“Yes—” she blurted. “You don’t know how much I wanted to take those words to heart, but my fears got in the way. That seems such a long time ago. I can hardly relate to the person who ran away at your trial. You have to forgive me for not believing in you, Andreas.”
Suddenly lines marred his attractive face. He grasped her hand in a tight grip.
“If you couldn’t trust me, it was my fault,” he bit out. “I take full responsibility for what happened in those days leading up to the trial. Come on. Let’s go in the other room. There’s something I have to tell you that can’t wait any longer.”
Dominique held her breath all the way to the living room.
“This is going to take some time.” He urged her to sit down while he remained standing. Whatever was on his mind caused him to pace. This was one time she had to be patient.
“During the time leading up to the trial Olympia swore me to secrecy about something vital. Because it was the pivotal reason Theo brought the adultery case against us, I couldn’t tell you everything. No doubt you picked up on it and jumped to the wrong conclusion. I realize now it was a mistake to keep anything from you, so I’m going to break my promise to her and tell you everything. I can’t go on letting you assume the blame for the breakdown in our marriage. If I’d been honest with you I have no doubt you would have stuck by me.”
Finally Dominique was going to get the answers to some questions that had been crucifying her over the last year. “I guess what I don’t understand is how she could expect you to keep a secret from your own wife.”
He came to a halt and stared down at her with tortured eyes. “Believe me, I didn’t like it. But at the time her reasons made sense to me.”
“I see.”
She swallowed hard. Olympia’s reasons always made sense, but when you took a step back and analyzed them, they were always self-serving for her.
“Our friendship goes back a long way.”
“Oh, I know that,” she assured him with a little groan. “I saw evidence of it in the videos. It was clear as glass she was infatuated with you from the time she was a girl. It’s also obvious she’ll be in love with you forever. I never saw anything like it.”
Her heart was pounding too fast to be good for her.
“Andreas? Were you truly oblivious to her infatuation with you? Or did you realize it and just ignore it, hoping it would go away?”
He rubbed the back of his neck in frustration. “I simply assumed she had a teenage crush that she would eventually outgrow when she started dating other men.”
“Did she ever date?”
“Of course.”
“Do you recall if she continued to date after Maris was killed?”
“I don’t know. I was too grief-stricken to notice much of anything during that period. When Theo fell for her, I was glad. He comes from a good Greek family and is a success in business. Her aunt approved of him. My parents thought he was the perfect person because he was a little older and could handle her strong-willed personality.
“Their marriage seemed to start out on a solid footing. But occasionally Olympia would hint that it was far from perfect. As more revelations unfolded, I grew alarmed. However, I didn’t realize how controlling and abusive he could be until after you and I returned to Athens from our honeymoon. Right away I started receiving calls from her. She was afraid of him.
“Usually she phoned me after my work day was over. She was always in tears. I knew she couldn’t talk to her aunt about Theo because Mrs. Costas thought he could do no wrong.”
“So being the good family friend you are, she chose to confide in you about her marriage?”
“Yes,” he muttered grimly.
“That’s the reason you started coming home late from the office?”
His hands formed fists at his side. “When I could see a pattern developing, I knew things had to change. I made arrangements for her to see a domestic violence attorney. She didn’t dare ask Theo for the money, so I told her I’d pay for it.”
“Then you really were convinced he was the one in the wrong?”
“It’s not that cut and dried, Dominique. You’ll understand why in a minute.”
“So, did she take your money and your advice?”
“No. She told me she had too much pride. Furthermore, that Theo would never forgive me if he found out I had helped her. After telling me she was sorry she’d bothered me and would find a way to handle her own problems, she hung up.”
“Until the next time?” Dominique couldn’t help murmuring.
He nodded. “She didn’t phone me for a few days. Then one afternoon, in the middle of an important meeting, I got a frantic phone call from her. She said she needed to see me right away, that it was a matter of life and death.”
Dominique’s eyes closed tightly. She struggled not to interrupt him.
“I excused myself long enough to go out in the hall, where I could be alone and hear her out. That’s when she broke down and told me she’d been raped earlier in the day by an unknown assailant.”
“Raped—”
A grimace darkened his features. “It took place in the garage where she’d parked to go to an early morning dentist appointment. When she came out after her checkup, a man dragged her into a corner and assaulted her.”
A shudder shook Dominique’s body. If it was true, she couldn’t imagine anything more terrifying.
“When she had recovered enough to get back in her car, she drove to Acropolis Hospital to report it and be examined. They said they would call her husband to come and get her, but she begged them not to.”
“Instead she called you?” Dominique whispered.
“Yes. We both know why. She was already frightened of Theo. She didn’t know how he would react. Frankly, neither did I. But I was in the middle of a business merger and couldn’t talk to her right then. So I made arrangements for her to be let into my flat. I told her to wait for me until I showed up. On my way over there later, I realized there was only one answer to her problem. She needed to get out of her marriage. Unfortunately she didn’t have a brother or a father to turn to.”
