Unknown (4 page)

‘She does look pathetic,’ admitted Theo. ‘But I’m sure she’s much stronger than she looks. If she had the
determination to get here, then she can use it to get back. She goes!’

Miranda felt like spitting in his eye. How could warm, loving Georgios have a brother like him? She turned appealingly to the smaller man. ‘Georgios, I’m exhausted. I’d be grateful if I could stay.’ Perhaps then they could talk without big brother breathing down their necks? She was still convinced that this was all his doing. That once she got Georgios on his own he would admit that it was a plan dreamed up by Theo to keep them apart.

Georgios smiled, and Miranda’s heart flipped. How well she remembered that smile! It was genuine and friendly, encompassing anyone near enough to be drawn to it. It was one of his attractions, his near-perfect white teeth flashing against the darker shade of his skin.

He turned again to his brother. ‘Theo, where’s your heart? You can’t turn her away. She looks as though she’s ready to pass out.’

Her legs did feel strangely wobbly. She hadn’t been looking after herself as well as she should since Georgios’s disappearance, and with the baby she supposed it had taken that extra bit out of her. But the iron man could not be expected to have any sympathy.

He looked at her now, his frozen face giving no hint of the thoughts going through his mind. ‘The vapours? How novel! Except that women these days are much stronger than their Victorian counterparts. ‘You’ll have to try again if you’re thinking of that one, Miss Martyn.’

‘It was I, not Miranda, who suggested she might not be well,’ said Georgios. ‘The least we can do is give her a bed for the night.’

It was with reluctance that Theo finally nodded. ‘Very well, but first thing in the morning she goes, and you’re not to tell Mother she’s here. I can’t have Miss Martyn upsetting her with her preposterous claims.’

Miranda felt a wave of dizziness and sat down quickly, passing a hand over her forehead. When she looked up Georgios had gone.

Theo surveyed her coldly. ‘Let’s quit the playacting, Miss Martyn. You might fool my brother, but you certainly don’t fool me. How much do you want to go right now?’

Her eyes were green as she glanced at him, her lids heavy so that it was an effort to keep them open. But not half so heavy as her heart. It was like a lead weight, she could even feel its painful thud as it beat against her breast bone.

‘I don’t want money,’ she said tiredly. ‘I want Georgios. He’s my husband, and I love him. I don’t know what you’ve said to make him act like this, but he won’t be able to keep it up. He’ll make a slip before long and then I shall know that I’m not going out of my mind.’

‘You’re not crazy,’ he said, ‘you’re cunning, more cunning than I at first thought. I never expected you’d have the nerve to claim you were actually married to my brother. Don’t you think that’s going a bit far? How did you think you were going to get away with it?’

‘I didn’t know I was going to meet you,’ cried Miranda angrily.

He allowed himself a tight smile. ‘Or you wouldn’t have come? That’s quite obvious. It’s as well I was at home, or Georgios might very well have had his head turned by a pretty girl like you. Your golden hair is such a marked contrast to our Grecian beauties you probably thought that would be to your advantage as well.’

It took every ounce of Miranda’s self-control not to leap up and attack Theo Alexidis. With every minute that passed she hated him more. No wonder poor Georgios had fallen out with his family! With this man for a brother it was amazing they had got on for as many years as they had.

‘I don’t think I like you very much, Mr Alexidis,’ she said fiercely. ‘And I feel sorry for Georgios having a brother like you.’

‘And I’m quite sure you feel sorry for yourself, having come all this way only to have your carefully conceived plans thwarted by the heavy-handed elder brother. Were you perhaps not aware of my existence? Hadn’t you done your homework thoroughly?’ Miranda tried to look at him boldly, but those hypnotic eyes made her tremble and she looked quickly away, feeling decidedly uncomfortable. ‘As a matter of fact,’ she admitted, ‘I didn’t know about you, but even if I had it wouldn’t have stopped me. My business is with Georgios, not you.’

It was a distinct shock when he sat down heavily on the silk-covered couch beside her. She edged away, feeling the same electric vibrations that had come across to her in the car.

‘The first flaw in your defence, dear girl,’ he said smoothly, compelling her to look at him. ‘If, as you claim, you had married my brother, you would have known about me. Georgios would have talked about his family, it’s only natural.’

