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.’
‘No!’ she shouted, then spun back to face him. ‘No.’
‘Isn’t it better than having him pay the money?’
‘He owes me,’ she snapped. ‘After what he put me through, I have no conscience issues with him paying for my mother’s medical expenses. If I’d had a better lawyer before we got married, I would have been entitled to far more in our prenup. But—’ She lifted a hand, to silence whatever he’d been about to say. ‘I am keeping a tab of everything he’s spent, since our divorce, and I intend to pay him back, when I can afford to.’
Nikos’s expression grew more thunderous by the second. ‘So you would rather let that low-life pay, than me?’
‘This isn’t about you,’ she said, shaking her head. ‘I mean, it is. But your money isn’t relevant to me. Besides, there’s more at stake.’
He crossed his arms over his broad chest, staring her down.
‘Early on in our marriage, before I knew what he was like, I told him about my father. His gambling. James has made it abundantly clear that if I don’t abide by the terms of our agreement, he’ll go to the press with a tell-all story.’
‘Who would care?’
‘My father,’ she whispered.
‘Your father is dead.’
‘Yes, but his legacy, his family’s legacy…it means something. I loved him, Nikos.’ She bit back a sob. ‘I can’t let this be what he’s remembered for.’
Nikos’s jaw moved as he ground his teeth together.
‘This is a disaster,’ she said, shaking her head. ‘I should never have let this happen. You should never have come here.’
‘I had no way of knowing you had entered into this deal with your ex-husband.’
‘No, but…’ She tapered off, struck by the fairness of his words. She moved back to the edge of the bed and sat down again, dropping her head into her hands. ‘He’s going to be so angry.’
‘Yes,’ Nikos said, moving to stand in front of her. ‘He sounds like the kind of prick whose tiny ego would be wounded by this.’
She almost smiled at the description but, in truth, her insides were in too much turmoil.
‘Nikos,’ she groaned. ‘You need to leave. If any of the hotel staff saw you come in here and decide to make a quick buck, it’s just going to go from bad to worse. I might be able to explain away the lunch…’
