by Sara Wood
The humiliating words dug deep. She’d been used as a whore! Bought presents, taken out to dinner…and in return he’d pillaged her heart and soul and body!
Broken-hearted, her self-esteem at rock bottom, she’d relied increasingly on the attentive, kind Taki. His respect for her had been deeply touching. Eventually she’d succumbed to Taki’s charm offensive and married him, unaware of his fatal need to outdo his rival brother.
She gave a grimace. Incredibly, Taki had believed that Leon would be jealous of his marriage to her. But why, when she had nothing—and the elegant, shopaholic Marina had breeding, wealth and social position?
Her heart thudded in alarm. This was the woman who was now looking after her child! What, she thought with uncharacteristic sourness, did a clothes-horse on legs know about such things?
Her brows beetled together in a fierce scowl. ‘Your wife had better be the Mary Poppins of child care—or you’ll have me to reckon with!’ she muttered.
‘Marina has a daughter of her own,’ he drawled crushingly.
She felt she’d been stabbed in the lungs. Leon had a child. ‘Bully for you both,’ she cried, finding her breath again. ‘Then, you don’t need mine.’
‘Damn right, I don’t.’
Her mouth opened in astonishment. He didn’t even want her darling Lexi. ‘Then, why take her?’ she asked, aghast.
He looked down his patrician nose at her. ‘I had no choice.’
‘No…choice?’ She spluttered the words incoherently.
Leon looked grim. ‘She needs a home. She needs us.’
‘Me. She needs me. I’m her mother,’ she quavered.
‘Not much of one.’
‘I’m terrific.’
‘Matter of opinion.’
‘I’ll get out on appeal—’
‘I think not. The evidence was clear-cut and damning. Get used to this situation, Emma,’ he said sharply. ‘Serve your time—’
‘I will if I must, unfair though it is. I could bear anything if I had my baby back.’
‘Out of the question.’
Incensed, she banged the table and knocked over the glass of water which spilled onto her lap. Leon produced a handkerchief but she refused it, too caught up in her bid for her child to care that her dress was wet through.
‘If you’re a father,’ she said, hoarse with emotion, ‘then think how you’d feel if your child was taken from you.’
Astonishingly, his gaze became cynical, as if that wouldn’t be hard to bear. He has no heart, she thought bleakly. Her beloved baby wasn’t even wanted. How could he feel like that? The only Greek in the world who didn’t like children and he had to snatch her baby.
‘It’s happening all the time,’ he observed obliquely. ‘People split up, children end up with one of the parents—’
‘But I’m the remaining parent,’ she pointed out, barely clinging to sanity. Why couldn’t he understand what Lexi meant to her? She had no one else in the world. ‘You have no right to abduct my child. I could have you arrested.’
‘That would be extremely unwise,’ he said with quiet menace.
She tensed in alarm. ‘Why?’
‘It wouldn’t get your child back.’
‘Maybe not,’ she muttered bitterly, giving her wet dress a shake, ‘but it would bring a big grin to my face and play merry hell with your social life.’
His breath hissed in and he fixed her with eyes as cold as charity. ‘You’d do that to score points off me?’ he enquired softly.
Her desolation intensified. Of course not. She’d gain nothing—other than a useless, petty satisfaction—by giving Leon grief. And she’d ruin her chances of finding Lexi.
Her chest seemed to tighten with despair. ‘I’d do anything, anything to get my own child back where she rightfully belongs,’ she declared jerkily.
There was a lift of a black-winged eyebrow. ‘You’re at a slight disadvantage being in prison,’ he observed.
She flushed, a hectic colour burning two scarlet spots on her pale, bony cheeks.
‘Have you no heart? No soul? She should be with me—’
‘Alexandra might be legally yours but that’s as far as it goes,’ he said sternly. ‘You just aren’t fit to be her mother.’
‘That’s not fair,’ she seethed, outraged at the slur.
