by Kate Hewitt
‘You seem a very private man,’ Milly acknowledged as he led her into the main living area, a luxurious, wood-panelled room with several leather sofas scattered about the plush, ankle-deep carpet. ‘Were you always so?’
‘Yes, I suppose.’ He’d had to be. He turned away from her. ‘Would you like something to drink? It will take about six hours to get to Naxos. We can be there by dinnertime, and then the wedding is scheduled for tomorrow at midday.’
‘All right,’ Milly said, her voice sounding quiet and a little sad. ‘And yes, please, could I have some water?’
Alex snapped his fingers and one of his staff, one of the few he trusted to see him, stepped forward. ‘Sparkling water and a whisky, please, Petros.’
‘Very good, sir.’
Petros withdrew, leaving them alone. The yacht shuddered beneath them for a few seconds and then began to glide through the water.
‘Are we going already?’ Milly looked surprised, and a little excited. Alex recalled what she’d said about never having sailed.
‘Yes, would you like to see?’ He opened the French windows that led out onto one of the yacht’s many decks, this one private, with a couple of rattan sofas and chairs. Ahead of them the Aegean Sea stretched out, a simmering, undulating blanket of blue-green.
Milly stood with her hands on the rail, her hair blowing back from her face, as she gazed out at the sea. She reminded Alex of the statue of winged Nike—courageous and proud. The thought made some forgotten ember flicker to life in him, something he thought had long ago crumbled to ash.
He imagined, for one piercing second, how things could be different. How they could talk, and laugh, and then go back inside and tumble into bed, spending the six hours to Naxos very pleasantly occupied. But of course none of it was going to happen like that. He was a fool even to dream of it, to let himself want it for so much as a moment. He’d never let himself want that kind of life.
‘Are you looking forward to returning to Naxos?’ he asked.
‘Yes.’ She turned to give him a small smile, her eyes crinkling at the corners. ‘I really am.’
Alex watched her, noticing the glint of gold in her eyes, the dimple in her right cheek. For a second she looked happy, and it made him realise how worried and withdrawn she’d been before. It also made him realise that he liked seeing her happy, and the possibility that he might be able to be the person who made her so, even just for a brief moment, felt intoxicating. Impossible.
She was smiling because she was returning to Naxos, to the place she felt was home. It had nothing to do with him. It never would.
‘Our drinks are here,’ he said, and walked back inside.
CHAPTER SIX
MILLY STOOD AT the railing, watching as the smudge of grey-green came closer. Naxos. Home. She’d spent the six hours of their journey exploring the superyacht, prowling about its empty, opulent rooms feeling both anxious and dissatisfied. Alex had locked himself in his study as soon as they’d finished their drinks, claiming he had to work. Milly had a feeling he would be doing that a lot, and she told herself it was better that way. Better not to complicate things with anything so arbitrary as emotion.
That was what she’d agreed to. That was what she’d expected.
She breathed in the sultry, salty air, her heart lightening just a little as she imagined being back at the villa, among its familiar, comfortable rooms. Safe. And soon Anna would be too, God willing. Milly hoped Carlos would see reason and let her stepsister visit her on occasion, maybe even every holiday...
The thought of having Anna with her sent a smile spreading across her face and happiness blooming inside her chest. It would all be worth it then. The wedding, the wedding night...
Milly’s heart juddered in her chest at the thought. She could not picture their wedding night beyond some hazy montage, like something out of a film, all soft focus and swelling violins. Of course, it couldn’t exactly be romantic, and she would be a fool to expect or even want that. But would Alex become tender, once they were alone and intimate?
She had so little experience, and he knew that, thanks to the medical report. Would he be patient? Gentle? She hated the thought of being so vulnerable and exposed with a man who viewed that part of marriage in as businesslike a way as any other, and yet she feared that was exactly how it would play out...despite the way her heart somersaulted in her chest when she imagined him touching her. Kissing her...
