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“They were nothing, Eirene. Just small things. Sometimes things that would have been destroyed by groups like the Taliban.”
“That doesn’t give you the right to profit off of them. I am so disappointed in you.”
Of all the things she could have said, all the possible recriminations, that had to be the worst. He loved her so dearly that to disappoint her was like a knife in his heart. “I’m sorry,” he whispered.
“What are you going to do about it?”
“What can I do about it?” he asked. The helpless feeling was back again.
“Go to the police.”
“You want me to go to prison?”
She just stared at him. “Do you think I want that? What I want is for you to clean up your mess, Simon. Be the man I thought I married.” She retrieved her nightgown. “I’m going to sleep in another room tonight. I need time to think.” She left him standing alone in their bedroom, his heart heavy with fresh grief.
Eirene didn’t know what to do. Ever since she’d met Simon, she’d been convinced that her initial impression of him had been wrong-headed, informed by gossip rags that painted him as an amoral, billionaire playboy. She’d been ashamed to have believed those things of a man who had treated her with such care and concern, and had berated herself for her ill-informed judgment.
But now it turned out to be worse than what she’d thought. It wasn’t the women, it wasn’t the wild parties that often brought police out. It wasn’t the conspicuous consumption and waste of money that could help others. It was that her husband was a criminal.
And the worst thing was that in her heart, she still loved him, deeply and passionately. She still longed for his touch, and wanted so badly to hold him and tell him that everything would be all right so long as they were together. That was her heart speaking.
Her head said that what he’d done was reprehensible. To loot other cultures of their treasures was not just a crime in the most objective sense, but it betrayed everything she believed in and respected. And he’d made excuses, had made it sound as if he’d been doing the world a favor.
Eirene lay down on the bed and wept. She cried herself to sleep, and the last thing she thought as she felt her consciousness ebb was that she couldn’t tell Simon that she was pregnant now. Until she knew what he planned to do to make things right, she had to keep her secret instead of offering it to him as his Christmas gift.
She had never felt more miserable in her life.
But the next morning, when she work, she felt as if she had somehow resolved her problem. Whatever else she felt about the things Simon had done, the bottom line was that he was her husband and she owed him her allegiance even if she couldn’t support his actions.
She got up and walked down to their bedroom, hoping to discuss the matter without a lot of drama. She’d make it clear that she still loved him, and that she believed the rest could be worked out. But the bed had not been slept in and there was no sign of Simon.
She went downstairs, but the house seemed empty. Maria was in the kitchen, making coffee.
“Maria, is Mr. Katsaros in the house?”
“I don’t believe so, ma’am,” she replied. I haven’t seen him at all today.”
“Thank you,” she said, even while thinking how odd it was to find him missing. “He probably went for a drive,” she said aloud. Sometimes she talked to herself, mostly when she was upset. It was a way to calm her fears. “He’ll be fine.”
But the day wore on and there was no sign of him. She’d tried his cell phone several times, but it went straight to voice mail. By lunchtime she was convinced he’d left the island, and she called the airstrip to find out if he’d flown out. It was that, or he’d taken one of the yachts.
“He flew out of here early this morning. About…” The manager checked the flight logs. “About seven-thirty. Bound for Athens.”
“Thank you.” She hung up and felt her stomach clench. Was he going to have it out with Kosta and Athena? She prayed that wasn’t it. Athena wouldn’t respond well to Simon’s anger, and Kosta? Now that she knew he was a criminal, she had begun to fear he might do Simon or Athena some harm.
As the hours slipped past, Eirene became more and more uneasy, and she tried phoning Athena, but like Simon’s phone, Athena’s went straight to voice mail.
Finally the house phone rang. Eirene raced to pick it up.
“Eirene, it’s me.” The sound of Simon’s voice made her weak with relief.
“Where have you been?”
“It’s a long story. I’ll be home in the morning and I’ll tell you all about it then, all right?”
“Simon are you safe?”
“I’m fine. I promise you.”
