She smiled, though it didn’t reach her eyes. Her beautiful blue eyes that had sparkled just a short time ago with laughter. He wanted them to sparkle again. He wanted that stolen moment at the pool back. Before Roslyn had arrived and given him news that could very well change everything between him and Marley. Again.
“I’m in an impossible situation,” she confessed.
His brow wrinkled in confusion. He didn’t like the sadness in her tone. The resignation.
“What do you mean?” he asked softly as he trailed a finger down the silken curve of her cheek.
She looked into his eyes. “I don’t like the way she has free rein in our lives. This is our home. We should be able to make love, have fun together, without fear of being caught in a compromising situation by a stranger. But if I voice this, if I say I don’t like her and I don’t want her here, it makes me a catty bitch. There is no way for me to come out the winner and every way for me to be the loser in this.”
She looked down for a moment then stared back up at him, emotion shimmering in her eyes. “I don’t like the way you back away from me every time she appears. She sweeps in on some pretext of business, then she leaves and you become distant. The last weeks have been so utterly wonderful, and now she barges in and I can already feel you pulling away from me. I don’t know that I can bear it.”
Tears pooled in her eyes, and he was struck speechless, for what she said, all of it, was completely true. He hadn’t realized how it would look to her, had thought he’d hidden the conflicting emotions he experienced when reminded of the fact she’d stolen from him, lied to him, betrayed him.
He raised one of her hands to his mouth and pressed it firmly to his lips. “I’m sorry,agape mou.I’m sorry her presence has bothered you and that I’ve ignored it. It won’t happen again. I’ve already informed her that under no condition is she to just arrive here without at least phoning.”
“I could stand her presence. I won’t lie and say I like the woman, but I could tolerate her. What I cannot bear is the way you pull away from me every time she appears. Without any memories to bolster my confidence, I have nothing to point to and say, Marley, you’re being ridiculous. Of course there’s nothing going on between him and his assistant.”
His mouth fell open in surprise. “You think I’m having an affair with her?” He couldn’t control the shudder of distaste that rolled down his spine.
She shook her head emphatically. “Oh, I’ve made a mess of this. I’m only trying to say that for me, this is all new. Our relationship is new. I can’t remember our time together before, so in essence, we’re building new, starting all over. I can’t help the insecurity I feel when I look at her and know she’s trying to undermine our relationship.”
He gathered her in his arms, having no idea what to say to her. He couldn’t very well deny that Roslyn probably did want to keep him from Marley. She knew Marley had stolen from the company, a company that Roslyn was devoted to and had put in a lot of long hours for in preparing the deal that had disappeared along with the plans for the Paris hotel. And now he’d learned that yet another of the Anetakis designs would be going up under the Marcelli name. No matter it was one he’d discarded. Marley couldn’t have known that at the time.
What an impossible situation. Surprising to him was the anger that Roslyn’s words had caused. His first reaction had been to defend Marley and to chastise Roslyn for speaking out against Marley. But how could he when Roslyn was right?
All he knew was that he didn’t want Marley to hurt. As stupid as that sounded given the hurt she’d caused him, he wanted to wipe away the sadness in her eyes. While he couldn’t do anything to erase the past, what he could do was make sure that Roslyn wasn’t a source of contention between them. He would honor Marley’s wishes in this, for they mirrored his own. He didn’t want anything to come between them here on the island. Roslyn wouldn’t return.
Eleven
Chrysander hung up the phone with a grimace and leaned back in his leather chair. He put his hands behind his head and stared up at the ceiling.
He had to return to New York. Piers had called him with the news just moments ago, and Chrysander greeted the fact with a discomfort that was alien to him. Worse, he’d had to inform Piers and Theron that another of their designs had been stolen. They were understandably furious. With Marley. How would they react when they learned he had every intention of marrying her as soon as possible?
He was torn between wanting Marley to go with him and wanting to keep her sheltered here on the island. Away from any chance she might remember. Away from the judgment and animosity of his brothers.
The beginnings of a headache plagued him as he considered the selfishness of that particular thought. He knew, though, that when she remembered, and the doctors had assured him she would, things would irrevocably change between them.
He should still be furious with her, and he should be working to maintain distance between them, but she’d chipped away his resistance during their time on the island. As much as it shamed him, it no longer mattered to him that she’d lied, that she’d stolen from him and his brothers. He wanted things to remain as they were, and if she remembered, then they would be forced to face the events of the past.
And he’d likely lose her.
It bothered him more than it should. She was pregnant with his child, he told himself, and that should be reason enough not to want things to sour between them.
His time here with Marley had brought him back to the times they’d spent together before the night he’d discovered her betrayal. He hadn’t really appreciated her before. He’d taken her and her presence in his life for granted, but now he knew how much he’d liked having her there when he returned from business.
She was fun and carefree. Gentle and loving. All the things he’d wish for in the mother of his child.
But she’d betrayed him. It always came back to that even as he wanted to forget it.
“Chrysander?”
He looked up on hearing his softly spoken name to see Marley standing in the doorway, her hand resting on the frame as she peered in. He shook himself from his grim thoughts and hoped his expression wasn’t as brooding as he felt. Things had been strained and tense between them since Roslyn had come to the island. A fact he regretted but was unable to fully remedy when he still carried his own doubts and uncertainties where Marley was concerned.
“What is it,pedhaki mou?”
“Are you all right?” She let her hand fall and started forward, her steps hesitant.
He guessed he did look brooding.
