The Kyriakos Virgin Bride (8 page)

But he'd been floored by her announcement that he wasn't her first lover. The whole dream had blown up in his face, scattering pieces of chaos everywhere. Zac gave a groan. And he didn't know how to put his orderly world back together again. No wave of a magic wand would turn Pandora back into a virgin.

There had never been a divorce in his family in a thousand years. Not even his failure of a father had committed that sin. Zac rubbed a hand over his face, mentally recoiling at the idea of all that ugliness.

His head ached thinking about the choice. A sullied bride? Never! The scandal of a divorce? He could not let Pandora go.

If he flew her to the airport tomorrow, he'd never see her again. Never hold her, never touch her. He closed his eyes at the wave of nausea that swept him at that thought. Pandora was not going anywhere. Not until…

Until…what? He shook his head and another wave of nausea swirled around him. Hell, he couldn't think straight. Couldn't think what to do next. The sheer lack of clarity shocked him. With a wretched sigh, Zac reached for his glass—then remembered he'd tossed the contents over the edge of the deck and groaned. Collapsing sideways, he slid full length onto the couch and closed his eyes.

And wished that the room would stop spinning around him.

T
he following day, a tentative knock roused Pandora from the doze she'd floated in for ages since dawn. Instantly awake, she swung her legs over the side of the bed, intensely aware of the slither of the pale gold satin nightgown against her legs.

Could it be Zac? Her pulse picked up. Could he be coming to apologise for not loving her, for misleading her, for all the grief he'd caused her?

“Who is it?”

Her query was overridden by another—louder—knock.

Annoyed, she called, “Go away, Zac.”

But the knocking continued to staccato against the door. Pandora leaped across the room, her heartbeat racing in anticipation of the battle to come. She turned the key in the lock and yanked the door open.

But it wasn't Zac who stood there. Instead, Pandora found herself facing an elderly woman balancing a breakfast tray on one hand, the other poised to knock again. Pandora recognised the bag and scarf slung over the woman's shoulder as her own.

This must be Maria, Georgios's wife. Pandora hid her exasperation and the twinge of disappointment that it wasn't Zac. “Oh, thank you. I must have left them downstairs last night.”

Maria said nothing. Pandora tried not to let the woman's lack of welcome get to her. Instead, she scanned the teapot and cup, the bunch of dark purple grapes, the toast and conserve prettily arranged on the tray and said, “That looks delicious,” before reaching for the tray.

Maria held on to it. For a moment Pandora thought the old woman intended to keep possession of it, then unexpectedly she relinquished it. Backing into the room clasping the tray, Pandora smiled her thanks.

Setting the tray on the chest of drawers beside the window, Pandora turned to find Maria in the room. The handbag had been set down on the bed. Pandora's silk scarf lay across Maria's hands, and the old woman's crooked fingers moved in little circles against the brightly hand-dyed silk.

Pandora warmed to her. “It's beautiful, isn't it? My favourite scarf.”

Maria ignored her, her fingertips continuing to caress the fabric.

“Did Zac instruct you to give me the silent treatment? Is this another part of his kidnap plan? Isolate me? So that I fall into his arms?”

Nothing. Not even a glance from the other woman.

Pandora gave a sigh of impatience. “You know, a little politeness goes a long way.”

At last Maria looked at her.

Pandora shook her head in disgust. “You're very rude,” she said clearly. Shrugging when she didn't get a response, Pandora stalked to the door and pointedly opened it fully. There was no mistaking the message, and Maria's expression clouded over. She gave the scarf one last stroke before draping it on the post at the bottom of the bed. Then she shuffled past Pandora, her dark eyes veiled.

“Have a nice day.” Pandora pinned on a wide smile.

But Maria didn't look at her again—nor did she deign to reply.

Shutting the door behind the rude old crone, Pandora locked it for good measure. Only then did she unzip her bag and realise that her cell phone was missing. She remembered Zac suggesting seductively that she spend her time on the island making love. She'd dropped the phone and he'd picked it up. The frustration simmering inside her notched up another degree.

Zac had kept her cell phone.