Her whole body felt heated and she lifted her face to the sea breeze, willing the cool air to fade the telling flush from her cheeks. Never mind the wedding night, what about the wedding? She didn’t even have a wedding dress, or a bouquet, or a veil. She had never been the kind of little girl to daydream of wedding dresses and fairy tales, but there were a few basics she thought she would have liked to have on the day, no matter how it had come about.
Now she told herself not to mind. She wasn’t having that kind of wedding, that kind of marriage. It was still worth it, for Anna’s sake. It had to be.
From behind her she heard the sliding door open and then Alex stepped out; his very presence sent a shiver skittering along her skin, a visceral reaction she could not suppress but hoped he didn’t notice.
‘We’re almost there.’
‘Do you moor the yacht at the villa?’
‘Yes, have you never been down to the dock?’
‘No, I haven’t. I’ve seen it, but I’ve never had any reason to go down there.’ Alex’s island property encompassed over fifty acres. Milly had stayed in the villa and gardens mainly, with a few walks among the scrubby brush and olive groves that surrounded the place, but she hadn’t ventured to the dock, which had been empty while Alex’s yacht was moored in Piraeus.
‘I’ll give you a full tour, later,’ he said, and she turned to him with a surprised smile.
‘Will you?’ She was pleased by the thought, but when she looked at Alex, he looked as if he regretted extending the invitation.
They were drawing closer to the dock, the villa rising above it on its clifftop, the dazzling white walls and blue-shuttered windows silhouetted against a lavender twilit sky, the sun a half-circle of burnt ember sinking behind the hills. Milly narrowed her eyes; someone was waiting on the dock.
‘Who is that?’ she asked, because she was always alone at the villa, save for Yiannis and his wife Marina, who came several times a week to do the gardening and maintenance around the place, and lived in Halki.
Alex didn’t answer, and she glanced at him, wondering what was going on. His expression was suspiciously bland, as if he knew something but wasn’t saying. ‘Alex? Have you...have you hired another housekeeper?’
‘Another housekeeper?’ He looked surprised.
‘I thought you might have...because...well, because...’
‘Because you’re going to be my wife?’ he filled in. ‘As it happens, I haven’t hired someone else, but you can hardly continue in my employment, Milly, when you will be married to me.’
‘I suppose not.’ She saw the sense in it, but she liked her role at the villa.
‘If you like, you can hire a housekeeper, when the time comes. You’ll spend more time here than I will.’
‘I’d rather just do it myself.’
He frowned, but then shrugged. ‘Very well. It will be your choice.’
Which should have been a relief, but it also felt like a rejection. He didn’t care what she did with her own time, in her own place; of course he didn’t. She had to stop expecting something else, something deeper or kinder. She’d known what this was going in and she’d convinced herself she could live with it, even that it was what she wanted. Why was it so hard to accept? Why did some contrary part of her keep looking for more, even as she told herself she didn’t want it?
‘So who is that waiting on the dock?’ she asked, and then her breath caught in her chest as they came close enough f
or her to glimpse the familiar dark blonde hair, the slender figure. ‘It isn’t...’ But as the yacht drew closer to the shore, she knew it was. ‘Anna,’ she breathed, and then she shouted it, waving frantically. ‘Anna... Anna!’
Tears sprang to Milly’s eyes as her sister caught sight of her and started waving back just as frantically, jumping up and down in her excitement.
Milly turned to Alex, blinking back tears, overwhelmed with emotion. ‘You did this,’ she exclaimed as tears spilled over and she dashed at them. ‘How...how on earth did you arrange it?’
He shrugged. ‘Bentano can be a reasonable man when he has the right incentive.’
‘But how...?’
Another shrug, the hint of a smile at the corner of his mouth that lightened Milly’s heart even more. ‘He’s an ass, but he saw sense. Anna can stay here until she starts school in three weeks.’
‘What...?’ Milly breathed the word, hardly able to believe she had Anna for three whole weeks, and, even more poignantly, that Alex had thought to arrange it. How had he managed it? And when? ‘I don’t know what to say.’
‘There’s no need to say anything.’
