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Apollo cursed. And then he said, ‘The truth is that she wasn’t that far off the mark. As soon as I saw you again I wanted you.’
Sophy’s face got hot again. She risked a glance at Apollo, who looked grim. He might be admitting he hadn’t stopped wanting her but it didn’t feel like a compliment. More an accusation.
‘And if this crazy plan of hers had worked and you’d managed to seduce me and get pregnant, then what?’
Sophy felt sick. ‘I don’t know. I don’t think she’d thought it through... I certainly had no idea what she’d planned. It sounded like gibberish to me.’
Apollo hated to admit that if Sophy had returned to the villa in Athens in the place of Sasha, and he’d wanted her as much as he wanted her now, she could very well have seduced him.
It was a bitter pill to swallow. He wanted her now. He was acutely aware of the buttons on the shirt-dress—how easily they would come undone, baring her to his eyes and touch.
No make-up. No adornment but her exceptional natural beauty. How could she have ever thought she was less attractive than her sister? The minute Sasha had turned up in his office in London he’d had an adverse reaction to her. Much to his relief.
At first you were disappointed.
He ignored that unwelcome reminder.
Sophy looked at him and he noticed the shadows under her eyes. He felt wrung out. He could only imagine how she felt.
‘What happens now? I expect you want me to leave as soon as possible.’
Apollo couldn’t stem the visceral rejection he had to that suggestion. He told himself it was incredulity that she could think she could walk away so easily, not the pulsing ever-present desire in his blood.
He shook his head. ‘I’m afraid that’s not possible.’
Sophy hated the little jump in her pulse when he said that. He must despise her after everything. She wasn’t even sure if he believed her. ‘Why?’
‘For one thing, we have a situation on our hands. Obviously we won’t need to divorce now. But I’ve been seen out in public with a woman who is not my wife. A wife who has been deceased for some weeks.’
‘We’ll have to announce the accident and her death and the press attention will be intense. You’ll be hounded when they find out she had a twin sister and that you were also in the car, but we can try to delay that until her death has been announced and the press moves on to the next story.’
Sophy frowned. ‘How can you do that?’
‘By taking you back to the island for a couple of weeks when the news is announced tomorrow. It’ll keep you insulated from the press and it’ll take about that long to process the repatriation of your sister’s body. By then, the press should have moved on. Also, it’ll give the authorities time to return your personal items.’
CHAPTER NINE
AND THEN WHAT? That was the question that had been reverberating around Sophy’s head for the past twenty-four hours since they’d landed back on Krisakis. Olympia had shown her back into her bedroom, separate from Apollo’s. Sophy chastised herself. What had she expected? For them to blithely continue where they’
d left off before her memory had returned?
Yes.
Her conscience stung. How could she be so selfish when her sister was dead?
Because it was your sister who was selfish in the first place, betraying your trust, going behind your back to try and seduce Apollo to further her own ends. Lying to trap him.
Sophy sighed deeply and hugged her knees tighter to her body. Yes, she could blame Sasha for so much, but also it had been her who had set this chain of events in motion by not revealing her true self because it had been easier to hide behind her sister, rather than believe that someone like Apollo could possibly be interested in her.
The waves lapped up gently onto the shore near her feet. It was soothing. It was also very quiet here on the beach in the late afternoon. The heat was less intense now.
Since they’d arrived on the island, Apollo had been busy, either in his study in the villa or when he went to visit the construction site. They hadn’t talked about anything since that last conversation.
Sophy knew she should be feeling some sort of cathartic weight lift off her shoulders, with her memory returned and full knowledge of what had happened, no matter how painful it was to face.
But she felt more tangled up than ever. Aware that her feelings for Apollo ran far deeper than she liked to admit. And she hated the sense that she was now a burden for him to deal with until the press attention died down.
Because surely he was just waiting for the earliest opportunity to let her go? Get on with his life? Say good riddance to her, and Sasha.
