The Petrakos Bride Read online

  Faster than Maddie could have believed, she became unbearably aroused by his touch. Liquid heat coiled in her belly and set up a tingle of tormenting awareness between her slender thighs. Settling her down on the bed, he sprang upright to undress.

  ‘Theos mou…I have never desired a woman as much as I desire you,’ Giannis intoned. ‘I didn’t know I could feel like this, and every time I feel it with you I crave it again. There has been no other woman for me. Don’t you ever try to disappear out of my life again.’

  ‘Never,’ she managed shakily, treasuring his every word as reassurance of the kind she most needed to feel secure.

  ‘Or I’ll tag you like a criminal…even tie you to my bed,’ Giannis muttered thickly, coming down beside her again. ‘But then I might never leave the bedroom, agape mou.’

  Looking at him, she felt the inside of her mouth run dry. He was all virile male, from his strong shoulders and muscular hair-roughened chest to his long powerful thighs and aggressive arousal. He kissed her with fierce heat, and yet there was a gentle edge to his sexual urgency that filled her with delicious tension. He explored the delicate pink folds of her femininity and she shivered violently, too excited to stay still. He stroked the tiny pearl of sensitivity with a skill that made her hips writhe and her teeth clench. She was hot and swollen and damp, and the ache between her trembling thighs was edging closer and closer to pure sensual torment.

  ‘Are you ready yet?’ Giannis breathed raggedly.

  ‘Yes…oh, yes,’ she moaned.

  He sank into her with a ravenous groan of raw physical pleasure, and the extreme surge of delight she experienced almost overwhelmed her. His every slow, deliberate movement electrified her. Each individual sensation was so hot and fresh and intense that her excitement kept on rising. His endurance was amazing. Tiny tremors started running riot through her. The pleasure was exquisite, making her burn and tighten and throb until at last his powerful passion pushed her to an ecstatic climax. Ripples of rapture left her ravished by the bliss of complete gratification.

  Giannis tugged her down on top of him and covered her hectically flushed face with tiny featherlight kisses. The unfamiliar display of affection filled her with happiness.

  She smiled giddily at him, feeling warm and loving and very lucky. ‘I think you’re the one who’s going to end up tied to the bed,’ she whispered dreamily. ‘I hope it’s going to be a long honeymoon.’

  Giannis dealt her a lazy masculine grin. ‘I think I’ll be up to the challenge.’

  Maddie snuggled closer. ‘You didn’t need to try and make me agree to marry you,’ she confided. ‘I hadn’t the smallest intention of saying no.’

  Surprise and confusion flared in his brilliant dark eyes.

  Maddie grinned. ‘I just thought you should know.’

  The portrait of a pretty little girl with black hair and laughing brown eyes hung on the wall of Giannis’s study. ‘Who is she?’ Maddie asked, having meant to enquire before, on another occasion, but having forgotten.

  His lean strong face tensed. ‘My sister, Leta.’

  Maddie spun round. ‘My goodness—I didn’t even know you had a sister! I thought you were an only child.’

  ‘People prefer to forget about Leta.’ Giannis looked sombre. ‘She was a passenger in the car that my father crashed on our private estate in Italy. He was drunk, and racing one of his friends for a bet. Leta was ten years old. My father walked away, but my sister suffered horrific injuries that left her disabled in mind and body. She required constant nursing care but she still recognised us…’ His voice had grown rough-edged with emotion. ‘I spent as much time with her as I could, but I was only thirteen and in boarding school and it was difficult.’

  Warm sympathy had filled Maddie’s green eyes. ‘You must all have found that very difficult to deal with.’

  ‘My parents didn’t.’ His lean, darkly handsome face was bleak. ‘Leta was airbrushed out of our lives. They said that visiting her upset them too much. Her condition embarrassed them. When they were told that she was dying they didn’t go to her, and I didn’t find out until it was too late. She died alone, save for the nurses who were caring for her.’

  That sad conclusion to a situation that she could tell had devastated him when he was a teenager made Maddie swallow hard. ‘I’m so sorry. It would have helped you to be with her at the last.’

