Sale or Return Bride

He was being so polite and she just wasn’t used to it. Up until now their relationship had consisted of nothing but insults followed by hot sex.

She settled into her seat and her eyes scanned the various dishes laid out on the table. ‘Did you cook?’

‘Not exactly.’ He gave a rueful smile. ‘I confess that most of the dishes are delivered ready-made.’

‘They look good.’ She leaned forward and took a closer look in the dish nearest to her. ‘Jannis makes the same thing. It’s my favourite—’

Sebastien stilled, his powerful frame suddenly rigid with tension, stunning dark eyes suddenly icy-cold. ‘Who is Jannis?’

Alesia stared at him in surprise, wondering why he suddenly sounded so angry. ‘Jannis is your chef.’

The tension left him. ‘Of course.’

‘He’s been teaching me to cook Greek dishes,’ Alesia told him, wondering what was the matter with him. ‘I enjoy it.’

She just loved cooking and it was wonderful not to have to think about the cost of the ingredients.

Dark eyes swept over her. ‘How else have you been spending your time in my absence?’

She shrugged. ‘I explored Athens.’

‘And?’ His gaze was quizzical. ‘Did you enjoy the experience?’

She smiled. ‘It’s an amazing city. Fascinating.’

He took a deep breath. ‘How is it that you have never visited Athens before? Your grandfather has a home very near to mine. Surely you have visited him there?’

Alesia froze. ‘I—no,’ she said finally. ‘I only ever saw him at his home on Corfu.’

Just the once.

Her heart started to beat faster. Would he think that was suspicious? Would he question her further?

‘What about you?’ Taking the initiative, she started to question him. ‘I know you have several different homes.’

He gave a smile. ‘Several different houses, agape mou, but only one home. This one.’ He was silent for a moment, staring out across the lit terrace towards the sea. ‘Home should be somewhere that you can be yourself. Somewhere private, a place where you don’t have to answer to other people.’

‘But you’re rich,’ she blurted out impulsively. ‘You don’t have to answer to anyone—’

He topped up her glass, a gleam of amusement in his eyes as he looked at her. ‘I run an extremely complex, billion-dollar corporation,’ he drawled, ‘and on most days it feels as though I answer to the world. Decisions that I make have an effect on other people’s employment—on their lives.’

And did that really matter to him? Did he really care? Alesia stared at him. ‘My grandfather just made lots of people redundant—’

His mouth tightened and the amusement in his eyes faded, to be replaced by a steely expression. ‘And those people had families and responsibilities of their own. Redundancy is a reflection of poor business planning. If you look into the future you can anticipate market changes and respond in time. Redeploy people if necessary, offer training. My company has never been forced to make redundancies.’

‘And yet you have a reputation every bit as ruthless as my grandfather,’ she replied unthinkingly and to her surprise he laughed.

‘Well, I’m certainly no soft touch, agape mou,’ he drawled lightly. ‘I reward people well and in return I expect them to work hard. It’s a fairly simple formula.’

And yet the financial pages of all the newspapers described him as a business genius. Alesia recalled the things she’d read about him following that first meeting with her grandfather.

‘I read that when you left university you didn’t join your father’s business,’ she said and he gave a shrug.

‘It is never comfortable stepping into someone else’s shoes. I was hotheaded. I wanted to prove myself on my own ground.’

‘So you started your own business?’

‘My father’s business is very traditional,’ he explained, leaning forward and filling her plate. ‘I wanted to test other areas so I developed computer software with a friend from university and then we sold it to companies. In our first year we turned over fifty million dollars. We developed the company for several years and then sold it and by then I was ready to join my father. And that’s enough about me. I want to hear about you. I have heard about English boarding schools.’

Alesia smiled and helped herself to more food. ‘Actually, I loved it.’ It was the only home she’d ever known.

He frowned sharply. ‘It is true that you went there from the age of seven?’

‘That’s right.’