The Greek Millionaire's Marriage (15 page)

‘I was lonely,' she explained, her face earnest. ‘All I did was explore the country and shop. I seemed to
have no purpose in life except to be your wife. Wonderful though that was, it wasn't enough.'

His arm crept around her. ‘I'm sorry. I thought you'd love a life of luxury—'

‘Not if you weren't there to enjoy it with me,' she sighed. ‘I need to keep my mind active. And I was fed the most awful stories by your mother about what you might be doing. I know you've always denied her part in my misery, but she fed my suspicions. Perhaps that was because she truly believed you to be Athena's lover. I think she might have been preparing me for the truth, so I wasn't hurt as she'd been hurt by your father's suspected infidelity.'

‘I'm sorry. To me, Mother seemed so pleasant to you that I couldn't imagine she was being two-faced and making you unhappy. But you must believe me when I say there were no other loves in my life. I slept and ate and dreamt of you. I haven't stopped loving you, not even in those years I wished hell on earth for you. And when I saw you again…I couldn't breathe for the hunger that filled my bitter heart. I wanted to throw that lawyer of yours into the sea, just because he'd spent time with you and on the offchance that he might have…might have…'

‘I've had no other lover but you,' she said softly, touching his beloved face. ‘I had some dire dinners in the attempt to start my life without you!' She giggled. ‘No man matches up. They didn't even come close. I have loved you despite trying to forget you. I always will. But…you…' She bit her lip. ‘What about you? You mentioned women…'

‘Yes. I went out with other women,' he said, his cheek soft against hers. ‘I made love to three of them. A one-off, each time. Such a mistake. A disaster. You
were always there, luring me with your wicked eyes, sighing the way you do…' His arm tightened around her waist. ‘I suppose it kept Eleni at bay for a while,' he said ruefully. ‘I told her how I felt about you. That I was obsessed, addicted—'

‘But you didn't say you loved me?' she murmured, lights glinting in her eyes.

‘I couldn't admit it to myself, let alone her. I knew you were out of my reach and I had to resign myself to that. Acknowledging my love for you would have torn me apart. I was devastated when you left. An absolute bear. Eleni thought she'd slip into your shoes but I didn't want anyone there. Only you.'

Contented now, she leaned her head into his shoulder. ‘She kept trying because she didn't know how you really felt,' she mused.

‘Yet she was aware that I'd raged and rampaged about the house when you left.'

‘Perhaps she thought your pride was hurt,' Olivia said wryly.

He smiled. ‘Perhaps. But…why did you run away? If you'd confronted me, I could have explained—'

‘I barely knew what I was doing,' she confessed. ‘I hurt so much. Imagine what I'd seen, Dimitri! Imagine the corrosive half-truths your mother poured into my ear! I'd long been unhappy, lonely, unsure of your love and seeing you with Athena just confirmed my worst fears.'

‘I was a fool. I left you alone too much. I know that now,' he said quietly. ‘I was trying to continue working as I had before I was married. I thought you must be blissfully happy, enjoying your life of leisure.'

‘I felt I wasn't part of your life any more.' Her face was sober as she remembered how isolated she'd felt.
‘That day when I saw you with Athena, my instincts were to go back to people I knew and loved. My friends. I needed to think—and I couldn't in that oppressive, intense atmosphere. You were in Tokyo, your mother was keen to see the back of me so you could find yourself a Greek wife. And…' She hesitated. ‘To be honest, I thought that you'd lie your way out of the situation and I'd be so desperate to believe you that I'd be tempted to pretend you didn't have a mistress and a child. I'm so weak where you're concerned. I didn't dare risk being coaxed by you into accepting your infidelity and turning a blind eye to it.'

‘I would have persuaded you,' he pointed out sadly. ‘Because I would have shown you the photos of Athena and Theo and there would have been no doubts left in your mind.'

‘I know.' She hung her head. ‘Sometimes I'm not rational where you're concerned.'

He gave her waist an understanding squeeze. ‘I know. I lose all sense of rationality too.'

‘Where…?' She swallowed. Could they begin again or had their chances been soured? ‘Where does this leave us, Dimitri?'

‘Do you trust me now?' he asked. She nodded. ‘I am totally committed to you and always have been. I regret my prolonged business trips without you. This time we've spent together has shown me how much I need you, that you must come with me—or I must learn to delegate more.'

‘Does that mean…?' she breathed, not daring to say more.

Gently he turned her to face him. ‘I love you and you love me. I want us to spend the rest of our lives together. But we must never again be silent about our
doubts or worries. Not that there will be any in the future, will there?'

Her smile lit her face with a joy that took his breath away. So he kissed her warm, inviting mouth and forgot everything else.

Some time later they broke away. ‘Eleni,' she said anxiously, remembering.

