* * *
‘I will make the arrangements for the wedding to take place in Greece,’ Takis told Lissa. His voice was clipped, his emotions tightly controlled. He knew from the slight quiver of her bottom lip that she was hurt by his brusqueness.
Frustration surged through him. He had never wanted to marry or have a child, but fate, or more truthfully, his spectacular lack of control when he’d had sex with Lissa and his hunger for her had run wild, meant that he would soon be a husband and a father.
He was going to have a son. The shock of it ripped through him. If he had not attended Lissa’s scan, he might have been able to distance his emotions from the situation. But she had looked at him with such fierce hope in her eyes that he’d found himself agreeing to go to the scanning room. And in truth he had been curious to see his child.
It had been worse and at the same time more incredible than he could have imagined. The images on the screen of his baby had been surprisingly clear, and the sight of a tiny beating heart had made his own heart clench. Right then, he had made a silent vow that he would give his life to protect his child, as he should have protected his brother years ago.
Memories slid from their lair in his mind. They were always there, waiting for him to drop his guard, and as soon as he did, they tormented him.
‘Where are you going? It’s night-time.’
Giannis’s sleepy voice had come from the mattress on the floor that he’d shared with Takis.
‘Can I come with you?’
‘Not this time, agoraki mou.’ Takis had knelt and pulled his little brother into his arms. ‘I have to go away for a while. Don’t cry. I promise I will come back for you soon.’
He’d felt Giannis’s hot tears on his neck as sobs had shaken the boy’s skinny body. ‘I don’t want you to go, Takis. Stay with me...’
That was the last time Takis had held his brother. He had returned to the village only once, to carry Giannis’s coffin into the church. Even after all this time his grief was still raw. He had betrayed an innocent child’s faith, his word had meant nothing and the memory of Giannis’s tears would haunt him forever.
Lissa was looking at him and he did not understand why he felt such an urge to confide his secret shame to her. There could be no absolution for what he had done. He glanced at the photograph of her with her parents. There had been so much love in her voice when she’d spoken about them.
Something inside him cracked as he thought of the reason why she had agreed to marry him. Marriage would ensure that he was the baby’s legal guardian. Lissa had suffered the devastating loss of her parents, and she was determined to spare her child from rejection, which was how her grandfather had treated her.
‘I give you my word that I will protect our son, always,’ he said gruffly. He would make sure he kept it this time.
Her blue eyes widened. Those beautiful blue eyes, the colour of the summer sky, that had cast a spell on him the instant he’d met her. But he would not allow her to bewitch him with her mix of innocence and sensuality again, Takis assured himself. He could not.
‘And love.’ She stared at him, and he wondered if she had noticed him flinch at the word. ‘You will love our son, I hope. That’s the deal.’
It was not his deal and never would be, but Takis did not tell her that his heart was buried on a mountainside with a little boy he had betrayed.
‘You should rest,’ he said briskly, avoiding Lissa’s gaze. ‘As soon as you are well enough to be discharged from hospital we will fly to Athens so that I can organise the necessary paperwork for us to marry. I would prefer a simple ceremony and a minimum of fuss.’
‘I’d like my sister to be my bridesmaid.’ A pink stain ran along her cheekbones, emphasising her delicate beauty. ‘Our marriage is a practical solution to the situation we find ourselves in. But Eleanor won’t understand. She married Jace for love. I don’t want her to worry about me, especially while she is pregnant. It would be better if we pretend that our marriage is real.’
‘There is no reason why anyone else should know the truth of our relationship,’ Takis agreed. But as he roamed his eyes over Lissa another truth hit him. A strap of her nightgown had slipped down to reveal a slim shoulder and the smooth slope of her breast, and he felt a white-hot flash of desire in his groin.
This was the reason he found himself in a situation that required him to marry, even though he had never wanted a wife, and still did not, Takis thought furiously. This uncontrollable desire that he’d never felt so intensely for any other woman. When he had met Lissa months ago he’d been unable to resist her sensual allure, but he’d limited himself to one night with her. However, their one perfect night had resulted in her conceiving his child and had changed the course of his life.
But he would control his body’s response to her that made his heart rate quicken and his blood thunder through his veins. He was determined that their marriage would be on his terms, but Lissa’s suggestion to allow other people to believe they were marrying for conventional reasons made sense, Takis decided.
‘We will live in Greece,’ he told her. ‘I own a penthouse apartment in Athens, but it is not a suitable place to bring up a child. Do you have any preferences on the kind of house you would like?’
‘So I am to have a choice?’
He narrowed his eyes to hide his irritation at her sarcastic tone. ‘I would like to bring up my son in Greece. I assumed you understood that, but if you object strongly I suppose I can consider moving my business base to England.’
‘I don’t mind living in Greece. But I want us to discuss things. I am an adult, not a child who you can tell what to do,’ Lissa said with some asperity. ‘Marriage is about compromise.’
‘I will try to remember,’ he said evenly. Compromise was not a word in Takis’s vocabulary, but he would put his ring on Lissa’s finger and thereby claim his child before she discovered that fact.
