One-Click Buy: September Harlequin Presents

by Penny Jordan

She stopped breathing and started again painfully. His hand tightened on hers. Eventually she nodded. Something intense flashed across his face but then it was gone.

  ‘Kallie, I’ve been thinking. A lot. I suspect that your reaction in the restaurant came from what happened that night, too, that somehow the alcohol triggered it, especially after not drinking for so long…’

  How could he intuit what she’d only just figured out for herself? Her mouth opened. ‘The doctor…But how…?’

  ‘Because I know you now, Kallie.’ He gave a small smile. ‘I knew you then, too, and I think that’s why I was so shocked when you came on to me…’

  Her cheeks went hot with embarrassment. Her voice was strangled. ‘I was only seventeen…It was a crush, Alexandros. That’s all. No hidden agenda. I was the same person you knew.’ She shrugged, dying somewhere inside at having to explain herself. ‘I was just growing up and wanted you to see me…as a grown-up…’

  ‘Kallie, the last time we really would have talked was before my father died…you were fifteen. Can you see what it must have been like for me? To suddenly have you kiss me? Especially when I’d been so distracted, busy. We hadn’t seen each other in so long and…I just…I thought you had changed beyond all recognition.’

  He drew in a breath. ‘But I know you didn’t do it, Kallie. When I really thought about it and remembered your reaction that day…when I showed you the paper, it was the first you knew of it, wasn’t it?’

  She nodded vaguely, couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

  ‘And you got so upset when Thea told you what had happened afterwards. You said you hadn’t read the article. I just chose not to believe you. It was easier…’ Easier than facing uncomfortable feelings… But he couldn’t get into that yet, they still had more to discuss.

  ‘I think it’s time you told me what really happened.’

  Kallie took a deep breath and searched his eyes. They were so far off course from where she’d thought they were going that she felt disoriented. She felt the inevitability of the moment. Thea was right. No matter how or why she’d rationalised it to herself…she knew he wouldn’t do anything to Eleni. So she told him. Everything, right down to how she’d confided their private conversations to her cousin.

  Her eyes beseeched him. ‘I trusted her, Alexandros…We told each other everything…’ Her mouth twisted. ‘At least I thought we did.’

  And then she told him that she couldn’t tell him before now because she’d promised not to out of concern for Eleni’s delicate health. That last piece caused a savage expression to cross Alexandros’s face.

  He stood abruptly and paced away from Kallie, running a hand through his hair.

  ‘What is it…?’ She was hesitant, afraid she’d just imagined his wish to hear her side of things for the first time. Was he going to turn around and laugh? Tell her she was lying again? She could feel herself tensing.

  But then he turned back and there was such a bleak look on his suddenly drawn face that she was shocked.

  ‘Kallie…’ He stayed on his feet, pacing. ‘Something else happened years ago…something I never told you because…so much was going on then…and I think I assumed you knew about it.’

  ‘What?’ She was feeling scared.

  ‘Eleni…’

  ‘Eleni…’ repeated Kallie blankly.

  ‘A few days before the party…we were in the same nightclub in Athens…’

  Kallie didn’t move. She hadn’t known this.

  Alexandros grimaced. ‘She was dressed up. Make-up, the works. Before I knew it she was coming on to me, trying to kiss me.’

  He came back and sat down, taking her hand again but it was cold in his. ‘She was like someone deranged, kept going on about my engagement to Pia, and how she found out about that I don’t even know because it was top secret. She kept insisting that she could marry me, that her father could give me the same merger deal…’ He shook his head. ‘In the end, I had to get her thrown out of the club. And then just a couple of days later when you did almost the same thing…apart from anything else, I assumed it was some campaign by your family to sabotage my engagement.’

  He cursed himself for not remembering this before.

  Kallie’s mind travelled inwards, back. She could see Eleni’s face close to hers, the way she’d practically frog-marched Kallie out to the patio. She looked back at Alexandros. It all made sickening sense. Eleni had known about the marriage announcement…The magnitude of how little she’d known her own cousin hit her. And how much she’d still kept from her, despite the confession. Petty teenage jealousy and spite had done this. She felt stiff inside. He was shaking his head.