‘She will find someone else. Her head was filled with me, but there are many young men longing to love her,' he assured her. ‘We'll be kind to her. Give her a party and invite some hunks to adore her.'

‘And your mother?'

He touched her soft, concerned mouth. ‘She's happy with Nikos. If I'm happy then she'll be content. I think that she will be the mother I remember as a child,' he said contentedly. ‘Love will bring out the best in her, you'll see. And we must make sure you're not neglected. You need a project of some kind, something worthwhile—'

‘I thought,' she whispered, running her hand inside his shirt, ‘motherhood might occupy me thoroughly.'

‘Oh, my darling,' he murmured, passionately kissing her. ‘Let's have a selfish year to ourselves first. Come with me wherever I go. Be my social secretary. Charm and dazzle my clients. And then,' he said, carefully unzipping her dress, ‘we will start our family. For now,' he breathed, kissing her throat, ‘we'll just practise our technique.'

She smiled her Venus smile, stood up and slithered out of her dress. Dimitri groaned and held her close. Lovingly she stroked his dark head. Children, she thought happily. Dark-haired, dark-eyed and beautiful.

‘Love me,' she whispered, overwhelmed by the joy in her heart. ‘Just love me for the rest of our lives, as I will love you, Dimitri.'

‘E
VERYONE
on the beach must think we're mad!' laughed Olivia, scarlet in the face from exertion.

‘Be quiet, woman, and
hop!
' muttered Dimitri, his eye fixed on the finishing line.

But she was giggling too much. Hampered by the tie wrapped around their ankles as they stumbled across the sand, she finally overbalanced and brought Dimitri crashing down with her.

‘Ha!' exclaimed a triumphant Lukas, hopping by and thrilled to be on course to win the three-legged race with his sister, Helen. ‘We're the best! Hurray!'

Dimitri laughed and pretended to grab his son's foot, but Lukas was too agile and triumphantly went on to breast the tape held by his proud grandmother, Marina, and his step-grandfather, Nikos.

‘The winners!' cried Marina, holding up her grand-children's hands in delight.

Olivia and Dimitri, still chuckling, staggered to their feet. ‘And what happened to Eleni?' asked Olivia, looking back.

‘Huh. Smooching with Vangelis. And they're married! Yuk!' said Lukas, with all the scorn of a ten-year-old who knew that winning a race on your birthday was far more important than kissing.

‘You'll think differently in five years' time,' admonished Athena, hobbling up, still tied to Theo, who was now taller than his mother.

‘Never!' Lukas declared.

Dimitri's eyes warmed as he put a loving hand on his son's shoulder. ‘Never say never. All is possible. Love will hit you with the speed of a bullet one day, if you're anything like me.' He looked lovingly at Olivia, her arm around their golden-haired daughter. ‘And you'll live in a glorious haze from that moment on.'

‘Hmph. It's the sack race next,' declared Lukas, dismissing such rubbish out of hand.

‘And then pass the orange,' announced Helen happily. ‘I'm organising the teams.'

Dimitri perked up, knowing this involved holding the fruit under your chin and trying to pass it to the person next in line. A lot of close contact was necessary, and he had every intention of standing beside Olivia to make the most of the intimacy. He smiled to himself. All these years and he still thrilled to be near her, still found excuses to touch her. Loved her more than ever.

‘Men and boys against women and me,' Helen insisted.

Olivia laughed at Dimitri's crestfallen face. She knew what he'd been thinking. ‘Save it for later,' she murmured.

His eyes kindled. ‘To hell with later. Share a sack with me?'

‘Rogue! We'd stand no chance of winning!'

‘Who cares about winning?' He swept her into his arms, not caring that his son groaned in despair. ‘I love you,' he said, brushing the strands of wind-blown hair from her face.

‘And I love you,' Olivia whispered, her eyes adoring, their surroundings forgotten. He held her closer.

‘Sack race, Mother!' Lukas was tapping her on her
arm, his face so imperious and like Dimitri's that she had to stifle a smile.

‘Are you enjoying your birthday, darling?' she asked, obediently hauling the sack to her waist.

Affectionate as always, he impulsively kissed her and then his father. ‘It's great. Quite mad, of course, but that's English parties for you. The cake's
huge
. I'm so lucky to have you and Gran and Nikos, and Eleni and Vangelis, and Athena and Theo.'

Olivia hugged her son and Helen, a burgeoning long-legged beauty even at the age of eight. ‘We're the lucky ones, your father and me,' she said softly. ‘We were given a second chance and this lovely family is the result.'

Dimitri kissed her. ‘Not luck. We were driven by love.'

‘Yes.' She smiled up at him.

‘They're in that haze again,' sighed Lukas extravagantly. ‘I think we'd better start without them, Helen, don't you?'

‘Definitely,' agreed Helen. But her gentle blue eyes met her mother's and the two of them smiled warmly, acknowledging their belief in the joy of true love.