The Greek Billionaire's Innocent Princess (23 page)

either of us would have chosen,’ he stated coolly, ‘but we both acknowledge the responsibility

we have towards the baby we created during a moment of madness. I think we have become

friends as well as lovers, haven’t we, Kitty? And I believe that our companionable relationship,

based on mutual respect and trust, is the greatest gift we can give our child.’

Was that the reason he had made the effort to spend time with her—to befriend her and make

her trust him? Was it all for the baby’s sake? Of course it was, she acknowledged painfully.

Their child would grow up in a harmonious environment with two parents who were polite and

courteous towards each other as all good friends were. It should be enough. It would have to be

enough. But it wasn’t, and the loveless future that stretched before her suddenly seemed very

bleak.

NIKOSfelt the last spasms slowly drain from his body, and rested his head on Kitty’s breasts.

Her skin was velvet soft beneath his cheek and he inhaled the delicate, floral scent of her

perfume. He was tempted to remain lying on top of her, their bodies joined, but after a few

moments he rolled over and stared up at the ceiling, feeling the familiar frustration that, although sex with her seemed to get better and better, the distance he sensed between them was growing

wider.

He did not like clingy women, he reminded himself irritably. He should be pleased that Kitty no

longer cuddled up to him after sex and instead moved to her side of the bed as soon as their

passion was spent, but perversely he wished that she were not quite so unmoved by their physical

intimacy.

He propped up on one elbow as she swung her legs over the side of the bed. At least she was no

longer shy about her body, and did not rush to cover up, he mused as he studied her voluptuous

breasts and delightfully round bottom, and felt himself harden again. He knew he should have no

complaints about their marriage. They got on well out of bed, and their sex life was amazing. So

why did he feel as though something was missing—something elusive, that he did not

understand, but seemed to be the cause of the curious flatness he felt inside?

She had been brushing her hair, and now it rippled down her back like a river of silk. ‘I thought

we could host a dinner party next week,’ she murmured as she set down the brush and turned to

face him. ‘We’ve been invited to several recently, and it’s time we returned the compliment.’

‘Fine—but it can’t be next week,’ he replied, thinking of the meeting that had been arranged at

the last minute. ‘I’m flying to New York on Sunday night and I’ll be away until the following

weekend.’

Kitty felt a stab of disappointment, and her voice was unwittingly sharp when she spoke. ‘This

is the first I’ve heard of your business trip.’ She paused, and then added, ‘I assume it is for

business?’ Shannon Marsh lived in New York. Was he planning on a reunion to catch up on old

times? She instantly dismissed the idea. She trusted Nikos; he had married her because he

wanted his child, and for the same reason he would remain faithful to her.

But she did not want him to go away. They had been getting on well recently, better than she

had ever dared hope at the start of their marriage, and she was afraid that while he was away he

might revert back to the old, cold Nikos. She wished he would suggest that she accompanied him

to America, but maybe he thought she was too busy with her charity work? She hesitated, feeling

a rush of nerves, and then murmured, ‘Perhaps I could come with you?’

‘Not this time, I’m afraid.’

His smile was meant to take the sting out of the words, but when all was said and done it was

still a rejection, Kitty thought miserably.

‘I’ll be busy all week, and you’ll get bored.’ He saw the flare of hurt in her eyes and briefly

contemplated changing his mind. But these were important negotiations, and she would be a

distraction. If he was honest, the real reason he didn’t want her with him was because he wanted

some time to himself, Nikos acknowledged. She was in his mind a lot lately, more than he was

comfortable with, and he needed to prove to himself that he could walk away from her any time

he liked.

‘Well—’ Kitty dredged up a smile and tried to act as if it was no big deal ‘—another time,

maybe?’ But she was so hurt that she couldn’t help being cool with him for the rest of the

weekend, and he either didn’t notice, or didn’t care, because he made no comment when she

turned away from him in bed on Saturday night, and, instead of pulling her into his arms as she

longed for him to do, he rolled over and fell asleep, unaware that she wept silent tears into her

pillow.

She had to stop this, Kitty told herself at the beginning of the following week—after she had

bade Nikos a frosty goodbye and he had shrugged carelessly and walked out of the apartment

without a backward glance. She had to stop longing for what he could never give her, and make

the most of what she had—a charming, attentive, extremely virile husband who she knew was

determined to make their marriage work.

But the days without him dragged, and although she kept herself busy with her work for the

foundation she missed him desperately. He phoned every evening, but their conversations were

stilted. The distance between them had nothing to do with the fact that they were miles apart;

there was a subtle change in their relationship, and she was afraid she was losing the tenuous

closeness she had sensed had grown between them.

But what was she expecting from him? she asked herself towards the end of the week, when his

absence sat like a dull weight in her chest. She knew his history, and understood how terribly he

had been damaged by his past. It was possible that he would never fully recover, yet she was still

waiting for him to act like a knight in shining armour from the fairy tales she used to read, and

go down on bended knee to proclaim his undying love for her.

Unlike him she had enjoyed a blissfully happy childhood surrounded by love from her parents,

brothers and sister. It was easy for her to love when she had never known pain and rejection. But

instead of telling him honestly how she felt about him, she hugged her love for him to herself

like a miser, and hid her emotions behind her pride.

Perhaps it was time to dismiss her pride and ignore that little voice in her head that whispered

that in love stories the hero had to admit his love first. This wasn’t a story, this was real life—

and Nikos’s life had been far from a fairy tale. The worst he could do would be to tell her that he

would never love her in return, she told herself, feeling a flutter of fear in her stomach at that

very likely prospect. Since he had married her he had shown her kindness and respect, and his

faith in her ability to head the charitable foundation he had set up in honour of the woman who

had befriended him had been a huge boost to her self-confidence.

