âYou have no idea why I might be here, Lindsay? No reason to wonder why I might come looking for my errant wife?â
Errant wife. So he blamed her. Of course he did. And she knew he had a right to blame herâbecause sheâd left him without an explanation or even, as heâd said, a warning. But heâd forced her to leave, even if he couldnât or wouldnât ever understand that.
âItâs been six months, Antonios,â she told him coolly, âand you havenât been in touch once. I think itâs reasonable for me to be surprised to see you.â
âDidnât you think Iâd ever come, demanding answers?â
âI gave you an answerââ
âA two-sentence email is not an explanation, Lindsay.â
He held up a hand to forestall her reply, although she couldnât think of anything to say.
âBut donât worry yourself on that account. I have no interest in your explanations.â
Frustration bubbled through her and emotion burned in her chest. Maybe she hadnât had so many words when sheâd finally left, but that was because sheâd used them all up. Antonios hadnât heard any of them.
âThe reason Iâm here,â he continued, his voice hard and unyielding, âis because I need you to return to Greece.â
Her jaw dropped and she shook her head in an instantaneous gut reaction.
âI canâtââ
âYouâll find you can, Lindsay. You pack a bag and get on a plane. Itâs that easy.â
Powerful Greeks meet their match!
Proud Greek blood flows through the veins of brothers Antonios and Leonidas Marakaios. With determination and ruthlessness they have built their familyâs empire to global heights.
It has been their sole focusâeven to the exclusion of love.
But now two women look set to challenge their pride, their passion and their marriage vows!
Read Antoniosâs story in:
The Marakaios Marriage
May 2015
And meet Leonidas in:
The Marakaios Baby
August 2015
After spending three years as a diehard New Yorker, KATE HEWITT now lives in a small village in the English Lake District with her husband, their five children and a Golden Retriever. In addition to writing intensely emotional stories she loves reading, baking, and playing chess with her sonâshe has yet to win against him, but she continues to try.
Learn more about Kate at www.kate-hewitt.com
CHAPTER ONE
âHELLO, LINDSAY.â
How could two such innocuous-sounding words cause her whole body to jolt, first with an impossible joy, and then with a far more consuming dread? A dread that seeped into her stomach like acid, corroding those few seconds of frail, false happiness as she registered the cold tone of the man sheâd once promised to love, honour and obey.
Her husband, Antonios Marakaios.
Lindsay Douglas looked up from her computer, her hands clenching into fists in her lap even as her gaze roved helplessly, hungrily over him, took in his familiar features now made strange by the coldness in his eyes, the harsh downturn of his mouth. With her mind still spinning from the sight of him, she said the first thing that came into it.
âHow did you get in here?â
âYou mean the security guard?â Antonios sounded merely disdainful, but his whisky-brown eyes glowed like banked coals. âI told him I was your husband. He let me through.â
She licked her dry lips, her mind spinning even as she forced herself to focus. Think rationally. âHe shouldnât have,â she said. âYou have no business being here, Antonios.â
âNo?â He arched an eyebrow, his mouth curving coldly, even cruelly. âNo business seeing my wife?â
She forced herself to meet that burning gaze, even though it took everything she had. âOur marriage is over.â
âI am well aware of that, Lindsay. Itâs been six months, after all, since you walked out on me without any warning.â
She heard the accusation in his voice but refused to rise to it. There was no point now; their marriage was over, just as sheâd told him.
âI only meant that all the academic buildings are locked, with security guards by the door,â she answered. Her voice sounded calmâfar calmer than she felt. Seeing Antonios again was causing memories to rise up in her mind like a flock of seagulls, crying out to her, making her remember things sheâd spent the last six months determined to forget. The way heâd held her after theyâd made love, how heâd always so tenderly tucked her hair behind her ears, cupped her cheek with his hand, kissed her eyelids. How happy and safe and cherished heâd once made her feel.
No, she couldnât remember that. Better to remember the three months of isolation and confusion sheâd spent at his home in Greece as Antonios had become more and more obsessed with work, expecting her simply to slot into a life sheâd found alien and even frightening.