She could never allow herself to be the cause of pain and humiliation in another. She’d seen first-hand the damage an affair could cause. After all, she was the result of an affair herself. She’d spent seventeen years knowing she was the result of something sordid.
She was nothing but a dirty secret.
* * *
Helios’s driver brought the car to a stop at the back of the palace, beside his private entrance. Dozens and dozens of schoolchildren of all shapes and sizes were picnicking on the lawn closest to the museum entrance: some playing football, some doing cartwheels and handstands. In the far distance a group were filing out of the Agon palace’s maze, which was famed as one of the biggest and tallest mazes in the world.
Helios checked the time. He was always too busy to spend as much time with the palace visitors as he would like.
He had a small window before he was due at a business meeting he’d arranged with his brothers. His brothers ran the day-to-day side of their investment business, but he was still heavily involved. Then there were his royal duties, which had increased exponentially since the onset of his grandfather’s illness. He was in all but name Prince Regent, the highest ranking ambassador for his beloved island. It was his duty to do everything he could to bring investment and tourists to his island, to spread his country’s influence on the world’s stage and keep his islanders safe and prosperous.
As he neared the children, with his courtiers keeping a discreet distance, their small faces turned to him with curiosity. As often happened, it took only one to recognise him before his identity spread like wildfire and they all came running up. It was one of the things he so liked about children: their lack of inhibition. In a world of politeness and protocol he found it refreshing.
One thing he and Catalina were in agreement about was the wish for a minimum of two children. They agreed on many things. Most things. Which was a good omen for their forthcoming marriage. On paper, everything about their union appeared perfect. But...
Every time he tried to picture the children they would create together his mind came up blank. The picture just would not form.
Despite her ravishing beauty, his blood had yet to thicken for her. But this was only a minor issue, and one he was certain would resolve itself the more time he spent with her. Tomorrow he would fly to Monte Cleure so he could formally ask her father for Catalina’s hand in marriage. It was only a formality, but one that couldn’t be overlooked.
At least times had moved on from such issues as a dowry having to be found and trade alliances and so on being written into the contract of any royal betrothal. Now all he had to worry about was his bride having blue blood.
He’d always found blue so cold.
He turned his attention on the English children and answered a host of questions from them, including, ‘Is it true your toilet is made of gold?’
His personal favourite was ‘Is it true you carry a sub-machine gun wherever you go?’
In answer to this he pulled from his pocket the penknife his grandfather had given him on his graduation from Sandhurst; an upgraded version of the one he’d been given on his tenth birthday. ‘No, but I always carry this.’
As expected, the children were agog to see it. It was termed a penknife only in the loosest sense; on sight anyone would recognise it for the deadly fighting instrument it truly was. Children loved it when he showed it to them. Their basic human nature had not yet been knocked out of them by the insane political correctness infecting the rest of the Western world.
‘Most Agonites carry knives with them,’ he said to the enthralled children. ‘If anyone wants to invade our island they know we will fight back with force.’
Their teacher, who had looked at the knife as if it had come personally from Eurynomos himself, looked most relieved as she glanced at her watch. Immediately she clapped her hands together. ‘Everyone into their pairs—it’s time for our tour.’
Today was Thursday... Amy was taking on some of the tours...
The hairs on the back of his neck lifted. He looked over at the museum entrance. A slender figure stood at the top of the steps. Even though she was too far away for him to see clearly, the increasing beat of his heart told him it was her.
He straightened, a smile playing on his lips. Only two days had passed since she’d called his bluff and walked out of the boardroom, leaving him with an ache in his groin he’d only just recovered from. He would bet anything she had suffered in the same manner. He would bet she’d spent the past two days jumping every time her phone rang, waiting for his call.
Her pride had been wounded when she’d learned he was taking a wife, but she would get over it. She couldn’t punish him for ever, not when she suffered as greatly as he did. Soon she would come crawling back.
After a moment’s thought, he beckoned for one of his courtiers and instructed him to pass his apologies to his brothers. They could handle the meeting without him.
The time was ripe to assist Amy in crawling back to him.
* * *
The Agon palace dungeons never failed to thrill, whatever the visitor’s age. Set deep underground, and reached by steep winding staircases at each end of the gloom, only those over the age of eight were permitted to enter. Inside, dim light was provided by tiny electrical candles that flickered as if they were the real thing, casting shadows wherever one stood. Unsurprisingly, the children today were huddled closely together.
‘These dungeons were originally a pit in which to throw the Venetian invaders,’ Amy said, speaking clearly so all twenty-three children on the tour could hear. ‘The Venetians were the only people to successfully invade Agon, and when Ares the Conqueror, cousin of the King at the time, led the uprising in AD 1205, the first thing he ordered his men to do was build these pits. King Timios, who was the reigning King and whom the Agonites blamed for letting the Venetians in, was thrown into the cell to my left.’
The children took it in turns to gawp through the iron railings at the tiny square stone pit.
‘The manacle on the right-hand wall is the original manacle used to chain him,’ she added.
