Dr Constantine's Bride. Jennifer Taylor
wish to speak to Dr Constantine, please,’ Katie explained as calmly as she could. She waited while her call was put through, praying that Petros would be there. Although he had told her about the villa he owned in the coastal town of Paphos, she had no real idea of its location and wouldn’t attempt to make her own way there. If she couldn’t get in contact with him then she didn’t know what she was going to do…
‘Dr Constantine.’
The man’s voice cut through her mounting panic and she heaved a sigh of relief. ‘Petros, it’s me—Katie. Oh, I am so glad to hear your voice!’
‘I’m sorry, but there has been a mistake. My name is Christos Constantine.’
‘Oh, excuse me,’ Katie said hastily. ‘I didn’t realise there were two doctors by the name of Constantine on the staff. It’s Petros I want to speak to. Would you be kind enough to have my call transferred? My name is Carlyon—Katie Carlyon.’
‘And why do you wish to speak to him, Miss Carlyon?’
‘I think that’s my business, don’t you?’ Katie bridled at the arrogant note in the man’s voice. Now that some of her initial panic had subsided, she could hear the difference. This man’s voice was much deeper than Petros’s voice. It also didn’t hold that hint of amusement which she always found so attractive.
‘No, I don’t. It is very much my business, in fact. Petros warned me that you might show up. However, if you imagine that I am going to let you ruin his wedding day, young lady, you can think again.’
‘Wedding day,’ Katie repeated numbly. ‘I don’t understand. Are you saying that Petros…that he’s getting married?’
‘Of course. Don’t pretend that you didn’t know. Petros assured me that he had told you about Eleni in the hope that it would put an end to all this nonsense. He has been distraught about the number of messages and phone calls you have made to him recently.’
‘I have no idea what you’re talking about! I’ve never even heard of Eleni. Petros certainly never mentioned her to me. The last thing he said to me was that he loved me.’
Katie bit her lip when she felt tears well in her eyes. She had no idea why this man was saying such things. Petros loved her—he did! But if that was the case, why was he planning on marrying someone else?
She took a deep breath, fighting down the feeling of dread that filled her. ‘I need to speak to Petros so we can sort this out. Please have my call transferred to his office.’
‘I have no intention of allowing you to hound my cousin, Miss Carlyon.’
‘Hound Petros? If anything, it was the other way round. It was Petros who bombarded me with invitations to go out with him!’
It appeared that her claim must have held the ring of truth because there was a brief pause before the man said curtly, ‘Where exactly are you calling from?’
‘The airport. My flight landed just over an hour ago and I’ve been waiting here for Petros ever since.’ Her voice caught when it struck her it was unlikely that Petros was on his way to meet her if what this man had said was true. Just for a moment the enormity of what was happening engulfed her. She had given up her job and her home to start a new life with the man she loved but it appeared that he no longer wanted her. It took a huge amount of effort to focus as the man continued speaking.
‘Stay there. I’ll come and find you. It will take me about twenty minutes to get there, maybe a little longer if I get held up in traffic.’
‘How will I recognise you?’ she said quickly, but he’d already hung up.
Katie took a deep breath as the line went dead. It was all very well for him to tell her to wait until he arrived, but she couldn’t stand here and do nothing. Maybe she should telephone the hospital again, only make sure that she asked for Petros Constantine this time. It had to be some sort of mistake, of course. She really couldn’t believe that Petros had said those awful things about her. She only had to remember the number of times he had told her that he’d loved her to prove that.
After all, it wasn’t as though she had rushed into an affair with him. She had always been extremely cautious when it came to relationships. Watching their parents go through an acrimonious divorce while she and Kelly had been growing up had left its mark, and Katie knew it was the reason why she had been so wary about getting involved in the past. Although she had been out with several men, she had always refused to be rushed into a relationship. She hadn’t wanted to find herself in the same position as her parents had been in.
Her mother and father had met and married within a few months. They hadn’t taken the time to get to know one another and cracks had soon appeared in their marriage when they’d discovered that they’d had very little in common. When their daughters had arrived the following year it had put an added strain on the relationship. Katie had been ten when they had divorced and she had prayed that it would put an end to all the arguments, but it hadn’t happened.
There had been more fights, over custody this time. Then, once it had been decided that she and Kelly should live with their mother, there had been rows every time their father had wanted to see them. Life hadn’t settled down until she and Kelly had been old enough to leave home, and by that time the damage had been done.
Katie had made up her mind that she would wait until she was sure before she committed herself. She knew that she had gained a reputation in the hospital where she’d worked as a staff nurse for being very choosy when it came to men, but it hadn’t worried her. She didn’t intend to take any chances.
When she’d first met Petros, she hadn’t been overly impressed. He’d been working on the exchange programme and he’d seemed rather too keen on enjoying himself to take him seriously. When he had asked her out, she had refused, but he had asked her again and had kept on asking her until in the end she had agreed.
She had always been rather quiet, but Petros had drawn her out of herself and made her laugh. He had been so handsome and so charming, so different to the other men she had known that she had found herself falling in love with him. Even then she had held back, but when he’d told her that he had loved her, too, she had been completely won over.
When Kelly had announced that she was taking up a new job in Sardinia, Katie had realised it was time that she made some changes to her life, too. Petros had just returned to Cyprus and she was missing him dreadfully. The thought of being left behind in England without him or her sister had been more than she could bear so she had decided that she would go to Cyprus to be with him. After all, he loved her and she loved him, so what was the point of them being apart when they could build a future together?
That had been her plan right up until the time her plane had landed. It was still what she wanted, in fact, so was she really going to give up her dream of finding happiness on the strength of what some stranger had told her?
She started to key in the phone number of the hospital again then hesitated. Maybe she had believed Petros when he’d told her that he’d loved her, but what if it hadn’t been true? What if it had been merely a ploy to get her into his bed? It wouldn’t be the first time a woman had been taken in by claims of undying devotion so how could she be sure that it hadn’t happened to her?
All of a sudden doubts started crowding into her head and she was no longer certain of anything any more. She cancelled the call and put her phone in her bag. It might be better if she waited to hear what Dr Christos Constantine had to say before she did anything.
Christos swore softly as he hurried out of his office. This was the last thing he needed! It was difficult enough to pretend that he was genuinely delighted that his cousin was marrying Eleni without having to deal with this kind of complication as well. Just for a second he wondered if he should phone Petros and tell him to sort out his own mess, but then he thought about Eleni, and how much it would upset her if she found out about this woman, and realised he couldn’t do it. He cared too much about Eleni to risk her getting hurt.
‘I have to go out for a while so