  ‘I can’t believe you defended her so staunchly, especially when you knew what she’d done…’

  ‘I’m so sorry, Alexandros. I truly had no idea what her agenda was. She must have been so angry. If I had known about your engagement, there’s no way—’

  He cupped her cheek lightly, the look in his eyes, his tenderness making something melt inside her. She tried to fight it.

  ‘I know…I know that now.’

  ‘I’m so sorry, Pia was so beautiful…’ He had to have loved her. Perhaps still…

  Something twisted in his face and a hard look came into his eyes, making Kallie shiver inwardly. ‘She was not beautiful, Kallie. The day before the announcement, I went to her apartment and witnessed something…awful. She was there with a group…’ He shook his head. ‘Believe me, you don’t want to know. My only regret about that marriage falling through was the collapse of the merger…’

  The guilt washed through her again. ‘If I hadn’t followed you that night, tried to kiss you…none of this would have happened. You wouldn’t have had to work so hard to rebuild the company, my parents wouldn’t have been so cruel.’

  She shuddered and wanted to hold a hand up to his cheek. ‘When my parents sent you out of the house…’ Her voice died away. The tears in her eyes told Alexandros all he needed to know. He lifted her hand, as if he’d somehow known what she wanted to do, and kissed it. Gently. Reverently.

  ‘If you hadn’t followed me out there, we wouldn’t be sitting here now…’

  Kallie’s breath stopped. What was going on? He was almost looking at her as if—

  ‘Kallie, I—’

  Just then the phone rang in his pocket. Kallie jumped. She’d been close to drowning in Alexandros’s eyes, close to saying something, believing something…so close to revealing herself again as she had done before. She pulled back, searching for some distance. Space.

  ‘Shouldn’t you get that?’

  He looked at her so intently for a second that she felt something alien quiver through her. Could it be hope?

  He took the phone out and flipped it open. ‘Ne?’

  After a quick brief conversation, so quick that Kallie couldn’t follow it, he closed the phone again.

  ‘There’s something I have to do. But I don’t want you to move. Kallie, promise me, just stay here, exactly as you are. I’ll be back in half an hour—we’ve not finished talking yet.’

  She nodded slowly and felt something momentous move between them. But she didn’t dare try and fathom what it could possibly be.

  When he had gone, she stayed on the sofa, exactly where she was. Not moving. How had he guessed so much? She didn’t even feel relief. She just felt curiously at peace and a bit numb. As if something huge had shifted.

  The phone rang shrilly in the hall, making Kallie jump. She left it for a minute, thinking Thea would appear to answer it, but she didn’t. Kallie figured she must be out in the garden. She went and picked it up. A curt, officious voice on the other end asked abruptly for Alexandros.

  ‘He’s not here. He’s gone into Athens.’

  ‘Damn! I tried him on his mobile.’

  ‘Sometimes the signal goes on the way down the hill.’

  ‘Look, it’s very important I speak with him.’

  Kallie felt a little awkward now. ‘Well, I’m his wif
e. He’ll be back—’

  The man sounded distracted. ‘I’m out of my office. You said you’re his wife…so you’re Kallie Demarchis?’

  ‘Yes.’ She felt a prickle of foreboding come over her skin.

  ‘Well, this involves you, too. I’m sure you know anyway. It’s about the divorce. He said he wanted it to happen as soon as possible…’

  Kallie nearly dropped the phone. And found herself saying in a thin voice, ‘I’m sorry, who did you say you were?’

  ‘I’m his solicitor. Look, I’m sorry to be so rushed, I didn’t think I’d have to call. Just tell him to call me on my mobile when he gets back, if he wants this to happen as quickly as he said he did then I need some papers signed immediately. Oh, and, Miss Demarchis?’ He didn’t wait for a reply. ‘You’ll probably be hearing from your solicitor next week. Have a nice day.’

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  KALLIE dropped the phone back into its cradle. Thea rounded the corner. ‘Did I hear the phone?’