‘Did he die in here?’ a young boy asked.
‘No,’ said a deep male voice that reverberated off the narrow walls before she could answer, making them all jump.
A long shadow cast over them and Helios appeared. In the flickering light of the damp passageway in which they stood his large frame appeared magnified, as if Orion, the famously handsome giant, had come to life.
What was he doing here?
She’d seen him only an hour ago, standing in the gardens talking to the school parties, as at ease with the children as he was in every other situation. That had been the moment she had forgotten how to breathe.
It will get better, she kept assuring herself. It’s still early days and still raw. Soon you’ll feel better.
‘King Timios was held in these cells for six months before Ares Patakis expelled him and, with the consent of the people, took the crown for himself,’ Helios said to the captivated children. ‘The palace was built over these dungeons so King Ares could have personal control over the prisoners.’
‘Did he kill anyone?’ asked the same bloodthirsty boy.
‘He killed many people,’ Helios answered solemnly. ‘But only in battle. Prisoners of war were released and sent back to Venice.’ He paused and offered a smile. ‘But only after having their hands chopped off. King Ares wanted to send a warning to other armies wishing to invade—Step on our shores and you will never wield a weapon again. That’s if they were lucky enough to live.’
The deeper they went into the dungeons, which were large enough to hold up to three hundred prisoners, the more questions were thrown at him as the children did their best to spook each other in the candlelit dimness.
It was with relief that Helios handled everything asked of him—his presence had made her tongue tie itself into a knot.
‘Have you ever killed anyone?’ an undersized girl asked with a
nervous laugh.
He shook his head slowly. ‘But since I could walk and talk I’ve been trained to use knives, shoot arrows and throw a spear. My brothers and I are all military trained. Trust me, should any other nation try to invade us, Agonites are ready. We fight. We are not afraid to spill blood—whether it’s an enemy’s or our own—to protect what’s ours. We will defend our island to the death.’
Utter silence followed this impassioned speech. Twenty-three sets of wide eyes gazed up at Helios with a mixture of awe and terror. The teacher looked shell-shocked.
It had had the opposite effect on Amy.
His words had pushed through her skin to heat her veins. It had never so much been his looks, as gorgeous as he was, that had attracted her. It had been his passion. The Kalliakis family was a dynasty whose blood ran red, not blue. And no one’s blood ran redder than Helios’s. On the outside he was a true prince. Beneath his skin lay a warrior.
‘And that, children, proves that it’s not only Ares the Conqueror’s blood Prince Helios has inherited from his ancestor but his devotion to his homeland.’ Amy spoke quickly, to break the hush and to distract herself from the ache spreading inside her. ‘Now, who here would like to be adopted by the Prince? Any takers? No? Hmm... You surprise me. Come on, then, who wants to visit the museum gift shop?’
That brought them back to life; the thought of spending their money on gifts for themselves.
‘It’s a good thing you’ll never have to be a tour guide as your day job,’ Amy couldn’t resist saying to Helios as she climbed the stairs a little way behind the school party. ‘They’ll all have nightmares.’
He followed closely behind her. ‘They’re learning my family’s history. I was putting it into the context of the present day for them.’
‘Yes. They were learning about your history. There’s a big difference between hearing about wars and blood-spilling from centuries ago and having it put into the here and now, especially in the dungeons, of all places. They’re only ten years old.’
‘The world is full of bloodshed. That’s never changed in the history of mankind. The only way to stop it creeping to our shores is through fear and stability.’
Her hand tightened on the railing as she carried on climbing. ‘But Agon is stable. You have an elected senate. You are a democracy.’
‘The people still look to us, their royal family, for leadership. Our opinions matter. Our actions matter even more so.’
‘Hence the reason you’re marrying Princess Catalina,’ she stated flatly.
‘We are a prosperous, stable island nation, matakia mou, and it’s the hard work of generations of my family that has made it so. Until the entire world is stable we are vulnerable to attack in many different forms. We lead by example, and as a people we are united as one. Stability within the royal family promotes stability for the whole island. My grandfather is dying. My marriage will bring peace to him and act as security to my people, who will be assured that the future of my family is taken care of and by extension their own families too. They know that with a descendant of Ares Patakis on the throne their country is not only ready to defend itself but able to weather any financial storm that may hit our isles.’
Somewhere during his speech they’d both stopped climbing. Amy found herself facing him from two steps above, coming to eye level with him. His eyes were liquid, the shadows dancing over his features highlighting the strength of the angles and planes that made him so darkly handsome. Her fingers tingled with the urge to reach out and touch him...
‘I need to catch up with the children,’ she breathed, but her rubbery legs made no attempt to move.
‘They know where they’re going,’ he murmured, placing a hand on the damp wall to steady himself as he leaned in close.
His other hand caught her hip, jerking her to him. Delicious heat swirled through her; moisture pushed out the dryness in her mouth. Her skin danced and her lips parted as she moved her mouth to meet his...
She only just pulled away in time.
