“You’re making me hungry for my own baby, Ari. Do you know that?”
Dominique blew on his tummy. It made him smile. He even laughed once.
It hurt her to think about his mother. Olympia had problems. If she didn’t get some professional help to deal with her obsession with Andreas she was going to get worse. Ari shouldn’t have to grow up with a mom that troubled.
She obviously kept a neat, lovely home. The baby looked perfect. Olympia was a beautiful woman. An outsider looking in would see nothing wrong with this picture.
Andreas certainly couldn’t.
He was so used to standing in for her the way a brother would he thought nothing of leaving work to come and help her out. This couldn’t go on. Dominique refused to allow it—otherwise their marriage would be destroyed.
The day wore on, but there was no word from Olympia yet. Dominique warmed another bottle and began feeding it to Ari. While she was burping him she heard the bell ring.
With Ari slumped against her shoulder she walked to the front door and looked through the peephole. Her heart raced at discovering Andreas standing there.
“Who is it?” she called out deliberately.
“Your lord and master.”
“Are you sure? Mine’s supposed to be at work.”
“He got off early.”
“How come?”
“Because he wanted to be with his wife.”
“Well, in that case—”
She opened the door. He swept in and embraced them both. When Ari saw who it was, his precious face beamed and he reached for him.
Dominique did a fake pout. “I’m jealous. Here I’ve tended him all afternoon, and he wants you.”
Andreas kissed his cheeks. “We’re buddies—aren’t we, Ari?”
“I love him. He makes me want a baby of our own so badly I can hardly stand it.”
“As soon as Olympia gets back we’ll go home and I’ll try my best to accommodate your wishes. According to my calculations, you should be ovulating right now.”
“I hope I am.”
“What else have you been doing this afternoon?”
“Studying. But I didn’t get a lot done once he woke up.”
“Let’s take a look at your homework.”
They walked into the kitchen. She held her breath while he examined the material in her notebook.
When he lifted his head, his eyes were gleaming. “Not one mistake. I’m very impressed, agape mou.”
“Well, I did live here for four months.”
One dark brow dipped. “I’ve known Americans who’ve lived here for years. They may be fluent, but they can’t write our language.”
He always made her feel good. “How did your meeting go?”
She noticed the triumphant glint in his eye. “Very well.”
“Good. That means you’ll be able to keep a roof over our heads for one more day anyway.”
At her comment they both laughed. That was how Olympia found them when she walked in the kitchen.
“Olympia—” Dominique said. “How’s your aunt?”
The other woman’s eyes had centered on Andreas, even though Ari was trying to reach for his mother.
“She has pleurisy, but the doctor says she’s going to be all right. I told her to go lie down.”
“I’m glad it’s nothing too serious,” Andreas murmured.
Dominique eased the baby into his mother’s arms. “My grandmother once had the same thing. It’s very painful, but if your aunt’s careful she’ll recover.”
“I hope Ari didn’t cry the whole time,” she said, without acknowledging Dominique’s remarks.
“No. He fussed a little when he first saw me, but everything was perfect after that. He’s had two bottles.”
“Thank you.”
“I was happy to watch him. He’s so good I can tell you’re a wonderful mother.”
“You are, Olympia,” Andreas concurred. “You manage better than most women with husbands.”
Though Andreas had meant well, Dominique could imagine how Olympia cringed inwardly at that remark. “Excuse me and I’ll get my things out of the kitchen.” She left them standing there to talk.
In two seconds she was back, and waited for him at the front door. Something drastic needed to happen for the situation to change, but at the moment Dominique was out of ideas.
Another minute and they’d left for the penthouse in the limo. He squeezed her hand. “Shall we order from the deli and eat dinner in bed?”
“That sounds divine.”
He pulled her against him and kissed her throat. “You were wonderful to tend Ari like that today. I realize Olympia’s not demonstrative, but I know she appreciated it.”
“She thanked me. But let’s face it, Andreas. Now that her aunt is getting ill more frequently she can’t expect you or Paul to solve her problems.”
“I don’t intend to. I’m thinking of hiring a permanent nanny to help her.”
“Do you think that’s wise?” she asked, before she could stop herself.
“What do you mean?”
She averted her eyes. “Can’t you see she’s becoming more and more dependent on you? Every time you do something for her, she’ll turn to you the next time she needs something else. That’s how people are. If Olympia is going to make it in this world, she has to work through her problems by herself until she becomes strong.”
“She doesn’t have your inner strength, Dominique.”
“Andreas—as long as someone has always been there to make certain she got picked up the second she stumbled, she hasn’t had an opportunity to find out what she’s capable of on her own.”
“But with a sick aunt and a new baby on her hands, she needs help.”
Paul had been right. Olympia had played the victim so long Andreas wasn’t aware how deeply he’d bought into it.