  Kallie nodded briefly, didn’t look at her except fleetingly. ‘Wrong number.’

  Thankfully Thea went off again, muttering about her hearing. Without feeling her legs move, Kallie went upstairs to the bedroom and very calmly started to pack her things. Every now and then, as if trying to break into her consciousness, she’d get flashes of pain so intense she had to close her eyes and focus on breathing. She would not let this turn into another panic attack. All she needed was to get away from here. Right now. Before Alexandros came back. She’d get a flight back to Paris. Maybe even get the train to London for a few days, somewhere he wouldn’t be able to find her.

  She sat on the bed and looked blankly at her packed case. She couldn’t believe that she’d come so close to telling him…to almost telling him everything. To think that she’d thought for one second that something momentous had happened downstairs between them. Of course he’d figured it out. He was an intelligent man, and when emotions weren’t in the way, he’d been able to see the facts for what they were.

  All this showed now was that he wasn’t angry any more. She put a shaking hand on her belly. Thank God she hadn’t told him she was pregnant.

  The door opened. Alexandros. ‘Kallie, why didn’t you stay downstairs?’

  He came in and answered himself. ‘It doesn’t matter. I can say what I have to say—’

  He stopped abruptly when he saw her face properly. It was white, the freckles standing out starkly against the unnatural hue.

  His concern was immediate. He came in further but something held him back from touching her. She was so unnaturally still.

  ‘What is it, Kallie? Did you have another attack? Did you—?’

  He broke off as he saw the packed case on the bed behind her, looked around and saw the other case on the floor. He felt cold inside.

  ‘What’s going on?’

  Kallie shrugged and stood up, forcing him to move back slightly. ‘I want to go home, Alexandros. Like I told you last night. I’ve had enough.’

  He gripped her arms. ‘Kallie…downstairs just now…’ He frowned. ‘Why didn’t you stay there? What the hell is going on?’

  She laughed harshly, and when he looked now her eyes were dead. Dread moved through him.

  ‘Alexandros, you know what happened now. We can both move on.’

  Something flashed in her eyes, brief but intense. She quickly masked it but not before he saw it.

  ‘Please.’ She tried to pull free of his arms. ‘Just let me go.’

  ‘Not until you tell me what’s happened. When I left you were sitting on that couch, not moving a muscle.’ A different Kallie. With warm eyes. Not this cold stranger in front of him.

  Kallie quailed under his look. But if I tell him then he’ll know…

  But he’ll know anyway, a little voice reasoned, when the solicitor calls back when he doesn’t hear from Aexandros. All you have to do is pass on the message…

  Kallie shrugged again and averted her gaze. ‘Your solicitor rang.’

  Alexandros was confused. How could that have had this effect? Then he closed his eyes and groaned inwardly.

  He opened them again and clutched Kallie’s arms even harder. ‘What did he say?’

  She looked back up. ‘Just that he wants you to call.’

  ‘I don’t believe you.’

  Anger rushed through her. She shook in his arms. ‘Fine. He said that if you want your quickie divorce then you’ll have to sign some papers as soon as you get back.’

  Alexandros was very calm, didn’t react, apart from a muscle twitching in his jaw.

  ‘And why is this making you so upset, Kallie?’

  ‘It’s not,’ she denied pathetically, even as she trembled and shook under his hands.

  ‘Isn’t this what you want, too? What you begged for last night?’

  ‘Of course it is. There’s nothing I want more in the whole world.’

  He quirked a brow. ‘Really?’

  ‘Yes. Please, Alexandros.’ That little flash of something in her eyes caught him again. Giving him hope. Even as she said again, ‘Just let me go.’

  He let her go and she stumbled back slightly. He opened his hands, palms out, and backed towards the door, closing it.

  ‘What are you doing?’ she asked painfully.

  ‘I’ll let you go, Kallie. But only when you’ve heard me out. I’m going to ask you something and if you still want to go after than, then I’ll let you go…’

  He was a huge, steely immovable force. As if she could even get past him. She just shrugged and sat on the bed behind her, her legs feeling wobbly. Soon, she reassured herself, soon I can go and be on my own.