‘But there is. This was so kind of you, Alex. I wasn’t expecting...’ She paused, unsure how to continue. She hadn’t been expecting him to do nice things for her. It seemed to go beyond their business arrangement, and yet he had, and without any hint or hope from her. It overwhelmed her. It humbled her. And treacherously, it gave her hope that their marriage could be something just a little bit more than the cold and clinical deal he had first suggested. Not much more, of course, because neither of them wanted that. But a little. ‘When did you arrange it?’ she asked. ‘How was there time?’
‘I spoke to Bentano this morning, and fortunately for him he saw sense almost immediately. She flew on my private jet, and she arrived in Naxos just before us. Yiannis picked her up at the airstrip.’
What had Alex said or done to induce Bentano to agree? Milly couldn’t even imagine it, but she knew it must have been something big. And he’d done it for Anna...and for her. ‘Thank you, Alex,’ she said, her voice throbbing with sincerity.
And then, because that didn’t feel like enough, Milly stepped closer to him and put her arms around him in what was meant to be a simple hug, but immediately felt like something she shouldn’t have done.
Alex stiffened in shock, but not before their bodies collided, Milly’s breasts against the hard wall of his chest, her legs pressed to his so she could feel the outline of every powerful muscle. Heat flared within her, a white-hot pulse of sensation that jolted through her entire body and made her take a stumbling step back, shocked by the intensity of her feeling. Her desire. It ignited everything inside her, so she felt as if she were burning up. Had Alex registered her response, and was horrified by it? The thought was mortifying.
As Alex watched her step back, his expression closed right up, like the snapping shut of a fan. Milly realised she was already used to it, that emotional distancing he seemed to accomplish effortlessly. Clearly she’d stepped across a major line. ‘Alex...’ she began, but she had no idea how to explain what she’d been feeling, at least not without embarrassing herself. Her body still pulsed with a molten heat she’d never felt before, not even with Philippe. And Alex didn’t seem to want it from her now.
‘Milly!’ She turned to see Anna calling to her from just a few metres away as the yacht was moored at the dock. ‘Milly!’
‘I’m coming,’ she called, and when she turned back, Alex had disappeared.
As soon as Milly left the yacht, Alex still nowhere in sight, Anna practically jumped on her. Laughing, she hugged her sister, so grateful to be with her once again. It had been far too long.
‘I’ve missed you so much,’ Milly exclaimed as they both wiped away tears. ‘So, so much.’ It had been nearly a year since she’d last seen her sister. ‘I think you’ve grown a couple of inches, Anna.’ Her sister definitely looked a little older, and even more beautiful with her honey-blonde hair and bright blue eyes. There could be no more men stumbling into her bedroom, of that Milly was certain.
‘I can’t believe I’m here.’ Anna looked both emotional and thrilled. ‘This place is amazing, Milly. And you have so much to tell me. You’re getting married? How come you didn’t mention that on the phone, huh? That’s pretty big news.’
‘Ah. Well.’ Milly smiled weakly. ‘It’s hard to explain...’
‘What’s there to explain? Your fiancé sounds so nice. He insisted on flying me in his private jet.’ Her blue eyes rounded comically. ‘It was incredible. There were staff who just kept feeding me. I had the biggest ice-cream sundae I’ve ever seen.’
‘Wow.’ Milly let out a shaky laugh; her emotions were all over the place, from that sudden, surprising hug with Alex, to that terribly awkward moment afterwards, and now her sister with her for three whole weeks. Plus she had to explain her imminent wedding to her, and the reason for it. It all felt like too much. Her head and heart both ached, and, strangely, she wished Alex were here, helping her through this moment, although would he even be much help? Or would he just tersely tell her to get on with things, with that stony look on his face?
‘Why don’t we head back to the villa?’ she suggested, taking Anna’s arm.
‘Where’s Alex? I want to meet him.’ Anna craned her head, looking for Milly’s fiancé, but he still wasn’t anywhere to be seen. Milly suspected he’d absented himself on purpose, and would continue to do so, a prospect that gave her a little pang of sorrow as well as one of relief. It was easier this way, but it still felt lonely.
‘I think he’s working,’ she improvised. ‘He’s very busy with everything at the moment.’