Swiping at his hand to remove it from her hip, she said, ‘I haven’t said goodbye to them.’
‘Then say your goodbyes.’ His eyes were alight with amusement. ‘Keep running, matakia mou, but know you can’t run for ever. Soon I will catch you.’
She didn’t answer, turning tail and racing to the top of the steep staircase, gripping tightly onto the rail, and then out into the corridor.
At least in the corridor she could breathe.
What had just happened? She’d been a breath away from kissing him. Did she have no pride? No sense of preservation?
She wanted to cry with frustration.
Whether Helios believed it or not, they were over. He was marrying someone else. It was abhorrent that she still reacted so strongly towards him.
There was only one thing she could do.
She had to leave.
As soon as the exhibition was officially opened, to coincide with the Gala in just over a fortnight, she would leave the palace and never come back.
* * *
After a long day spent overseeing the arrival of artefacts from the Greek museum Amy should have been dead on her feet, but the email she’d just received had acted like a shot of espresso to her brain.
After months of searching and weeks of tentative communication, Leander had agreed to see her. Tomorrow night she would meet her half-brother for the first time.
She looked at her watch. If she moved quickly she could run to Resina and buy herself a new dress to wear for their meal, before late-night shopping was over. She wouldn’t have time tomorrow, with Saturday being the museum’s busiest day.
After hurriedly turning her computer off and shuffling papers so her desk looked tidy, and not as if she’d abandoned it whilst in the middle of important work, she rushed out of her office and headed downstairs to see if Pedro was still about and could lock up.
She came to an abrupt halt.
There, in the museum entrance, talking to Pedro, stood Helios.
She wasn’t quick enough to escape. Both of them turned their faces to her.
‘Speak of the woman and she shall appear,’ said Pedro, beaming at her.
‘What have I done?’ she asked, squashing the butterflies in her stomach and feigning nonchalance.
Pedro grinned. ‘Don’t look so worried. Helios and I have been discussing your future.’
Within the confines of the museum the staff addressed Helios by his first name, at his insistence.
‘Oh?’ Her gaze fell on Helios. ‘I thought you were going to Monte Cleure,’ she said before she could stop herself.
‘My plane leaves in an hour.’
Her chest compressed in on itself. Stupidly, she’d looked up the distance between Agon and Monte Cleure, which came in at just over one thousand two hundred miles. Just over two and a half hours’ flying time. With the time difference factored in he would be there in time to share an intimate dinner with the Princess.
She pressed her lips together to prevent the yelp of pain that wanted to escape and forced her features into an expression of neutrality. Helios had so much power over her she couldn’t bear for him to know how deeply it ran.
Oblivious to any subtext going on around him, Pedro said, ‘I was going to leave this until tomorrow, but seeing as you’re here there’s no time like the present—’
‘We were saying how impressed we are with your handling of the exhibition,’ Helios cut in smoothly. ‘You have exceeded our expectations. We would like to offer you a permanent job at the museum when your secondment finishes.’
‘What kind of job?’ she asked warily. A week ago this news would have filled her with joy. But everything was different now.
‘Corinna will be leaving us at the end of the summer. We would like you to have her job.’
Corinna was second only to Pedro in the museum hierarchy.
‘There are far more qualified curators than me working here,’ she said non-committally, wishing Pegasus might
fly into the palace at that very moment and whisk her away to safety.
‘Pedro is happy to train you in the areas where you lack experience,’ said Helios, a smile of triumph dancing in his eyes. ‘The important thing is you can do the job. Everyone here likes and respects you...curators at other museums enjoy collaborating with you. You’re an asset to the Agon Palace Museum and we would be fools to let you go.’
If Pedro hadn’t been there she would have cursed Helios for such a blatant act of manipulation.
‘What do you think?’ he asked when she remained silent. His dark eyes bored into her, a knowing, almost playful look emanating from them. ‘How do you like the idea of living and working here permanently?’
She knew exactly what he was doing and exactly what he was thinking. He knew how much she loved her job, his island and its people. Helios was working tactically. He thought that if he threw enough incentives at her she would be so overcome with gratitude she would allow him back into her bed.
She’d entered their relationship without any illusions of permanency. It had suited her as much as it had suited him. Desire was what had glued them together, and it scared her to know that despite all the protective barriers she’d placed around herself he’d still slipped inside. Not fully, but enough for pain to lance her whenever she thought of him and the Princess together. When she thought of her own future without him in her life.
How could she continue to be his lover feeling as she did now, even putting aside the fact of his imminent engagement?
His engagement had hammered home as nothing else could that she was good enough to share his bed but not good enough for anything more.
She knew she was being unfair—Agon’s constitution and Helios’s position in life were not his fault or within his control—but for the first time she felt the reality on an emotional level and that terrified her.
In her heart of hearts she’d always longed to meet someone she could trust with the truth about her conception and not fear they would turn away in disgust or believe that the fruit never fell far from the tree. To meet someone who could love her for herself.
Helios Crowns His Mistress Page 4
