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Perhaps he would have continued with that hand-to-mouth existence if his ‘mother’ hadn’t died very suddenly, just as most of the city was shutting down for Christmas. Experiencing a grief he hadn’t been expecting, which culminated in an urgent need to get away from Athens, Theo had hitched a ride to the luxurious Saronikos gulf, gazing into the lit windows of the beachfront mansions, his stomach rumbling with hunger and his heart aching with envy.
If Mia’s grandfather, Georgios Minotis, hadn’t caught him stealing eggs, what would have become of him? But nobody had ever been able to answer the conundrum of‘what if?’, had they?
All Theo knew was that he had faced down the millionaire’s wrath with a defiance spurred on by his gnawing hunger. A job had been found for him on the vast estate. He had been put in the servants’ quarters and done manual jobs around the place, but after a few months, Georgios had claimed to have seen something special in the boy. A quality he’d never found in his own son—a reckless gambler who had drunk himself to death when his daughter Mia was still a child.
That had been why he’d sent Theo away, to be educated at the finest schools in Europe. Exclusive establishments which initially taught the illiterate boy how to read and write and then, to learn. A thirst for knowledge had been born which had quickly become voracious. Theo’s vacations had been spent at different summer schools, acquiring a host of language skills along the way. His winters had seen him skiing in select resorts, mastering first the black runs and then the most treacherous of off-piste skiing. He’d learnt how to ride. Which knife and fork to use at dinner and which fine wines should accompany it. He had learned how to pleasure himself, and the hordes of women eager to share his bed. He’d found himself a job in a bank in Paris and worked there diligently and then, when he was twenty-three years old, he had returned to Saronikos for the summer vacation, at the invitation of his mentor.
And had met the seventeen-year-old Mia.
He had been blown away by her. That voluptuous beauty. The brightness of those blue eyes. She had been holding a wounded puppy, an expression of fierce intent on her face as she’d nursed the mess of his tiny muzzle, for the creature had been injured and blinded in one eye. As she’d lifted her head and their gazes had met, his universe had seemed to shift and realign as he’d recognised something in her which had resonated inside him. Something which had reached out to him. An inner loneliness and a sense of being an outsider. Or at least, that was what he’d allowed himself to believe. His mouth twisted. What a deluded fool he had been. It had been sexual chemistry, pure and simple, given an extra edge by the stark differences in their circumstances. They should have quietly consummated their relationship—the rich girl getting her fulfilment from her experiencedbit of rough—then gone their separate ways.
But something had held him back and stopped him from satisfying the urgent needs of his body—and hers. An idealism he had not felt before, or since, and which he had been reluctant to put a name to. He had asked her to marry him and when she had accepted, her grandfather had behaved like a man who had just won the jackpot.
So lost was he in his uncomfortable memories that it took a moment for Theo to acknowledge the light tap on his door, which opened on receipt of his terse command, to reveal his housekeeper, Sofia.
‘The helicopter is preparing to land, Kyrios Aeton,’ she informed him quietly. ‘Your guest will be here shortly.’
He could see the curiosity in her lined eyes, because he didn’tusuallyrequest prior warning before a visitor’s arrival, nor insist on going to greet them himself. In fact, quite the contrary. Invitations to his private residence were considered such an honour that often guests would be taken to one of the property’s many rooms, given a cool drink and asked to enjoy the spectacular view while he finished whatever he was doing, which they seemed happy enough to do. But he did not enlighten the matronly woman who had worked for him for the past five years about the significance of this particular guest. Instead he rose to his feet.
‘Efharisto,’he said gruffly, making his way along the cool marble corridors to the main entrance hall and stepping outside into the warmth of the Greek day. But for once he was oblivious to the potent scent of lemon blossom or the sound of birdsong as he made his way towards the helicopter pad. Instead his eyes were fixed mesmerically on the shiny black craft as it hovered above the pad like a giant insect, before touching down.
The helicopter door opened and there she was with the sun streaming down on her like a spotlight and bathing her in rich gold, her chestnut hair blowing wildly in the upwind. A vision. A pocket-sized goddess—all curves and curls. He ran forward, holding out his hand to assist her, but she shook her head and dismounted the footplates herself, clinging onto the billowing skirt of her dress with one hand, as if her life depended on it.
‘This way,’ he shouted, above the sound of the engine, and she nodded as they made their way towards the house.