Seething, Pandora pushed open the curtains and blinked against the bright September sunlight. The absence of shadows made her glance at her watch. It was already midday, so she hastened to the en suite to wash and afterward pulled a floaty white sundress from the wardrobe where someone—Maria perhaps?—had hung her clothes.

Once dressed, she dragged an armchair from the corner of the room and placed it squarely in front of the window and settled down to tackle the fruit Maria had brought. She had just finished the grapes when a new volley of knocking thundered against the door. A moment later the doorknob rattled, but the lock held.

“Unlock the door.” Zac's voice held a dangerous edge.

“Go away, Zac.”

“Open it now,” he demanded.

She stared mutinously at the door. A heavy thud rocked the door. But the wood held. His shoulder? Probably. She hoped it hurt like blazes. “Stop it, Zac.”

“Open the damned door or I'll break it down.”

At the thought of Zac's breaking the door down a forbidden flare of excitement stirred.
God, what was she becoming?
“If you use any force on that door, I'll lose the last tiny shred of respect I have for you.”

There was silence. Then she heard him heave a heavy sigh. “You've hurt Maria's feelings.”

The totally unexpected attack took her aback. “
I've
hurt Maria's feelings?”
What about her feelings?
Slowly she rose from the chair and went to unlock the door.

Her eyes widened as she took in Zac's appearance. He looked haggard. His normally tanned skin held an unhealthy yellow tinge, and his eyes were red-rimmed.

“Are you ill?” The words burst from her.

“Why?” he asked guardedly.

“You look terrible.”

His gaze slid away from hers and he muttered something that sounded like, “I feel terrible.”

“What?” she asked, frowning at him.

“It doesn't matter. What matters is that Maria is offended.”

“I'm offended! That woman is rude.”

“Don't talk so loudly.” He flinched and half closed his eyes.

“You're hungover!” she accused.

He blinked but didn't deny it.

“You didn't see her. She was rude and insolent and ignored everything I said to her. She didn't even greet me.”

“It's not her fault—”

“Of course it's her fault,” Pandora cut in heatedly. She raised an eyebrow. “Unless you put her up to it?”

“I didn't put Maria up to anything. But I should've told—”

“You should tell her she needs to be more polite to me.” Pandora cringed when she heard the self-righteous words and added lamely, “After all, I am your wife.”

Zac stared at her as if he'd never seen her before. “Why do you deserve Maria's respect when you gave her none? She says that you opened the door, made her unwelcome in your room and slammed the door on her. That woman has been there all my life. She raised me when I lived with my grandfather at the house in Athens. She looked after me while my father went through dozens of floozies and my mother drank herself to death.” Zac's eyes were flashing now. “One thing I never had you pegged for was a spoiled little rich girl.”

“I'm not a spoiled little rich girl. She was damn rude to me.
She
ignored
me, she
turned
her
back on
me.
” It sounded so petty. It was obvious Zac cared about Maria. A lot. “Look, maybe she's worried now that you're married,” Pandora conceded. “Maybe any woman you married would never be good enough in her eyes. But she didn't have to—”

“She's deaf.”

“Deaf?” Pandora gaped at Zac. The scene in the bedroom ran through her head. “Oh, no! Now I feel terrible.”

“It's my fault,” Zac sighed. “I usually sign to her, although she can lip-read Greek fluently. I should have warned you to speak English very slowly and keep to a basic vocabulary. But I never even thought about it. I never think of her…disability.”

“I'll tell her I'm sorry.” Pandora lifted her chin. “But you're right—you should've told me. In fact, you should never have brought me here. What do you think Maria would think of the boy she raised abducting a woman?”

“You're not telling her that.”

“I can't, can I? Not if she's deaf and can't lip-read English properly.” She gave a mirthless laugh, furious with him, with her helplessness. “You've got it all sussed, right down to the deaf jailer.”

“Kiranos is not a jail.”