She didn’t bring up the subject of Olympia again until later, after they’d eaten souvlaki and cheesecake in bed. Once the news on the TV was over, there wasn’t anything Andreas wanted to watch. He turned it off and removed their trays.
Then he flashed her a smile that turned her heart over. “We don’t want any accidents like we had last time.”
She chuckled. “No, we don’t.”
“I’ve been looking forward to this moment since you deserted me at the office,” he said, climbing under the covers. He rubbed his hand up and down her arm as a prelude to making love.
Normally she would have reached for him, but she’d made up her mind they had to talk about Olympia. This situation with her couldn’t go on another day. Discussing everything with Paul had given her courage.
“Darling?”
“Hmm?”
“Can we talk for a minute?”
“Of course.” He rolled on his side next to her and propped his head in his hand. “I can tell something important is on your mind.” His other hand continued to caress her arm and shoulder.
“I want to tell you about the conversation Paul and I had today.”
“Sounds like it was a long one.”
“Not really. Do you remember how you and I promised there would be no more secrets between us?”
“What do you think?”
“I mean not any?”
He stopped the motion of his hand and simply rested it on the inside of her elbow. “This sounds serious.”
“It is. Very. I believe our marriage is doomed if we don’t address a certain issue right away.”
He made a protesting sound in his throat.
“I realize you don’t want to talk about this, but we have to.”
“For the love of heaven, Dominique—just say what you have to say.” In the next breath he’d levered himself from the bed and had shrugged into his bathrobe, which had been lying over the footboard.
“It isn’t that easy. You’re already defensive and I haven’t even told you anything yet.”
“Except that our marriage is doomed,” he lashed out emotionally.
He sucked in his breath. “I’m listening.”
“Olympia’s in love with you.”
“We’ve already had this discussion.”
“Paul believes she was lying about the rape. I tend to agree with him.”
“Give me one compelling reason why you believe it too.”
“Because you’ve been her obsession for years. It’s something she’ll never get over without professional help.”
“You and Paul think she needs a psychiatrist?”
“Yes.”
He bit out an epithet.
“Darling— I don’t know if you can, but I wish you could step back for one minute and look at what happened today objectively. A young, beautiful, divorcee mother, who isn’t your wife or a family member, called you at your office. You’re an important businessman who’s attempting to reconcile with your wife. She knows all this, yet she actually asked you to drop everything to come to her rescue. She didn’t go through your wife. She didn’t even try.”
Dominique couldn’t tell if he’d already closed off, but she had to try to get through to him.
“I want you to think of all the married men who were at our party the other night. How many of them have young, beautiful, divorcee mothers phoning them during critical business transactions and expecting them to do their bidding, with their wives not knowing anything about it?”
He shook his head. “I can’t be objective about it, Dominique. She’s a family friend.”
“One you’ve elevated to the status of sister. But that isn’t enough for her, because she wants to be your wife! Since that’s an impossibility, she’s out to sabotage any relationship to keep you in her life. She got rid of Theo, and she almost got rid of me. But I came back to Greece to fight for my marriage, so she’s applying new tactics.”
“Give me an example.”
“All right. First I’d like to know something—did you include her aunt in your invitation when you told her the yacht and the villa at Zakynthos were at her disposal?”
“Of course.”
“Then how come Mrs. Costas wasn’t there when I went aboard?”
“Olympia told me she’d decided to stay with her nephew.”
“Her aunt has a nephew?”
“Yes. He’s married with children.”
“That’s news to me. Where does he live?”
“In Athens.”
“Then it’s very interesting that Olympia should call you to help her with her aunt when there’s a nephew nearby.”
“He’s rarely available.”
“How do you know? Have you talked to him personally?”
The silence from her husband was illuminating.
“Tell me something else. How long was her vacation supposed to be?”
His breathing sounded labored. “Until the end of September.”
“So how come she came back this last weekend?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did you promise to take your vacation with her?”
He impaled her with a piercing gaze. “You know I didn’t. I only flew out there for a few days, to make sure everything was running smoothly.”
“Yet, according to you, her vacation isn’t supposed to be over for three weeks. Don’t you find it odd that she should cut it short by twenty-one days and then call me the second she returned to Athens on Friday, wanting to go shopping?”
“She and Maris used to love it.”
“Doesn’t she have any friends her own age?”
“Of course.”
“If she’s lived here all her life, how come I’m the only person she could think of to spend an afternoon with?”
For once he had no response.
“She knew you and I had been separated for a year, that we craved private time together. What kind of a family friend intrudes on something so personal with total disregard for our feelings? For that matter, what kind of family friend would show up every weekend of our honeymoon on the yacht? Or did you invite her and never tell me?”
Again, silence.
“Most grooms I know don’t want to see any family members or old friends on their honeymoon. Would Maris have intruded? I hardly think so. Andreas—I’m not saying these things to be mean or cruel. All I want you to do is think about her behavior. If you go on letting her be the third party in our marriage, it won’t work. A man and wife are supposed to cleave to each other. There’s no room in there for anyone else.