CHAPTER TEN
THE WEDDING TOOK place at the civic hall in Athens a month after Lissa had been discharged from hospital and Takis had brought her to Greece. Jace and Eleanor flew in from their home in Thessaloniki, and Lissa shed emotional tears when she hugged her sister.
‘It’s so exciting that our babies will be born only a few months apart,’ Eleanor said when they were in the waiting room before the ceremony. She gave Lissa a thoughtful look. ‘I’ll admit I was surprised when you told me you are pregnant. I didn’t realise that you and Takis were together, although it was obvious at the charity ball that the two of you couldn’t take your eyes off each other. Was it love at first sight?’
‘It was,’ Takis answered for Lissa. She tensed as she looked around and found he was standing behind her and must have overheard the conversation with her sister. He smiled urbanely at Eleanor. ‘At your wedding to Jace when I was the best man and Lissa the chief bridesmaid, we both felt an instant connection, didn’t we, agapi mou?’
He met Lissa’s startled gaze and the indefinable expression in his eyes made her tighten her fingers on the bouquet of freesias that he had surprised her with before they’d driven to their wedding. She reminded herself that they were pretending to be in love so as not to arouse her sister’s suspicions. Lissa knew that Eleanor would be concerned if she guessed the real reason for her decision to marry Takis.
They both wanted security for their son, but Lissa was starting to realise that she hoped for more than a sterile marriage of convenience. Her pulse accelerated when Takis slipped his arm around her waist. There had been no physical contact between them in the run-up to the wedding when they had lived at the house that Takis had leased in a leafy suburb of Athens.
The rental house was sleek and modern, but in Lissa’s opinion the decor was unimaginative. Since she had left her job as manager of Francine’s hotel she’d focused on the interior design course she was studying online. There was minimalist and there was boring, she’d tol
d Takis when she ordered brightly coloured cushions to bring life to the living room. Takis had merely raised his eyebrows and disappeared into his study, where he spent most of his time when he was not at the Perseus hotel chain’s head office.
Lissa had the sinking feeling that he wanted to avoid her, but she had reminded herself that the situation was odd for both of them. They were almost strangers, but once they were married she hoped they would begin to build a life together and create a family unit ready for when they welcomed their son into the world.
She looked down at the engagement ring on her finger. The previous day her hopes of building a relationship with Takis had been boosted when he’d unexpectedly joined her for dinner. Most evenings she dined alone because he did not return from work until late. But when she had walked into the dining room, she’d found him waiting for her and her heart had performed a somersault.
She had been reminded of the first time she’d met him at her sister’s wedding when she had been desperately aware of his smouldering sensuality. Nothing had changed, she’d thought as her pulse had quickened when she’d smelled the distinctive spicy scent of his aftershave.
‘I have something for you,’ Takis had said after the butler had served the first course and left the room. He’d handed her a small box, and Lissa’s heart had thumped when she’d opened it to reveal a ring with a deep blue sapphire surrounded by diamonds.
‘It’s beautiful,’ she’d said huskily.
He’d given her a brisk smile and picked up his wine glass. ‘Your sister would think it odd if you did not wear an engagement ring.’
I don’t care what anyone else thinks, she had wanted to tell him. For goodness’ sake, walk around the table and kiss me! But she hadn’t dared say the words out loud. Instead she had slipped the ring on to her finger and sternly reminded herself that their marriage was a practical arrangement and Takis was not likely to have gone down on one knee when he’d presented her with the ring.
Lissa pulled her mind back to the present and realised that Eleanor was speaking to Takis.
‘How did you persuade my sister to have a small ceremony? It was always Lissa’s dream to have an over-the-top wedding with dozens of bridesmaids and hundreds of guests and an amazing dress. Although you look lovely,’ Eleanor told Lissa quickly. ‘A cream suit is so elegant, and you will be able to wear it again.’
‘A big wedding would take a long time to organise.’ Lissa quickly made the excuse, conscious that Takis was looking at her speculatively.
‘Lissa is still recovering after being seriously ill,’ he explained. ‘It is better that she does not have too much excitement.’
There was no danger of her getting overexcited when her fiancé had barely paid her any attention, Lissa thought wryly. She slanted a glance at Takis as they walked into the wedding room, and the glittering look he gave her made her wonder if he had read her mind.
The wedding officiant greeted them, and the civil ceremony began. In a surprisingly short time the officiant pronounced them married. Lissa’s heart missed a beat when Takis bent his head and brushed his lips over hers. It had been so long since he had kissed her, and she could not hide her response to him. Her body softened as she melted against him and parted her lips beneath his. She trembled with desire that only Takis, her husband, had ever made her feel.
He hesitated for a fraction of a second before his arms came around her, drawing her even closer to him so that her breasts were crushed against his chest and she felt his hard thighs through her skirt. She put her hand on his chest and felt his heart thudding as erratically as her own.
The heat of his body spread through Lissa, causing a molten warmth to pool between her legs. Instinctively, she pressed her pelvis up against his and felt the hard proof of his arousal.