Dominique stared up at her husband. “She didn’t need either because she’d always had you.”
“I didn’t mind. She was like another sister. If the same thing had happened to Maris I would have moved heaven and earth to protect her from further harm.”
“I understand, darling.”
He took a labored breath. “When I got there, she was in bed, sobbing.
“Though the hospital had given her a sedative to calm her down, she was still terrified from her ordeal. We talked for a long time. She feared Theo would blame her for getting raped and go into a rage, so she wanted it kept absolutely quiet.
“During that conversation she made me swear I wouldn’t tell you, because she knew you and Theo were friends. If you’d found out about the rape, you might have said something to him that could jeopardize her plans to leave him.
“I knew you would never betray her if you were asked to keep her secret,” Andreas assured her. “But sometimes it’s hard not to give information away in other ways. In your case, your eyes are a barometer of your emotions. If Theo had detected undue concern for Olympia in any way, it might have been enough to set him off. As it was, you and I were having problems communicating. Therefore I thought it best to keep Olympia’s rape to myself.
“While we were discussing the best way for her to approach him for a divorce, he burst in the bedroom. To this day I don’t know how he managed to get in the flat, but his presence confirmed everything she’d told me about his being out of control.”
Too restless to sit, Dominique got to her feet. She hugged her arms to her body.
“Did the rape come up at the trial?”
“No.”
She wheeled around. “What?”
“Olympia was terrified Theo’s attorney would use it to work against her. Possibly paint her as a promiscuous woman. Though her character isn’t
anything like that, I was inclined to agree it should be kept secret.”
Dominique’s body bristled with anger and pain. “So you had to remain silent and take the brunt of Theo’s false adultery accusations during the trial?”
“It was all right. I could handle it because I knew the truth.” His dark gaze swerved to hers. “As long as I had you at my side, nothing else mattered.”
“But you didn’t have me!” she protested. “I ran out of the courthouse and deserted you.” Her breathing had grown shallow. “If I’d known the truth, I would never have left you!”
“Dominique—”
“No—” She spread her hands in despair. “I don’t blame you for anything. But it was wrong of Olympia to force you to keep a secret like that from me. I’m so sorry she was raped. I can’t imagine anything more horrible. But no matter how much pain she was in, she didn’t have the right to ask that of you.”
Heat scorched her cheeks. “Whether intentionally or not, Olympia relied on your goodness and years of constant friendship to manipulate you into a position that damaged what little communication you and I had going for us.” Her voice shook.
“Look, Andreas—I’ve made up my mind to be her friend because of her importance in your life. But what if she gets into another kind of trouble and relies on you to bail her out again? Are you going to fly to her defense without telling me? I can handle anything as long as there’s total honesty between us.”
He raked a hand through his hair. “I swear I’ll never hold anything back again.”
His admission didn’t make her feel any better. Not when she knew how Olympia operated.
“You say that now, and I believe you, but—”
“But nothing—” He cut her off before crushing her in his arms. “I’ll make you a promise that anything she has to say to me must be said in front of you too. No exceptions. Not ever again.”
Dominique clung to him, but her heart quaked because he didn’t realize how strong a psychological hold Olympia had on him.
By saying what he’d just said, he’d admitted there were going to be more times in the future when Olympia came to him because she was in trouble. Her need of him wouldn’t end.
He hadn’t seen what Dominique had seen on the films tonight. Olympia’s teenage crush had flowered into a womanly obsession. Knowing what Dominique knew now, since dinner, Paul’s blunt statement that he could never be interested in Olympia made perfect sense.
Twice since she’d come back to Greece he’d started to say something, then thought the better of it. She had an idea it all had to do with Olympia.
In her office in Sarajevo, when he’d told her Olympia was on board the yacht, she’d thought it had been Paul’s way of hurting her because she’d hurt Andreas, his closest friend. But what if it had been a warning?
“Dominique? You’re not saying anything. If I thought you didn’t believe me…”
Slowly she eased out of his arms. “Yes. Of course I do.” She lifted her eyes to his, determined to stay dry-eyed.
“Actually, my mind was on your sister. Tonight it was apparent to me from the videos that Paul and Maris had a strong attraction for each other. Every time the camera zoomed in on him he was staring at her, and she would respond with laughter and long yearning looks.”
He studied her face intently. “We all grew up together, but neither one of them ever discussed their feelings for each other with me. As we got older, they both dated other people.”
She smoothed a strand of hair off her face. “Don’t you find it odd that neither of them were married by the time Maris was involved in that accident?”
A frustrated sound came out of his throat. “Paul’s his own man. Most of our friends didn’t marry till their late twenties or early thirties. I never gave it any thought. As for Maris, I didn’t think any of the guys she met measured up to her.”
“Did you tell her that?”
“Only with a few of them. It’s a brother thing. I believed that one day the right man would come into her life and that would be it.”
“Something tells me Paul was that man.”
