Husband By Request

by Rebecca Winters

  Muttering a curse, he pressed a balled fist to his forehead. She stared at him, suddenly conscious of the towel still wrapped around her head. In a jerky motion she pulled it off.

  His glittering black eyes wandered to the damp hair she didn’t bother to rearrange. “Yet you decided you could believe every word Theo told you instead of coming to your own husband?” He was furious.

  She hunched her shoulders. “With Olympia and the baby on board, the Cygnus didn’t seem the place to have a private talk with you.”

  He swore again and paced restlessly about the patio. “Did he tell you Ari was my flesh and blood?”

  “As a matter of fact he didn’t.”

  Andreas halted and stared at her with a brooding gaze. “And you accepted that as the truth?”

  “Yes.”

  “But when I asked you to trust me you couldn’t do it.” His eyes had grown bleak as the dead of winter.

  Dominique just sat there and studied him helplessly. It had been a whole year, and she loved him so desperately. Yet here they were, almost at each other’s throats. A small sob escaped.

  She finally found her voice. “That was a long time ago.”

  He looked at her grimly. “So long, in fact, you appealed to him, not to me.”

  She heaved a sigh. Somehow this conversation had turned into a slanging match—the last thing she’d wanted to happen.

  “On the yacht you told me you never wanted to see me again.” She struggled for breath. “I went down the only avenue left open to me.”

  He let out a frustrated groan. It sent shivers across her skin because she didn’t know how to interpret it.

  “So now you assume you know the truth?” he bit out.

  She put a hand to her throat. “Please, Andreas—can we get off the subject of Theo for a minute? Th—There’s something I have to ask you.”

  His face closed up. “I already know what it is. You don’t have to beg me to pay for your medical expenses, Dominique. Don’t you realize I would never leave you destitute?”

  What was he talking about?

  “Admit that’s what you want spelled out in the divorce papers before signing them. What I don’t understand is why you didn’t tell me that last night. Paul could have redone them right there.”

  Her nails dug into the palms of her hands. “I’m not here because of unpaid medical bills! Where is this coming from, Andreas? My insurance has paid for everything and it always will.”

  A stillness swirled around him. “Then what have I missed?”

  “When Paul showed up at the consulate I realized you were ready to give me a divorce. D-Does that mean you’re going to marry Olympia?” she stammered.

  His jaw hardened. “If I tell you yes, does that mean I can expect to wait as long for my freedom as I forced you to wait for yours?”

  “That’s a cruel question to ask—” she cried.

  “You taught me the meaning of the word,” he answered with wilting contempt.

  “Andreas—” she tried appealing to him, but the look of savage anger on his face stopped her from saying anything else.

  One black brow lifted patronizingly. “Why all this sudden show of emotion? A year ago you left me without a backward glance.”

  Drawing on her dignity, she whispered, “Of course I would never stand in your way.”

  His mouth thinned into a taut line. “Then I’ll bring the papers out to you.” He started for the villa.

  “Wait—”

  Andreas turned back toward her. “What now?” he demanded in a fiery tone.

  “I’ll sign them, but I was hoping we could talk a little first.”

  “Isn’t that what we’ve been doing?” His callousness seared her like a blast of fire.

  “Please, Andreas—I came all this way to see you.”

  “Under the circumstances, one phone call would have sufficed.”

  His dismissive attitude shattered her, but she stood her ground. “Not when it’s something as important as our marriage.”

  “Important?” he mocked. “You dare use that word with me when you’ve spent a precious year we can’t get back demanding I give you a divorce?”

  “I know what I’ve done, but there were reasons. If you’d just hear me out, I would like—”

  “What is it you really want?” he cut her off brutally.

  This was it.

  She smoothed the hair away from her temples. “I’d like us to live together for a month to see if we can find our way back to each other again.”

  There was a long, sustained silence while he stared at her as if he couldn’t believe what he’d just heard. His black gaze probed every square inch of her flushed face and body until she quivered.

  “Obviously the idea is abhorrent to you,” she murmured in an aching voice.

  He swore softly, but that only made her more determined.

  “I don’t think thirty days out of a whole lifetime is too much to ask. If things don’t work out, we’ll have the rest of our lives to go our separate ways.”

  “Not if I make you pregnant.” He fired his answer back so fast, she was incredulous. “Are you afraid your cancer will come back before you can have a baby? Is that what this is all about? One more month to try to become a mother?”

  “Andreas—” She let out an agonized cry. “Of course not!”

  His sudden intake of breath sounded like ripping silk.

  “Even if that was what I wanted, I have no idea if I’m fertile. A twenty-five pound weight gain doesn’t necessarily ensure results—not after my bout with cancer.”

  He raked a hand through his black hair, disheveling it. “The trust is gone on both sides, Dominique.”

  Her eyes stung with unshed tears. “That’s why I want to try again. We could pretend we have no history and it’s the first time for both of us.”

  “You mean wash the slate clean?” he insinuated, with a raw cynicism that tore up her insides.

  “Yes.”

  “That’s not possible.”

  She raised her chin defiantly. “I admit it would be a challenge, but I’ve never known you to back down from one.”

