The Greek Tycoon's Wife (15 page)

Was he for real? ‘My, isn't that big of you?' she drawled.

Nikos felt his control slip. ‘Perhaps we should discuss this later when you are able to speak rationally,' he gritted.

‘I want to talk now and there isn't going to be any later for you and I, not without a lawyer present anyhow. Let me get this straight—are you asking me to be your mistress?'

‘You are my wife.'

Katie laughed. ‘Not for very much longer. Sleep with you! I can't bear to be in the same room as you!' she told him in a throbbing voice.

His dark eyes snapped. ‘If I go now it will be for good,' he warned her.

‘At last,' she sighed. ‘Light at the end of the tunnel.'

‘You will miss me every day for the rest of your life, Katerina!' Nikos predicted as he turned on his heel and left.

Katie heard the door slam. The awful part was he was probably right; she was a one-man woman, it was just her luck that that man happened to be an untrustworthy bastard!

‘T
HERE'S
someone asking to see you, Katie,' Georgina hissed as she poked her head around the door. ‘And she looks like
pure money
,' she added.

‘Does this money have a name?' Katie asked, trying to inject a note of animation into her flat voice.

Despite the black cloud of despondency that had positioned itself above her head, she really did make a determined effort to appear her normal cheerful self at work. Nobody liked to be around a misery guts.

‘It's CJ Malone,' the older woman twittered excitedly. ‘You know, the fashion designer.'

‘I know,' said Katie, thinking of the blue dress.

‘Actually it's Caitlin Lakis; Malone was my maiden name.' The tall figure who strode calmly into the room approached Katie's desk, hand confidently outstretched.

Katie got to her feet, all the colour leeching from her face. ‘Kyria Lakis.' She used the title even though she knew, because the relevant papers that would free Nikos to marry were at that very moment in her bag, this couldn't be strictly accurate.

As the woman who was trying the name on for size—you couldn't miss, it fitted her like a glove—seemed to be studying her with frank, but not unfriendly curiosity, Katie thought it legitimate to return that scrutiny.

What she discovered did nothing to lessen her misery, which had taken the physical form of a tight knot lodged permanently behind her breast bone.

There were no flaws to discover—one little flaw would have been nice, Katie thought wistfully. She'd automatically assumed that Nikos's suitable bride would be Greek,
so it was slightly shocking to be confronted by a tall, confident redhead with green eyes and a soft Irish accent. Maybe this woman had been beautiful in her twenties; now she looked in her—what…mid-thirties?—the word seemed too insipid to describe her, she was simply stunning!

An intrigued expression flickered across Caitlin's face at the form of address used by the younger woman but she didn't comment.

‘Sit down, my dear, you look pale…' she advised, widening her inspection to include the small cramped office before turning to the elderly woman who had announced her. ‘Perhaps a cup of tea?'

Katie felt suddenly extremely sick.

‘I don't want tea,' she replied, judging it time to reestablish who was actually in charge here.

‘No, neither do I,' her visitor revealed. ‘But I wanted to be private.' Without being asked she removed a pile of papers from a desk and sat down. ‘Do you mind if I'm frank? It would save time.'

‘Nikos told you about me, then?'

‘That he married you.' Caitlin gave an irritated click of her tongue. ‘Eventually. Seven years and he didn't say a word, when he told me…' she shook her head ‘…I can't tell you what a shock it was.'

‘I can imagine.' This might very well be the strangest conversation she would ever have in her life.

‘And of course with the timing I knew straight off that he did it for me. If I'd known I'd have never taken the money, of course, but, well, what's done is done.'

‘I don't understand. What has Nikos marrying me got to do with you? He married me for money.'

‘Money
I
needed.' Caitlin sighed. ‘My business was in trouble, I'd foolishly over-extended myself. My marriage was going through a rocky period.'

‘You were married?'

‘I still am.'

‘Does Nikos know?'

Caitlin frowned. ‘Look, who do you think I am?'

‘The woman Nikos is going to marry.'

A look of understanding swept over Caitlin's face. ‘My dear girl,' she laughed. ‘I'm Nik's stepmother.'

Katie flushed to the roots of her hair. ‘I feel such a fool.'

‘Don't be, I'm flattered.' The older woman grinned. ‘I went to Nik when I didn't know what else to do. If I'd been declared bankrupt Spyros would never have forgiven me for disgracing the family, and if I'd asked him to bail me out he would have believed what he half believed already—that I'd married him for his money. The result would have been much the same either way—our marriage would have been over.

