The Greek Bachelors Collection. Rebecca Winters
of the island, and watched the sun go down from the little ruined temple down by the shore.
On her first night without Giannis, Maddie decided on an evening of self-indulgence. She had a bubble bath, went to bed early, ate chocolate fudge cake and tuned the television to the sort of glamorous celebrity programme that bored Giannis to death. In truth, fashion had not interested Maddie that much before her wedding, but she was planning to make more effort after the twins were born and she rediscovered her waist. Although Giannis had had an array of designer maternity clothes flown out for her benefit, Maddie remained unimpressed. All she ever saw when she looked in the mirror was the expanse of her stomach.
Feeling lazy, she was content to lie in bed and watch the famous walk up a red carpet to attend an awards ceremony. When Krista, accompanied by a minor actor, appeared in a striking silver evening gown, Maddie paid very close attention. The other woman was so extraordinarily beautiful that Maddie could never quite accept that Giannis did not suffer constant stabs of regret at having surrendered such a prize. Maddie had not told her husband about Krista’s phone call on their wedding night, but she had been very relieved that it had not been repeated. On screen, the presenter approached Krista and admired her extremely elaborate diamond and sapphire necklace and drop earrings.
‘They were a very special gift from Giannis Petrakos. We’re still very close,’ the beautiful blonde shared.
‘How close is close?’ the presenter joked. ‘I mean, didn’t Giannis Petrakos only get married last month?’
Krista laughed and widened her turquoise eyes. ‘No comment. I can only tell you that I received my jewellery much more recently than that.’
After a shaken pause, Maddie hit the off button on the television remote control, and then suddenly she was scrambling in a mad rush off the bed and racing into the en-suite bathroom to be ingloriously sick. In the aftermath, she was shaking so badly that she had to sit down before she could gather the strength to stand up and wash. Krista’s smug, self-satisfied smile kept on replaying inside her head. Could it be true? Could Giannis be seeing his former fiancée behind his wife’s back?
During the past five weeks Giannis had only been absent on half a dozen occasions from her side, and not once overnight. He had gone to Athens on business. Did she believe that? He could have been meeting up with Krista somewhere. With a fleet of private jets and unlimited funds at his disposal such a liaison would be easily facilitated. Was that why she had not heard from Krista again? Had Krista been waiting for just such a moment to make her public announcement?
Maddie knew she would have no peace of mind until she had confronted Giannis. She phoned Nemos and asked him to make arrangements for her to fly to London the following morning. She told him that she intended to surprise Giannis. Even so, she thought that Giannis might ring her, because she assumed that he would soon hear about Krista’s indiscreet declaration. But Giannis did not call, and Maddie got no sleep that night. She packed an overnight bag at three in the morning, tormented by questions she couldn’t answer. Was her whole marriage a sham? Had he only wed her to confer legitimacy on the twin babies she carried? Or was the truth much less complex than that? Was Giannis simply a womaniser?
All of a sudden the relationship she had believed so secure seemed to be built on sand foundations. He had never promised her fidelity. He had never sworn to be with her for ever. He had never said that he loved her. But he liked her, he laughed at her jokes, he looked after her—and from the moment he woke up until the minute he finally slept at night he couldn’t seem to keep his hands off her. Only that wasn’t love, was it? That was good old-fashioned lust, she reminded herself unhappily.
During the flight, Maddie planned exactly what she would say. She promised herself that she would be cool and dignified while she told him that she would not live with a man who carried on with other women. Particularly Krista. Hadn’t Krista warned her that Giannis always came back to her? The idea of Krista being with Giannis made Maddie feel hopelessly inadequate. Nothing had ever hurt her so much as the power of her own imagination.
Nemos picked her up at the airport. ‘The boss knows you’re on your way.’
Maddie was disappointed to have lost the element of surprise. When the limo dropped her off at the City apartment, she felt weak and shaky. But when she got into the penthouse lift a sudden tide of rage filled her. A giant tumult of agonised emotion was being born out of the anguish she was struggling to contain. She stepped into the magnificent hall just as Giannis appeared in a doorway.
‘I’m really pleased that you’re here, but I’m not at all happy that you flew all this way. You must be exhausted, pedhi mou.’
He looked breathtakingly handsome. A sleek ebony brow quirked in a questioning move that was so familiar it hurt like a knife twisting in her chest. All her cool and dignity died in that moment, along with the careful script of cutting but polite condemnation that she had planned to voice.
‘You rat…I hate your guts!’ Maddie launched at him, and she yanked off her wedding ring and threw it. ‘You don’t appreciate me. You don’t deserve me. I hope you’re absolutely miserable with Krista!’
For a split second he was stunned, and then he caught the ring in mid-air. ‘I would be miserable with her.’
‘Then why are you having an affair with her?’ Maddie sobbed.
‘I swear that there is no affair—’
‘I don’t believe you!’ Maddie dashed away the tears from her furious eyes. ‘I won’t forgive you either.’
‘I know you would not forgive me for infidelity, which is why you can safely believe that I will never betray you.’ His dark, deep-set eyes intense, Giannis grimaced. ‘I think I should have told you all this before today. But I had no idea that Krista would go to such lengths to save face.’
‘Save face? What are you talking about?’
The front doorbell was buzzing.
As a manservant answered the door, Giannis took Maddie into his office and urged her to sit down. ‘I believe that is Krista’s father arriving. He asked if he could come to discuss what his daughter did last night. Hopefully you will find it easier to believe him.’
Her eyes widened in bewilderment. ‘Her father? But what’s he got to do with this?’
A portly middle-aged man with a troubled expression entered the room, and came to a surprised halt when he saw Maddie.
‘Pirro Spyridou…my wife, Madeleine.’
Maddie was disconcerted when the older man immediately offered her his apologies for his daughter’s comments on television the night before. ‘I can’t excuse her for embarrassing us all in this manner. But Krista lives for media attention, and once the engagement ended people were no longer so interested in her, which hurt her pride. She also felt that she had been made to look foolish.’
Giannis nodded acceptance of that fact.
Pirro Spyridou sighed. ‘But the real problem is that she has been experimenting with drugs, and her behaviour has become more and more erratic.’
‘Drugs?’ Giannis ejaculated in consternation. ‘Are you certain?’
‘This morning Krista agreed to enter a clinic for treatment,’ the older man explained heavily. ‘It is not the first time she has needed help.’
‘I had no idea,’ Giannis admitted grimly. ‘I hope that I did not contribute to the problem?’
‘No. I feel that we were at fault for not warning you before the engagement.’
Equally troubled by what she was learning, Maddie described the phone call she had received from Krista on her wedding night.
Giannis frowned at Maddie. ‘I wish you had shared that call and its content with me. I would’ve acted then, and Krista would not have made defamatory statements on television last night.’ Turning back to Krista’s father, he told him about the visit his daughter had made to Maddie, and Krista’s proposition