by Maya Banks
“I was stunned. I still don’t understand. I’d never even seen the papers he threw at me. I don’t know why he thought I took them or how he could even think such a horrible thing.”
The tears he heard in her voice felt like little daggers to his chest. The tension grew until he felt he would explode. Dread skated up his spine. What had he done?
“And then...” She broke off as sobs took over.
There was another long period of silence as the therapist murmured words of comfort to Marley.
“Tell me what happened next, Marley.”
“I left the apartment, but I knew I had to come back the next day after he’d calmed down so I could make him see reason and tell him I was pregnant. I felt if I could just have the chance to talk to him that he would see what a mistake it was.”
“And what happened?” the therapist asked gently.
Chrysander pushed against the door, his body tense with anticipation.
“A man pulled a bag over my head and forced me into a car. I was taken to another place in the city and told that I was being held for ransom. I was terrified. I was pregnant and was so scared that they would hurt me or my baby.”
Chrysander’s hands curled into fists as he fought the rising rage within him.
“They sent two ransom demands,” Marley whispered. “He refused both. He left me there. Oh God, he left me to those men. I wasn’t even worth half a million dollars to him!”
Sobs ripped from her throat as she dissolved into tears. Chrysander stood in stunned disbelief. Mother of God. He’d never received a ransom demand. He hadn’t! His stomach boiled as acid rose in his throat. He turned and laid his forehead against the wall and brought his clenched fist to rest a few inches away. He felt wetness on his cheeks but made no move to wipe it away.
A few moments later, the therapist eased out of the bedroom and looked at Chrysander. He expected condemnation in her eyes but saw only a faint sympathy.
“I’ve sedated her. She was nearly hysterical. She needs rest above all else. Her reality is very painful, so she retreats. That same self-preservation is what prompted her amnesia. Now that she no longer has that protective buffer, she struggles to cope in the best way she knows how. Be gentle and understanding with her. Don’t push her too hard.”
She patted him on the arm as she walked past.
“Call me if you need me. I’ll come at once.”
“Thank you,” Chrysander said hoarsely.
When she left, Chrysander turned and shuffled farther into the sitting room and sagged onto the couch.
“Dear God,” he said bleakly.
“I heard,” Theron said with a grimace.
“She never stole anything.” Chrysander closed his eyes and dragged a hand through his hair. “Theos. I never got a ransom demand. She thinks...she thinks I left her to those animals, that I didn’t care enough to pay half a million dollars for her return.”
Theron put a comforting hand on Chrysander’s shoulder. “There is much we need to investigate.”
Chrysander nodded. His thoughts hardened as he turned from the anguish over Marley’s revelation and forced himself to play back the events of that night.
The realization, when it came, was so startlingly clear that he cursed himself for not having pieced it together before. He’d been too angry, too wounded by what he perceived as a betrayal by Marley.
“Roslyn,” he said tersely.
Theron raised a brow. “Your assistant?”
“She was there. Just before I found the papers in Marley’s bag. She must have planted them.”
Another thought occurred to him, one that sickened him and made him want to empty his stomach. Any ransom demand would have gone to his office. His residences were highly guarded secrets. Marley had said that he’d ignored ransom demands, but now he realized they could have been delivered and intercepted. By Roslyn.
He stood and whirled around to face his brother. “You will stay here with Marley. Make sure she goes nowhere and that she is well cared for. I’ll send a physician over to monitor her condition.”
Theron also stood. “Where are you going, brother?”
“I’m going to find out if what I suspect is true,” he said in a dangerously low voice.
“Chrysander, wait.”
Chrysander paused and stared back at his brother.
“You should call the authorities. If you confront her and gain a confession, it won’t do any good. Only you will know.”
Chrysander clenched his fists in frustration, but he knew his brother was right. He didn’t want Roslyn to get away with what she’d done. He could make her life miserable, but she would still be free. He wanted justice.
* * *
Chrysander paced the confines of his New York office as he waited for Roslyn to arrive. He didn’t want to be here. He wanted to be with Marley. Theron had stayed with her, and Chrysander simmered with impatience. Her condition hadn’t changed. Even when she’d awakened, she’d been distant, unfocused, there but not there. It was as if she’d gone to a place where he couldn’t hurt her anymore.
He closed his eyes and tried to focus on the task at hand. When he heard Roslyn enter, he stiffened. It was all he could do not to rage at her, not to break her skinny neck. It took everything he had to smile and act as though nothing was wrong, as though he didn’t loathe the very ground she walked on.
“You wanted to see me?” Roslyn said breathlessly.
“I did,” Chrysander murmured. He let his gaze run suggestively over her body even as his flesh crawled.
Her eyes brightened, and her stance immediately became suggestive.