‘Nikos agreed to act for me, he could not go through the normal channels because Spyros would have heard about it. I asked my old friend Harvey to help us and he came up with you, though I swear I didn't know it.'

Katie stared. So now she knew why Nikos had married her. The past, no matter how fascinating, did not alter the present—Nikos wanted a divorce, which was no doubt why Caitlin was here to hurry things along.

‘Right, well, I'm seeing my lawyer to get my signatures witnessed in the morning. So you can tell Nikos that he won't have to wait long,' she promised.

‘Oh, heavens, no, don't do that!'

Katie looked at her blankly. ‘Pardon me?'

The redhead's beautiful face creased in consternation. ‘My dear girl,' she began earnestly. ‘That's what I'm here to ask you—please don't give Nik a divorce…well, not yet, anyhow.'

The bizarre request made Katie think she must have misheard. ‘I don't understand.'

The older woman sighed and tugged the silk scarf from around her neck. ‘I'm not surprised,' she mused, allowing the fine material to slip through her long fingers. ‘It must
seem a very strange request to you, and it's probably desperately inconvenient. Nik tells me you have marriage plans of your own?'

Katie flushed. ‘I don't,' she said flatly.

‘But Nikos said he'd made it right with your boyfriend?' She shrugged. ‘Whatever that might involve?'

‘It didn't make it right for me.'

Explaining to Tom that she didn't want to marry him even if he did forgive her had been one of the hardest things she'd ever had to do. She supposed she ought to be grateful to Nikos. He'd been right about one thing: she didn't love Tom—at least, not in the way that would make a good marriage, and Tom himself was in love with a Katie that didn't exist. Marrying Tom would mean trying to be that girl and Katie knew she couldn't do that.

‘Is that so?'

‘Listen…
kyria
—'

‘Caitlin, please call me Caitlin.'

‘Listen, I don't want to be rude…but I don't understand why you want to delay the divorce.'

‘If you sign Nikos will marry that wretched girl, Livia…there's nothing surer.' In her agitation Caitlin's soft brogue deepened. ‘And I'd
never
forgive myself,' she declared, ‘if I let him do that without making any push to stop him. She'd be the ruination of the boy and I'm terribly fond of him.'

Katie had gathered that much.

‘What I need,' she mused, ‘is time to come up with a plan and you could give me that time. I don't suppose you've got any ideas?'

Katie, who had been listening with growing fascination, shook her head vigorously. There was no way she was going to get involved in Caitlin Lakis's machinations, though she couldn't help but feel a certain degree of satisfaction that Nikos's chosen bride didn't meet with universal approval.

‘I can see what Nikos meant when he said his stepmother was still an active force in his life.'

‘Did he say that? How sweet. You know,' she said slowly with a twinkle in her eyes that had Katie been better acquainted with her would have immediately rung warning bells, ‘I've just thought of something that
might
, with a bit of jiggling, work…but it would need your assistance,' she added, looking at Katie speculatively.

‘I'm afraid that's not possible. It isn't…why are you looking at me like that?'

‘I was just thinking that you don't look like the sort of hard-hearted girl who could abandon a basically sound chap to a life of
mediocrity
with the wrong woman…?'

‘Nikos is quite old enough to make his own decisions.'
And leave others to deal with the consequences.

‘Oh, you think I'm an interfering old bag.'

Katie laughed—she had never seen anyone who looked less bag-like.

‘Oh, I probably am, but the thing is it wouldn't take much. I'm positive he's already got his doubts, but being a Lakis he's just too damned stubborn to admit it. You are fond of him, aren't you?'

This sly rider made Katie start. She gulped, unable to maintain eye contact with that candid green gaze.

‘Maybe more than fond…?'

Katie flushed and got to her feet. ‘I'm sorry, I really can't help you,' she said stiffly.

Caitlin rose too. ‘I'm sorry,' she admitted frankly. ‘But think about it, please?' With a winning smile she laid a card down on the table. ‘I'm staying here if you want to contact me.' With a smile she turned to go.

‘Has Nikos…?'

The older woman turned back.

Katie took a deep breath. ‘H-has he mentioned me at all?' she asked with what she knew was a pathetically poor attempt at indifference.

‘Hardly at all, despite my efforts.'

Katie's chin went up; she was too proud to let the other woman see how deep her words cut…
Why the shock? It's not as if you didn't already know he didn't care about you.

‘Which in itself is revealing, don't you think?'

Katie raised her downcast eyes, startled by the soft words.

Caitlin smiled back at her, a good deal of understanding in her eyes. ‘He's also been in the foulest mood imaginable,' she revealed. ‘I'm meddling, I know I am, but after all it's because of me he married you in the first place so I feel responsible.'

