The Greek's Forgotten Wife (Boarding School #1) (11 page)

“What do you mean?” Sasha asked anxiously as she watched Damon stuff clothing into a suitcase.  “Where do you have to go?” 

Something was very wrong!  First of all, Damon never packed himself.  He had a huge staff that ensured that his life ran smoothly, including using the hotel butler’s service to pack up his clothing and toiletries for him or his housekeeper when he was at one of his homes across the world.  But he’d burst into the Paris penthouse a few moments ago, telling her that he had to go. 

Secondly, he hadn’t indicated that she would be traveling with him.  He’d only said that “he” had to go, not that “they” had to leave.  Ever since he’d returned to the villa weeks ago, he’d kept her by his side.  Initially, she’d been so angry with him, resentful of his demand that she travel with him although secretly loving the excitement of the whole thing. 

And lastly, he was simply stuffing clothing into the suitcase.  Damon never looked rumpled.  His clothes were always neatly pressed and he smelled wonderful.  But the way he was shoving shirts and clothing into the suitcase, he wasn’t going to look very put together whenever he arrived, wherever he was going. 

“I…” he looked down at her and opened his mouth as if he were going to say something, but then he shook his head and closed his mouth.  Moving back into the closet, he pulled down other clothes and stuffed them into the suitcase as well. 

“Damon, please tell me what’s going on.  I’m not sure what to think right now and…”

He stopped right in front of her.  “Trust me,” he said and kissed the top of her head.  “I have to go,” he told her once again and he closed his suitcase before pulling it off of the bed. 

A moment later, he disappeared, leaving her standing in the middle of the bedroom, once again alone and confused, not sure what was happening. 

She felt her legs give out on her as her heart broke with his departure and callous refusal to tell her what was going on. 

It was happening again!  Something important, very important, had just occurred and, instead of telling her about it, trusting her with the information and maybe even coming to her for support, he’d simply walked out on her.  Left her.  Again! 

The tears rolling down her cheeks went unnoticed as she tried to figure out what had happened, what she’d done wrong.  Had she hurt him in some way?  Had she offended him?  She’d thought that they’d been getting along amazingly well over the past few weeks but…

But he was gone.  He was gone and something had happened and he’d cut her out of his life. 

For perhaps a half hour, she sat there, wondering what she’d done wrong, what she might have done better, what she could have said to keep him from cutting her out of his life before she realized what she was doing. 

As soon as she grasped that, she stopped herself.  The past six years, she’d gotten into the habit of blaming herself for his abrupt departures.  But she’d slowly come to the understanding that she wasn’t at fault.  Damon was the one that pushed her out of his life. 

With an angry swipe, she dried her tears, angry with him now for leaving her like this.  He was a selfish bastard that didn’t know how to be a husband other than to make love to her, or more specifically, have sex with her whenever the need struck him. 

She was not going to be used like that! 

Oh, goodness, she thought and almost tripped over her feet.  She’d loved that aspect of their relationship.  He made her feel beautiful and sexy and desirable! 

Not right now, though!  Nope, she didn’t feel sexy in any way.  And she felt about as desirable as a wet rag. 

She pushed forward, not allowing herself to think about Damon walking out on her again.  No matter how much her heart ached, she wasn’t going to think about him.  She’d pushed him out of her mind once, she could do it again, she promised herself.  So what if her muscles felt like they were made of lead?  So what if her bones were starting to ache?  She was a strong, resourceful woman with an inner strength that would get her through this!  She would not only survive, she would thrive! 

Sasha pushed herself to work that afternoon, to keep Damon from flashing into her mind.  It was hard, but she finally was able to focus on work issues.  She wouldn’t change any of the investments today though, knowing that she was in an emotionally vulnerable state of mind.  Damon might be a horrible man to be married to and he might have broken her heart this morning by banishing her back to loneliness after giving her weeks of being in the sunshine of his attention, but he was also a brilliant businessman.  He never allowed emotions to cloud his business judgement. 

When she realized that it was dark outside the Paris hotel’s window, she shut down her computer and sighed, trying to come up with a plan for her night. 