  ‘Yes. But good can come out of bad. A few years afterwards Dorkas persuaded me to put my anger at Leta’s lonely passing to more positive use. That was when I became involved with charities that work with terminally ill children. But I also think that’s why I thought until I met you that I would never want children,’ Giannis admitted. ‘Maybe I was afraid that being a lousy parent was in the blood.’

  ‘And maybe you were just remembering unhappy times and protecting yourself. That’s only human,’ Maddie added softly.

  Giannis hovered, and then dropped a casual kiss on the top of her head. He walked out to the helicopter waiting to whisk him to Athens and then an onward flight to London. They had been together almost constantly for more than a month. About twenty feet away from the helicopter he stopped dead in his tracks, wheeled round, and strode back to her. Dark golden eyes smouldering, he closed a possessive arm to her spine to pull her close and kiss her breathless.

  ‘What was that for?’ she whispered, wide-eyed

  ‘Don’t get too used to sleeping alone in my bed, agape mou,’ he murmured huskily.

  Maddie went down to the beach accompanied by a cavalcade of willing helpers bearing a chair, a table, rugs, parasols, cool drinks and books. It was her husband’s wish that she receive what she considered to be a ridiculous amount of attention. He was afraid that she might overtire herself, and he had insisted that when she was outdoors someone else should always be within reach, in case she had an accident. Getting in the water even to paddle was strictly forbidden when he was not present. She had pointed out that her gynaecologist was delighted with the way her pregnancy was progressing, but Giannis remained unconvinced.

  A friend had had the poor taste to tell Giannis that twin pregnancies were more likely to end in premature labour. In an effort to educate him, and cool his apprehension on her behalf, Maddie had made the mistake of pressing a book on the subject on him. Unfortunately he had turned straight to the section on complications and discovered a bigger source of apprehension.

  Maddie, however, was supremely unconcerned. She felt good. She was also feeling incredibly happy. Although she would never have risked saying it to Giannis, she believed a couple of days back at work would give his thoughts a more appropriate focus. At times he was downright exhausting to be around.

  A dreamy smile softening her mouth, she sipped at her apple juice and watched the waves streaming into shore one after another, in a timeless hypnotic pattern. The constant surge of the water rolling in over the sand was as soothing to her as music. Five weeks had passed since their wedding, and even though Giannis had had to devote time to his business empire, the spirit of the honeymoon was still very much alive.

  Indeed, his care and concern for her wellbeing had melted away her insecurities. He had become everything to her—a passionate lover and a fiercely entertaining, amusing companion. She loved his boundless energy and his quick, incisive mind. She had learned to appreciate his sardonic humour. In short, she absolutely adored him and could not imagine life without him.

  He was teaching her Greek. She had utterly failed to teach him how to relax doing nothing. Giannis was active for eighteen hours out of every twenty-four. If she woke at dawn he was already up and about. Together they had island-hopped on the yacht, eaten in unspoilt tavernas in mountain villages and dodged photographers in more fashionable locations. They had picnicked below the plane trees his grandfather had planted at the eastern end of the island, and watched the sun go down from the little ruined temple down by the shore.

  On her first night without Giannis, Maddie decided on an evening of self-indulgence. She had a bubble bath, went to bed early, ate chocolate fudge cake and tuned the television to the sort of glamorous celebrity programme that bored Giannis to death. In truth, fashion had not interested Maddie that much before her wedding, but she was planning to make more effort after the twins were born and she rediscovered her waist. Although Giannis had had an array of designer maternity clothes flown out for her benefit, Maddie remained unimpressed. All she ever saw when she looked in the mirror was the expanse of her stomach.

  Feeling lazy, she was content to lie in bed and watch the famous walk up a red carpet to attend an awards ceremony. When Krista, accompanied by a minor actor, appeared in a striking silver evening gown, Maddie paid very close attention. The other woman was so extraordinarily beautiful that Maddie could never quite accept that Giannis did not suffer constant stabs of regret at having surrendered such a prize. Maddie had not told her husband about Krista’s phone call on their wedding night, but she had been very relieved that it had not been repeated. On screen, the presenter approached Krista and admired her extremely elaborate diamond and sapphire necklace and drop earrings.

