He pressed a tender kiss to her mouth, and then to each of her eyelids, her nose, her chin and her mouth again. ‘I do know. I think that’s why I’ve been gadding about without settling for the past decade. I’ve been looking for what we had but I could never find it. I only just realised the other day I could only have it with you.’
Isabelle gazed into his beloved dark blue eyes. ‘I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you earlier about the baby. You’re right. I should have told you as soon as I found out.’
He captured her hand and pressed it to his mouth. ‘I can’t bear the thought of you going through that alone. I can’t help thinking if I’d been around to support you, you might not have had a miscarriage. I can never forgive myself for that.’
‘It’s not your fault,’ Isabelle said. ‘It’s no one’s fault. I’ve accepted that now. It wasn’t our time.’
He brushed the windblown hair back off her face with a tender touch. ‘There’s another thing I realised. I wanted The Harrington because I thought it would prove something to myself and to my family. But if I’m nothing without it, how can I be something with it? It’s just a block of bricks and mortar. It doesn’t define me as a person. Only my relationship with the ones I love and who love me back can do that.’
Isabelle smiled in blissful happiness. ‘I’ve been a victim of that either/or thinking too. Instead of thinking yours or mine why don’t we think ours?’
He hugged her so tightly the chocolates didn’t stand a chance. They fell out of the squished box and landed on the jetty in a scattered pile at their feet.
‘The seagulls are going to think their Christmases have come all at once,’ Isabelle said, laughing.
‘That reminds me.’ Spencer opened his tightly clenched hand to reveal the ring box. ‘Will you marry me?’
She opened the box to see a gorgeous solitaire diamond winking at her. It was in a classic setting, elegant and simple and yet unmistakably precious. She couldn’t have picked better herself. ‘It’s beautiful...’
He slipped it over her ring finger and held her hand close to his heart, his eyes meshing with hers. ‘Is that a yes?’
Isabelle smiled. ‘Yes.’
He hugged her again, holding her tightly as if he never wanted to let her go. ‘Let’s get married as soon as possible. We could have our reception at the hotel instead of the ball. We can still raise heaps of money for charity. More probably. Who wouldn’t pay a packet to see two sworn enemies marry? What do you say?’
She touched his face as if she couldn’t quite believe he was really standing there saying all the things she most wanted to hear. ‘I couldn’t think of anything nicer. But do you think we could have our honeymoon here?’
‘Why?’
‘Because Atticus loves it here,’ she said. ‘I’ve never seen him so happy.’
Spencer grinned. ‘Maybe we should buy a little weekender here for him. An urban cat needs to get out of town occasionally, right?’
Isabelle linked her arm through his as they walked up towards the cottage. ‘Do you know I’ve been thinking the very same thing. This place is an absolute gold mine. We could buy up some of the properties and do them up into luxurious boutique accommodation. We could call it The Harrington in the Hamptons. Or The Chatsfield by the Sea? What do you think?’
Spencer smiled at the sparkle of enthusiasm shining in her eyes. Her beautiful face was alive with excitement and energy and hope for the future. A hope he could feel spreading inside his chest where a hollow space used to be. ‘I think that’s a fabulous idea,’ he said.
*****
Keep reading for an excerpt from THE GREEK DEMANDS HIS HEIR by Lynne Graham.
WELCOME TO
An exclusive chat with Melanie Milburne
Five moments when your characters had you on the edge of your seat…
Definitely when Spencer wasn’t revealing himself to me as I first started the story and my deadline was looming (it was brought forward, and I stupidly agreed to do it in a much shorter space of time even though I had so much else going on in my life, because I have absolutely no concept of the word no…) I was thinking my career was over and I would never write another book and I’m rubbish at— Oh, you mean actually in the story? :) I think when Isabelle challenges Spencer to hand over the two per cent once he knows about the baby she lost ten years ago. It’s a pivotal moment for him. I felt sorry for him as he had to choose and he wasn’t ready at that point to do so. Silly man! Luckily he got himself sorted otherwise his career/love life, etc. would have been over!
CHATSFIELD TAKEOVER OF HARRINGTON HOTEL—FEUD OR FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS?
Rumours are flying that the takeover bid from the Chatsfield chain for the Harrington has more going on in the background than previously thought. Spencer Chatsfield, UK CEO of the hotel giant, was once involved with Isabelle Harrington, President of the gracious family run hotel in New York. The couple was seen leaving the Harrington bar together late last night. Pundits are madly speculating. Is this a takeover or a love tryst?
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Harrington Takeover
Hi Spencer
Good work on gaining the majority share. But how did Isabelle Harrington take it?
Cheers!
James
To: [email protected]
From: [email protected]
Subject: Harrington Takeover
Don’t ask.