‘He must be.’ Anna dropped her voice to a theatrical whisper. ‘Milly, he’s mega-rich!’
‘Yes, I know.’ Milly let out another little laugh. Like her, Anna had grown up on the fringes of an aristocratic world yet with no money. Like Milly, Anna was used to second-rate schools and draughty, crumbling buildings; neglect and genteel poverty were the standards by which she’d been raised. Milly had had six months to get used to the luxury of the villa; Anna was seeing it all for the first time.
‘So how did you meet?’ Anna asked as they walked up the winding, rocky path towards the house. ‘Was it love at first sight?’
Milly thought of Alex’s curt proposal in his shadowy study, and didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. How on earth could she explain the business deal she’d made to her starry-eyed fourteen-year-old sister? She almost wished Alex had told her about Anna’s arrival, so she could have prepared what she’d say. How she’d explain.
‘It’s a long story,’ she said as they stepped inside the villa, the thick stone walls providing a blessed coolness. ‘Have you eaten? Let me get you something...’
‘I’m stuffed from all the food on the plane.’ Anna flung herself on one of the squashy sofas in the living area off the kitchen. ‘This place really is amazing. So, long story. Start from the beginning, because I want to hear everything.’
‘I don’t know if I can.’ Milly tried for a light laugh as she poured them both glasses of water, handing one to Anna before pressing her own glass to her hot cheek. Anna looked at her, her eyes narrowing.
‘What are you not telling me?’
‘I haven’t even started yet,’ Milly protested. ‘I haven’t told you anything, Anna, obviously.’
‘You know what I mean.’
Of course she couldn’t fool her sister. Anna was ten years younger, but far too wise for her years, and she and Milly had always had a connection, even when they hadn’t seen each other. It was like an invisible wire, drawing them together, binding them tightly even when they’d been hundreds or thousands of miles apart.
‘You do love him, don’t you?’ Anna asked uncertainly, and now she sounded far too young. Milly looked away. ‘Milly. Why are you
marrying this man if you don’t love him?’
‘He’s a good man, Anna.’ At least she hoped he was. Only a good man would arrange for her sister to visit, surely? It felt like evidence, proof, but hardly enough to build her life on...which was exactly what she was doing. Because she had to.
‘How long have you known him?’
‘Six months.’ Which was more or less true, even if she’d only seen him for the first time a handful of days ago. ‘He’s my employer,’ Milly explained. ‘This villa is where I’ve been living as housekeeper.’
‘That sounds like it could be romantic.’ Anna’s forehead crinkled. ‘Falling for the boss...is it?’
What should she do? Say? Milly hated the thought of lying to her sister, but the truth felt too unpalatable to share. She couldn’t burden Anna with the knowledge that she’d done this for her sake. It wouldn’t be fair. ‘It is, a bit,’ she finally said. ‘At least, it could be. The...the truth is, Anna, we’re marrying as a sort of...business arrangement.’
‘Business?’ Anna sounded horrified. ‘But, Milly—’
‘But amicable too,’ she continued quickly. ‘Alex needs a wife, for, um, work reasons, and so...’ She couldn’t find a way to finish that sentence.
‘So?’ Now Anna looked horrified, as well. ‘But what do you need, Milly? What do you get out of this?’ She leaned forward, her eyes huge and swimming with tears, her expression beseeching. ‘Please, please don’t tell me you did this for my sake. For money. I couldn’t bear it if you did.’
Milly stared at her helplessly and then did the only thing she felt she possibly could. She lied.
* * *
Today was his wedding day. Alex gazed at his reflection, wondering if anyone had heard he was on the island, that he was getting married. Would any of the villagers who had known him and Daphne be waiting at the remote chapel where the wedding was to take place? What would they think of his ravaged face, his presence here?
He’d avoided Naxos since the fire, unable to bear the place where he’d once been so happy, and when he had come here only a few of his staff had seen him. They were tight-lipped and loyal, and so no one from his past here knew what had happened to him. All they knew, he realised with a tightening in his gut, was that their darling Daphne had died. Daphne and Talos. And they would blame him, because it was his fault.
