Husband By Request

“Because Andreas is blind when it comes to Olympia. She’s always known how to play the victim. Throughout their lives she used Maris to get to him.”

“In what way?”

“She’d make remarks about how lucky Maris was to have a father and brother who always looked out for her. Olympia knew exactly what she was doing. She conned Andreas, and she conned Theo until he proposed. But as soon as she didn’t want him anymore she knew how to get rid of him.”

The picture Paul was painting made a horrible kind of sense, but it struck new fear in Dominique’s heart.

“Can you think of a better way for it to end than the way it did in that trial?” Paul asked. “Especially when Andreas felt sorry for her because of the rape. She knew that if Theo abandoned her Andreas would always take care of her.”

“I’m afraid he always will.” Dominique’s voice trembled.

“Olympia planted those seeds early on and they took root. Andreas would have to be presented with proof that she lied to him about the rape in order for the blinders to come off.”

“That would be next to impossible, Paul,” she half sobbed. “My husband’s the kind of man who believes in a person’s innocence until they’re proven guilty. I don’t want to believe all these horrible things about Olympia, but when I was talking to Theo he denied having said certain things about me. He called her a liar.”

“That comes as no surprise. I really feel sorry for him. But you know what frightened me most?”

She blinked back her tears. “What?”

“The first time I met you, I was afraid she would make mincemeat of you. I’ve never seen a man fall as hard for a woman as Andreas did for you. He was never the same again and Olympia knew it. She despised you for it. I knew in my gut there was going to be trouble. Andreas couldn’t see it. He was too happy, too in love. But in his way, he’d abandoned Olympia.”

“In her eyes, I’m sure you’re right. But of course he couldn’t have known what he’d done. He’s told me repeatedly she doesn’t mean anything more to him than a close friend of his sister.”

Paul nodded. “He assumed she was happy in her marriage to Theo. He didn’t realize how devastated she was when he got married. He still didn’t figure it out when Olympia managed to get you to invite her and Theo on the yacht for those little weekend get-togethers. You were on your honeymoon, yet she played on your goodness, Dominique. She knew you would do anything for Andreas. You were all puppets dancing on her strings.”

She took a fortifying breath. “Not anymore we’re not. Forewarned is forearmed.”

Paul reached out to squeeze her hand. “I’m glad. You’re the best thing that ever happened to Andreas. You’ll never know my surprise and delight when you told me you were going to fly back to Greece with me. I had a feeling in my gut your intention was to try to save your marriage.”

“I love him so much.”

He smiled. “That’s obvious.”

“Thank you for being my friend. Andreas loves you without question. Now I know why. With you on my side, I won’t let Olympia win.”

“Are you going to confront her?”

She eyed him narrowly. “Not unless she forces me. One thing is certain: there won’t be any more secrets.”

“Are you going to tell Andreas we met for lunch?”

“Of course. In fact I was hoping to ride back to the office with you and surprise him.”

He looked relieved. “Then let’s go.” He started to pay the bill, but she threw down the money. “Nope—this is my treat.”

Paul helped her up from the table. “I know the boss. He’s going to love it when you pop in. You’ve never done anything like that before.”

“There are so many things I never did before. I don’t know how our marriage lasted four months.”

“Yes, you do,” he murmured. “You and Andreas have the real thing going for you.”

Paul was a sweetheart.

He rang for a taxi. Before long they reached the building and rode the elevator to the top floor.

Like a girl anticipating her first date, she felt her heart skittering all over the place as she followed him past a pool of secretaries to the door of Andreas’s private suite. The rooms were very light and contemporary. He loved the sun.

When the two of them walked in, he was standing at the window talking on the phone. Paul gave a knuckle rap, causing Andreas to look around.