He still wanted her. That at least was a start. She smiled against his mouth and heard him give a low growl as his tongue tangled with hers. The doubts she’d felt that she was doing the right thing by marrying him faded. They had never discussed one crucial aspect of their marriage, but she could feel the evidence of Takis’s desire for her. Tonight was their wedding night, and she was sure he wanted to make love to her as much as she wanted him to.
A discreet cough from the officiant broke the magic. Takis lifted his mouth from Lissa’s and looked faintly stunned when he realised that they had made a very public display. She heard Jace give a throaty chuckle, but Takis was grim-faced when they walked the short distance to the restaurant where they were to have lunch.
* * *
It was late in the afternoon when Eleanor and Jace left for the airport to fly back to Thessaloniki. A car collected Takis and Lissa and took them to his office building, where a helicopter was waiting on the helipad to take them to Santorini. He had explained that he owned a villa on the island.
It was a perfect location for a honeymoon, Lissa thought as the helicopter flew over the sea, which was dappled with gold in the sunset. From the air the island’s half-moon shape around the rim of the caldera was clearly visible. The coastline was dramatic, with towering volcanic cliffs and beaches with unusual black sand.
‘The scenery is spectacular,’ she said as the helicopter dipped lower and a village with square, whitewashed houses came into view. ‘The buildings with blue domed roofs are churches, aren’t they?’
‘Yes, they’re popular with tourists who want a photo opportunity,’ Takis told her. ‘Santorini, and the other, smaller islands nearby were formed after a massive volcanic eruption thousands of years ago. The crater that was left after the eruption is the only sunken caldera in the world and the lagoon is said to be four hundred metres deep.’
The villa stood alone on a headland and had incredible views of the sea. Lissa had expected Takis’s island home to be modern and minimalist, but the coral-pink exterior was the first of many surprises. Inside, there was colour everywhere; green and terracotta tiles on the floor, walls painted a soft cream, and in the living room there were brightly patterned cushions scattered on the sofas. A vase of vibrant yellow chrysanthemums stood in the fireplace.
‘This is lovely,’ she commented. ‘I didn’t think you were a cushions kind of person.’
‘My housekeeper Efthalia is responsible for those,’ Takis said drily. ‘Her husband, Stelios, also works for me as a caretaker and driver. The couple live in the staff cottage.’ He gave Lissa a brief smile. ‘I suggest you rest before dinner. You look tired.’ He moved towards the door. ‘I have a couple of calls to make.’
No woman wanted to be told that she looked tired, especially on her wedding day. Or be left alone by her new husband. Lissa stared at the door after Takis closed it behind him and wondered what phone calls were so important. She was being oversensitive, she told herself. The truth was that her pregnancy did make her feel more tired. She was showing now, although she suspected that her bump was partly due to the wonderful meals the cook at the Athens house had prepared.
She climbed the stairs to the second floor of the villa and found the master bedroom, but not her luggage. A connecting door led to another bedroom, and she spied her suitcase. Her clothes had been unpacked and hung in the wardrobe. Perhaps the housekeeper assumed she would use the second bedroom as a dressing room, Lissa thought as she slipped off her shoes and lay down on the bed. She would close her eyes for five minutes and then go and drag Takis out of his study if she had to.
When she woke, it was dark outside the window and someone had switched on the bedside lamp. The nap had revived her, and she was looking forward to an intimate dinner with Takis. The dress she had bought for her trousseau was a scarlet sheath made of jersey silk that clung to her new curves. She ran a brush through her hair that she’d recently had trimmed into her usual jaw-length bob, applied scarlet gloss to her lips and sprayed perfume on her pulse points before going downstairs.
As she walked through the villa, Lissa was surprised to hear from outside
the whir of rotor blades. She stepped into the garden, and her stomach swooped when she saw Takis walking towards the helicopter.
‘Wait!’ Her muscles unfroze and she tore across the lawn. ‘Where are you going?’ She cursed as she stumbled in her high heels and pulled off her shoes. ‘Takis?’
He turned around slowly. His hard-boned face was expressionless, and in the darkness that seemed to press around them he was a forbidding stranger. ‘I came to your room to say goodbye, but you were asleep, and I did not want to disturb you. I must return to Athens.’
‘Must?’ Temper beat through Lissa. ‘Why?’ He made no response and she said huskily, ‘Explain to me how our marriage is going to work when you go out of your way to avoid me. We hardly spent any time together in Athens and I understood that you work long hours. But you brought me here to your villa, it is our wedding night and I thought...’
Her voice trailed off when he lifted his brows in that arrogant way of his that made her feel small and insignificant. She’d had a lot of practice at feeling insignificant when her grandfather had taken no interest in her, Lissa remembered bleakly.
‘Why would we spend time together?’ Takis sounded surprised. ‘The only reason we married is so that our child will be born legitimate. We agreed that in public we will give the impression that our marriage is real, and your sister was convinced by our performance.’
‘Was it a performance when you kissed me? Because it didn’t feel like you were pretending.’
Nine Months to Tame the Tycoon--An Uplifting International Romance Page 10