“I’ve only just become aware of the lengths to which you went to try and get my attention,” he said with a chuckle. “Men can be thick, so you women say, but I think maybe I was thicker than most.”
Confusion rippled across her face, and she struggled to retain a look of innocence. She couldn’t be sure what he was talking about yet, but it would soon be clear. He watched her body language, her eyes, the windows into the soulless bitch that she was.
“Why did you not just say you wanted me?” he purred. “It would have saved us a lot of trouble. Instead, I was trapped in a relationship I didn’t want, though I appreciate the efforts you made to rid me of that problem.”
Roslyn relaxed, and a cold smile flashed across her face. It was strange, but Chrysander had never realized just how ugly she was.
“How did you arrange it?” he asked silkily.
He listened in horror as she outlined what she’d done to make it appear as though Marley had stolen the plans. The kidnapping had been an added bonus, but when she’d received the ransom demand at his office, she’d seen her opportunity to be rid of Marley once and for all.
So anxious was she to prove her devotion to Chrysander, that she didn’t realize she’d admitted to selling his plans to his competitor.
“So you stole the plans and gave them to Marcelli.” His voice was like ice, and she flinched at his tone. Her face whitened as she realized just what she’d confessed to.
“You then framed Marley, thinking not only would you have the proceeds from selling me out to my competitor, but then you would have Marley out of the way so you could move into her place.”
Her mouth opened and closed, and he could see the realization settle in that he’d duped her and was furious.
“And then when the ransom demands were delivered to my office, you destroyed them, hoping
what, Roslyn, that they would kill her? Permanently remove her from the picture?”
He was shaking he was so angry. She simmered before him in a red haze. All he could see was Marley alone and frightened. Pregnant with his child and vulnerable. Thinking that not only did he hate her but that he’d simply left her to her fate. He wanted to weep.
Roslyn seemed to recover her composure, and she looked scornfully at him. “You’ll never prove it.”
“I don’t have to,” he said softly. He pressed the small intercom button on his desk. “You may come in now, Detective.”
Roslyn swayed as three policemen entered the room, their expressions grim.
“You can’t do this!” she shrieked. “I love you, Chrysander. I would have done anything for you.”
He shook his head and turned away from her rantings as she was escorted away in handcuffs. He had no desire to listen to her. He wanted to return to Marley.
“Forgive me, agape mou,” he whispered.
* * *
Marley was dimly aware that she was being carried yet again. It wasn’t Chrysander. She was intimately familiar with his touch. For a moment she panicked, and then she heard comforting words being spoken in Greek and then in English.
“Rest easy, little sister. You are safe.”
“Where are we going?” she asked weakly.
“Someplace safe,” he soothed. “Chrysander won’t allow anything to happen to you.”
She wanted to protest that Chrysander wouldn’t do anything for her, but she couldn’t muster the energy. At some point, she heard Chrysander, and she cursed the fact that she immediately felt safer and that some of the panic abated.
She felt the brush of lips against her forehead and then firm hands tucking her into bed. Fingers stroked through her hair, and warmth enveloped her.
“You are safe, agape mou. I’ll never allow anyone to hurt you again.”
“Don’t call me that,” she cried. “Never again.” But she held to Chrysander’s promise even as her heart screamed in protest. He’d lied to her. She couldn’t believe anything he said. And yet she relaxed and settled into a dreamless sleep.
* * *
When Marley next awoke, there was a crispness to her mind that had been absent since the day she’d regained her memory. No longer did fog shroud her memories. She both welcomed and cursed the new awareness. Gone was any confusion, but with that new clarity came inevitable heartbreak.
She felt alert, as though she’d slept a week. And maybe she had. She had no idea how much time had passed, and while her past was no longer a mystery, the events of the last few days were hazy and fractured.
With a reluctant sigh, she pushed back the covers and eased her legs over the side of the bed. As she glanced around, she realized she had no idea where she was. The room was spacious and cheerful, with several windows to allow natural lighting.
She pushed herself up and walked into the adjoining bathroom, her eyes widening at the size and luxury. She eyed the Jacuzzi tub with longing. While she might not know how many days had passed—they’d all been a blur—she did know that she hadn’t had a bath in a while, and she couldn’t wait to feel clean and refreshed again.
Bracing her foot on the step to the tub, she leaned over and turned the handle to start the water. When she looked up, she saw Chrysander standing in the doorway. A startled gasp escaped her.
He started forward immediately and grasped her arm to steady her. “I’m sorry for frightening you, pedhaki mou. It was not my intention. I worried when I came in to check on you and you were not in bed.”
“I just wanted a bath,” she said in a low voice.
“I do not want you to be in here alone,” he said. “I’ll summon Mrs. Cahill so that if you have need of anything, you can just call out.”
