here. My grandfather uses this place when he visits London—he likes his independence. It’s a company property.’
Bee nodded and her spine relaxed just a jot. She had conceived a loathing for Melita Thiarkis, everywhere the other woman had ever been with Sergios and everything to do with her that was excessive to say the least.
‘She’s never been here—she has her own apartment,’ Sergios breathed abruptly as if he were attuned to Bee’s every thought.
Never having had quite so many mean, malicious thoughts all at once, Bee seriously hoped that he was not that attuned. Her disconcerted face was hot, her complexion flushed to the hairline with embarrassment and the distress she was fighting to conceal. Suddenly unable to bear looking at him, she spun away and faked an interest in the view.
‘Whatever it takes I want to keep you,’ Sergios breathed with startling harshness. ‘I hope you appreciate the fact that I didn’t knock Townsend’s teeth down his throat the way I would’ve liked to
have done.’
‘You can be such a caveman.’ In a twisty way that appealed to the dark side of her temperament, she was painfully amused that despite his own extra-marital interests he could still be so possessive of her. The logic of his attitude escaped her. But, of course, he wanted to keep her as a wife: he needed her for the children. They loved her and she loved them. Now there had to be a compromise found that she and Sergios could both live with. Some magical solution that would provide a path through the messy swell of emotion currently blurring her view of the world.
‘Look at me…’ Sergios urged.
‘I don’t want to,’ Bee said truthfully, but she turned round all the same.
She wondered why it was that she could now see that Jon sulked and pouted like a spoilt little boy when he didn’t get his own way, but that in spite of what she had learned about Sergios she still could not see a visible flaw in him. He remained defiantly gorgeous from his stunning dark golden eyes to his slightly stubbled and shadowed chin.
‘That’s better,’ he murmured, scrutinising her with an intensity that made her uncomfortable.
‘Why did you bring me here?’
‘If we’re going to argue, if there’s going to be dissension between us, I didn’t want the children as an audience,’ Sergios admitted flatly, features grave.
‘My word, you think of everything!’ Bee was all too wretchedly aware that she would not have considered that danger until it was too late.
‘They deserve better from us—’
‘Is that you reminding me of my duty?’ Bee prompted tightly, her throat suddenly thickening with tears.
‘Whatever it takes I want to hold onto you.’
‘You already said that.’
‘It’s more than I’ve ever said to a woman,’ Sergios breathed roughly, challenge in the stance of his big powerful body. He stood tall with broad shoulders thrown back and strong legs braced as though he were expecting a blow.
He wanted everything, he wanted too much, she reflected unhappily. He wanted his mistress and he wanted his wife, a combination he evidently believed necessary to his comfort and happiness. Emotion didn’t come into it for him. If only it didn’t come into it for her either! Her eyes prickled hotly and she kept them very wide, terrified that the tears threatening her would spill over in front of him.
‘If we’re staying here I could do with lying down for a while,’ she said abruptly, desperate for some privacy.
‘Of course.’ He crossed the room and pressed open a door that led into a corridor. He showed her into the bedroom and startled her by yanking the bedspread off the bed and pulling back the duvet for her. He looked across at her, a dark uncertainty in his eyes that she had never seen before, and for the first time it occurred to her that he was upset as well.
‘Thanks,’ she said dully, taking off her jacket and kicking off her shoes.
‘Would you like a drink?’ he enquired without warning.
‘A brandy,’ she responded, dimly recalling that being recommended for shock in a book she had read. Probably not at all the right remedy for shock in today’s world, she thought ruefully. In fact, couldn’t alcohol act as a depressant? In the mood she was in, she didn’t need that, did she?
Seemingly glad, however, of something to do, Sergios strode out of the room and she sat down on the bed. Time seemed to move on without her noticing, for he reappeared very quickly and handed her a tumbler half full of brandy. ‘Are you trying to get me drunk?’ she asked in disbelief.
‘You look like a ghost, all white and drawn. Drink up,’ Sergios urged.
‘I can’t live like this with you…’ she framed, the admission leaping off her tongue before she could stop it.
Sergios came down on his knees at her feet and pushed the tumbler towards her mouth. ‘Drink,’ he urged again.
‘It might make me sick.’
‘I don’t think so.’
All of a sudden she noticed that the hand he had on the glass was trembling almost infinitesimally. He was behaving as though the drink might be a lifesaver, rather than a pick-me-up. She sipped, shuddering as the alcohol ran like a flame down her throat, making her cough and splutter. She collided with strained dark eyes.
‘What the heck is the matter with you?’ Bee demanded in sudden frustration. ‘You’re behaving very oddly.’