Lost in her thoughts, she did not notice that Sotiri had come out onto the terrace with her

breakfast until he halted by the table and gave a low whistle.

‘Anastasia!’

Kitty followed his gaze to the portrait of Nikos’s mother that had been delivered to the

apartment that morning and was now propped on a chair. ‘Was that her name? I didn’t realise

you knew her, Sotiri.’

‘Sure thing—Nikos and I grew up on the same streets. His mother was a lovely lady; everyone

liked her. It broke Nikos’s heart when she died,’ Sotiri said gruffly. ‘Where did you get the

painting?’

‘I took a copy of the little photo on his desk and sent it to an artist on Aristo who has painted all the recent portraits of the royal family,’ Kitty explained. ‘Nikos had told me that the photo was

his only memento of his mother, and I thought it would be nice to have a proper painting of her.

The artist has done a good job and caught her likeness perfectly,’ she murmured as she studied

the painting. ‘I was planning to give it to Nikos when he arrives home on Sunday—which I also

happen to know is his birthday, although he hasn’t mentioned it. Do you think he’ll like it,

Sotiri?’ she queried, doubts forming when he continued to stare at the picture with a curious

expression on his face.

He turned to her and gave her an intent glance. ‘I think he’ll be speechless, Miss Kitty.’ He

hesitated and then said quietly, ‘He does have a heart, you know; he just keeps it well hidden.’

Kitty spent the whole of Sunday torn between excitement because Nikos would soon be home

and dread because he might not like the painting, or her reason for giving it to him. She had

learned from his secretary that his flight was due to land in Athens late in the afternoon. Sotiri

had prepared a special dinner, and had left it ready for her to serve, and she set the table, added

candles and flowers and placed the wrapped portrait on his chair.

After a long debate over what to wear she chose a simple gold silk gown, which was cleverly cut

to disguise the pregnancy weight she’d gained on her hips and stomach, and had a low-cut

neckline that she knew Nikos would approve of. She left her hair loose, the way he liked it, put

on the diamond necklace that had been his last gift to her, and sprayed perfume to her pulse

points, and then paced the apartment impatiently, her heart thudding.

But he didn’t come home. As the evening ticked by her tension grew, and finally, when it

seemed unlikely that his flight would be this late, she phoned his mobile.

‘Angelaki,’ he answered just as she was about to cut the call, and she frowned at the background

sounds of music and female voices.

‘Nikos, I was expecting you home hours ago.’

‘Were you?’ He sounded dismissive and vaguely surprised. ‘I don’t remember saying what time

I would be home.’

‘No, but I thought…’ She trailed off. ‘Are you back in Athens? Where are you?’

‘The casino—I bumped into a couple of friends at the airport.’ A woman laughed close to the

phone. No doubt she was some blonde bimbo who was hanging onto his arm, waiting for him to

finish his call to his wife, Kitty thought furiously. ‘Don’t wait up for me,
agape
. I could be a while.’

‘Fine.’ Her hands were shaking when she ended the call, and tears burned her eyes. She had

spent the whole week looking forward to him coming home, but he couldn’t have emphasised

more clearly that he hadn’t given her a second thought while he had been away, and was in no

rush to see her again.

He had never given any indication that he wanted her to be anything more than his convenient

sex partner and the mother of his child, she reminded herself bleakly. It was not his fault that she had fallen in love with him, and he would be astonished if he could see her now, with tears and

mascara streaking her face as she threw herself on the bed and cried until her heart ached.

Nothing much had changed, Nikos brooded as he glanced around the casino. It was the same old

crowd of die-hard bachelors grouped around the roulette table, the same vacuous girls flirting

with any rich-looking man under seventy. This had been his way of life for years and he had

never questioned whether or not he enjoyed it, he thought as he detached himself from a

predatory blonde and walked towards the exit.

He didn’t know why he had come here. But that was a lie, he acknowledged, raking a hand

through his hair. He had come because he was scared to go home. Him—Nikos Angelaki—the

toughest kid on the streets, the most feared adversary in the boardroom. He had known this

churning feeling in his gut before; when he’d sat with his mother in the hospital and vowed he

would earn the money somehow for her cancer treatment, and she had smiled her soft smile at

him and said it was too late. He’d felt that same sickening sensation in his gut when he’d looked

at Greta, spaced out on cocaine, and realised she was telling him the truth about his baby.

But this was a different feeling, and it had been gnawing away at him all week while he had

been in the States missing Kitty so badly that he had only felt half alive. He had been blind for

weeks, or maybe so afraid of what he could see that he had closed his eyes and ignored it. He

couldn’t ignore it any longer—or avoid her, he brooded as he stepped off the kerb and hailed a

taxi. He didn’t belong in the nightclubs and casinos; he belonged at home with his wife.

It was almost midnight when he walked into the apartment. He had expected it to be in darkness,

and Kitty to have gone to bed, but a light glowed beneath the dining-room door. Frowning, he

opened it, and stopped dead. Someone had taken great care with the table—but he doubted Sotiri

had arranged the floral centrepiece or hung the birthday banner on the wall.

A faint noise from behind him told him he was no longer alone, and he jerked his head round to

see Kitty standing in the doorway. She was wearing a shimmery gold dress that displayed a

tantalising amount of her full breasts, and predictably desire surged through him. His gaze

moved up to her face. Unusually she was wearing her glasses instead of her contacts, but he

could see that her eyes were red-rimmed as if she had been crying.

‘How was your trip?’ she asked in a curiously flat voice.

‘Successful.’ He shrugged, unable to drum up much interest in the completion of a deal that a