Unfortunately, she glanced at her watch and realized that it was almost midnight.  None of the restaurants were open now, but neither would she go to any of them alone.  It wasn’t that she couldn’t.  She was perfectly capable of dining by herself.  She’d done it often enough before Damon had stormed back, demanding that she become a wife in the truest sense of the word. 

Sasha stared through the penthouse window, not really seeing the beauty of the Paris skyline or the twinkling lights as the city slowly went to sleep.  All she saw in her mind was Damon’s features, hard and impenetrable as he shoved things into his suitcase. 

Something struck her.  That look!  The expression in his eyes!  Sasha had never seen him like that! 

It suddenly occurred to her…Damon was upset!  Whatever had pulled him away, he was in pain! 

Oh goodness, she thought as she turned away from the unseen beauty of Paris.  Her man was hurt and she’d just let him go!  She’d let him walk out and try to deal with…whatever it was…on his own!

“We’re all here, Uncle Charles,” Scarlett said softly, touching her uncle on his shoulder and fighting back the tears that were threatening as she looked at the man she loved like a father, lying in the hospital bed. He’d lost a lot of weight.  Too much weight!  And his skin didn’t look very good either. 

Charles lifted his head off of the hospital pillow and looked around.  Sure enough, five men and his niece stood around him, all of them looking grim. 

“Stop it,” he chided.  “I’ve had a great life.  I might not have had any children of my own, but the six of you are just like my own family, my own sons and daughter.”  He looked around at the six of them, a light coming into his eyes.  “I’ve seen each of you grow up and mature, grow into your chosen careers, and I’m very proud of each and every one of you.”  He coughed slightly and Scarlett reached for the water, wanting to do something to ease his pain if only to soothe his cough.  He waved it aside, but patted her hand in silent thanks. 

He took a moment to catch his breath before continuing.  “Each of you are brilliant when it comes to business,” he said.  “I couldn’t be prouder of your successes.  When others brag about their children, I just stand there and shake my head because none of their children can possibly measure up to each of your successes.”  He paused for a moment, shaking his head slowly and with his bushy, grey eyebrows low over his fading, blue eyes.  “But you’re all idiots.”

That bombshell caused the six of them to straighten their shoulders, surprise on each of their faces.

Uncle Charles chuckled.  “Oh, don’t you dare pretend like you don’t know what I’m talking about.”  He turned to Damon, his eyebrows low over his eyes.  “You married a woman to keep control of your ancestral home.  And then you forgot about her.  What would you do if someone did that to Scarlett?”  Charles watched the fierceness come into Damon’s eyes.  “Exactly,” he nodded.  “Stop treating your wife like dirt.  She’s not responsible for her grandfather’s blackmail.  Either cut her loose,” he paused to see the stubborn look enter the younger man’s eyes and knew that this man was madly in love with his wife.  “Or treat her well.  But don’t be an ass.”

He turned to Malik.  “And you!” he growled.  “You had the woman of your dreams and you let her walk away from you.”

The tall, tanned man with fierce, black eyes crossed his arms over his chest.  “She left me, Charles,” Malik argued.

Charles shook his head angrily.  “Don’t you dare give me that excuse, young man!  Find out why!” he came right back.  “I saw the two of you together.  She loves you.  Don’t you ever forget that!”

Malik opened his mouth to argue but Charles had already turned to look at Harrison.  “And you!  You have a responsibility to your title and you’re not living up to it.  What have you got to say to that?  Are you just going to languish and let the title go to that ridiculous excuse of a cousin of yours?  You don’t even know the bloke and yet you’re willing to let him take on the title that is your birthright!”

Harrison laughed softly, sliding his hands into his pockets and relieved for the brief moment of levity.  “You’re an American Charles,” he teased.  “I didn’t think you cared about titles or the aristocracy.”  They all chuckled at that reminder.  “In fact, what was it you told me a long time ago when I started acting out again?  Wasn’t it along the lines of ‘Forget your heritage, boy, and do something to prove yourself worthy of this life and not the ones your ancestors lived’?”

