Husband By Request

“I’ll never stop worrying about you, Dominique, but Dr Josephson made me realize a life lived in fear is no life at all.”

She pulled away from him enough so she could look at him. “I’m so glad you said that. Maybe you don’t remember, but I’ve never forgotten what you told me at the altar.”

His eyes wandered over her upturned features. “We’re going to live all the years God gives us, and rejoice.”

“Yes—” she blurted. “You don’t know how much I wanted to take those words to heart, but my fears got in the way. That seems such a long time ago. I can hardly relate to the person who ran away at your trial. You have to forgive me for not believing in you, Andreas.”

Suddenly lines marred his attractive face. He grasped her hand in a tight grip.

“If you couldn’t trust me, it was my fault,” he bit out. “I take full responsibility for what happened in those days leading up to the trial. Come on. Let’s go in the other room. There’s something I have to tell you that can’t wait any longer.”

Dominique held her breath all the way to the living room.

“This is going to take some time.” He urged her to sit down while he remained standing. Whatever was on his mind caused him to pace. This was one time she had to be patient.

“During the time leading up to the trial Olympia swore me to secrecy about something vital. Because it was the pivotal reason Theo brought the adultery case against us, I couldn’t tell you everything. No doubt you picked up on it and jumped to the wrong conclusion. I realize now it was a mistake to keep anything from you, so I’m going to break my promise to her and tell you everything. I can’t go on letting you assume the blame for the breakdown in our marriage. If I’d been honest with you I have no doubt you would have stuck by me.”

Finally Dominique was going to get the answers to some questions that had been crucifying her over the last year. “I guess what I don’t understand is how she could expect you to keep a secret from your own wife.”

He came to a halt and stared down at her with tortured eyes. “Believe me, I didn’t like it. But at the time her reasons made sense to me.”

“I see.”

She swallowed hard. Olympia’s reasons always made sense, but when you took a step back and analyzed them, they were always self-serving for her.

“Our friendship goes back a long way.”

“Oh, I know that,” she assured him with a little groan. “I saw evidence of it in the videos. It was clear as glass she was infatuated with you from the time she was a girl. It’s also obvious she’ll be in love with you forever. I never saw anything like it.”

Her heart was pounding too fast to be good for her.

“Andreas? Were you truly oblivious to her infatuation with you? Or did you realize it and just ignore it, hoping it would go away?”

He rubbed the back of his neck in frustration. “I simply assumed she had a teenage crush that she would eventually outgrow when she started dating other men.”

“Did she ever date?”

“Of course.”

“Do you recall if she continued to date after Maris was killed?”

“I don’t know. I was too grief-stricken to notice much of anything during that period. When Theo fell for her, I was glad. He comes from a good Greek family and is a success in business. Her aunt approved of him. My parents thought he was the perfect person because he was a little older and could handle her strong-willed personality.

“Their marriage seemed to start out on a solid footing. But occasionally Olympia would hint that it was far from perfect. As more revelations unfolded, I grew alarmed. However, I didn’t realize how controlling and abusive he could be until after you and I returned to Athens from our honeymoon. Right away I started receiving calls from her. She was afraid of him.

“Usually she phoned me after my work day was over. She was always in tears. I knew she couldn’t talk to her aunt about Theo because Mrs. Costas thought he could do no wrong.”

“So being the good family friend you are, she chose to confide in you about her marriage?”

“Yes,” he muttered grimly.

“That’s the reason you started coming home late from the office?”

His hands formed fists at his side. “When I could see a pattern developing, I knew things had to change. I made arrangements for her to see a domestic violence attorney. She didn’t dare ask Theo for the money, so I told her I’d pay for it.”

“Then you really were convinced he was the one in the wrong?”

“It’s not that cut and dried, Dominique. You’ll understand why in a minute.”