Sergios vaulted upright. ‘What do you expect? You go and see my former mistress—then you run straight off to stage a private meeting with your ex, who’s clearly desperate to get you back!’ he exclaimed wrathfully. ‘I mean, it’s not exactly been my dream day and I still don’t know what the hell is going on!’
Former mistress? Her ears were practically out on stalks. Was he planning to try and lie his way out of the tight corner he was in? Pretend that his relationship with Melita was over? While pondering that salient point, Bee drank deep of the brandy, grateful for the heat spreading and somehow soothing her cold, empty tummy.
‘Why did you go and see Melita?’ he demanded heavily. ‘What the hell made you do such a thing?’
Her brow indented. ‘She asked me to come and see her.’
His lean powerful face set granite hard at that claim. ‘She asked…you?’
Bee lifted her chin. ‘Yes and I was curious. Of course I was. I saw her on the island last week.’
His gaze narrowed. ‘Nectarios mentioned it but I hoped you didn’t realise who she was.’
Bee rolled her eyes. ‘I’m not stupid, Sergios.’
‘Not obviously so,’ he conceded. ‘But if you believed I’ve been with her since we got married, you are being stupid.’
‘According to Melita you’ve been shagging her every chance you got—that’s a direct quote from her,’ Bee told him.
Sergios looked astonished. ‘I thought better of her. We parted—as I thought—on good terms.’
‘When did you last see her?’
‘About six weeks ago in Athens. We did not have sex,’ Sergios added sardonically. ‘I have not slept with her since we got married.’
Bee vented a scornful laugh. ‘How am I supposed to believe that about the woman you insisted you had to keep in your life in spite of our marriage?’
‘It’s the truth. Melita was part of my routine.’
‘Routine?’ Bee repeated with distaste.
‘It wasn’t a romantic relationship. I financed her fashion house, she shared my bed. She travelled all round the world to meet up with me. It was easier keeping her as a mistress than having to adapt to different women,’ Sergios admitted, his discomfort with the topic obvious. ‘I’ve known her for a long time. I backed her first fashion collection because she was an islander. We ended up in bed after Krista died and I found Melita’s casual approach to sex attractive at a time when I didn’t want anything heavy.’
‘If it was over why did she lie?’
‘Presumably because she thought that if she could cause trouble between us I might come back to her,’ Sergios suggested grimly. ‘I’m furious that she approached you and lied to you. I made a generous settlement on her at the end of our affair and she should’ve been satisfied with that.’
‘She said you were with her on our wedding night.’
Sergios swore only half below his breath, anger burning in his keen gaze. ‘I was supposed to see her but I cancelled.’
‘You went out.’
‘I went to a casino, played the tables and drank. Going to her didn’t feel right. I know our marriage was supposed to be a fake but making a point of being with her that particular night…’ Sergios shrugged uncomfortably. ‘It would’ve felt disrespectful, so I didn’t do it.’
‘Disrespectful,’ Bee echoed weakly, her attention nailed to his face, recognising the combination of discomfiture and sincerity she
saw there.
‘I swear I have not been with Melita,’ Sergios growled, his patience taxed almost beyond its limits. ‘And if I have to drag her here and make her admit that to your face, I will not shrink from the challenge.’
‘She wouldn’t come.’
‘She would if I threatened to withdraw the settlement I made on her. She signed a legal agreement, promising to be discreet about our past relationship and approaching my wife and lying to her is not, by any stretch of the imagination, discreet!’ he bit out thunderously, his anger at what he had learned unconcealed.
Bee recalled how very keen Melita had been to ensure that Sergios did not know about their meeting, hardly surprising if the money he had given her was dependent on her remaining tactfully silent about their affair. Was it possible that she had simply wanted to cause trouble? Naturally she would blame Bee for Sergios having broken off their relationship.
‘I’m starting to believe you,’ Bee confided with a frown, worried that she was being ridiculously credulous while at the same time recalling that she had yet to find out that Sergios had ever lied to her about anything. He was much more given to lethal candour than dishonesty.
‘Thank God,’ he breathed in Greek.
‘But I still don’t get why you were so determined to retain Melita that you even told me about her before the wedding…only to get rid of her a few weeks later.’
Sergios groaned like a man in torment. ‘Obviously because I had you and didn’t need her any longer.’
‘Oh…’ was all Bee could think to say to that. Was it really that simple for him? Instead of sex with Melita he had discovered sex with his wife and found it a perfectly adequate substitute? Seemingly it was that simple on his terms. It was a huge relief to appreciate that he had not betrayed her with Melita. Her head was swimming a little and she thought that perhaps she had had a little too much brandy.
‘You’re fantastic in bed, yineka mou.’
‘Am I?’ Bee settled big green eyes on him, wide with wonderment at that assurance.