  He surprised her by coming back and kneeling down before her. She went to stand up and his hands on her knees forced her back down.

  ‘Kallie, dammit, stay still. Stop fighting me for one second.’

  She opened her mouth and closed it again. And couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Alexandros’s hands on her knees were shaking—ever so slightly, but definitely shaking. And when he looked up, her breath caught at the nervousness that flashed across his face. It couldn’t be…

  ‘Kallie, I’ve never done this before. It’s new territory for me and it’s taken me a while to figure out what’s been happening…’

  He looked up, his hands still on her knees, burning her through the fabric.

  ‘Ever since I saw you that night at the Ritz…I wanted you with a passion that I’ve never felt before. Before I realised who you were. And then when you bumped into me and I saw you up close…you took my breath away. You take my breath away every time I look at you, Kallie…’

  The way he was looking at her…it couldn’t be…he was playing some cruel joke.

  ‘Alexandros—’

  He closed his eyes. ‘Kallie, I’m in the middle of the hardest thing I’ve ever done.’

  Opening them again, they blazed with something that shut her up. ‘Using you, making you marry me were knee-jerk reactions to the desire that took me over. It just so happened that I did need to marry. But I could have married anyone. I could have got my solicitor to arrange a civil wedding, and got the divorce the following week, protected my fortune. But I didn’t. I wanted you. And I had a hold over you.’ His mouth twisted. ‘Which your uncle unwittingly supplied.’

  He shook his head, not taking his eyes off hers. ‘From day one you didn’t conform to what I thought, what I’d expected. And when we slept together…’ Dark colour flooded his cheeks. ‘I’ve never, ever experienced something so intense, and it wasn’t just that time, it’s every time.’

  Kallie blushed.

  He looked at her and she could see a glint of something in his eyes, almost defiant, as if he was gathering his strength for something monumental. Determined. She could feel something move through his huge frame as he knelt before her.

  ‘The reason I left just now is because I went to get something. After sitting up all night, thinking, I went into Athens this morning to get this…’ />
  He didn’t take his eyes off hers, and reached into his trouser pocket to pull out a small box. He opened it up and Kallie tore her eyes away and looked down. There, nestled in a bed of velvet, was a ring, an aquamarine surrounded by tiny diamonds. It was stunning, taking her breath away and yet so discreet that its simple beauty turned her heart over. She watched with shocked disbelief and bewilderment as he took it out of the box and with a visibly shaking hand placed it at the top of her ring finger.

  He looked at her and she could see, feel his chest move as he sucked in a deep breath.

  ‘Kallie Demarchis. Will you marry me?’

  Her mouth opened and closed like that of a fish. She could feel the ring slip onto her finger even without him pushing it, as if it belonged. She looked from it to him.

  ‘But…but…’

  He looked pale again. ‘Kallie, please. Say yes.’

  ‘But you don’t…You…hate…You don’t love me.’

  She was beginning to feel like she was about to hyperventilate. Alexandros pushed her legs apart to come between them, taking her face in his hands. She could already feel her lower body respond to his proximity.

  ‘Did I forget to mention that I love you?’

  She couldn’t move. She was in shock. His hands were warm and heavy on her face, his eyes intense, on her.

  ‘Kallie, I love you.’ He kissed her forehead. ‘I love you.’ He kissed her cheek. ‘I love you.’ He kissed her other cheek. ‘I love you…’ He looked into her eyes for an eternity until she could read the truth there. Then he took her lips, her mouth, her soul and kissed her so sweetly, so passionately that she felt drugged. Could she believe? Or was this the ultimate revenge? A cruel play on how she’d offered herself to him…

  When he finally pulled back, Kallie opened dazed eyes.

  He was intent, his voice hoarse. ‘Say something…’

  She could feel tears well. And shook her head. ‘I don’t…How can I believe you? After everything that’s happened, you don’t…’

  She gulped in huge fractured breaths, the magnitude of the moment, the feeling of standing on a precipice too huge. He was asking her to do it again. To hand him her heart. And she really didn’t know if she could…