“It sure feels like one. Unless you're planning to take me to the airport?” Pandora sneaked him a look from under her bangs. But for the first time she wasn't so sure she wanted to go. Once she left, their marriage would be over. And Zac would never look at her with that glow in his eyes, never again touch her with fingers that reduced her to shivers—

God, she had to stop thinking about…about the sex side of their marriage.

Zac avoided her gaze. “I'll let you go when I'm good and ready.”

His high-handedness caused another flare of annoyance. “And then you wonder why I say I hate you.”

The eyes that met hers were a flat, expressionless green. “You don't hate me.”

Before he could expose the ignominious desire she was trying to hide, Pandora retorted, “What's to like about you? You're arrogant, deceitful and sly. You talk about your noble ancestors and their chivalrous love for their brides, yet you abduct me and stop me from going home to my family. You are a man totally without honour.”

Zac stared at her, his face ashen. Without a word, he swung on his heel and left her room, the door closing silently behind him.

Feeling no relief at her victory, only emptiness, Pandora slunk to the armchair and listened as his footsteps retreated. The tearing sense of loss splintered her soul, hurting deep within her psyche and leaving a void where her love for Zac had flourished. All that was left was the humiliating knowledge that she still wanted him. But after her last crack, he'd have to be made of steel to even think of touching her.

Dropping her head into her hands, she remembered Maria's sullen face when she'd left earlier…and just now Zac's face had been grey as a result of the words she'd hurled at him. Words that left the nasty, bitter taste of shame on her tongue. She'd always been kind and upbeat to everyone she'd met. At school, some of the girls had sniggered that she was a regular little Pollyanna. What the hell was happening to her? What was she becoming?

Yes, Zac's behaviour to her had been unacceptable. His actions had instilled a sense of confusion and powerlessness. And, yes, she'd been wallowed in her own misery. But there was no need to take it out on Maria.

Or even Zac. His shattered expression flashed through her mind. She'd known that her words would hurt like poisoned arrows. Zac's sense of honour lay at the heart of the man he was—the man he believed himself to be. Her venomous attack had been small-minded, not like her at all. She'd behaved like a petulant child.

Remorse stabbed at her. And while a niggling voice said that he deserved it because he'd taken away her right of choice, her freedom, she suppressed it. She was not going to allow Zac's actions to destroy the person she'd always prided herself on being.

So when Maria arrived with her lunch tray, Pandora gave her a tentative smile and mouthed, “I'm sorry.”

The Greek woman's face broke into a smile and she started to speak in very broken, very hesitant English. “Zac tell me you not know.”

The knowledge that Zac had taken the blame for what had happened completely flummoxed her, and she stared after Maria openmouthed as she set the tray on the chest of drawers.

After Maria had gone, Pandora picked at the Greek salad with its red tomato quarters and fat olives before pushing the tray aside. Not hungry but not yet ready to venture out and face Zac, Pandora picked up a book. It was a mystery featuring a kick-ass heroine by a favourite author who usually held her entranced. But today the words on the pages aroused no interest.

The afternoon was hot. Even inside the thick whitewashed stone walls, Pandora could feel the temperature rising. The fine cotton dress clung to her body, so she turned up the air-conditioning. Thoroughly restless now, Pandora crossed to the window and pushed it open.

The villa—if one could call a structure with towers and parapets that—perched like an eyrie high above a sweeping cobbled terrace, and far below lay the stony beach. And beyond, the sea glittered in the sunlight. On the terrace, a thickset man with a head of unruly black hair—Georgios, Maria's husband, she supposed—was watering terra-cotta pots full of bright magenta geraniums.

The startling glare of the heat shimmered off the white walls of the villa. The sea looked blissfully tranquil. Incredibly tempting. Pandora stood there, her arms folded on the wide sill, for what seemed forever.

At last she acknowledged to herself that she was waiting for Zac to appear.

Turning away in disgust, she threw herself down on the bed and stared at the wooden door.

This time she hadn't locked it.

Because after her cruel words she knew Zac would not return.

 

Pandora spent the next three days closeted in her bedroom, avoiding Zac, full of remorse at the way she'd spoken to him the last time she'd seen him. But she couldn't help being a little irked that Zac hadn't bothered to check on her.