Katie sighed heavily. She had thought she'd achieved—what did the psychologists call it? Closure…? Yes, that would be right, closure. If nothing else, Caitlin's visit had revealed that her wounds were still very much open!

Georgina, a dazed expression on her face, re-entered the room. ‘You must have been
very
nice to her,' she said faintly. ‘She gave me this,' she explained, placing a cheque reverently down on the desk.

Katie looked at the amount written in strong, flowing hand and understood why Georgina looked as if she'd been run over by a truck. ‘Very generous.'

‘You don't think it will bounce, do you?' Georgina asked with sudden anxiety.

‘Relax, it definitely won't bounce.' Of that, but not much else, Katie was sure.

 

Katie closed her eyes; it felt as if they were dropping out of the sky. It obviously hadn't occurred to Caitlin that Katie had never flown in a helicopter before…so how she'd stare if she knew that before today she'd never flown full stop.

Nobody, she reflected ruefully, could ever have had such a luxurious introduction to air travel. First the private jet to Athens and now Spyros Lakis's personal helicopter, which
was just now hovering above the helipad of his yacht—the reason Katie had her eyes closed.

No wonder she was experiencing a sense of unreality.

It was barely forty-eight hours before that she'd rung Caitlin to say that she would go along, but only because she wanted to speak to Nikos herself.

The older woman had not asked what had brought about this change of heart, but Katie wondered if maybe she suspected the reason. There had been something distinctly knowing about her smile when Katie had refused wine with her meal on the flight over.

There was an inescapable irony in someone who had been so openly contemptuous of people who forgot to take the proper precautions, as she had, finding herself pregnant. Katie didn't think it likely that Nikos would see the joke when she told him. She felt sick again as she contemplated doing so—not telling him had never been an option for her; he deserved to know.

She had no idea how active a part, if at all, he would want to take in his child's life, but she was willing to be reasonable up to a point—that point being she wouldn't have another woman bringing up her child!

T
HE
guest list read like a who's who of the rich and famous. Politicians and media moguls rubbed shoulders with famous faces from the fashion and the entertainment industry. It seemed that when her hosts threw a
small
party on board their yacht, people didn't refuse the invitation.

Katie, introduced by Caitlin as a ‘dear family friend', mingled and smiled with the best of them and acted as though it were perfectly normal for her to find herself standing next to someone whose love life had been reported in detail in her newspaper the previous week. Similarly she avoided drawing attention to herself by goggling too obviously at original works of art, the like of which she had only previously seen in art galleries, that lined the walls.

Dressed in one of Caitlin's elegant, deceptively simple creations, her hair twisted in a simple knot on her head, she thought she blended in pretty well, but it seemed not everyone was fooled. Her puzzled eyes were drawn once more to the tall, distinguished-looking figure with a head of distinctive silver hair standing alone—he was still staring at her as he had been since she'd entered the room.

Perhaps, she reflected wryly, it was because she was the only female in the room who wasn't wearing a king's ransom in jewellery around her neck. Katie was wondering if she should confront the rude stranger when from amongst the bright chatter around her she picked out the one name—
Nikos
!

Underneath her expertly applied make-up she went desperately pale.
Pull yourself together, Katie,
she remonstrated sternly,
if you go catatonic at the sound of his name just how are you going to deal with the man in the flesh?
Always supposing Caitlin was right and he did turn up tonight.

‘At least that's what my wife says…'

Katie, who had tuned out of the conversation for a vital thirty seconds, had absolutely no idea what the laughing man beside her had been talking about, but clearly he was waiting for her response.

‘I believe frills are
huge
this year!' It was only after she'd delivered this inane observation that she recalled that she was no longer in the company of a fashion editor.

The high-ranking diplomat was too polite to come right out and say she was demented, but he did suddenly remember he needed to be somewhere else.

His hurried departure cleared a channel through the crowd of bodies to the other side of the room, revealing in the process a tall, commanding figure who looked quite unbelievably handsome in a formal dark dinner jacket and black tie. He looked exactly what he was, even down to the obligatory blonde in a low-cut dress who was laughing up at him: a rich, incredibly powerful man who was out of her league.

Despite the blonde's energetic attempts to gain his attention, Nikos's dark, arrogant gaze was locked onto Katie's face. Even at this distance she could feel the strong emotions emanating from his still figure.

