It was no secret that the childless, unmarried Alexandra doted on Irini, the only daughter of her oldest friend. She regarded her almost as her own, and had hoped for a marriage between her nephew and the daughter of the highly established Zinovieff family. Greek marries Greek; money marries money—as she’d once scathingly told Maddie.
Just another drip of the poison she’d been careful to keep hidden from her nephew. Barbs Maddie hadn’t repeated to Dimitri, not wanting to cause ill-feeling, because Alexandra was the only close family he had and in Maddie’s book family was vitally important. Instead, she’d held her tongue and hoped that the older woman would come to accept her. But that hadn’t happened.
Silence fell as plates were removed and bowls of plump fresh figs and glowing dark red cherries were brought to the table, followed by the usual café frappe. Dimitri at last stopped dredging up innocuous subjects of conversation and raised his eyes to his wife for the first time since she’d entered the room. It sent hot blood flowing to that part of his anatomy he was determined to ignore.
Theos! If she’d worn that dress hoping to drive him wild, she’d succeeded! Throughout the interminable meal it had taken all his self-control to keep his eyes off her. Just looking at her had him aching for her hot, wildly responsive body! A pleasure that he had vowed he would deny himself—and her—for eternity! She would remain as his wife in title only until she came clean about her true reasons for seeking a divorce.
He’d even had the foresight to phone ahead and ask for his things to be moved to another room. He couldn’t share her bed and hope to keep his hands off her.
Despising himself now for his lack of control, the way his body was betraying him, his eyes were drawn to the pert roundness of her full breasts, lovingly shaped by the fine scarlet fabric. The smooth, scented skin of her cleavage invited the touch of his hands, his mouth. Theos! Not even his blackest suspicions could stop the minx bewitching him!
A sickening pain twisted round his heart. His marriage had been the most important thing in his life. He’d been working flat out to put everything in order, making decisions that would allow him to delegate more with confidence, freeing him to spend far more quality time with his wife and, hopefully, his children, should he be so blessed.
Unconsciously his long mouth twisted. With a few strokes of a pen his wife had turned his life to ashes. So when his aunt asked, with a simper that grated on his nerves, ‘And your plans, Dimitri, what are they?’ his voice sounded thick to his own ears as he heard himself reply.
‘My wife and I will spend the month on the island,’ he stated, and told himself that, alone with her there, he would have the best opportunity to get the truth from her. Discover why she regarded their marriage as disposable when it had meant all the world to him.
He pushed back his chair and rose to his feet in one driven movement, his voice imperious as he demanded, ‘Come, Irini, I will see you to your room.’ And he would discuss with her the plans for the morning, in minute detail, making sure there would be no mistake, that she fully understood this time that she would need to be patient—do exactly what he said, if there were to be any hope of a happy outcome.
Escaping to her own room—denying the old lady the heaven-sent opportunity to drip yet more poison—Maddie scrambled out of the hateful dress. She’d worn it as a statement. To hold her own. But she hadn’t, had she? She’d been ignored, like the object they all thought she was. Honour enough to sit at the same table and not have to squat beneath it, begging for crumbs! And what island had he been talking about? She didn’t want to go anywhere with him!
Wrenching off her shoes, she hurled them at the wall, then collapsed in a heap of abject misery on the floor, her arms hugging her knees. It was so blatant—at least he was no longer hiding his real feelings. But he didn’t know she was aware of his true motives. She would tell him she did—in her own time.
For now there was enough emotional upheaval going on in her head without adding to it, let alone the fact that ‘I will see you to your room’ had to be an euphemism for Let’s go to bed!
CHAPTER FIVE
SLEEP proved impossible. Tossing and turning, Maddie did what she’d vowed not to—relived every moment of the evening of that fateful party.
Faced with the bombshell that the great and the good of Greek society had been invited to meet her, as none of his friends or family had attended the simple marriage ceremony back in England, she had dressed with care in a simple cream silk shift—part of the trousseau Dimitri had insisted on providing for her on a two-day spending spree in
London.