Sofia must have left the front door open, but Mia stood in front of it without moving—as if the hounds of hell were contained within its white portals. Theo glanced down at her and as she met his gaze her expression was one he didn’t recognise—for it was wary and fierce. And he could do nothing about the sudden tightening of his body as his gaze drank her in. Today she wasn’t wearing a pair of old jeans and a T-shirt which had badly needed ironing, but had replaced them with a pretty dress which emphasised her voluptuous shape. Her full lips bore the soft sheen of pink lipstick and Theo felt a sudden rush of heat, as desire began to beat its way insistently through his veins.
‘Mia,’ he said, unable to prevent the husky timbre of his voice.
Mia felt her throat dry. Don’t say my name that way, she wanted to plead. And don’t look at me like that, either. Because that sultry tone and molten gaze didn’t mean anything. They never had. They were just weapons in his armoury of seduction and he used them well. Theo had always been a master at making her feel what he’d wanted her to feel. He had used her. Big time. And she should forget that at her peril.
‘I don’t know why you’re looking so surprised,’ she said, hitching the strap of her shoulder bag and fixing him with a cool smile. ‘You were the one who sent your plane for me and then a helicopter to pick me up from the airfield, which I thought was slightly over the top. Surely you hadn’t forgotten I was coming, Theo? Although...’
‘Mmm?’ he prompted, his ebony gaze fixed to her mouth as her words tailed off. ‘Although what?’
Mia hesitated, but her determination to remain immune to him was proving near impossible. It was hard to concentrate when he’d left the top two buttons of his shirt undone like that. Had he done that deliberately? Exposed an enticing glimpse of olive skin, which gleamed like oiled silk, inviting the touch of her suddenly restless fingers? It was a terrible distraction and so was the way he was looking at her. But you could hardly ask a man to avert his gaze because you didn’t like the way it made youfeel, could you? It had taken all her resolve to agree to stay in his house and it wasn’t going to do her frazzled nerves any good if she went to pieces every time she was close to him.
Her tongue flicked out to moisten a mouth which had grown uncomfortably dry. ‘I was expecting you to be on the flight with me from England,’ she croaked. ‘At least, that’s what you said to me in London.’
‘I know I did.’ He shrugged. ‘But something came up.’
She almost said,And you didn’t bother to tell me?before reminding herself that she, of all people, had no right to sound like a nagging wife.
‘I had to fly to Paris last night on business and it made sense to come straight on here this morning.’ His gaze was mocking. ‘And I thought you’d be pleased at the thought of travelling alone.’
‘Obviously.’ Mia certainly wasn’t going to admit that when he hadn’t shown up, she had experienced something which had felt weirdly likedisappointment. It was one thing to convince herself that she hadn’t wanted to endure three and a half hours of Theo’s company during a claustrophobic flight to Athens. Quite another to have that option removed without her knowledge, leaving her feeling distinctly wrong-footed when the stewardess had sashayed into the plane’s plush interior to inform her that her boss wouldn’t be coming after all.
‘Where is he?’ The words had shot from Mia’s mouth before she could stop them and she’d been unable to miss the woman’s look of surprise—presumably at her daring to ask such a direct question. She wondered how much more surprised the stewardess would be to discover that Mia was actually the legalwifeof the boss!
But nobody knew—a decision they both seemed to have arrived at, without prior consultation. She had never once used his name and had noticed there was no mention of her in his biography. It was weird, really—how easily you could be airbrushed from someone’s life. Had it been easy for him to forget the plump teenage bride who had provided him with a prestigious piece of the Greek coastline?
Was that the reason why she had dressed for the journey with the kind of care she hadn’t taken for ages, because he’d caught her looking so scruffy when he’d turned up the other day? Admittedly, her navy and white dress was a little snug around the hips, and her espadrilles could have done with a new set of ribbons, but her hair was freshly washed and the red-brown curls were bouncing around her shoulders. She’d even applied a little make-up and dabbed on a slick of lipstick. And then, when she’d learned about his no-show, she had felt like a little girl who had dressed up for a party and got the date wrong. As if she’d tried too hard.
But there was nothing wrong with taking a little trouble with her appearance, she reasoned. It was what most women did every day of their lives. Usually, she dressed casually during her down-time, because the dogs at the rescue centre left her covered in hair, but that didn’t rule out an occasional change. It certainly didn’t mean that she was trying to ensnare Theo Aeton, or make herself more attractive to him. Of course it didn’t.
She forced herself to remember the reason she was here. Theonlyreason.
‘How is my grandfather?’ she questioned.
