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His reaction to that photograph in the newspaper had been extreme. The shock of seeing her like that had overridden every rational thought. Caught up in his initial fury, he had assumed that Kate had to be guilty in some way, that she must have come on to this guy, or allowed him to come on to her, and things had got out of hand. His every instinct had been screaming at him that Kate couldn’t be trusted, that she was a liability, a ticking time bomb.
But as the days had passed reason had crept in. She would hardly have been initiating sex with a stranger in a pub’s beer garden with a crowd of people around her, including Sofia. Maybe he shouldn’t have reacted so violently. Maybe he should have listened to her explanation.
But the fact was it had happened, and it had been plastered all over the press. And if the Greek courts chose to believe it, it would pose a real threat to his becoming Sofia’s guardian. That in itself was enough to settle a red mist over him.
He had contacted the courts straight away—ostensibly to enquire as to how the case was proceeding, but really to put out feelers to see if he could sense any change of mood. He hadn’t detected anything untoward, but even so he’d followed it up with more communication, stressing the need to have the court hearing as soon as possible, trying to speed the process up.
He wasn’t sure how far he was getting with that, but at least he wasn’t sensing any new issues holding it up. Maybe they had got away with it.
That was one small comfort. But it wasn’t enough. It couldn’t douse the fire in his belly that still raged for Kate—for who she was, for what she had done to him, for everything she meant to him.
With his turmoil impacting on the way he worked, the treatment of his staff, it had finally fallen to his PA to tell him to stop behaving like such a jerk. Not that she had phrased it quite like that, but he had got the message.
Lovely Madeline...who had worked with him ever since he had opened his office...who brought in homemade pastries...who came in early, stayed late...for whom nothing was too much trouble. Madeline who had proudly presented him with a wedding gift on the first day of his return to the office—an elaborately wrapped affair that he still hadn’t had the heart to open, accompanied by a huge card signed by all his Athens staff.
Clearly she had drawn the short straw, as she had nervously approached him one day and suggested that he needed a break from work. That maybe he should return to Crete for a while. She had told him that she would take care of things at the office. Anyone else and he would have bitten their heads off, fired them on the spot for their impudence. But looking into Madeline’s soft, wise eyes he had found himself agreeing. Thinking maybe she was right.
She had put his private jet on standby before he’d even got back to his desk.
Back on the shore, Nikos roughly towelled himself down and pulled on his shorts.
Stepping away from Kate, putting some space between them, had been the right decision. There was nothing to be gained by tormenting each other still further. Certainly nothing to be gained by raking over the past. As far as he was concerned that fateful night was dead and buried—along with the man he had been then. The resentment he felt for Kate and her mother was still there, but picking over the bones would achieve nothing.
But Kate had insisted on dragging it all out, making him say things he hadn’t wanted to say, opening up about his background when he’d had no intention of doing any such thing. She’d even tried to make out that she had found his impoverished state attractive, when they both knew that was a damned lie. She had tried to get him to show her his hurt when all he’d wanted to do was show her his strength.
The longer he’d spent in Kate’s company, the more he’d known he was in danger of being sucked under. He had felt himself weakening, his hard-won resolve slipping through his fingers minute by minute, second by second. With his resistance being steadily chipped away, he had been in danger of becoming completely obsessed with Kate. Again. And look how that had turned out last time.
So he’d had to be strong. To assert his authority and assume command. It was essential that Kate knew who called the shots, who held all the power. Because that was him. He had engineered her back into his life. He had known exactly what he was doing when he had taken her to his bed. He was in control.
