Greek Millionaire, Unruly Wife

“Theos mou!” He vaulted from the chair, a muscle boxing his jaw, a storm brewing in his eyes and the napkin squashed in his fist.

But Julia wouldn’t leave well enough alone. For some perverse reason, she wanted to goad him to his limit, so she reached out, stroking his cheek with the tip of her finger. “I know how to entertain you.”

“Had more practice, have you?”

A stunned silence, and then the crack of her hand across his cheek reverberated around them. She didn’t know who was more shocked out of the two of them.

The stillness between them turned to a deadly calm, broken only by the ocean’s mysterious concerto behind them.

“Get something to eat,” he said, his words smooth steel, icy. Then, the corner of his mouth lifted…a leer if she ever saw one. “Once we get started, babe…” He brushed his cheek with the back of his hand, the imprint of her fingers stark upon his skin.

“I’m—” she began, but his next words jabbed and the apology dissolved on her tongue.

“We may not want to come up for air, let alone food.”

All she could do was gape at him…gape at this remote stranger and wonder where she’d gone wrong. Had she ever known the man she married? She doubted it.

“We set sail at noon.” He hurled the napkin on the table. “Be prompt.”

“What’s happened to you getting to know Amy?” She couldn’t resist a jab of her own nor a lift of her brow.

“I intend to, but first—” He took a step closer and cupped her chin in his palm, his coffee-laced breath tickling her cheek, her mouth, and his thumb stroking her bottom lip. “I want to get reacquainted with you.”

Julia swatted his hand away, and he laughed, the sound frosting her skin.

“I won’t be separated from my baby.”

“Amy will be in good hands.” His suggestive look implied that Julia would also be in good hands—his. “We’ll be back in a couple of days.”

“I won’t leave her with a stranger.”

“Nor would I,” he agreed, surprising her.

“I believe you’ve met the nanny once.” His eyes glinted like ocean agates, drilling into her.

Julia shook her head, crinkling her brow. “I don’t recall—”

“My meeting in Athens should only take a couple of hours.” He nixed her words, glanced at the Omega watch on his wrist and strode toward the exit. “Don’t be late.”

“Very well,” she sighed. “Amy and I will be ready.”

He paused in stride. “Maria will take care of Amy.”

A chill darted through her even though sunlight beat down upon her. “Maria?”

“The nanny.”

She brushed her hands over her arms, banishing the unsettling premonition.

“You’ll…like her.” He descended the stairs, his words mingling with the echo of his footsteps, and she couldn’t be sure she’d heard right.

“What can I get for you, Kyria—”

Julia waved the maid away and plunked onto the chair, her heart thudding in her chest. Bypassing the heartier fare of cereal, milk, eggs and bacon, she snatched up a piece of toast.

The front door slammed shut, and she jumped, then the rev of the car motor ripped through the air making her grind her teeth in annoyance until the sound became muted in the distance.

“Grr!” She bit into the dry bread, imagining it was a piece of Michalis’ anatomy she’d sunk her teeth into. Thoughtfully she chewed, choked down the morsel, and knew she’d have to find a way to trump her soon to be ex-husband’s plans.

Chapter 5 (#u2fc0927f-6f23-5684-8404-2da29f8cb010)

“Hey lighten up, you might enjoy spending the weekend with me.” Michalis peered at her over his sunglasses and swerved the red coupé into his reserved parking space at Piraeus Harbor.

“I won’t.”

He tapped the steering wheel with his open palm and about to say something more, changed his mind and switched off the ignition. Jumping out, he swung around to her side, but she preempted him by opening the door and hopping out.

“Okay.” He pinched the bridge of his nose, twisted around and swatted the fender with his hand. The tug-o-war between Julia and him had been percolating since this morning, and detonate it would. Until then, he intended to enjoy the thrill of battling and conquering the beauty queen standing before him with such icy disdain. “But I will enjoy the weekend.”

Her sharp intake of breath nicked the silence between them. He studied her stiff back, her shapely derrière encapsulated in her short shorts, her tanned legs, trim ankles and feet strapped in flimsy sandals.

A sigh pulled its way from deep in his throat, and sounding more like a growl, he ground it down. Like the mythical Menelaus had launched a thousand ships to reclaim Helen of Troy, he’d been prepared to do the same to find Julia. His Adam’s apple bounced, and the low rumble began building in his chest. Since then, the playing field had changed. He tightened his abs and the growl blasted from him in a cruel hush. Julia had not only deceived him by hiding his daughter, but had also spurned him. Her brittle words had raked across the iron shield he’d erected around his heart, but he’d felt the shockwaves of her contempt nonetheless.

“I’ll…uh…get our bags.” He back-stepped a few paces, tossed the car keys in the air and caught them smack in his palm.

“Whatever.” She flicked a wisp of hair flirting on her mouth and stared out to sea.

He scrubbed a hand over his face, asphyxiating the words between his fingers. “This is not going well.”

Julia remained a mystery, but the unveiling might prove an adventure, and thawing the ice-model an unexpected delight. His mouth twitched. Exactly what he’d thought when he first caught sight of her strolling the oceanfront boardwalk market nearly a year and a half ago after her photo shoot at the Acropolis. He stroked his chin with the car key. He’d gone further than a mere conquest then, and bound her to him in matrimony. She’d pulled a major stunt by ditching him—especially before he’d had a chance to explain—and definitely, it was time for a payoff.

“What’d you say?” She spun around, miffed.

“You got another pair of shoes?” He unlocked the hood, hauled out their duffle bags, and then banged it shut.

“Do I need them?”

“You might.” Pocketing the car keys, he adjusted his sunglasses, and set his mouth in a straight line. He’d caught her, but look what it had gotten him…cost him. She’d snared him with her beauty, her virtue, her wiles, and then disappeared, taking with her a bigger prize than the Leonadis fortune.

His child.

His gut coiled, and his chest tightened. Never again would he fall for her seductive spell, her coquettish ways, and her velvet tongue. A grunt staggered upward from his belly and near exploded from his mouth.

She snapped her head up from tying the laces at her cleavage, and lifted a shapely brow.

“Need help with the tie?” He challenged her query with his raised eyebrow, and then slammed it level over his eye.

“No thank you.” She stepped back, her mouth half open like she was about to spit venom his way, then sealed her lips.