The Greek Millionaire's Marriage (14 page)

‘…and when it dawned on me that you'd be almost certain to leave in a day or two, I…'

Oh, clever, she thought, jerking her head back to see what fake attitude he was adopting now. Contemptuously she noted the dipped head, the clearing of his throat. What an actor he would have made. If she didn't know any better, she would have been convinced of his misery.

Especially when he raised his head. Even from where she sat it was possible to see that his eyes were shining a little too brightly. Her tender heart contracted, and then she came to her senses and anger once again filled every cell in her body. Hard-eyed, she let him continue, to see how far he'd go to get what he wanted.

‘It's true, Olivia. I can't live without you!' he blurted out throatily. ‘Do what you like here. Live where you like, so long as it's not too far away. But let me see you sometimes. Let me prove to you that…' His chest rose high and fell again, and she heard the long hiss of his breath as it emptied his lungs. ‘Olivia,' he cried in ringing tones, ‘I love you more deeply than I ever imagined. I always have, always will. Let me love you. Take care of you.' He knelt on the dusty stone floor, and she stared at him, mesmerised. ‘I do love you, Olivia. With every inch of my body, every breath I take, every thought in my head. I want you to be the mother of my children—'

She jumped to her feet, unable to stand any more. And she walked back to the car. Too late, she thought unhappily. He was making his pitch at the wrong time, because it just hurt her to hear him protesting his love, to be offered the chance to bear his children.

Stumbling, she tripped and fell onto the stony track with a cry of pain as her head hit a small rock. For a moment she lay there, all the stuffing knocked out of her by Dimitri's cruel pretence. And suddenly he was with her, gently turning her over, gathering her into his arms.

‘Leave me!' she moaned, and thudded her fists weakly into his chest.

‘You're hurt,' he said in a choking whisper.

His finger lightly explored her forehead and she winced, her eyes narrowing at his devastated expression. Why would he look so miserable? It didn't make sense. Unless he was upset at being turned down.

‘Anything else damaged?' he enquired, still croaky.

Her heart. It had been smashed beyond all repair, she wanted to tell him. But he was gently rubbing at her elbows and the heels of her hands, which were white with road dust, and she had to bite her lip to stop herself from releasing a small sob of self-pity.

Because the care and concern in his expression just made her ache.

‘I want to go back,' she said in a tone as dead as her eyes. ‘I don't want to do this any more. I've reached my limit.'

‘Of course.' He swallowed and looked at her as if his world had come to an end. ‘I love you, Olivia,' he jerked hoarsely.

She turned her head away and stared coldly into the mid-distance. After a moment his hands slid away and he helped her to her feet.

‘There's a first-aid kit in the car,' he muttered.

Snatching her arm away from his supporting hand, she grimly stomped back along the track. Mentally she
left the beauties of Greece, and one Greek in particular, far behind.

When he came up to where she sat on the ground, with the first-aid kit on her lap, she pointedly ignored him and continued to dab at her forehead with the calendula cream. The silence seemed to crush her like a heavy weight. Briefly she looked up at him, to see why he was standing there, staring at her, and she stopped breathing.

His face was dead. The vitality and vibrancy had gone. His skin had a greyish tint and his eyes were no longer a gleaming black but a cold, muddy brown. The liveliness of his mobile mouth had become a pained, downturned line. And the change in him made her want to cry.

‘You drive,' he growled.

She blinked as he spun on his heel and sat in the passenger seat. Slowly she got to her feet, stunned by the extraordinary way that Dimitri's vigour had ebbed from his body. And for the life of her she couldn't understand why—unless it was because he feared that marriage to Eleni was inevitable now.

It wasn't until they drove up to the mansion that Dimitri spoke again. ‘I'll arrange a flight for you to England this evening,' he said in strangled tones. ‘My jet is in Paris. It'll have to be a commercial airline.'

‘Fine.' Numb with misery, she crawled out of the car. To her surprise, he immediately moved behind the wheel. ‘Where are you going?' she blurted out in astonishment, alarmed that he would be driving in his odd state of mind.

‘I don't think it's any of your business,' he said wearily, and stamped his foot viciously on the accelerator.

She stared after him in consternation. And in a flash
of inspiration she knew where he could be heading. To Athena, the ever-loving mother of his child, who'd stood by him all these years.

