Husband By Request

“You can’t play with people’s lives like that and hope to get away with it forever. When you started to tangle with Dominique, you really got yourself into trouble. I’d say there’s a lot wrong with you for purposely and vindictively trying to undermine her confidence. How would you have liked to be twenty-two years old when you heard a diagnosis like hers? How would you have liked being told you needed a mastectomy immediately or you would die?

“Have you ever tried to imagine how she feels when she wakes up every day, wondering if her cancer has come back? Every month she has to take a test, never knowing if it’ll turn up positive. Her bravery is something you don’t know anything about.”

He got to his feet and reached for a nearby towel to wipe himself off. “With professional help you might just be able to approach Theo again and start trying to work things out. No matter what you say, there was a spark there, or Ari wouldn’t have been born. He’s a wonderful boy. Straighten yourself out before it’s too late. You think you’re in pain now, but if Ari grows up estranged from you you’ll never recover from the pain.”

Andreas turned to leave.

“No—please—I love you. You can’t go!” She threw herself at him and clung to him. “What will Ari do without you? You’re the only man he knows and loves.”

“Children are resilient. He’ll grow to love someone else. But if you truly love your son you’ll do the right thing and get help, so he can at least be united with Theo.”

Andreas had to use force to physically remove her before he could leave her apartment. The second he pulled the door closed he heard something crash against it, then came her sobs.

He headed for the limo waiting out in front of the apartment. His pilot was standing by at the airport. Andreas couldn’t get back to Zakynthos and his wife fast enough.

It was after midnight when he raced through the villa to their bedroom. She wasn’t there.

“Dominique?”

When there was no answer, he ran out to the pool.

“Dominique?”

There was no sign of her. At the thought of her leaving him again, he broke out in a cold sweat.

“Dominique!”

“Kyrie Stamatakis?” He jerked around to discover Eleni, running toward him in her bathrobe. “After lunch she took the estate car and said she was going for a drive. I haven’t seen her since.”

His heart almost failed him.

With eighty plus miles of coastline, she could be anywhere. She might even have decided to take a commercial chopper back to Athens. He knew she hadn’t called his own pilot or he would have been told.

He pulled out his cellphone and called hers. It rang and rang. He left a message, begging her to call him back immediately.

“I’m going to look for her in my car. If by any chance she should call the house or come home, tell her to stay put!”

“I will.”

As he drove out onto the main road from the estate, he made a decision to cross over to the eastern side of the island. She’d probably gone to one of the small resort towns along the coast and decided to spend the night at a local hotel.

He passed through Alikanas and Tsilivi, looking for signs of the car in front of every tourist accommodation. When nothing turned up he assumed she’d driven all the way to the town of Zakynthos.

It was a large, bustling place that didn’t have the charm it had once had before an earthquake destroyed part of it. But it would be a good place to shop, if that had been her plan.

Or to take a public chopper back to Athens.

After learning from the man in charge of the heliport that she hadn’t been a passenger, he breathed more easily and began searching the parking areas of the most reputable hotels—with no success.

After a while he realized it was a lost cause. The only thing to do was make a full circle of the island and then go back to the villa and wait for her to call, or for her to show up in the morning.

Andreas groaned, because it was an exceptionally beautiful night. He ached for his wife. Tonight he had vital news for her.

As the car ate up the miles, he marveled at the full moon bathing the water in light. He was reminded of nights years ago, when he and Paul used to hang out at Laganas, the next town coming up on his left.

Its beach was one of the world’s main nesting grounds for endangered Loggerhead sea turtles. The sight brought thousands of tourists to the island, though he, like other environmentalists, hated the influx.

At certain times of the year the turtles climbed onto the beach at night to lay their eggs a foot deep in the sand. Later, when they hatched, the fledglings needed to find their way to the water. The moon lit up the waves to help direct them toward it.