Spencer
To: [email protected]
From: [email protected]
Subject: Harrington Takeover
So are you two getting it on, like it says on Twitter?
James
To: [email protected]
From: [email protected]
Subject: Harrington Takeover
Not yet.
Spencer
To: [email protected]
From: [email protected]
Subject: Harrington Takeover
Good luck with that.
Eleanore told me to tell you you’re dreaming. Isabelle hates your guts. She won’t even allow your name to be mentioned in her presence.
James
To: [email protected]
From: [email protected]
Subject: Harrington Takeover
Watch this space.
Spencer
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The Greek Demands His Heir
by Lynne Graham
CHAPTER ONE
‘OH, YES, I should mention that last week I ran into your future father-in-law, Rodas,’ Anatole Zikos said towards the end of the congratulatory phone call he had made to his son. ‘He seemed a little twitchy about when you might...finally...be setting a date for the wedding. It has been three years, Leo. When are you planning to marry Marina?’
‘She’s meeting me for lunch today,’ Leo divulged with some amusement, unperturbed by the hint of censure in his father’s deep voice. ‘Neither of us has any desire to sprint to the altar.’
‘After three years, believe me, nobody will accuse you of sprinting,’ Anatole said drily. ‘Are you sure you want to marry the girl?’
Leo Zikos frowned, level black brows lifting in surprise. ‘Of course I do—’
‘I mean, it’s not as if you need Kouros Electronics these days.’
Leo stiffened. ‘It’s not a matter of need. It’s a matter of common sense. Marina will make me the perfect wife.’
‘There is no such thing as a perfect wife, Leo.’
Thinking of his late and much-lamented mother, Leo clamped his wide sensual mouth firmly closed lest he say something he would regret, something that would shatter the closer relationship he had since attained with the older man. A wise man did not continually look back to a better-forgotten past, he reminded himself grimly, and Leo’s childhood in a deeply troubled and unhappy family home definitely fell into that category.
At the other end of the silent line, Anatole made a soft sound of frustration. ‘I want you to be happy in your marriage,’ he admitted heavily.
‘I will be,’ Leo told his father with supreme assurance and he came off the phone smiling.
Life was good, in fact life was very good, Leo acknowledged with the slow-burning smile on his lean, darkly handsome face that many women found irresistible. He had just that morning closed a deal that had enriched him by millions, hence his father’s phone call. His father was quite correct in assuming that Leo did not need to marry Marina simply to inherit her father’s electronics company as a dowry. But then Leo had never wanted to marry Marina for her money.
At eighteen, a veteran of the wretched warfare between his ill-matched parents, Leo had drawn up a checklist of the attributes his future wife should have. Marina Kouros ticked literally every box. She was wealthy, beautiful and intelligent as well as being a product of the same exclusive upbringing he had enjoyed himself. They had a great deal in common but they were neither in love nor possessive of each other. Objectives like harmony and practicality would illuminate their shared future rather than dangerous passion and horrendous emotional storms. There would be no nasty surprises along the way with Marina, a young woman Leo had first met in nursery school.
It was forgivable for him to feel just a little self-satisfied, Leo reasoned as his limo dropped him off at the marina in the French Riviera where his yacht awaited him. Exuding quiet contentment, he boarded Hellenic Lady, one of the largest yachts in the world. He had made his first billion by the age of twenty-five and five years on he was enjoying life as never before while at the same time ensuring that, although the cutthroat ambiance of the business world was where he thrived, he still took time off to recuperate after working eighteen-hour days for weeks on end.
‘Good to have you on board again, sir,’ his English captain assured him. ‘Miss Kouros is waiting for you in the saloon.’
Marina was scrutinising a painting he had recently bought. A tall slender brunette with an innate elegance he had always admired, his fiancée spun round to greet him with a smile.
‘I was surprised to get your text,’ Leo confided, giving her a light kiss on the cheek in greeting. ‘What are you doing in this neck of the woods?’
‘I’m on the way to a country house weekend with friends,’ Marina clarified. ‘I thought it was time we touched base. I believe my father has been throwing out wedding hints—’
‘News travels fast,’ Leo commented wryly. ‘Apparently your father is becoming a little impatient.’
Marina wrinkled her nose and strolled restively across the spacious room. ‘He has his reasons. I suppose I should admit that I’ve been a little indiscreet of late,’ she remarked with a careless shrug of a silk-clad shoulder.
‘In what way?’ Leo prompted.
‘I thought we agreed that until we got married we wouldn’t owe each other any explanations,’ Marina reminded him reprovingly.
