The Demetrios Virgin

‘In secret?’ He looked more bored now than amorous, his eyebrows drawing together as he frowned impatiently down at her. He was a good deal taller than her, well over six foot, and it hurt her neck a little, craning to look up at him. She wished he wouldn’t walk so close to her; it made her feel uncomfortable and on edge and somehow aware of herself as a woman in a way that wasn’t familiar to her.

‘Haven’t I already made it plain to you that the whole object of this exercise is to bring our relationship into the public domain? Which is why—’ He smiled grimly at Saskia as he broke off from what he was saying to tell her silkily, ‘I’ve booked a table at the wine bar for lunch. I ate there last night and I have to say that the food was excellent—even if what happened later was less...palatable...’

Suddenly Saskia had had enough.

‘Look, I keep trying to tell you, last night was a mistake. I...’

‘I completely agree with you,’ Andreas assured her. ‘It was a mistake...your mistake...and whilst we’re on the subject, let me warn you, Saskia, if you ever manifest anything similar whilst you are engaged to me, if you ever even look at another man...’ He stopped as he saw the shock widening her eyes.

‘I’m half-Greek, my dear,’ he reminded her softly. ‘And when it comes to my woman, I’m more Greek than I am British...very much more...’

‘I’m not your woman,’ was the only response Saskia found she could make.

‘No,’ he agreed cynically. ‘You belong to any man who can afford you, don’t you, in reality? But...’ He stopped again as he heard the sharp sound of protest she made, her face white and then red as her emotions overwhelmed her self-control.

‘You have no right to speak to me like that,’ Saskia told him thickly.

‘No right? But surely as your fiancée I have every right,’ Andreas taunted her, and then, before she could stop him, he reached out and ran one long finger beneath her lower eyelashes, collecting on it the angry humiliated tears that had just fallen. ‘Tears?’ he mocked her. ‘My dear, you are an even better actress then I thought.’

They had reached the wine bar and Saskia was forced to struggle to control her emotions as he opened the door and drew her inside.

‘I don’t want anything to eat. I’m not hungry,’ she told him flatly once they had been shown to their table.

‘Sulking?’ he asked her succinctly. ‘I can’t force you to eat, but I certainly don’t intend to deny myself the pleasure of enjoying a good meal.’

‘There are things we have to discuss,’ he added in a cool, businesslike voice as he picked up the menu she had ignored and read it. ‘I know most of your personal details from your file, but if we are to convince my family and especially my grandfather that we are lovers, then there are other things I shall need to know...and things you will need to know about me.’

Lovers... Saskia just managed to stop herself from shuddering openly. If she had to accede to his blackmail then she was going to have to learn to play the game by his rules or risk being totally destroyed by him.

‘Lovers.’ She gave him a bleak smile. ‘I thought Greek families didn’t approve of sex before marriage.’

‘Not for their own daughters,’ he agreed blandly. ‘But since you are not Greek, and since I am half-British I am sure that my grandfather will be more...tolerant...’

‘But he wouldn’t be tolerant if you were engaged to your cousin?’ Saskia pressed, not sure why she was doing so and even less sure just why the thought of his cousin should arouse such a sensation of pain and hostility within her.

‘Athena, my cousin, is a widow, a previously married woman, and naturally my grandfather...’ He paused and then told her dryly, ‘Besides, Athena herself would never accept my grandfather’s interference in any aspect of her life. She is a very formidable woman.’

‘She’s a widow?’ For some reason Saskia had assumed that this cousin was a young girl. It had never occurred to her that she might already have been married.

‘A widow,’ Andreas confirmed. ‘With two teenage children.’