  There was an ominous gleam in his eyes. “When the water got too rough you ran away from our marriage,” he accused. “It’ll get rough again.”

  “You’re talking about Olympia?”

  The shutters flew down across his face. He didn’t bother to deny it. Another devastating blow. But she refused to let him know how deeply the knowledge affected her.

  “I’ve always been aware of your feelings for her, and hers for you. She’s a permanent fixture in your life. The only thing I require is that you stay out of her bed for the next thirty days to see if we can rekindle the spark. But if that’s asking too much, then tell me now. I can’t clap with only one hand.”

  “Neither can I.”

  The implication jolted her. “What do you mean?”

  “In case you’ve forgotten, we had other issues during our brief marriage,” he informed her gravely. “I’m in the middle of some important negotiations that mean I have to do a lot of entertaining in Athens this month.”

  “In other words I would be an embarrassment to you, like I was before.”

  “Did I ever say that?”

  “You didn’t have to. Your late nights at the office, your long silences—they did it for you.”

  Andreas shot her a withering glance. “As I recall, you didn’t like living in Athens and preferred to stay on Zakynthos, out of sight, which made it more difficult for us to be together.”

  “That’s true. I didn’t want to be in the city, where I had to share my husband with a lot of other people. I was too madly in love to remember that you had an empire to run and money to earn in order to keep my fantasy alive. It was naïve of me, I know. The truth is, our honeymoon was so wonderful, I hoped it would go on forever.”

  “You think I didn’t?” he thundered emotionally.

  That was the question Dominique had come back to Gree
ce to ask. She took a fortifying breath.

  “You married a blushing, young, needy bride who selfishly thought only of her own pleasure. In that regard I’m afraid I followed the path of most twenty-two-year-old newlyweds.”

  His features hardened. “And now you’re at the ripe old age of twenty-three, which is entirely different?”

  The angry sarcasm pouring out of him would destroy her if she let it.

  “That’s for both of us to find out…if you’re willing. Do you need twenty-four hours to think about it?”

  A strange smile broke out on his lips, totally at odds with the glacial look in his eyes. “Giving yourself a loophole already?”

  With that question she realized she hadn’t made a dent in his armor. The damage had been too great. A year ago she’d left him to face his accuser alone. No doubt the media had pounced all over him like wolves, tearing him to pieces.

  “I don’t need one. Otherwise I would never have left Sarajevo to come and find you.”

  Dominique got to her feet, gazing boldly at him.

  “You’ve asked for a divorce. I’ll give it to you. Please tell your pilot to be here first thing in the morning. After I sign the papers, you have my promise I’ll be out of your life forever.”

  She felt his searching eyes on her bikini-clad body as she left the patio. Instead of darting away, as she would have done once, she walked with confidence, her shoulders back, secretly glad he was drinking his fill of her.

  At least when he sent her on her way tomorrow she’d have the satisfaction of knowing it was this image that would stay in his mind.

  She’d made it as far as the door of the blue bedroom when she heard him say, “You’ve gone to the wrong room.”

  Dominique hadn’t realized he’d followed her from the pool. She swung around in complete surprise.

  He stared at her through hooded eyes. “The master bedroom is at the other end of the hall.”

  The breath left her body with a whoosh.

  Unbelievably, he’d just announced that their thirty-day trial was going to start tonight.

  Her heart hammered so hard she feared it would resonate off the walls. Forcing herself to maintain an outward calm, she said, “I’ll get my things from the guest bedroom.”

  Andreas gave her an almost imperceptible nod. “While you do that I have some phone calls to make before joining you.”

  “I’ll see you in a few minutes, then,” she said in a husky voice.

  “Dominique—?”

  Just the way he said her name, in that vibrant male voice, made her tremble. “Yes?”

  He eyed her with brooding intensity. “I’m warning you—I don’t give us more than a day before everything falls apart.”

  The former insecure Dominique would have risen to the bait right then, proving his point.

  “To be honest, Andreas, I thought you would have thrown me off the island by now.”

  She watched his teeth grind together as he disappeared to the other part of the villa.

  The only reason he’d agreed to her request was because he was convinced it was too late for them. In his mind he wouldn’t have to put up with her much longer.

  But for Dominique his capitulation had moved the first giant impediment from her path. Gratified by this much progress, she rushed around the bedroom to gather up her things, euphoric he’d agreed to the temporary arrangement, yet terrified it might all blow up in her face tomorrow, just as he’d prophesied.

  But she wasn’t too terrified to be feverish with excitement for the night ahead. Without wasting any time, she hurried down the hall to the spacious white master bedroom, with its splashes of yellow, blue and red color. She particularly loved the arched windows that looked out over the ocean.

  It had been a long time since she’d walked across these tiles and inhaled the scent of jasmine coming from outside while she anticipated hours of ecstasy in his strong arms.

  Before she did anything else she headed for the shower in the en suite bathroom to wash her hair. After she’d given it a good lather, and rinsed off, she opted for a towel rather than the blowdryer. Once she’d brushed the gleaming strands into a semblance of order, she entered the bedroom.