His eyes flashed in pain. “If that’s true, then I don’t know why in the hell he didn’t say something to me years ago!”
“Maybe he was afraid of your reaction. Perhaps he thought you might not approve.”
“That’s not possible. He’s the best man I know.”
“I’m afraid he may be the last person who knows it.”
He kneaded her shoulders urgently. “You’re serious?”
“Yes. Until recently I didn’t realize how really sweet and shy he is.”
“Paul?” Her husband was incredulous.
“Yes. He hides it behind a stony façade, but I saw through it when he was playing with Ari.”
“He doesn’t have any trouble finding women.”
“Except for the one he wanted,” she whispered.
Andreas groaned.
“Darling—do you remember when you entered the bedroom at the villa and teased him about having hidden talents?”
“What about it?”
“He was turned away from you so you couldn’t see him, but his face went red because you’d caught him in a tender moment, interacting with the baby. It was very revealing. I saw a whole new side to him I hadn’t realized was there. I bet he’s been silently grieving for Maris all this time and no one knew it. Tonight while we were watching the videos, I watched his face. His eyes were glued to Maris the entire time.”
“He should have told me,” Andreas muttered in a tortured voice.
“It was too long ago, and you couldn’t have done anything about it,” she said. “But maybe sometime you might ask him if it’s true. It’s possible he’ll unburden himself. I’m thinking it might be a relief to him. Like Olympia’s secret, that drove such a wedge between us, his secret may have deprived him of ultimate happiness with Maris. Tonight was good for your parents, but I got the feeling Paul left the penthouse with a heavy heart.”
He stared hard at her for a minute. “What else did my brilliant wife see tonight in those videos that I didn’t?”
“A handsome little boy who grew up into a gorgeous, vital man. One who I can’t believe saved himself for me,” she admitted in a tremulous voice.
Andreas lifted her face to him. “I love you, Dominique. You’re my very life. Come to bed with me. I want to show you over and over again what you mean to me. I need you, darling, now more than ever.”
How long had she waited to hear those words and know he really meant them…?
Monday morning, Dominique left her tutor’s office at the University of Athens with an armful of assignments. Next she took a taxi to Acropolis Hospital, where she arranged to meet with the head of volunteers to talk about her new project.
During a party on Saturday night, that she and Andreas had hosted for some prominent businessmen and their wives, he had surprised her by announcing that his wife was going to head a new cancer foundation center.
It had been his way of letting her know she could depend on his full support, even if it was still hard for him to deal head-on with the subject.
Nothing could have thrilled her more. Their marriage was going to work. She just knew it.
But there was one person she wanted to talk to.
Before she left the hospital, she phoned Paul and asked him to meet her for lunch. He must have sensed it was important, because he didn’t hesitate to join her at a little café near the hospital.
She got there first, and ordered juice while she waited for him. Always prompt, he approached her table before long and sat down to peruse the menu.
After the waiter came and they’d both ordered salad, he said, “Thank you for inviting me the other night. You’re an excellent cook.”
She smiled. “I don’t mind hearing that twice. But compliments weren’t the reason I wanted to see you.”
“I didn’t think so. What’s going on?”
“Paul—” She stared at
him. “Did you know Olympia was raped?”
The silence between them lasted a long time. Eventually he said, “I didn’t know about the rape until months after you’d gone back to Sarajevo.”
“So my husband kept it from you too?”
“I doubt he would ever have told me, but we had a fight over you and it finally came out.”
“You fought over me?”
“Yes. I told him he was a fool not to go after you and beg you to come back to him. He was bitterly angry at the time, and said that if you didn’t have enough faith in him and his love for you, then it was too late for your marriage.
“That’s when I told him that if I’d been in your shoes I would have done the same thing and left him too. One thing led to another. We traded verbal blows until he finally admitted that there were things I didn’t know—things he’d had to keep a secret from you. When he told me about the rape, I told him he was an idiot to have ever believed anything Olympia told him.”
Dominique blinked. “Then you don’t think she was really raped?”
“Do you?” he fired back.
“Frankly, no.”
“Then we’re in agreement. Think about it, Dominique. She swore him to secrecy, yet she never told Theo. She refused to let it come up at the trial. It was the perfect lie. She put Andreas in a box he couldn’t get out of, knowing it would impact heavily on you.”
“You’re right.”
“I asked Andreas if he’d checked with the hospital. He said he didn’t have to. Olympia would never make up a lie like that.”
“Oh, Paul.” She shook her head.
“When I could see that he was firmly entrenched in his belief, I realized there was nothing more I could do.”
She bit her lip. “You were trying to warn me about her before I boarded the yacht, weren’t you?”
He nodded.
“Those videos were a revelation, Paul. But I’m afraid my husband can’t see he’s her obsession.”
“I know he is,” Paul muttered. “She hates me because I’ve been on to her for a long time. She stays away from me as much as possible. When she realized you’d invited me for dinner, she must have been livid. It meant I’d be watching for any tricks she decided to pull.”
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