‘We may have agreed to go our separate ways until marriage forces us to settle down,’ Leo agreed, ‘but, as your fiancé, I think I have the right to know what you mean by “indiscreet”.’
Marina shot him a bright angry glance. ‘Oh, Leo, don’t be tiresome! It’s not as if you care. It’s not as if you love me or anything like that!’
Leo remained silent, having long since learnt that listening was by far the best tool to use to calm Marina’s quick temper and draw her out.
‘Oh, all right!’ Marina snapped with poor grace, tossing her silk scarf down on a luxurious sofa in a petulant gesture. ‘I’ve been having a hot affair...and there’s been some talk, for which I’m very sorry, but, really, how am I supposed to stop people from gossiping about me?’
His broad shoulders squared below his exquisitely tailored jacket. ‘How hot is hot?’ he asked mildly.
Marina rolled her eyes and burst out laughing. ‘You don’t have an atom of jealousy in your entire body, do you?’
‘No, but I’d still like to know what’s got your father so riled up that he wants us to immediately set a wedding date.’
Marina pulled a face. ‘Well, if you must know, my lover is a married man...’
Leo’s stunning clean-cut bone structure tautened almost infinitesimally, his very dark eyes shaded by lush black lashes narrowing. He was taken aback and disappointed in her. Adultery was never acceptable in Leo’s book and he had made the fatal mistake of assuming that Marina shared that moral outlook. As a child he had lived with the consequences of his father’s long-running affair for too many years to condone extra-marital relations. It was the only inhibition he had in the sex department: he would never ever get involved with a married woman.
‘Oh, for goodness’ sake, Leo!’ Marina chided, her face colouring now with angry defensiveness in receipt of his telling silence. ‘These things always burn out—you know that as well as I do!’
‘I won’t pretend to approve. Furthermore that kind of entanglement will damage your reputation...and therefore mine,’ Leo reproved coolly.
‘I could say that about the little lap-dancer you were sailing round the Med with last summer. You could hardly describe that slutty little baggage as adding lustre to your sophisticated image!’ Marina remarked cuttingly.
Predictably, Leo did not even wince, but she flushed uncomfortably at the look he shot her. But then very few things put Leo Zikos out of countenance and regular sex was as important to him as ordered meals and exercise and indeed rated no higher than either by him. He was a very logical male and he saw no need to explain himself when he and Marina had yet to share a bed. The very fact that they had both chosen to retain the freedom of taking other lovers during their long engagement had convinced them that it would be much more straightforward just to save the sex for when they were married.
There is no such thing as a perfect wife, his father had said only an hour or so earlier, but Leo had not expected to be presented with the definitive proof of that statement quite so soon. His high opinion of Marina
had been damaged because it was obvious that she saw nothing inherently wrong with sleeping with another woman’s husband. Had his own views become so archaic, so unreasonable? Was he guilty of allowing childhood experiences to influence his adult judgement too much? He was well aware that he had friends who engaged in extra-marital affairs, but he would never accept such behaviour from anyone close to him or indeed within his own home.
‘I’m sorry but I’ve had Father on my case. He’s not ready to retire and let you take over yet but he’s terrified that I’ll scare you off,’ Marina confided ruefully. ‘As I supposedly did with your brother—’
Leo tensed, disliking the reminder that until today Marina’s single flaw in his judgement was the reality that she had once enjoyed an ill-judged one-night stand with the younger half-brother whom Leo loathed. That Bastien had treated Marina appallingly in the aftermath was another thing Leo never forgot for, more than anything else, Marina was virtually Leo’s best friend and he had always trusted her implicitly.
‘Perhaps we should set a wedding date to keep everybody happy,’ the brunette suggested wryly. ‘I may only be twenty-nine but Father’s already getting scared we’re getting too old to deliver the grandkids he wants.’
Leo frowned, barely contriving to suppress the need to flinch when she mentioned children. He still wasn’t ready to become a father. Parenting required a level of maturity and unselfishness that he was convinced he had yet to attain.
‘What about fixing on October for the wedding?’ Marina proposed with the sort of cool that implied she had not the faintest idea of his unease. ‘I’m no Bridezilla and that would give me three months to make the preparations. I’m thinking of a very boho casual do in London with only family and our closest friends attending.’
They lunched out on deck, catching up on news of mutual friends. It was very civilised and not a single cross word was exchanged. Once Marina had departed, Leo reminded himself soothingly that he had not lost his temper. Even though he had agreed to the wedding date, however, his strong sense of dissatisfaction lingered. Even worse, that reaction was backed by an even more unexpected feeling, because suddenly Leo was astounded to register that what he truly felt was...trapped.
Chatsfield's Ultimate Acquisition (The Chatsfield: New York Book 1) Page 16