‘Fair? You dare to speak of fairness?’ he rasped, his voice shaking with barely contained fury as he struggled to keep the volume down. ‘How can you sit there claiming to be as innocent as a Madonna? You systematically defrauded members of my family and our lifelong friends and business acquaintances, and left them penniless,’ he hissed.
His big fists clenched on the table and she stared at them, suddenly frightened of his intense passion.
‘But that’s the point—I didn’t,’ she protested, her voice wobbling alarmingly. ‘It…it wasn’t me—’
‘You disgust me!’ he scathed. ‘Have you any idea of the consequences of your crime in our close-knit society? Our family bank here in London was seen as the safest place this side of Fort Knox. People relied on us. Trusted us. No wonder Taki got drunk! His own wife had destroyed his family business, his family honour and innocent lives. He’d lost his job and his own honour—’
‘Honour!’ she choked.
‘Yes! Ever heard of the word?’ he taunted.
‘You hypocrite!’ she said breathily, forgetting Taki’s dishonesty and attacking Leon’s instead. ‘How can you sit there and talk of honour when you forgot to mention your engagement to another woman while we were together?’
That went home. He recoiled as if she’d slapped him, his skin suddenly taut and sickly pale.
‘That was a matter of honour—’
‘Yes, I know. Honouring some long-standing family arrangement,’ she said scornfully. ‘You used me for sex—and you talk of honour.’
‘Don’t try to wriggle out of this,’ Leon retorted, white-lipped. ‘The truth is that Taki was appalled at what you’d done. And he got so paralytic that some bastard mugged him and left him to die in the gutter. Your actions caused his death.’
Frozen in horror at Leon’s twisted interpretation of the facts, she tried to speak. But his accusation had stunned her with its cruelty and all she could do was to slur helplessly, ‘It’s a lie! I’m…I’m…’
‘Guilty on all counts,’ Leon finished in disgust. ‘Now, I hope you understand that I feel I owe you no sympathy. My family means everything to me and you ripped it apart with your evil scheming. You destroyed my only brother—’
‘No—’
‘Are you denying,’ he went on relentlessly, ‘that you cold-bloodedly married him out of petty revenge—?’
‘I loved him—’
‘Liar! He said you’d asked for a divorce.’
Emma bit her lip hard. She hadn’t wanted to split her family up. But she’d had no choice. Leon knew nothing of the agonising that had gone before her painful decision.
‘Y-yes, but—’
‘Don’t bother to find excuses,’ Leon said, growling. ‘Taki had served his purpose. You’d seen a way to make me pay for marrying Marina and you took it. Well, congratulations. You succeeded in making my life hell.’ His eyes glittered. ‘Forgive me,’ he ground out through his teeth, ‘if I return the compliment.’
She gave a low moan and buried her face in her hands, all hope virtually abandoned. His Greek heritage made him proud and hot-blooded and deeply devoted to his family. In his eyes, she’d harmed that family. And so he wanted to destroy her. And how better than to take away the baby she adored?
Panic and despair filled her head as defeat stared back at her. But she knew she had to rouse herself and make one last attempt to convince Leon that he’d jumped to all the wrong conclusions.
‘You must listen to me,’ she begged. ‘You’ve got it all wrong. I’ve done nothing to be ashamed of. I’m truly innocent—’
‘Sure. You, and everyone in here,’ he mocked.
‘No, I am—’
‘You knew what was happening,’ he said snarling. ‘You were the financial director—’
‘That’s the point, I wasn’t, it was in name only I swear—’
‘Stop it!’ he snapped furiously. ‘You’ve perjured yourself enough.’
‘Leon,’ she mumbled, ‘you’re not giving me a chance—’
‘Did you give Taki a chance? Or those people who are now living on pittances instead of healthy pensions? My family will have to pull out all the stops to ensure they don’t suffer, thanks to you. It could take us years.’
It was hopeless. He was implacable. ‘How can we have become such enemies?’ she asked miserably. ‘Once…’
The rest of her words died in her throat. His eyes blazed with such an intense hatred that every muscle in her body turned to water, her hands feebly clawing at the table for support as she struggled to stay in her seat and not slide to the floor in a boneless heap.