  ‘They were a very special gift from Giannis Petrakos. We’re still very close,’ the beautiful blonde shared.

  ‘How close is close?’ the presenter joked. ‘I mean, didn’t Giannis Petrakos only get married last month?’

  Krista laughed and widened her turquoise eyes. ‘No comment. I can only tell you that I received my jewellery much more recently than that.’

  After a shaken pause, Maddie hit the off button on the television remote control, and then suddenly she was scrambling in a mad rush off the bed and racing into the en-suite bathroom to be ingloriously sick. In the aftermath, she was shaking so badly that she had to sit down before she could gather the strength to stand up and wash. Krista’s smug, self-satisfied smile kept on replaying inside her head. Could it be true? Could Giannis be seeing his former fiancée behind his wife’s back?

  During the past five weeks Giannis had only been absent on half a dozen occasions from her side, and not once overnight. He had gone to Athens on business. Did she believe that? He could have been meeting up with Krista somewhere. With a fleet of private jets and unlimited funds at his disposal such a liaison would be easily facilitated. Was that why she had not heard from Krista again? Had Krista been waiting for just such a moment to make her public announcement?

  Maddie knew she would have no peace of mind until she had confronted Giannis. She phoned Nemos and asked him to make arrangements for her to fly to London the following morning. She told him that she intended to surprise Giannis. Even so, she thought that Giannis might ring her, because she assumed that he would soon hear about Krista’s indiscreet declaration. But Giannis did not call, and Maddie got no sleep that night. She packed an overnight bag at three in the morning, tormented by questions she couldn’t answer. Was her whole marriage a sham? Had he only wed her to confer legitimacy on the twin babies she carried? Or was the truth much less complex than that? Was Giannis simply a womaniser?

  All of a sudden the relationship she had believed so secure seemed to be built on sand foundations. He had never promised her fidelity. He had never sworn to be with her for ever. He had never said that he loved her. But he liked her, he laughed at her jokes, he looked after her—and from the moment he woke up until the minute he finally slept at night he couldn’t seem to keep his hands off her. Only that wasn’t love, was it? That was good old-fashioned lust, she reminded herself unhappily.

  During the flight, Maddie planned exactly what she would say. She promised herself that she would be cool and dignified while she told him that she would not live with a man who carried on with other women. Particularly Krista. Hadn’t Krista warned her that Giannis always came back to her? The idea of Krista being with Giannis made Maddie feel hopelessly inadequate. Nothing had ever hurt her so much as the power of her own imagination.

  Nemos picked her up at the airport. ‘The boss knows you’re on your way.’

  Maddie was disappointed to have lost the element of surprise. When the limo dropped her off at the City apartment, she felt weak and shaky. But when she got into the penthouse lift a sudden tide of rage filled her. A giant tumult of agonised emotion was being born out of the anguish she was struggling to contain. She stepped into the magnificent hall just as Giannis appeared in a doorway.

  ‘I’m really pleased that you’re here, but I’m not at all happy that you flew all this way. You must be exhausted, pedhi mou.’

  He looked breathtakingly handsome. A sleek ebony brow quirked in a questioning move that was so familiar it hurt like a knife twisting in her chest. All her cool and dignity died in that moment, along with the careful script of cutting but polite condemnation that she had planned to voice.

  ‘You rat…I hate your guts!’ Maddie launched at him, and she yanked off her wedding ring and threw it. ‘You don’t appreciate me. You don’t deserve me. I hope you’re absolutely miserable with Krista!’

  For a split second he was stunned, and then he caught the ring in mid-air. ‘I would be miserable with her.’

  ‘Then why are you having an affair with her?’ Maddie sobbed.

  ‘I swear that there is no affair—’

  ‘I don’t believe you!’ Maddie dashed away the tears from her furious eyes. ‘I won’t forgive you either.’