Olivia's eyes took on the colour of slate. She fished out the car keys he'd given her and grimly marched to the garage block.

All the time he'd been slinging her that line about loving her—and looking as if he believed every wretched word—he had fully intended to keep Athena on, as a back-up.

Well, she thought, her fingers gripping the wheel as if it were her lifeline, she would confront him at Athena's house and then he'd be forced to admit that everything he'd said was a lie.

A
THENA
stroked his forehead, but her gentle fingers did nothing to smooth the deep furrows there. The pain was too deep. Unreachable.

She had gasped when she'd opened the door to her cottage. Stumbling in, almost drunk from the turmoil raging around in his mind, he'd caught a glimpse of himself in a mirror and had realised why she was so shocked.

He hardly recognised himself in the zombie who stared back with graveyard eyes. Love and Olivia had done this to him.

Now he sat listlessly at Athena's feet in the garden overlooking Selonda Bay, two glasses of wine poured and forgotten, while little Theo played happily with his toy cars.

Warm and loving as always, Athena asked no questions but waited for him to speak. He didn't know where to begin. His future seemed utterly bleak and uninviting. He would have done anything for Olivia. Given her whatever she wanted. And she'd turned him down.

Bone-weary from hurling his emotions into a void, only to have them slung back at him, he leaned his head back against Athena's knees and closed his eyes. But he still saw Olivia. If it was anything like the last time she left him he'd see her there for a long while.

He groaned. Lightly Athena's fingers caressed his face. And then they stilled abruptly.

Looking up, Dimitri was astonished to see Olivia. He blinked, thinking he must be hallucinating, because she didn't know where Athena lived or where he might have gone, but she was definitely there, by the low gate that led into the garden. She flung it open angrily and strode towards him, her face set, hair streaming behind her in golden waves.

‘What a pretty scene!' she scorned. ‘And you claim you love me?'

‘Yes,' was all he could manage—and that was hardly coherent.

‘You're living in a make-believe world, Dimitri!' she flashed. ‘Get real. While you're with one woman you love her. You honestly seem to believe that. Then five minutes later you're with some other lover—and you offer undying love to
her!
It's not normal,' she snapped. ‘Either you know full well what you're doing, in which case you're the lowest form of life that exists, or you are deluded, in which case you need a psychiatrist—'

‘I don't have any confusion,' he husked. ‘I love you. It's that simple.'

Olivia seemed shocked. She looked at Athena and then back at him again. ‘You can say that in front of her? I can't understand how Greek women accept infidelity so easily,' she jerked.

‘They don't,' Athena said quietly. ‘What are you trying to say, Olivia?'

At the gentleness in the other woman's voice, Olivia's eyes filled with tears.

‘I loved him!' she sobbed. ‘He was everything to me! And when I came back to Greece and saw him again I knew I would always feel that way! Then he lied to me and deceived me and pretended he cared
when all the time he was two-timing me! I can't bear it! And I hate being so feeble and crying like this over such a louse!' She rounded on Dimitri. ‘You've broken my heart! I hope you'll be miserable as hell and some woman will hurt you as you've hurt me…'

She broke down in a storm of weeping. Athena hurried to her and led her inside the cottage, frantically waving Dimitri back when he made to follow.

‘This is my bathroom,' she said gently to Olivia. ‘You can freshen up here and then we can talk. Dimitri isn't the kind of man you claim he is—'

‘See him for what he is! You've been taken in by him, as I was!'

Olivia wrenched on the tap and glared at Athena in the mirror. The woman was older than she'd seemed from a distance. Perhaps forty-five, with several grey hairs. Probably good in bed, Olivia thought bitterly. She sluiced her face and dried it.

And then she noticed a photograph of Athena with Dimitri. No, not Dimitri…

Olivia whirled, and went to study the snapshot. It showed Athena and Dimitri's
father
, Theo, looking adoringly at each other. She held her breath in shock and looked around. On a shelf was a photo of Theo, smiling into the camera with that besotted look adopted by all lovers.

She strode into the adjoining bedroom and swallowed hard. There were pictures everywhere. Theo on a beach somewhere, laughing. Theo…

Wide-eyed, she spun around to stare at the puzzled Athena. ‘Dimitri's father?' she breathed.