Leon’s face suddenly loomed close to hers and she found herself pinned in place by the anguish that ripped at his face.
‘Once! Once we were lovers,’ he said in a terrible, raw whisper. ‘My passion matched yours, my hands caressed your body. My lips knew yours, our bodies pulsed together—’
‘Leon—’ she said, breathily brokenly, unable to bear any more.
He touched her face, his fingers trembling with a barely contained passion. She assumed it to be a shuddering anger and shrank back in distress.
Leon’s nostrils flared. ‘I’d never have come within a mile of you if I’d realised the depths of your viciousness—that you could blame Taki for the fraud.’
‘It was him,’ she insisted hopelessly.
‘Pity the jury didn’t agree with you,’ he countered.
There was a sudden silence between them. They were at deadlock. Emma gave up. Her late husband’s betrayal was no longer important.
Alexandra’s future was. The next few moments could affect her child’s life for ever. Sick and weak, she rallied the last drop of energy in her body.
‘Shun me,’ she declared, her voice shaking with emotion. ‘Hate me, think what you like. Forget I ever lived if that pleases you.’ Panic rose within her like an uncontrollable flood and she raised a tearful face in one last passionate plea. ‘But let me have the child I love.’
‘Not in a million years,’ he replied coldly. ‘I won’t let Taki’s daughter be brought up in an English prison by a callous, cold-blooded female. She’s out of your reach now…not even in this country.’
Abruptly he rose to go. Emma couldn’t speak, could barely think for shock. Her beloved Lexi was in Greece! A cracked sound filtered through her trembling lips as the reality hit her like a stone. Her mouth quivered as a terrible emptiness enveloped her. She hadn’t a hope of getting her baby back.
The nausea rose to her throat and sweat beaded her forehead. Hardly aware of her surroundings, she struggled for control, afraid that she’d be sick, then and there.
‘You’re…a monster!’ she whispered in horror.
‘Am I?’ he said curtly. ‘And what kind of mother are you? Did you once think of Lexi while you were plotting your criminal activities? Did you ever wonder what would happen to her if your fraud was discovered? Were you so wrapped up in your own selfish need for vengeance that it didn’t matter what happened to any of the people who had the misfortune to be involved in your life?’
Emma gazed at him tearfully. ‘But…I love her,’ she mumbled.
‘And I have her best interests at heart,’ he countered grimly. ‘She will remain with me. I came to put your mind at rest. Lexi is safe and content and will be well cared for. She will be taught to be honourable, well-mannered and honest.’
It sounded so dutiful. So utterly empty of warmth and affection. This was her baby he was talking about! A child who needed cuddles and affection, a mother’s love… ‘Is that all?’ she said jerkily.
‘More than you would have provided,’ he said coldly.
‘Leon!’ she said choking, tears spilling unchecked down her unhappy face as she was forced to accept the unthinkable.
There would be another woman mothering her baby, someone else reading bedtime stories, comforting Lexi, watching her grow up…snuggling into that baby-scented skin…
She gave a shuddering moan. ‘Oh, Leon, what about love?’
He had half-turned to leave. Taut in every line of his body, he jerked his head around and looked her full in the eyes. Now she was sure of his unhappiness, of some deep pain he suffered.
Her limpid gaze pleaded with him for compassion and understanding. The silence and the tension between them intensified and she knew they were both thinking of the past when they had been wildly happy together and without a care in the world.
‘Love,’ he rasped with a glacial contempt, ‘is a fool’s illusion.’
CHAPTER ONE
SECURE within the walled grounds of Leon’s country mansion, the two-and-a-half-year-old Alexandra slept contentedly in Leon’s arms while he laid plans for her to inherit his domain. When, he reminded himself grimly, he’d dealt with the problem of his ex-wife and her child.
He returned to more pleasant thoughts, planning for the day when he’d tell Lexi how his family had been rewarded with land for outstanding bravery. Like his father before him, he’d show his niece the hill where a lookout had spotted the Saracen pirates who’d roamed the seas of Greece in the sixteenth century, and who’d threatened to capture the entire island of Zakynthos.
