Lauranne sat silent, finding it harder and harder to play the game he wanted her to play. Anger rising inside her, she gave up the pretence of eating and lowered her fork to her plate.
‘Zander wasn’t ready to commit to anyone then.’ She looked at Zander but his expression was veiled by thick dark lashes as he lounged in his chair, watching her. She shifted her gaze to Marina, a spark of challenge in her eyes. ‘He was still enjoying the concept of variety.’
She saw Marina’s colour deepen in anger and braced herself for confrontation, reminding herself firmly that she wasn’t an employee any more. This woman couldn’t do anything to her.
But even so her palms were damp and her heart was beating so rapidly that she felt faint.
‘Zander has always played the field,’ Kouropoulos said dryly, ‘but let’s hope that now that you’re back together again, that will all end.’
Hardly, Lauranne thought to herself, with Marina within such easy reach.
‘So how did you two rediscover each other?’ Kouropoulos didn’t so much as glance in Marina’s direction but Zander did and his expression was suddenly thoughtful.
‘Lauranne and I have been in touch for some months,’ he drawled casually, ‘but we only came together properly a few weeks ago.’
‘That’s very romantic.’
‘And quite a lengthy relationship for Zander,’ Marina interjected cattily. ‘It’s almost time you moved on again, don’t you think?’
Something gleamed in his eyes and he reached across the table to take Lauranne’s hands in his. ‘I won’t be moving on.’
As an actor he was thoroughly convincing, Lauranne brooded, resisting the temptation to snatch her hand away and slap him hard.
There’d be time for that later when they were in private.
In the meantime she didn’t want to give Marina the satisfaction of knowing that she’d succeeded in stimulating tension between them.
So she just stared at him, hurt and accusation brimming in her blue eyes. It was no good him pretending to be her lover, she thought, when his real lover was seated next to him.
Suddenly she couldn’t stand it any longer. Co
uldn’t stand the pretence. Where in their deal had it said that he was allowed to flaunt other relationships? She rose to her feet and cast an apologetic glance towards Theo Kouropoulos. ‘I’m so sorry to be rude, but I’m really tired. Would you mind if I had an early night?’
‘Of course not. You do look a little pale.’ He rose to his feet too and gestured to Zander. ‘You must go with her. We’ll see you tomorrow at ten.’
‘Why don’t you drop her back at the villa and then join us for another drink on the terrace?’ Marina said smoothly, stepping round the table and placing a possessive hand on Zander’s arm. ‘It’s far too early to be going to bed.’
‘Well, that depends…’ Kouropoulos laughed, exchanging looks of male understanding with Zander. ‘My guess is that we won’t be seeing these two until tomorrow’s meeting.’
Marina’s mouth tightened angrily but then she relaxed and forced a smile. ‘In that case I’ll see you at the meeting too. Theo has asked me to join in the negotiations.’
Lauranne glanced at Zander to gauge his reaction but as usual his face was expressionless.
They exchanged goodnights and Lauranne took the path that led back to their villa, Zander close by her side.
Careful not to let even one part of her body brush against him, she stalked down the prettily lit path, her high heels tapping rhythmically as she tried to walk off her anger.
The moment they stepped inside the villa she slammed the door shut and let all the pain and the humiliation pour forth.
‘How dare you? How dare you bring me here knowing that that woman, your—your—how could you?’ She broke off with a choked sob, hating herself for being so out of control but too utterly miserable to be anything else.
Zander stood frozen to the spot, clearly stunned by her attack. ‘I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about,’ he said coldly. ‘But I do know that if you carry on behaving the way you behaved tonight then you’re going to blow the deal.’
‘I don’t care about your stupid, rotten deal,’ she lied, tears spilling onto her cheeks. ‘I only care that you brought me here knowing that that woman would be here too—’
Zander swore fluently in Greek and sucked in a breath. ‘Firstly I did not know that Marina was going to be here, and secondly I don’t understand your problem. I can understand that it may feel a little awkward that you once worked for her, but it was a long time ago—’
‘And that’s supposed to make it OK?’ She was so angry that her whole body was shaking. ‘Well, let me tell you something, Zander, there is never a good time to introduce your wife to your mistress! And awkward is certainly not the word I’d choose to use to describe this situation.’