‘Nikos, I have…an agreement with my ex-husband. I can’t be photographed with you. I can’t have those photos hit the Internet.’ Her skin felt all cold and clammy, and she must have looked awful because a moment later he was sweeping across the room and drawing her to the bed.
‘Sit,’ he commanded, and then eased her down when she didn’t immediately comply. He crouched in front of her, reminding Genevieve of that first evening in the cabin, when he’d patched up her wounds so tenderly. ‘Tell me about this agreement.’
Now that she knew who he was, she could see the easy command with which he approached situations. It had been obvious on the island, but she’d put that down to his superior outdoor skills. Now, she saw it for what it was, as she was in possession of all the facts: this man was a born leader. A dynamic, brilliant, world-leading entrepreneur, who was worth more money than she could even contemplate.
If James saw photographs of her and Nikos together, he’d lose it. He’d renege on their agreement, and use her breach as the cause. He’d stop paying the medical bills. He’d go to the press with the truth of her father’s gambling, ruining his reputation. She felt herself trembling and clasped her hands together in an attempt to stop it.
‘Start at the beginning,’ he suggested.
She couldn’t really imagine saying ‘no’ to Nikos. Not when he was in this mode. ‘Our divorce was not amicable,’ she said slowly. ‘He didn’t want me to leave, but I threatened to go to the press if he made me stay. It was…a tense negotiation,’ she whispered. ‘To put it mildly.’
Nikos’s face was blanked of emotion, but she knew him too well. Those eyes of his, stormy like the sea, gave away his distaste.
‘Our prenuptial agreement was ironclad. I wasn’t entitled to anything, besides a very small stipend. My mother’s medical bills are insane, and James is paying them. I didn’t have a job—James didn’t want me to work, and I agreed, at first, because I thought I was in love, and then, because I was so desperate to keep the peace…’
Nikos nodded, silently encouraging her to continue, but Genevieve was in the past, reliving that godawful day when they’d sat across a long table in his lawyers’ offices and worked through the details.
And then, the moment he’d had the lawyers leave, to show just how completely he wanted to ruin her life.
She sucked in a deep breath.
‘He agreed to pay off the bills, on two conditions. The first, that I sign a non-disclosure agreement about our marriage. I’m not supposed to have even told you what I did. And if I’d known who you are, and the circles you have access to,’ she said, dropping her head forward. ‘You and James probably know several of the same people.’
‘I have no intention of betraying a word you’ve told me.’
Even without him saying that, she knew it to be true. She didn’t really want to think about the trust she felt for him—it ran counter to every pledge she’d made herself, post-divorce.
‘I just thought—’
‘That I was a cave dweller,’ he supplied, his hand moving to her thigh and rubbing there.
She squeezed her eyes shut. ‘I thought you were as far removed from that whole world as anyone.’
‘I am.’
She shook her head. ‘You’re really not.’
‘What was his second requirement?’
‘I’m not allowed to date anyone. I’m not allowed to “disgrace” or “humiliate” him by moving on before he’s ready for me to. His political career is too important to him, and he wants to manage the optics of this,’ she said, shaking her head. Hating that, on some level, she understood that. When she glanced at Nikos, she was reminded of the thunderclouds over his island on the day she’d crashed to the shore.
‘I see,’ he drawled, sounding as though he wanted to punch something.
‘I can’t…if he sees those photographs, he’s going to stop paying those bills, and I can’t afford…’
‘I’ll pay them.’
She blanched, feeling physically ill at the suggestion. ‘Absolutely not.’ She jackknifed off the bed, somehow managing to sidestep him in her desperation to get away. ‘No way.’
‘You know I have the money.’
She whirled around to the windows. ‘That’s not the point.’
‘Are you sure?’
‘I willnevermake the mistake of being beholden to another man. I will not owe you that.’
‘I will pay it as a gift.’