Seconds later the opening closed over, concealing his face from view; his dark head was still visible above the throng. Sheer panic engulfed Katie as she desperately tried to keep track of the top of his distinctive glossy dark head as it began to weave in and out of the crowds. Someone jiggled her arm, spilling some of her drink on her dress in the process. During the few precious seconds her attention was distracted she lost him.

This had seemed a good idea—
why, exactly?

What had seemed the right thing to do when she had been in England suddenly no longer seemed such a crash-
hot idea after all. If you believed it was foolish to mess with something that wasn't broken, it therefore followed that it was equally foolish to try and fix something that was smashed to smithereens!

Oh, God!

Every instinct she possessed was telling her to run. It was only the knowledge that Caitlin had gone to a great deal of expense to engineer this scene, and of course the fact there wasn't any place for her to hide that he wouldn't track her down to, that held her back.

Caitlin has done her bit, now it's my turn.
She had planned what she'd say, practised it down to the last intonation so many times she was word perfect, but now at the vital moment her mind was a perfect blank!

Nervously she lifted her glass to her lips only to discover it was empty; the contents were now a stain on the silky silver-grey fabric of her dress.

‘Thank you, but actually I was drinking mineral water,' she began as her glass was almost instantaneously filled by an efficient waiter.

With a smile she looked up to discover it was not a waiter standing there with a bottle of champagne in his hand; the air rushed from her lungs in a silent sigh.

‘Oh!'

Unnoticed by either party, Katie's wineglass emptied itself onto the thick carpet and then slipped from her fingers.

‘Hello, Nikos.'

Nikos, never one for the polite formalities, just stared at her. Unblinkingly his densely lashed eyes moved over her face examining each minute detail with a fierce air of preoccupation. At least it gave Katie the perfect excuse to stare back. She hadn't appreciated until this moment just how hungry she'd been for the sight of him.

Everything in her came awake as she looked at him; it was as if while they'd been apart even the colours in her life had been muted. The world with him in it was a more
vibrant, exciting place. Her pulses leapt; he was so terribly, heartbreakingly beautiful, her throat ached, desire tightened her stomach muscles as her eyes ate him up.

Her chin firmed. No, she'd been right to come. She had to let him decide if he wanted to be part of the life they'd created. This way she'd know one way or the other.

Still he didn't say anything.

Unable to bear the tension another second, Katie spoke. ‘Aren't you going to ask me what I'm doing here?' she asked throatily.

Katie saw his chest lift—a signal that he'd started breathing again? His eyes burned like silver flames into hers, then he smiled. It was not a safe, cosy smile; it was a pulse-racing, dangerous version.

‘No.'

The motion was so swift and fluid, him covering the space that separated them and then taking her by the shoulders seemed one single, seamless action. His fingers dug into her flesh as they tightened against her collar-bones; Katie barely registered the pain. Standing this close she could hear the echo of his rapid heartbeat…or maybe it was her own? And feel the fine tremors that were rippling through his tense, greyhound-lean frame.

‘You're real,' she heard him breathe. ‘I thought I was dreaming again.'

He took hold of her chin between his thumb and forefinger and tilted it upwards. His fierce gaze demanded answers, but Katie wasn't attempting to hide anything! This wasn't the place she would have chosen to go public with her feelings, but she doubted she could have disguised them even if she had wanted to!

This wasn't about disguising her feelings to save face, this was about confronting Nikos with them, and if the result was humiliation at least she'd have the comfort of knowing she'd made the attempt.

They were meant to be together—every fibre of her being
told her this. She was a one-man woman and Nikos was that man. But she was also well aware that things that were meant to be didn't always happen.

Still holding her eyes with his, he took her face between his hands and sealed his mouth to hers. The raw hunger in him was overwhelming; at the instant of contact her body went limp. But at the first smooth, stabbing incursion of his tongue between her parted lips the life flowed hotly back into her limbs.

The wave of sexual energy that surged through her body blasted away all remnants of submissiveness and transformed her from a passive to a very active participant in the kiss.

A lost cry vibrated in her throat as she wrapped her arms about his neck and pressed herself sinuously up against him, revelling in the hard, virile strength of his marvellous body.

The abrupt separation when he tore his mouth from hers made Katie feel cold and empty inside. She soon heated up, however, when the significance of the silence in the room, which moments before had been filled with the hum of laughter and voices, struck her.

She wanted the floor to open up and swallow her. All those people watching…speculating, thinking God knew what… Well, actually she could hazard a pretty accurate guess what they were thinking! That was the trouble.

Nikos took one look at her burning face and muttered a low imprecation. He bent his head towards her and spoke in a voice for her ears only.