She closed her eyes for a moment and drew in a steadying breath. Then she met his gaze. “Please, Chrysander, let’s not have any further lies between us. There’s no need for you to pretend that I’m important to you...that I matter.”
Bleakness entered his eyes, and his face grayed underneath the olive tone of his skin. “You matter very much to me, agape mou.”
Before she could respond, he retreated from the bathroom, and a moment later, Patrice bustled in. In a matter of minutes, Marley found herself stripped and settled into a warm bath. Not too hot, Patrice assured, since overly hot baths were not good for a pregnant woman.
As Marley settled into the fragrant bubbles, she leaned her head back against the rim of the tub and glanced over at Patrice. “Where are we? And how did you get here? I thought you were in Athens with Dr. Karounis.”
“Mr. Anetakis asked me to fly back so I could be with you,” she said soothingly. “He was quite desperate. The idea of returning to the apartment upset you so badly that he brought you here.”
“And where is here?” Marley asked.
“His house,” she explained patiently. “We’re about an hour from the city. It’s quieter here, more peaceful. He thought you’d prefer it.”
Tears blurred Marley’s vision. And she thought she hadn’t any more tears to shed. She hadn’t known he owned a house outside of the city, and like the island, it was one more place she’d never visited in all the time she’d been with Chrysander. Further proof that she’d never occupied an important place in his life.
“He’s been very worried about you,” Patrice said, her face softening in sympathy. “We all have been.”
Marley shook her head in denial. Chrysander hated her. He’d never loved her, and she’d been too stupid to realize it.
“What am I going to do?” she whispered to no one in particular. She’d been an idiot to give up her apartment, her job, every means she had of taking care of herself when she moved in with Chrysander. She’d been too blinded by her love and convinced that she had a future with him.
“Come out of the tub,” Patrice said gently. “You need to get dried off so you can go down to eat.”
Marley allowed Patrice to mother her. She was dried off and pampered then clothed in comfortable slacks and a maternity shirt. She rubbed a hand over her belly and whispered an apology to her unborn son.
She couldn’t afford to fall apart. Her child was depending on her.
Chrysander was waiting for her when she exited the bedroom. He said nothing, but he cupped her elbow and helped her down the stairs, and she let him, too numb to protest. Marley also remained silent, her emotions too much in turmoil to try and have a reasonable conversation.
They sat at a small table that overlooked a beautifully manicured garden. Bright morning sun shone through the glass doors, and she felt warmed by the sun’s rays.
Chrysander set a plate piled high with food in front of her then settled into a seat across from her. She piddled with her fork and toyed with the food, pushing it around the plate as she avoided his gaze.
He sighed, and she looked up to see him staring at her. His expression was somber, as though he was enduring the worst sort of hell. She nearly laughed at the absurdity. To her horror, she felt the prick of tears, and his face swam in her vision.
“We must talk, Marley. There is much I need to say to you.” His voice sounded oddly strangled. “But first you must eat so you can regain your strength. Your health and that of our child must come first.”
She bowed her head again, refusing to meet his stare any longer. She concentrated on eating, and once she started realized she was actually quite hungry.
As she was finishing the last of her juice, she heard a door slam in the distance, and then she heard the determined stride of someone walking across the floor. She turned to see Theron enter the room, a grim look on his face.
Before he could speak, Chrysander locked his gaze onto his brother and said in a steely voice, “Whatever it is, I’m sure it can wait until Marley has finished eating.”
Theron cast a concerned glance her way and nodded his understanding to Chrysander. Anger tightened her throat and made swallowing difficult. Whatever it was they wished to speak about, it was obvious they didn’t want to do so in front of her. But then why would they? She was someone they believed had stolen from them.
She stood abruptly and tossed down her napkin. Without a word to either man, she stalked away.
“Marley, don’t go,” Chrysander protested.
She turned and pinned him with the force of her glare. “By all means, have your conversation. I’d hate to intrude. After all, someone who has stolen from you and betrayed your trust isn’t someone you want around when you’re talking.”
“Theos, that is not the issue here. Marley? Wait, damn it!”
But she ignored him and continued walking.
Chrysander watched her leave and cursed. He felt strangled by helplessness. How could he ever hope to make things right between them? She hated him, and she had every right to.
He turned to Theron, who had also watched Marley go, a frown etched on his face. “What brought you here in such a hurry?” Chrysander demanded.
Theron reached into the jacket of his suit and pulled out a folded newspaper. He tossed it onto the table in front of Chrysander. “This did.”
Chrysander opened it and immediately cursed in four languages. On the front page was a picture of Marley being carried by Theron on the day she’d run from the apartment. Underneath were pictures of himself and of Roslyn with a story outlining the soap-opera saga that highlighted every single facet of his relationship with Marley.