“Though I’d hoped never to have to tell you this, Olympia was extremely insensitive to me when we met. She put unkind words in Theo’s mouth, insinuating that you were courageous to marry me, that most men would have a problem with a woman like me.”
“She actually said those things to you?” Andreas demanded harshly.
“Yes. Those things and much more. Little insidious comments about me being too young and unsophisticated for you. She never talked to me if it wasn’t something to do with my cancer. Was I feeling all right today? Did I think I could handle marriage considering I might have to face another mastectomy down the road? Was it really fair to marry you knowing there would be a death sentence hanging over our marriage?”
He swore savagely. Maybe she was reaching him after all.
“I’ve never known a really mean-spirited person before. I assumed it had to be her extreme jealousy that brought out the worst in her. But I never imagined she’d go so far as to turn Theo against you. Didn’t you ever wonder why he became so upset he felt driven to shame you in court? You were business friends. I found his actions totally out of character. Because Olympia lived with him, I believe she played a major role in that.
“She knew what she was doing when she swore you to secrecy about the rape. It bound you to her in a new way that gave her power. It’s my opinion she’ll continue to work on you unless you put a stop to it. You’re the only one who can.
“I’ve only been in Greece a week, and already she has infiltrated our family dinner and called you at your office, begging for help. What’s next, Andreas? A phone call in the middle of the night because she wants you to come over and see what’s wrong with Ari?
“All she has to do is ask, and you come running. It’s because for years and years you’ve been programmed to respond that way, and she knows it. Only she’s not a teenager anymore. Her ploys are growing more desperate. If you can’t see that every time she calls, it’s an excuse to be with you, then what hope do we have?” she cried. “I don’t ever want to leave you, but I’ll have to if something doesn’t change.”
His mouth had gone white around the edges.
“You know how much I love you, Andreas. I came back to fight for you—for us. But she’s always there, right in the middle. We can’t possibly think about making future plans or having a baby under these circumstances.”
She’d promised herself she wouldn’t break down, but the tears fell anyway.
“Dominique—”
She heard his unspoken entreaty. For once she couldn’t respond to it.
“If you don’t mind, I’d prefer we don’t make love for a while. I could be ovulating. Even with protection, mistakes happen. As I said before, our marriage needs to be on firm ground if we’re going to become parents. Until Olympia is out of our lives, it’s never going to happen.”
Dominique had delivered her ultimatum. But she was counting on him to grab her and assure her she would never have to worry about Olympia again.
To her horror, seconds turned into minutes. Then he disappeared from the bedroom.
Another nightmare had begun—much worse than before.
“Paul?”
“Andreas—”
“Are you alone?”
“No. Give me five minutes and I’ll call you back.”
If he was with a woman, Andreas hated interrupting him, but this was one night he had to have answers.
Just now Dominique had man
aged to paint a picture he could never have imagined. It had shaken him to the foundations. Certain beliefs he’d held as core truths all his life were on the verge of disintegrating.
Not only his best friend, but the woman he loved more than life, were convinced Olympia had a dark side. As dark as the night surrounding him.
The second his cellphone rang, he answered it.
“I’m free now. Go ahead, Andreas.”
“I’m sorry to have disturbed you. Paul—I have so many questions to ask, I don’t know where to start first. So I’ll just bludgeon my way through. Earlier today Dominique told me she believed you were in love with Maris. Is that true?”
When he didn’t answer, it was all Andreas needed to know.
“How long were you in love with her?”
“Since high school,” his friend finally admitted.
His eyelids squeezed together. “Did you ever tell her how you felt?”
“No. I told Olympia, and asked her to put in a good word for me.”
Bile rose in his throat.
“What was the feedback?”
“She said it would be better if I didn’t know. It could hurt me.”
A groan escaped, rocking Andreas on his feet. “You’ve answered all my questions but one. When did you figure out Olympia?”
“Not until I happened to overhear her talking to Dominique, right before you got married. They were in the vestibule of the church and didn’t know I happened to be on the stairs. Olympia asked her how she would dare undress in front of you once you were married.”
Andreas felt a stabbing pain in his chest. “I don’t know what to say, Paul.”
“It’s too late for regrets. Because of Maris’s accident, I can’t believe we were destined to be together. But it’s not too late for you.”
“I’m going to catch Olympia in the act.”
“That shouldn’t be too difficult. She’s doesn’t have a clue you’ve finally caught on to her. Within the next few days she’ll drum up something new.”
“When she does, I’ll be waiting for her.”
“Have you told Dominique yet?”
“No. I’m not going to say anything until Olympia’s out of our lives for good. My wife has suffered long enough.”
“We’ve all suffered. Have you got a strategy?”
“Yes.”
Husband By Request Page 12
