The Greek's Convenient Wife

‘You might think it amusing to defy me at every turn, but let me assure you, Maddison, I will always maintain the upper hand. You will accompany me on several dates this week and demonstrate your ecstatic enjoyment in being in my company. Is that clear?’

Mutiny flared in her eyes as she faced him. ‘I’ll loathe every minute.’

‘So will your brother if he ends up in jail.’

Blue eyes clashed with black until Maddison had no choice but to look away.

She heard him shrug himself into his jacket and the jangle of his keys as he searched for them in his trouser pocket but she didn’t turn around.

‘I’ll call for you tomorrow. Be ready at seven.’

‘What will I wear?’ she asked stiffly.

She heard him open the door but still refused to face him.

‘Surprise me,’ he said and closed the door behind him.

Maddison couldn’t help smiling a mischievous little smile as she listened to his footsteps fade away as he strode down the stairs to his car. Demetrius Papasakis was in for a surprise all right; she would have the last word and the last mocking laugh as well.

CHAPTER THREE

THE telephone rang just as Maddison was going through her wardrobe in preparation for the following evening. She absentmindedly reached down to answer the bedroom extension as she dangled a pair of bright red fishnets from one hand.

‘Maddison?’ Kyle’s voice sounded out after the long-distance pips. ‘Is that you?’

‘Kyle!’ She tossed the stockings to one side as she sat on the bed. ‘How are you?’

‘I’m sunburnt, saddle-sore and constantly starving, but I’m fine.’

‘Aren’t they feeding you properly?’

‘Of course they are, but I’ve never been so active before. You’d never believe what I can put away.’

‘I can believe it.’ Her tone was dry. She’d been paying the grocery bills for months and suffered no illusions about her brother’s capacity for consuming food. ‘Are you enjoying the work?’

‘I hate to admit it, but yes I am.’ His tone was sheepish. ‘I like the outdoor life, Maddy, and the Marquis family is great. I think I could really stick it out in the bush, maybe work the circuit a bit until I get some money behind me.’

Maddison could barely believe what she was hearing. Her restless younger brother hadn’t stuck at a job for more than a day or two and here he was declaring his intention of staying in the outback for months. It made the sacrifice she was about to make marginally more worthwhile, in spite of her reservations about Demetrius Papasakis.

‘I need to tell you something,’ she began uncertainly. ‘It’s about Mr Papasakis.’

There was a tiny silence at the other end.

‘What about him?’

‘He knows you sank his boat.’

There was a telling silence for five heartbeats.

‘But he doesn’t know where I am, right?’

‘No, but he’s not really all that interested in where you are at present. He has other fish to fry.’

‘You mean he’s not going to come after me and press charges?’ Relief had crept into Kyle’s voice.

‘Not unless things don’t go according to plan.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘He’s made a sort of pact with me on your behalf.’

‘What sort of pact?’

‘He’s not going to press charges as long as I do what he says for a period of a few months.’

‘He’s blackmailing you?’

Maddison heard the unmistakable convulsive swallow in his throat. ‘You could call it that.’

‘Oh my God; it’s all my fault.’ It was the first time she had heard any sort of remorse in her brother’s voice and a part of her had to admit that perhaps some good might eventually come out of this bizarre arrangement.

‘Don’t worry,’ she reassured him. ‘I’ve got it in hand; I know how to deal with someone like Demetrius Papasakis.’

‘What does he want you to do?’

‘He wants me to marry him.’

‘Marry him?’ he gasped incredulously. ‘Whatever for?’

A remnant of feminine pique niggled at her at his surprise that anyone, even a playboy like Demetrius Papasakis, would express any desire to tie himself to her.

‘As far as I’m aware I haven’t cracked any mirrors lately,’ she said somewhat tartly.

‘I didn’t mean it like that.’ Kyle was instantly apologetic. ‘I mean why would he want to marry at all? He’s not the marrying type.’

‘He needs a smokescreen relationship,’ she informed him. ‘Or so he told me. I’m to be the happy wife at home to provide him with a suitable alibi while he cavorts with whoever he likes.’

‘And you’re OK with that?’

‘I don’t have any choice. When you sank that boat my freedom went with it to the bottom of the harbour.’

‘I’m so sorry, Maddy. I’ll make it up to you. I’ll work hard and get us a place out here in the country where he can’t find us.’

‘I’m not going to run away from someone like Demetrius Papasakis,’ she said determinedly. ‘I’m going to stay and fight it out.’

‘You’re awesome, sis, do you know that?’

Maddison smiled at the admiration in her brother’s tone.