Charles’ eyes softened with that memory.  It had been right after Harrison had picked a fight with Damon.  Charles had been furious that he’d had to pull these boys apart on too many occasions.  “And so you should and you have.  Now finish it up and pass on that silly title to your own son or daughter,” he replied with deep affection.  “I’m sure there’s some woman out there stupid enough to want to marry you.  Just get on with it!”

His sharp eyes moved over to Stefan.  “And your wife!  I heard you chuckling when I berated Damon for his treatment of his wife and you have no leg to stand on!”

Stefan’s face became devoid of all emotion as he crossed his arms over his chest. 

Charles shook his finger at the man.  “Don’t you dare take that silent tone with me, Stefan.  You find that woman.  You protect her.  Something is wrong and you know it.  If you’d just forget that overwhelming pride of yours and figure it out, you’d get your wife back.  She was happy after the wedding.  You know it, I know it.  Everyone in this room knows it.  What we don’t know, and what you should find out, is what happened after the wedding.  Why did she leave you that night?  Find her.  Get the full story!”

Stefan’s eyes widened slightly but he still didn’t say a word. 

Charles then turned to look at Grayson and Scarlett.  He noticed both of them glance at each other, then stiffen in fear of what he might say to them.  “You two!”  He shook his head and closed his eyes.  He didn’t say anything more but Malik, Stefan, Damon and Harrison all chuckled while Grayson glared and Scarlett looked confused.  The others knew exactly why Charles was so exasperated but Grayson and Scarlett feigned innocence.  Well, in reality, there might not be any feigning about it.  The two of them loved each other intensely but neither was willing to do anything about it, for fear that the other didn’t feel the same way. 

Stefan shook his head as well, glancing at Malik, then Harrison and Damon.  All of them knew that they would have to do something if Grayson and Scarlett didn’t stop running away from each other.  They were perfect for each other.  The others had seen it when all of them were younger but hadn’t wanted to interfere.  Now, things were getting out of hand.  Both of them were dating others and it was becoming a farce to watch them flounder around the love of their lives. 

Charles opened his eyes and looked at all of them.  “I don’t have long to live on this earth,” he told them.  They all stiffened but Scarlett was the only one that let the tears fall.  None of them commented when Grayson stopped glaring at her and put a gentle hand around her waist.  “And that’s not a sad thing,” he told them firmly.  He patted his stomach where the cancer was centered, making it difficult for him to eat and, sometimes, even to breathe since the tumor was pressing against his lungs.  “This is just part of life and, because of the six of you, my life has been full and wonderful.  I’ve never regretted any of the moments that you were all in my life.  Always know that.”  There was a long silence as everyone worked through their emotions.  Charles won the battle with his tears.  Sniffing, he looked up at the tall men and the beautiful woman with sincere affection.  “But I want all of you to be happy as well.  So no more dilly dallying!” he announced with a firm tone of voice.  “Get your lives in order.  Each of you look out for each other more closely than brothers and sisters.  So you’re family.  Don’t make me tell you again.” 

With that pronouncement, he leaned back against the hospital bed, exhausted from his tirade. 

One by one, the men and Scarlett filed out.  Four of them noticed the protective arm that Grayson maintained around Scarlett; neither did they ignore the way she leaned into him.  Damon, Stefan, Malik and Harrison traded glances, silently trying to figure out how to get those two to understand that they were made for each other.  But they also acknowledged that they had their own problems to resolve. 

“Multi-tasking,” Stefan said.  Damon, Harrison and Malik all nodded even while Scarlett and Grayson looked up, trying to figure out what the four of them were agreeing to. 

Sasha looked at the picture in the newspaper, her whole body frozen in place.  Her eyes moved, but she felt all of the blood drain from her face and her body was suddenly cold despite the heat from the afternoon sun shining through the windows. 

As her eyes read the words, her mind frantically tried to deny them.  Impossible, she thought!  It simply wasn’t true!

But there she was again.  The same woman.  The blond. 

