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Being with Lauranne had been like gazing into the sun. It had left him blinded and dazzled.
And now she wanted a divorce.
His jaw tightened. He’d never even thought about divorce before she’d mentioned it. He’d just put the whole disastrous episode out of his head and got on with his life.
Intensely irritated by the depth of emotion that the mere memory of Lauranne could evoke, Zander snapped the file shut, his eyes suddenly hard.
Swearing fluently in Greek, he pulled into the flow of traffic and made for his office. He needed a cold shower. A very, very cold shower. And after that maybe he’d be able to disengage his libido and engage his brain.
* * *
‘I couldn’t believe it when he walked into the room.’ Tom stared at Lauranne in utter dismay. ‘Tell me you threw him out.’
She gave a wan smile, thinking of Zander’s six-foot-three, muscle-packed frame. ‘Hardly.’
Tom paced backwards and forwards in front of her desk. ‘I need a cigarette.’
‘You gave up six months ago,’ Lauranne pointed out gently and he grimaced.
‘If Volakis is back in our lives then I’ll be taking it up again pretty damn fast.’ Tom’s face was white. ‘And tell me that the two of you are not still married and that you were just playing one of your games. You almost gave me a heart attack when you said “he’s my husband” in that chilly tone.’
Lauranne closed her eyes briefly and curled her fingers into her palms. ‘We weren’t playing games.’
Tom stilled and then shook his head slowly, looking at her in horrified disbelief. ‘Oh, no—no, no, no. You’re not telling me you are still married—’
Lauranne swallowed and nodded.
‘Surely you divorced him?’ Tom’s tone was utterly incredulous and Lauranne bit her lip.
‘I didn’t get round to it.’
‘You didn’t get round to it?’ Tom gaped at her. ‘Why the hell not?’
Because she’d meant every one of her vows. Because divorcing him would have meant facing up to the end of their relationship and she just wasn’t able to do that.
‘Because I didn’t really want to think about it.’
Tom shook his head. ‘And Volakis? What’s his excuse?’
Lauranne bit her lip. ‘I think he probably forgot he was ever married to me,’ she croaked and Tom rolled his eyes.
‘Oh, great. So technically you’re still married to him.’ He let out a long breath. ‘So what did he want? Apart from causing mayhem, which is his favourite pastime, I seem to recall.’
Lauranne folded her hands in her lap to hide how badly they were shaking. ‘He wants me to work for him.’
Tom gave a short disbelieving laugh. ‘You’re kidding.’
‘I wish I was.’
Tom’s mouth tightened. ‘But you’re not going to, right? Tell me you’re not even considering it!’ He raked his fingers through his already-tumbled blond hair and looked at Lauranne with naked exasperation. ‘This is the man who took your heart and trampled it into the dirt, remember? This is the man who slept with another woman, fired you from a job you adored and then did everything in his power to make sure that you couldn’t get another one.’
Faced with the unpalatable truth, Lauranne bit her lip. ‘I know that, and I’m not—’
‘Yes, you are.’ T
om let out a frustrated sigh and shook his head in despair. ‘I know you so well and I know how you felt about him. I also know that there’s been no man in your life for the five years since he dumped you. And I’m beginning to question the real reason that you didn’t get round to divorcing him.’
‘Tom—’