Athena smiled fondly and stroked one of the photos. ‘My darling Theo,' she said softly.

It was too much for Olivia. She went outside and
faced the tense-looking Dimitri, who was standing by a wrought-iron table, a glass of wine in his hand. When he saw her, he drained the glass and put it down, a wary expression on his face. No wonder he seemed agitated, she thought in contempt.

‘Whose child is that?' she demanded.

Dimitri frowned. ‘I can't tell you.'

‘I will.' Athena spoke up. ‘He is Theo's child. But Marina must never know. We don't want to hurt her. I hope you will not tell her our secret—it would be too cruel.'

Shaken, Olivia tried to steady herself. Dimitri's morals were worse than she'd ever imagined.

‘I don't believe you two! Is it a Greek tradition to take on your father's mistress?' she demanded angrily.

He blinked. Very slowly, a smile spread across his face, and then he was laughing with Athena, who was doubled up and clutching him as if she had never heard anything so funny in the whole of her life.

Their easy intimacy outraged her, and she had to sit down on a low wall because of the cutting pains in her chest. How dared they laugh at her?

She sat with a forlorn expression on her face, though her fists were clenched as if she might attack him at any moment. Dimitri sobered, hating to see her so hurt, so misled.

‘Athena isn't my mistress. I've never been her lover—'

‘I saw you!' Olivia whispered, her eyes huge and silvered with distress. ‘She was in labour and you were helping her into your car—'

‘Oh, hell! So that's it!' He groaned, and a wave of regret churned at his stomach. ‘How on earth did you find us?'

‘Your mother guided me,' she said, her voice taut and strained.

‘My…mother?' He and Athena looked at one another in consternation.

‘Yes.' Olivia flung up her head defiantly. ‘She'd been telling me you had a mistress ever since the day we met. Finally I became suspicious about your secretive phone calls. She offered to take me to your mistress's house.'

Poor Olivia. What she must have thought… ‘And that was the day you left—?'

‘Of course it was!' she cried, slamming her fist on the hard stone. She winced, and he reached out to take that wounded little hand in his but she glared at him so fiercely that he thought better of it. Her lower lip trembled and his heart somersaulted with love and tenderness.

‘Olivia,' he said gently, ‘Why didn't you tell me what you'd seen? I could have explained—'

‘I wouldn't have believed you!' she hurled tightly. ‘You were loving and k-kind to Athena, and it was obvious that she must be the mother of your child…Oh.' She looked confused. ‘He's Theo's child. I don't understand.'

‘I can assure you that he is Theo's child. And I have never loved or made love to any other man but Theo in the whole of my life. Why don't you two sort this out somewhere private?' Athena suggested, as little Theo ran to her and clung to her knees, his huge Dimitri-eyes round and anxious.

Olivia's hand flew to her mouth. ‘I'm sorry! I wouldn't have upset your little boy for the world—'

Jumping to her feet in agitation, Olivia was dazed by Athena's gentle smile.

‘It's all right. I'll explain to him,' Athena said. ‘Just go. And tell her everything, Dimitri. I mean
everything
,' she added, kissing his cheek and lifting Theo up for a cuddle. Dimitri buried his face in the toddler's little neck and then set about tickling him, till his half-brother giggled, his little face sunny once more.

‘Olivia,' he said quietly when he'd set Theo down. ‘We have a lot of explaining to do, the two of us. I want to clear the air. Will you trust me and give me an hour of your time?'

Hardly breathing, he waited for her nod, and when it came he felt as if he'd been reprieved from a prison sentence.

His heart pounding, he drove her to the ruined temple by the sea, dedicated to Aphrodite, and they sat on the base of a fallen column, amidst a drift of wild sea lilies, the air heavy with pine scent and herbs.

‘I'll begin with Athena. She was from my father's village,' Dimitri said when Olivia looked at him questioningly. ‘They'd known one another as children. He always remained a simple, uncomplicated man at heart, loving the land, happy with his old village friends.'

‘He was wrong to love her,' Olivia reproved. ‘He was married.'

Dimitri sighed. ‘Only because he felt he had to marry Mother.'

‘What do you mean?' she asked, her curiosity aroused.