‘Not if he’s a despicable rat like you!’ She glared, feeling the colour rise in her cheeks but unable to drag her eyes away from the narrowed flint-hardness of his. ‘If you were my brother I’d definitely want to forget all about you. I expect Georgios is the same.’

‘Family unity is very important to a Greek,’ he said coldly.

Miranda was saved the need to answer when Georgios returned, followed by a sour-faced woman in her thirties. ‘Katie will show you to your room,’ said Georgios. ‘When you’ve washed and changed come back down and we’ll have a light meal waiting. I expect you’re hungry, and it’s a few hours yet before dinner.’

‘Thank you,’ she said quietly, and what a relief it was to move away from Theo’s stifling presence. ‘You’re very kind.’

She stood looking at him for a few seconds, and it was a strange sensation to have the man who had shared her life treat her with the polite courtesy of a stranger. It sent cold shivers down her spine and she longed more than anything else to have him pull her into his arms and say the game was over. It was with difficulty that she wrenched her eyes away and followed the woman.

The room was comfortable, with a thick ivory carpet and shell-pink curtains and bed-cover. The wardrobes and dresser which took up the whole of one wall were cream and gold, and there was a door leading to an adjoining bathroom.

Miranda pushed back the shutters, and it was like looking at a picture postcard. The tree-clad slopes dropped away steeply and far below it was possible to catch a glimpse of the apricot rooftops in the village. The sea was an indescrible blue lapping against the serrated shoreline. It was as idyllic as Georgios had described.

A sound behind made her turn swiftly, and there was Georgios with her case. ‘Georgios!’ Unable to help herself, Miranda ran across the carpet and wrapped her arms around him, burying her head in his chest. ‘Tell me it’s a foolish game you’re playing,’ she said shakily. ‘It’s like a nightmare! I can’t believe it’s happening. Why, Georgios, why?’

When he did not answer, but simply held her against him, stroking her hair, she said thickly, ‘It’s Theo, isn’t it? He doesn’t like the idea of you being married to an English girl. He’s made you promise to pretend not to know me.’

She lifted her head and her eyes were moist with unshed tears. It was agony being held against him but feeling none of the vibrant responses she had been so used to. His body had always pulsed with desire when he held her in his arms, and although her own throbbed now with this physical contact, Georgios remained impassive.

‘We’re alone now,’ she implored. ‘You needn’t act any longer. Theo need never know, if that’s the way you want to play it. But please don’t do this to me—I can’t take it!’

Georgios muttered something in Greek and looked at her long and hard, then the next moment Theo walked into the room.

His brow was dark with displeasure and Miranda shot guiltily away from Georgios, then immediately wondered why she had done so.

‘As I expected.’ He folded his arms across his strongly muscled chest. ‘Georgios, don’t let Miss Martyn’s very cleverly contrived distress get to you, or before you know it she’ll be twisting you round her little finger.’ Georgios smiled wickedly. ‘You can’t deny, dear brother, that she’s very attractive. Why refuse something that’s offered to you so willingly?’

‘Why indeed,’ he snapped, ‘except that our friend here is nothing more than a confidence trickster. She’s after big game, Georgios. You! Or should I be more to the point and say your money.’

Georgios shook his head. ‘It doesn’t make sense. You’re the eldest son. If she’s after a rich husband, wouldn’t you be the likeliest target?’

Cold eyes flicked from his brother to Miranda, and she quivered beneath the fierce intensity of his dislike. 'Strangely enough, she admitted she didn’t know of my existence. Or is she. perhaps, even cleverer than we think?' Again he fixed her with that piercing, see-all, stare. ‘You thought Georgios would be an easier man to convince? You’ve heard of my reputation for being a man of stone and thought I would be too hard a nut to crack?'

Miranda glared angrily, his words hurting but incensing at the same time. ‘All men have their weaknesses. I've no doubt that if I had the time I could find out yours. But it’s Georgios I’m interested in.
My
husband!
'
These last words were said defiantly, her brilliant eyes warring with his.