  Many nights in this room she’d known her husband’s possession, but this night was going to be different from all the others.

  She reached for her purse. Inside was her diamond wedding ring. She put it on her ring finger, not having worn it since she’d left Greece. All this time she’d felt naked without it.

  Purposely leaving a lamp on, she slid beneath the covers without the benefit of a nightgown. In the whole of their marriage she’d never gone to bed without wearing modest nightwear, cut high around the neck. For that matter she’d never worn a bathing suit without a T-shirt.

  She’d always insisted that the lights be turned off. If he couldn’t see the scar, then she couldn’t see it in her mind’s eye either. Under the cover of darkness she could pretend she was desirable to her husband.

  Andreas had always been understanding and tender with her. He’d never forced her to do anything that made her uncomfortable. But on their wedding night, when his lips had kissed her scar, she had asked him never to do it again. He’d respected her wishes.

  Before the wedding Olympia had related what Theo had supposedly told her, that he found Andreas very courageous for marrying Dominique. The implication being that she was a woman whose thin body didn’t have all its parts, thereby detracting from the age-old ritual.

  After her meeting with Theo today she knew Olympia had lied, and understood the reasons why. But a year ago that remark had wormed its way into Dominique’s troubled psyche. It had destroyed her underpinnings to the degree that she’d never taken the initiative in making love with Andreas. He’d always been the one to turn to her. He’d been the one who did all the talking.

  That way Dominique had been able to convince herself that when he reached for her it was because he wanted her. Later, when he’d fallen asleep, she would lie there in the dark with hot, silent tears trickling onto her pillow, fearing he’d made love to her out of pity.

  When she’d left Andreas, it had taken months of psychiatric therapy in New York for Dominique to understand her feelings of inadequacy, to comprehend why she’d run away from her husband. Through those tough sessions she’d learned why she’d bought into Olympia’s and anyone else’s comments, which at times could have been construed as insensitive, even cruel.

  Once she’d faced her demons, Dominique had undergone a dramatic emotional healing, allowing her to make choices that were right for her.

  One of them had been to treat herself as the attractive woman she’d been before she’d ever been diagnosed with cancer, rather than resign herself to being a withered shadow of her former self.

  Another choice had been reconstructive surgery, a decision that had indicated she was in good mental health, in charge of own happiness, because no one else could choose that for her but herself.

  Understanding that principle had made her free. She no longer feared being cut and probed again. It was a necessary step in the process of achieving total emotional and psychological recovery. The result was that, whether she and Andreas ended up together or not, now she felt whole and feminine.

  If her cancer came back, and she had to have the other breast removed, so be it. Never again would she allow herself, events, or other people, to sabotage her self-image.

  For the first time in their lives she was unafraid to be with Andreas. No more inhibitions. She was eager to meet him head on, whether it be in love, war, or everything else in between.

  A vital issue was at stake here. If he’d been unfaithful to her in his heart, then she needed to hear those words from his lips before she decided on her next course of action.

  But first she had to find a way to regain his trust so he would confide in her. Until that happened, their marriage didn’t have a prayer of making it.

  She turned on her side as if she were facing Andreas
, and waited for him to come to her.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  ANDREAS finished doing laps in the pool before he levered himself to the patio and phoned Olympia.

  “I’ve been waiting to hear from you. Did you catch up with Dominique?”

  As concerned and understanding as Olympia had always been, he didn’t like discussing Dominique with her.

  “Yes.”

  “I assume you worked everything out and she’s on her way back to Bosnia?”

  Your assumption’s wrong.

  All their theories of Dominique wanting money had to be tossed because of Dominique’s request. It had blown him away.

  Before he joined his estranged wife in the bed she hadn’t slept in for more months than he cared to remember, Andreas had needed a workout in the pool to get his head on straight.

  He sleeked back his wet hair. “Olympia—”

  “When you say my name that way, I know something’s wrong. What is it?”

  “I won’t be able to spend any time with you and Ari for a while. But the yacht is yours to enjoy for as long as you wish. Feel free to come to the villa on Zakynthos. Check with Paul if you need anything.”

  “That’s very generous of you, Andreas. I assume a business problem has come up you have to deal with?”

  “No. This is personal.”

  “I see. How long do you think it will be before we can spend some time together, then?”

  “I’m not sure. Possibly next month.”

  “Next month? What’s happened?”

  Dominique had come back into his life. That was what had happened.

  “I’m going to try to salvage my marriage.”

  After a pregnant pause, “Is she ill again? Needing your support?”

  His brows furrowed in irritation. “If she is, I’ll deal with it.”

  “I hate to think of you getting hurt a second time.”

  He grimaced. “Let me worry about that.”

  “Ari’s going to miss you.”

  “I’ll make time to see him. Goodnight, Olympia.”

  He pulled on his trousers before gathering the rest of his clothes to walk through the house to the bedroom.

  Nothing could have astonished him more than to discover Dominique lying in bed wide awake with the side lamp turned on. From what he could tell, she wasn’t wearing anything but the covers and the wedding ring he’d given her.