‘You look like a paralysed chicken,' he informed her cruelly. ‘Lift your head up! Show some pride. I will not permit you to cower.'

Not permit.
‘Just how exactly are you going to stop me?' she gritted. It was all right for him—he was used to having his every action scrutinised in the media and he didn't give a damn what people thought about him.

Nikos met her indignant glare with a smile of dazzling brilliance. ‘That's much better,' he approved warmly. He threw his arm about her shoulders and pulled her to his side. ‘I think we will continue this conversation somewhere a little less public.'

‘Pity you didn't think about that before you kissed me.'

‘I didn't think full stop before I kissed you,' he informed her sardonically.

 

‘This is a nice room.'

‘My father's study,' Nikos said without taking his eyes from her delicate profile.

‘Won't he mind?' she wondered, running her finger along the spine of a leather-bound volume on the bookshelf. ‘This looks old.'

‘It's a first edition,' Nikos snapped dismissively.

Katie's hand dropped away from the no-doubt priceless book. First editions, old masters on the walls—this place was like a floating museum with Jacuzzis. The disparity between their backgrounds had never been more apparent to her.

‘Where is Tom?'

Katie, her lips still tender and swollen from the unbridled passion of his kiss, the taste of him still in her mouth, turned to stare at him incredulously. Of all the things for him to say! Anger started to build inside her…it escalated quickly.

‘Why, did you fancy a threesome?'

Nikos's nostrils flared as he inhaled sharply. ‘I do not like it when you speak that way,' he told her austerely.

‘How fortunate I care so passionately about what you like and dislike,' she replied sarcastically. The simple declaration of love she had intended to make before her confession was fast becoming a distant memory. ‘I think the time to wonder if Tom was around might have been before you mauled me in front of all those people, not after!'

Nikos, his hard cheekbones ridged with dull red, hardly heard what she said; he was recalling how very much she had cared once about what he liked…in fact she had begged him to tell her…to instruct her… She had been a very apt pupil.

‘Oh, sorry, was I not supposed to mention you just mauled me?'

‘I
kissed
you and you gave every indication of liking it.' His eyes darkened. ‘Liking it very much,' he added with throaty satisfaction. ‘Tom is not here?' he persisted.

His vague tone and inability to grasp a fairly obvious fact suggested his razor-sharp wits were not working at full capacity.

Katie gave a snort of exasperation, lifted a cushion from one of the sofas and made an elaborate show of looking behind it. ‘Tom?' She dropped it and turned back, her expression scornful. ‘Nope, it looks like he's not,' she added crisply, then, in a sickly syrupy tone, ‘Is your fiancée? I'm just
dying
to meet her…'

‘Being facetious does not suit you, either,' he observed harshly. His long-lashed eyes narrowed. ‘But that dress does.' He swallowed and tore his eyes from her supple curves. ‘What
are
you doing here, Katerina?'

She widened her eyes innocently. ‘Where else should a woman be but beside her husband?'

‘I was wondering why you had not returned the divorce papers…?'

‘Oh, I'm a great believer in the personal touch,' she told him grimly. ‘Hand delivery.'

‘Do you want me to speak to Tom again?' If he wasn't exactly holding his breath, Katie got the impression her reply mattered to him. ‘I thought,' he continued when she remained silent, ‘I had made him see…'

‘See what? That your leftovers were acceptable? That a quick tumble doesn't mean anything? I'd have loved to be a fly on the wall for that tête-à-tête.'

Nikos's face darkened, he loosened his tie and pushed his clenched fists into his pockets. ‘I will speak to him again,' he announced distantly, ‘if you wish.' Again the penetrating scrutiny.

Was that what he thought she wanted to hear…?
You are such a stupid man!
Katie took a deep breath and forced herself to unclench her fists.

‘No need. Tom,' she admitted, ‘was
very
understanding. My shameless behaviour was all a reaction to the trauma of almost being killed in the fire.'

‘But you are not together?' For a man who had gone out of his way to bring that about, he sounded quite extraordinarily pleased by her solitary state. Looking a lot less tense, he slipped the buttons of his jacket.

Katie trained her eyes on a point beyond his shoulder to stop them straying to the fascinating dark shadow of body hair clearly visible through the fine fabric of his white shirt.

‘Perhaps,' she suggested bitterly, ‘I don't want to marry a man who is
understanding
when he finds me in bed with his friend? Call me strange, but I don't think it would be healthy to think about another man when my husband was making love to me.'

A white line appeared around Nikos's lips; with an attitude of seething frustration caused by the knowledge he had actually made it possible, he pushed his fingers deep into his hair.