Surely there was another explanation, she told herself.  There was no way Damon could make love to her the way he did and then go to another woman. 

Could he? 

No!  She refused to think that he was that kind of a man. 

So why was this woman holding onto her husband’s arm?  Why was she smiling up at him as if he’d just said something hilarious?  And why did the ache in her stomach make her almost nauseous with the jealousy that invaded her whole mind and body? 

She stared at the picture more closely and the pain only intensified as the details of the picture came into sharper focus.

Why the hell was her husband, the man who had ignored all of her protests to end their marriage weeks ago, walking out of a hotel with this blond woman on his arm?!

Sasha let the paper drop to the table, her mind racing, trying to come up with an explanation.  But nothing made sense!  It was a hotel!  The blond looked beautiful and she was laughing up at her husband!  Unfortunately, there had been too many pictures of the two of them over the years.  Over the past six years, Sasha had seen many pictures of the blond woman on Damon’s arm coming out of the theatre, restaurants, walking down the street in various cities all over the world….

What other explanation could there be?

First his disappearance from Paris and now this.  Her fingers curled into fists as she crumpled the newspaper in her hands. 

As the intense pain swelled inside her heart, she knew what she had to do.  She’d stated very firmly from the beginning that she would not tolerate infidelity.  Good grief, they were trying to make a go of this, to have children!  And here he was, gallivanting around with the blond woman that he’d spent time with in the past.  Lots of time with!  He obviously wasn’t fully committed to their marriage or he never would have gone to another woman.  Either that, or he thought she simply wasn’t smart enough to discover his infidelity.  Both of those possibilities were crushing. 

Sasha didn’t care how beautiful or kind the other woman was, Sasha didn’t share!  She’d been used and abused, ignored and isolated.  She would not be a fool any longer!  No way.

Maybe if it had been any other woman.  The blond…what was her name?  Oh, Scarlett something or other…had been on Damon’s arms too many times in the past.  He might have a string of mistresses but this was the woman he kept coming back to.  Ever since the beginning of her marriage, this beautiful blond had shown up in the tabloids on Damon’s arm sporadically.  They must have an on again, off again affair but she suspected that Damon, her husband, truly loved this woman.  He treated her differently than the others.  The other women had been smiling up at Damon or laughing into the cameras triumphantly while walking with Damon.  But Damon had never been looking down at them. 

In this picture, he was and there was genuine affection in his eyes that the camera couldn’t help but capture.  He didn’t even look like he was trying to hide from the camera!  How arrogant was that?  He probably didn’t even care if he was caught with this particular woman.  Or maybe, she was one of the strong ones, the woman that demanded that he not hide her away like a dirty little secret.  Good for her, Sasha thought even as a tear dropped from her cheek down to the top of her hand. 

The betrayal stabbed deeply and she turned away from the picture, unable to look at it any longer. 

She took a long, deep breath and considered her options.  She could turn a blind eye to this latest betrayal and stay with Damon…or she could follow through on her threat. 

In the end, there really was no choice.  She refused to be the pathetic wife that stayed at home while the handsome husband went out and had affairs with whomever crossed his path.  And this woman had crossed his path too often over the years to ever be ignored.  Nor was Sasha the kind of person who would ignore something so humiliating.  She was too strong and worth more than just the scraps of affection Damon was willing to share with her.  First the rapid departure, now this. 

Why was this blond woman allowed to be with Damon during a crisis in his life?  Why was she so special?  What did this woman do that captured Damon so thoroughly that he needed her on his arm? 

And did it really matter?  That was her past thinking process!  She wasn’t going to second-guess herself any longer!  She refused to try and figure out what she’d done wrong, what she could do better to keep Damon by her side and away from the blond. 

She couldn’t share!  Sasha simply wasn’t a good enough person to share.  She wanted all of Damon.  She loved him so deeply, respected his business brilliance and truly enjoyed his company. 

No, there was no way she could ignore this latest indiscretion.  It hurt too much this time. 

Picking up her phone, she dialed his assistant.  “Hi, Mellie.  Do you know when Damon will be back in town?”