  ‘I know you would not forgive me for infidelity, which is why you can safely believe that I will never betray you.’ His dark, deep-set eyes intense, Giannis grimaced. ‘I think I should have told you all this before today. But I had no idea that Krista would go to such lengths to save face.’

  ‘Save face? What are you talking about?’

  The front doorbell was buzzing.

  As a manservant answered the door, Giannis took Maddie into his office and urged her to sit down. ‘I believe that is Krista’s father arriving. He asked if he could come to discuss what his daughter did last night. Hopefully you will find it easier to believe him.’

  Her eyes widened in bewilderment. ‘Her father? But what’s he got to do with this?’

  A portly middle-aged man with a troubled expression entered the room, and came to a surprised halt when he saw Maddie.

  ‘Pirro Spyridou…my wife, Madeleine.’

  Maddie was disconcerted when the older man immediately offered her his apologies for his daughter’s comments on television the night before. ‘I can’t excuse her for embarrassing us all in this manner. But Krista lives for media attention, and once the engagement ended people were no longer so interested in her, which hurt her pride. She also felt that she had been made to look foolish.’

  Giannis nodded acceptance of that fact.

  Pirro Spyridou sighed. ‘But the real problem is that she has been experimenting with drugs, and her behaviour has become more and more erratic.’

  ‘Drugs?’ Giannis ejaculated in consternation. ‘Are you certain?’

  ‘This morning Krista agreed to enter a clinic for treatment,’ the older man explained heavily. ‘It is not the first time she has needed help.’

  ‘I had no idea,’ Giannis admitted grimly. ‘I hope that I did not contribute to the problem?’

  ‘No. I feel that we were at fault for not warning you before the engagement.’

  Equally troubled by what she was learning, Maddie described the phone call she had received from Krista on her wedding night.

  Giannis frowned at Maddie. ‘I wish you had shared that call and its content with me. I would’ve acted then, and Krista would not have made defamatory statements on television last night.’ Turning back to Krista’s father, he told him about the visit his daughter had made to Maddie, and Krista’s proposition that she might adopt the twins and still marry Giannis.

  Pirro was astonished by that story. He apologised for any distress his daughter might have caused, and began to discuss the wording of the retraction that he intended to have printed in a well-known newspaper. In that retraction, Krista’s misleading statements would be withdrawn.

  Giannis sighed. ‘You have enough to worry about right now. Let it go, Pirro. Go home to your family. Let us forget this unpleasantness.’

  The older man was embarrassingly grateful for such a level of understanding. It was clear that he was at his wits’ end about how to handle his daughter’s problems. With a final apology he took his leave.

  ‘The day I finished with Krista I saw her screaming at a maid,’ Giannis recalled. ‘Some time afterwards I recalled that, and questioned the housekeeper about the incident. But the maid had been dismissed. Krista said she had found the maid taking drugs in her bedroom. She was probably lying. That wrong must be righted.’

  ‘How could you have known?’ Maddie was feeling distinctly shellshocked, and rather naked without the wedding ring she had thrown at Giannis. He was innocent of infidelity and blame. She had believed Krista rather than him.

  ‘I’m sure you are wondering why I gave Krista a small fortune in diamonds. I had acquired the set as a gift for her, and I felt that she should still have it,’ Giannis breathed heavily. ‘I felt guilty. Neither she nor I were in love, but I should never have asked her to marry me. She got on my nerves. I was eager to be free of her. It might have been kinder if I had been more honest.’

  ‘I don’t think being told that she got on your nerves would have helped,’ Maddie sighed

  ‘But had I told her that I had fallen hopelessly in love for the first time in my life, she might at least have seen that trying to get me back was a complete waste of time.’

  Maddie had a mental image of her ears perking up high like a rabbit’s. ‘Hopelessly in love?’

  Giannis crouched down at her feet so that he could see her face. His beautiful dark eyes were usually unguarded. ‘I didn’t realise it until I married you. But you were never out of my mind for a moment from the first day I saw you. There has not been another woman in my arms since that day either…’

  ‘Are you serious?’ Maddie whispered, practically mesmerised by what he was telling her, and yet scared to believe in it as well.

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