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He often bought her flowers and other little gifts: a book he knew she wanted to read, her favourite perfume, inexpensive jewellery when they wandered hand in hand around the market and she admired a necklace made of shells, or some pretty silver earrings. He gifted her with expensive jewellery too, and smiled ruefully when she preferred to wear a thin gold chain with an olive branch pendant that he had bought for her when they’d taken a boat trip to the island of Lemnos.
The trip had reminded Eleanor of when she had fallen in love with Jace on the island cruise, and she had warned herself not to rush headlong into repeating the mistakes of the past. But the olive branch necklace seemed like a symbol of hope. She returned the kind gestures Jace showed her by cooking meals that she knew he liked, and she made sure there was always a bottle of the single malt whisky he favoured in the cupboard.
Their relationship was not the sterile marriage deal that Jace had offered her, a lifetime ago, it seemed. He took care of her, and Eleanor could not deny that it felt wonderful knowing she could rely on him after she had spent so many years feeling alone and rather abandoned by her parents, who had not known how to cope when she was diagnosed with scoliosis.
As for her scar, she barely gave it any thought now, and she felt confident wearing a bikini or dresses with a low-cut back. On the night of the charity ball, Jace had told her she was beautiful and he had made her believe in herself. Never again would she allow herself to be defined by her scar. She was a warrior, and she would always be grateful to Jace for showing her how strong she was.
But dare she offer him her heart again? She knew him better now, and the truth was that shelikedhim. He was an honourable man who had been trapped by the promise he had made his father when he was a teenager to seek revenge after Kostas had destroyed his family.
Eleanor sighed. What she felt for Jace was not the infatuation she’d felt when he had swept her off her feet last year. With hindsight, she understood that he had been a fantasy figure—Prince Charming to her Cinderella. She had wanted him to rescue her from her dull life and her insecurities. But his betrayal had made her take a good look at herself.
She had realised that she’d been in awe of her grandfather when she was growing up, and always anxious to please him. And she had been in awe of Jace the first time he had asked her to marry him. She’d put him on a pedestal, but her expectations had been unrealistic. Now she knew he was a man with great strengths but also flaws that made him endearingly human and offered the tantalising idea that maybe he was not as emotionless as he wanted her to believe.
From outside the villa came the sound of a helicopter. Eleanor met Jace’s dark gaze and something intangible and ephemeral hovered in the air between them before he gave a slight shake of his head, as if he found his thoughts puzzling. ‘There’s Sotiri to take me to the airport,’ he murmured. ‘I can’t say I’m looking forward to the long-haul flight to Perth.’
‘I know you said that the distance is too far for your private jet to make without refuelling, but travelling first class on a commercial plane means you will have a bed and you can sleep during the flight.’
‘Mmm, I should get more sleep than I do sharing a bed with you.’
‘Whose fault is that?’ She pretended to pout.
He grinned. ‘Yours, but I’m not complaining. I love your uninhibited response when we have sex.’
Love. Eleanor looked away from his impossibly handsome face, hoping he could not tell that her heart had leapt when he’d casually dropped the word into the conversation. How was she here again? she wondered. What had happened to her confident belief that she understood the difference between lust and love?
Was she a fool to think that perhaps there was no difference? When Jace made love to her it felt like more than just sex, although she did not have the experience to know if there was a difference, she acknowledged ruefully. Jace was the only man she had ever wanted, and a little voice in her head whispered that he was the only man she would ever want.
He had hurt her badly in the past, and the idea of laying herself open to being hurt again was terrifying. But sometimes in life you had to take risks. She was different from the person she had been when she had first met him. She was stronger and more confident, but was she brave enough to risk Jace’s rejection a second time?
‘Hey, where have you gone,pouláki mou?’ The mattress dipped as he sat on the bed and slid his hand beneath her chin, tilting her face up to his. ‘You have looked pale for a few days.’ His voice was concerned when he brushed his fingers lightly against her cheeks. ‘There are shadows beneath your eyes. Perhaps you are unwell. I’ll call my doctor and ask him to visit you for a consultation.’
There were times like now, when Jace treated her with such tenderness, that made her think he might care for her a little. But she was afraid to hope in case the castle of dreams she had built came tumbling down.
She smiled. ‘I don’t need to see a doctor. You’re not the only one who needs to catch up on sleep.’
He did not look convinced. ‘Don’t do too much while I’m away. I wish you had agreed to come to Australia with me. We could have had a few days holiday after I’d wrapped up my business meetings.’
‘I thought I should stay behind so that I can visit Iliana while you are away.’ Jace’s mother had recently moved into a hospice. The doctors had said that she was unlikely to live to see Christmas, but mercifully she was not in pain and kept in remarkably good spirits.
Jace stood up, but he remained standing by the bed and stared down at Eleanor. His expression was hidden beneath his hooded eyelids. ‘I’ll insist that you come along on my next business trip.’
She nodded, but inside she felt sick at the thought that she might not be his wife for much longer. He had secured his half-share of the Pangalos, and when his mother was no longer here there would be no reason for their marriage to continue.
He leaned down and claimed her mouth in a lingering kiss that tempted her to pull him down onto the bed so that they could make love one last time before he left for his trip to the other side of the world. But she resisted because she did not want him to think she was needy.
‘Bye then,’ she said airily.
His gaze narrowed. ‘Will you miss me?’
‘I doubt I’ll have time while I’m busy running the hotel.’
‘Speaking of which, my lawyer has some paperwork for you to sign. It’s to do with the planning application for the new villas we are hoping to build on the holiday complex.’
Jace picked up his briefcase and walked out of the bedroom without a backward glance. Minutes later Eleanor heard the helicopter take off. She dashed her hand over her eyes, angry with herself because she missed him already. It was the first time they had been apart since he had moved back to the villa, but she had better start getting used to living without him, she thought.
She had a job to do, managing the hotel, but when she got out of bed she was overcome by a wave of dizziness. It was not the first time it had happened and, although she had assured Jace that she wasn’t ill, she did not feel right. There was nothing she could put her finger on but maybe she was slightly anaemic, which might explain why her period was a few days late.
In the bathroom she searched through the cupboard for the packet of multi-vitamins she’d bought the previous winter in England. It wouldn’t hurt to start taking them again. Another box containing a popular herbal supplement that she’d used until recently fell onto the floor. She picked it up and happened to glance at the label.