“He arrived early this morning, Ms. Galanos,” Damon’s assistant told Sasha.  “Is there a message you need me to get to him?”

Sasha closed her eyes, her head bowing as the pain ripped through her.  So Damon was already back in Athens and he hadn’t bothered to let her know.  He didn’t think his wife was important enough to know such little details like his whereabouts.  So be it!

She took a deep breath, held it for a moment, then slowly let it out, feeling slightly more in control of herself.  “That’s great news,” she lied.  “Any chance he might have time for lunch with me today?”  Sasha couldn’t believe that she was on the phone with her husband’s assistant, almost begging for a lunch date with her husband!  Damon should have come by the house before he went to his office!  At the very least, he should have informed her that he was back!  Just one more insult to add to the list, she thought with resentment. 

Sasha heard Mellie clicking on some keys.  “He has more than an hour for lunch today.  Would you like me to book a table for the two of you?”

Sasha thought about it for a moment, then shook her head.  “No.  This is a conversation that needs to happen in private.  I’ll meet him at his office, if that’s okay with his schedule.  What time is his last morning meeting over?”

A few more clicks on the keyboard and Mellie said, “He should be free about twelve-thirty.  Does that work with your schedule?”

Sasha’s lips compressed.  She knew Damon’s attitude and if twelve-thirty didn’t work for her schedule, she wouldn’t see him until tonight.  He didn’t shift his meetings around for her.  If she couldn’t be there, she could wait until the next gap in his schedule.

“I’ll be there.”

Sasha hung up the phone and looked at her computer screen.  She didn’t see the words or the numbers today.  All she saw was Damon, her Damon, her husband, wrapped in the arms of that blond woman.  And it hurt.  It hurt very deeply that he’d been saying how he wanted things to work out between them and then he’d gone to another woman.

Why had he done this?  She thought about picking up the newspaper and checking the date, but there were only those few days when Damon had been away, leaving her behind while he worked out whatever it was that had sent him off.  Her fingers shook as she tried to type out some notes on her findings today. 

Goodness, she’d been such a silly fool!  He’d gone off and done his business, slipped away to his mistress while she worried in Paris that he was upset about something, that he was actually worried or hurt.  And when his “business” was finished, he hadn’t even bothered to tell her that he was back in town.  Sasha had discovered that news accidentally.  It used to be that she’d rush to his arms whenever he’d made his way back to the villa on his sporadic visits, pathetically eager to see him.  She’d only called his assistant today because she was excited to check on him and talk about her latest research, hear his advice and work his information into her investment strategies.  But she hadn’t known where to contact him.  He hadn’t answered his cell phone in two days. 

Sasha knew she was the same woman she’d been all along, eager to please, puppy-like in her adoration.  The only change now was that they had sex.  A lot!  He was a voracious lover and she’d fooled herself into thinking that he felt the same way about her, wanted her just as intensely as she wanted him every time they came together. 

Fool me once, shame on you, she thought.  Fool me twice, shame on me.  This was all her fault.  She’d trusted him.  She’d believed in his word.  She’d believed in what they had been sharing together. 

She’d loved him! 

Sasha crumpled to the floor, her mind scattering with the horror of what she’d just realized about herself.  She was madly in love with her husband and he was off having an affair with the same woman he’d gone back to over and over throughout their pitiable marriage. 

Never a fool like a fool in love! 

Picking herself up, she wiped the tears from her cheeks, furious with herself and furious with Damon.  No more!  This was finished!  She would not be a fool again.

She walked determinedly into the bedroom, stripping off her clothes as she walked into the bathroom.  Sasha was determined to look gorgeous for this lunch meeting today.  She would show up, tell the man what a bastard he was, tell him she’d file for divorce and then walk out the door.  She was never going to see Damon again.  She’d go back to London, find a small house and live there by herself.  She had an income now.  She could make her own money.  It was small, but she had a nest egg that she could grow into something more substantial.  She wouldn’t even accept alimony from Damon.  She just wanted out.  She wanted nothing to do with him.