Then with a cry she put her hands over her face, trying to shut out these two brothers who were trying to turn her world upside down. It was all a bad dream—it had to be! She would wake up in a minute and find herself back in her safe little suburban house, Georgios in bed beside her. The whole thing, right from when she had found that unbelievable note, was nothing more than her subconscious playing tricks.

‘Georgios is not your husband.' Theo’s harsh statement made her look at him again. He was inches taller than Georgios, and although Georgios was by no means a weakling
₃
he was a mere shadow behind the masculine aggression and absolute self-control of his elder brother.

‘I suppose you think you’re going to wear me down until I admit it?’ she questioned tiredly.

‘I wouldn’t waste my time trying. And since you’re leaving in the morning the issue hardly arises. Come. Georgios, we’ll leave Miss Martyn to take her shower.'

Silently Miranda implored Georgios to stay, but he
obediently followed his brother, turning at the door to give her yet another curious and puzzled glance.

Miranda stared after them for a couple of minutes before finally running a bath. She needed to soak away her tiredness after the journey, but more than anything she needed time to think about the situation in which she had found herself.

It was incomprehensible that Georgios should deny knowing her. Theo must have a big hold over him to make him give such a creditable performance. There really had been blankness in his eyes, and when he touched her it had been with the reserve a man usually has for a woman he had just met. If she hadn’t known better she would have said that he genuinely did not know her.

She was a little scared about the implication of it all, but also determined not to return home until she had got to the bottom of it. Quite how she was going to persuade Theo to let her stay, she did not know. He was capable of forcibly and personally carrying her from the island.

There was just no answer. There was no denying that the man downstairs was her husband. But why, why, why wouldn’t he admit it? What had Theo said to him? Why did Theo dislike her so much?

It was undoubtedly this older man who had returned her letters unopened, which meant he had known of her existence before she arrived, so what sense did it all make?

Even Georgios surprised her. His acting was superb. She had not known he was capable of it. But why, when they were on their own, hadn’t he relaxed? Why had he kept up the pretence even then? Or had he been about to speak when Theo walked in? There had definitely been something on his mind.

The obvious thing to do was talk to him in private. Bide her time until Theo was out of the way, and then maybe she would get somewhere.

She heaved herself out of the bath, used the big pink fluffy towel with the letter A embroidered in one corner, and dusted herself with a heavenly scented talc. It was a very feminine bathroom, all pink and cream with lots of lotions and soaps and mirrors with flattering concealed lighting.

Had the circumstances been different she would have felt like a million dollars; as things were she was reluctant to go back down and face the two men.

Only that morning she had set out so happily, convinced that there was a plausible excuse for Georgios’s silence, confident that once they met everything would be all right. It had never crossed her mind that he would pretend not to know her.

With some hesitation she slipped on a simple white cotton dress, its attraction being the broderie anglaise on the bodice and hem. Her fine hair dried quickly as she brushed it and she let it fall in natural waves about her bare shoulders.

She applied the minimum of make-up to her silky-soft skin, darkening her lashes to emphasise her already eloquent eyes, a touch of blusher because she felt drained, and a smear of lip-gloss. Finally a pair of white high-heeled sandals to give her those extra inches to face up to Theo Alexidis.

Why Theo instead of Georgios was to the forefront of her mind, she had no idea. He was not a man it was easy to dismiss. She guessed he made a forcible impression on everyone he met.

She looked and felt good—on the outside, but inside was as nervous as a kitten. Losing her way in this luxurious villa with its maze of corridors did not help. Eventually she followed the sound of the men’s voices and found them outside on the verandah which was
heady with the scent of exotic flowers. A purple bougainvillaea spilled luxuriously, scarlet hibiscus brightened a corner, and countless tubs sat in every available space.

They both jumped up as she approached, letting her sit on one of the softly-cushioned cane chairs before sitting again themselves. Georgios still wore the same blue shirt and navy trousers that he had had on earlier, but Theo had changed out of his work clothes into a pair of casual cream trousers and a black silk shirt open to the waist. A gold medallion rested against the solid wall of his chest, which gleamed like polished mahogany. As he moved, so too did the muscles beneath that firm skin, and Miranda found herself hypnotised by his sheer compelling maleness.