She’d done her best to circulate, but had felt a bit like a fish out of water amongst all those sophisticated, wealthy socialites. She had endured the endless questions, the minute scrutiny of her appearance, until finally she’d crept away, her head aching from the constant chatter, just wanting a few moments of peace and quiet to gather herself, locate the self-confidence that was gradually slipping away. She’d walked out onto one of the terraces, found a dark corner and perched on the stone balustrading.
But her peace and quiet had been short-lived, because Irini had appeared, looking fabulous in something ultrasophisticated and gold, her neck and hands dripping with jewels.
Instinctively her own hand had gone up to touch the sapphire pendant Dimitri had given her on their wedding day, saying it reminded him of her eyes—only reminded him, because no jewel could ever compete with the loveliness of her eyes. A pretty compliment that had warmed her heart then and comforted her now. His name and Irini’s had been coupled together, she knew that. But he had chosen her she reminded herself, on a burst of self-assurance.
Advancing, Irini had said smoothly, ‘I believe you English have a saying. You can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear. Very apt. You’d better make the most of your days of luxurious living. They’ll last only as long as it takes you to produce the Kouvaris heir. And with those big hips of yours it shouldn’t take you too long!’
She tilted her head on one side, her slight smile chillingly unkind, ignoring Maddie’s gasp of outrage. ‘You don’t believe me? Then let me tell you a story.’ Her voice clipped on, dripping with venom. ‘Once upon a time a wonderfully handsome Greek tycoon fell deeply in love with a beautiful Greek heiress. They longed to marry, but sadly the heiress had suffered an accident in early life that left her unable to give him a child. And a child was necessary. The handsome tycoon had no sibling to provide an heir. If he died childless then the vast family empire would pass into the careless hands of a distant cousin, a complete wastrel, or one of his fat, lazy sons. Such a sad dilemma!’
‘What’s this got to do with me?’ Maddie hated the way moonlight touched Irini’s face, making her look cold and vicious, hated the way her own mind was taking her, how easily this woman could knock her back.
‘Work it out for yourself.’ Irini moved closer, her voice lower. ‘No? Brain not agile enough? Then let me help you. In their desperation to marry, the lovers found a solution. Not ethical—’ she shrugged ‘—but then don’t they say all’s fair in love and war? He would look for a fertile woman—foreign, of course, not knowing our language or our customs. She would come from a humble background—from the sort of people who wouldn’t have the wit or the financial strength to make trouble. Marry her, produce a child and then divorce her. Keep his heir and marry the woman he loved. Simple? And no need to feel pity for the duped first wife. After all, if she couldn’t see beyond the end of her own nose, ask herself why a man such as he would want to marry a common, penniless nobody like her, act on it, then end the marriage and return to her peasant family in England, then she deserves all she gets.’
‘You’re mad!’ Maddie got out through lips that felt stiff and cold, shuddering as a goose walked over her grave. Did the ghastly woman really expect her to believe she was talking about herself and Dimitri? Dressing it up as some kind of sick fairy story? She wouldn’t let herself believe it.
Seeming to consider the accusation of insanity, Irini tipped her head to one side, then, pulling herself proudly to her slender height, gave her opinion. ‘Not mad. Simply unable to give him a child. If he were a bank clerk and I a shop assistant that would not matter. But in the circumstances—I advise you to think about it and consider your position.’ She smiled with a sweetness that sent shivers down Maddie’s spine and glided away, heading out of the shadows towards the light spilling from the windows of the mansion.
Maddie shot to her feet. She wouldn’t believe a word of that rubbish! She would get back to the party. Right now! Grab Dimitri, find Irini, and force the other woman to repeat that story in front of him! And the more people who witnessed her shame and humiliation the better!
She hadn’t got further than a handful of snappy paces towards her objective when Amanda appeared, silhouetted against the light from one of the open tall French windows that marched along the length of the terrace.
‘So there you are, Mads! I’ve been looking all over for you.’ She pattered forward. ‘I haven’t had a chance to talk to you. And Cristos is whisking me off on an extended world cruise tomorrow—six months away—so we won’t be able to have a good old girlie chat for ages!’
A big hug, then Amanda held her at arm’s length. ‘What’s wrong, pet? Who’s rattled your cage?’