And they’d walk from the beach where Kyriakis ships had set out for the decisive battle, to the shady, vine-covered terrace where he now sat. There, he would tell her, in his late father’s words, that the land would be hers, all the way from the coast, across the fertile plain and to the hills beyond.
She murmured in her sleep and burrowed deeper, her wilful little face soft with dreams. Smiling down at her, he stroked the silky blonde curls and had a sudden, sharply painful recollection of caressing Emma’s shining hair long, long in the past.
The rosy image was brutally replaced by Emma’s shocking appearance more than two years ago, when he’d confronted her in that unspeakable prison. He shifted, uncomfortable with the memory. In a moment of weakness he’d almost given in to her, his intentions shaken by Emma’s distress and her alarming physical deterioration.
But she had shown no penitence and he couldn’t ignore the facts. Lexi’s moral welfare had been threatened. It had been his duty to protect his brother’s child in accordance with his promise to his ailing father.
He looked down as Lexi stirred, her eyes opening to show the same cerulean blue as those of her mother. He smiled fondly. Reluctant to take on another child, he’d nevertheless been enchanted by her.
‘Mama,’ she whimpered, her face crumpling in bewilderment.
He winced as if from a body blow. ‘It’s OK. I’m here, sweet pea,’ he said softly, holding the tiny body close.
He knew she wasn’t properly awake and was likely to sleep for another twenty minutes or so. She was dreaming. At her tender age she couldn’t have any memory of a mother who’d last held her when she was still a baby. Could she?
Alexandra curled up grumpily and her eyes closed again, soothed by his stroking hands. But Leon felt disturbed and unsettled.
When she seemed to be safely asleep again he headed for his study where he placed her carefully on a wide sofa at the far end of the room, protecting her with a barricade of pillows.
The house slumbered, silent and hushed. Marina, who was sharing the big house with him still, insisted everyone took a siesta after lunch and he’d often had cause to be grateful for the respite it afforded him.
Frowning hard, he strode up and down, thinking. The moment he’d dreaded was almost upon him. Lexi would soon ask questions about her mother. He needed to know what to say. Or…what to show her.
His eyes slewed to the locked drawer in his desk. Something other than his own will compelled him to stride over and slip the key in the l
ock. His fingers shook with impatience. Nothing could stop him now, not even the need to protect his own bruised heart.
With his pulses pounding loudly in his ears, he removed the home video from the drawer and slotted it into the machine. After a quick glance at the sleeping Lexi, he pulled up a leather armchair and focussed tensely on the unfolding pictures.
A slow hiss escaped his lips. He’d forgotten how beautiful Emma had been when they’d gone out together. She’d been twenty, studying economics on day-release at the college where he was taking a postgraduate course.
Her sense of fun and joie de vivre lit the screen and Leon found himself on the edge of his seat watching avidly as her supple and voluptuous body dipped and swayed in a laughing parody of a belly dancer. Sex oozed from every pore of her body, heating him, tugging at his loins.
Giggling, she ruined the profoundly erotic effect by whooping and turning a series of exuberant cartwheels.
‘Mama!’
‘Lex!’
Leon jerked around, poleaxed. Alexandra was sitting up and staring wide-eyed at the screen. His heart pounded hard as the hairs stood up on the back of his neck. She didn’t know what she was saying.
Cursing himself for being careless, he hit the off button. Lexi scrambled over the cushions and ran to him. Before he knew what she was doing she had reached across his knee and switched the video on again.
‘Mama,’ she said in firm defiance when he snapped it off for the second time.
He stopped breathing. It was a coincidence. She was copying Marina’s child who was always yelling for her mother. Only the other day Lexi had called his ex-wife Mama and had been quickly corrected, only to repeat the word again and again until the edgy Marina had screamed in exasperation.
He smiled wryly, remembering how secretly amused he’d been by his bolshie little niece. Lexi was strong-willed; as stubborn and as determined as any Kyriakis male.