‘Initially he'd been going out with Marina, and she adored him. But she was a little too possessive, and as he realised he didn't love her he decided to break off the relationship. He'd drunk a little too much, trying to pluck up courage, and Mother—knowing what he in
tended—seduced him. He began to court Athena, but Mother then told him she was pregnant.'

‘With you!' She looked startled.

‘Me,' he agreed with a smile. ‘And Father, being a man of honour, married the mother of his child.'

‘Marina had what she wanted,' Olivia began.

‘But she knew she'd ruined Father's life.'

Olivia sighed. ‘How sad.'

‘She paid for it,' Dimitri said, sympathy etched deeply on his face. ‘At first she diverted her love to me. But that wasn't enough. Father never stopped loving Athena. When the marriage became unbearable, he went to her for comfort. She and Father adored one another and were happy together. You've seen her, Olivia. That's the face of a kind and gentle woman, unwillingly caught up in the life of a married man. She wouldn't let Father ask for a divorce. She was content with the situation as it was. And when he died I made sure Athena was secure.'

Now Olivia was sitting with her spine erect, her beautiful eyes fixed intently on him as she tried to un-tangle the story.

‘That day on the boat, the day when you said you stood in the theatre at Epidauros and said you loved me, you had several secretive phone calls—'

He nodded. ‘Athena had been rushed to hospital with labour pains. They turned out to be false and I teased her about being a drama queen. Though they were real enough the next day, when you saw us together. That was the day little Theo was born.' He smiled fondly, thinking of his little half-brother. ‘Olivia, Athena was all alone and had lost the man she loved more than anything in the world. She needed my support—'

‘Of course she did. But Dimitri,' she mourned, ‘why didn't you tell me?'

‘I had promised her that I would tell no one,' he said gently. ‘My mother once accused me of being Athena's lover—she knew where she lived, and I think she'd seen my car outside one day. I couldn't say anything. Couldn't hurt Mother, you see. She was unhappy enough. I believe that when she met you and saw your happiness she was desperately jealous. She envied the intensity of our love. But now she is loved again and her bitterness has gone.'

Seeing how appalled she looked, he moved close to her. Taking her hand, he found that she was trembling.

‘Are you saying that I left you,' she croaked in dismay, ‘because you were being kind and thoughtful to your late father's lover? Dimitri, I was so certain…' She buried her face in her hands. And then looked up again sharply and he knew the doubts were still there. ‘I'm not sure if I dare believe you. You said…you said our marriage was based on sex and that was all!' Her eyes blazed blue fire.

‘Not as far as I was concerned. I was talking about
you
. It seemed to be all you felt,' he said, hurting. If she didn't love him, he didn't know what he'd do…

‘That's not true!' she protested indignantly. ‘I've loved you since we first met! I've always loved you!'

He wanted that to be true. Yet she could be settling for his love, and a comfortable life. That wouldn't be enough for him. She'd told him quite baldly that she no longer cared.

‘I want the truth from you, Olivia. No more lies, no more pretence. You've forgotten your farewell note,' he reminded her, his body stiff. But they had to get to the truth, however painful that might be. She must be
honest with him. ‘You said in that note that when there was no love in a marriage it was a mistake to continue it. You can't deny that. Those words are burnt in my heart.' His voice shook but he didn't care. He was exposing his emotions because this was his last chance to do so.

Her fingers stole into his. He dared to meet her eyes and tried not to be fooled by what he thought was tenderness there. And yet hope leapt inside him, jerking his pulses into a fast, erratic beat.

‘Dimitri, I wasn't referring to
my
love when I wrote that note. I meant yours. It seemed clear enough to me at the time, but now I see it wasn't. I believed that you loved Athena, not me. I wasn't going to let you live a lie. I couldn't trust you, and that made every day a torment.'

‘But you were mistaken to doubt me,' he said gravely.

‘I so want that to be true! I refuse to share the man I love! You must believe me, Dimitri. Whatever happens between us, whatever we decide to do, one thing is certain and you must know it. I love you with all my heart. Don't you know that? Can't you tell?'

It was his turn to hesitate, to doubt. And those doubts haunted him, stretching him on the rack.

‘I want to believe you. More than you can ever know,' he muttered. Her grip tightened. He ploughed on. ‘But when we were married you seemed so distant sometimes. When I came back from trips abroad our sex was fantastic, but you were quiet. Almost reticent—'