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Oddly, she did find comfort in the quiet vow.
Chrysander stood in the darkened room and watched as Marley slept. The strain of the frown he was wearing inserted a dull ache in his temples.
Her chest rose and fell with her slight breaths, and even in sleep, tension furrowed her brow. He moved closer and touched his fingers to her forehead, smoothing them across the pale skin.
She was as lovely as ever, even in her weakened state. Raven curls lay haphazardly against the pillow. He took one between his fingers and moved it from her forehead. It was longer now, no longer the shorter cap of curls that had flown about her head as she laughed or smiled.
Her skin had lost its previous glow, but he knew restoring her health would bring it back. Her eyes had been dull, frightened, but he remembered well the brilliant blue sparkle, how enchanting she looked when she was happy.
He cursed and moved away from the bed. It had all been a ruse. She hadn’t ever been happy. Truly happy. It seemed he’d been incapable of making her so. All the time they were together, she’d plotted against him, stolen from him and his brothers.
Though he’d considered her his mistress, he’d never placed her in the same category as his others. What he’d shared with her hadn’t been mercenary, or so he’d thought. In the end, it had boiled down to money and betrayal. Something he was well used to with women.
Yet he still wanted her. She still burned in his veins, an addiction he wasn’t equipped to fight. He shook his head grimly. She was pregnant with his child, and that must take precedence above all else. They would be forced together by the child, their futures irrevocably intertwined. But he didn’t have to like it, and he didn’t have to surrender anything more than his protection and his body.
If she would once again be placed under his protection, then he’d do all he could to ensure she had the best care, her and their baby, but he’d never trust her. She would warm his bed, and he wouldn’t lie and say that prospect wasn’t appealing. But she would get nothing more from him.
Chapter Three (#ulink_5e479ea6-06c9-5ab3-8205-d9b31b5ffefd)
Two days later, Marley sat nervously in a wheelchair, her fingers clutched tightly around the blanket the nurse had draped over her lap. Chrysander stood to the side, listening intently as the nurse gave him the aftercare instructions. Marley fingered the maternity top that one of the nurses had kindly provided for her and smoothed the wrinkles over the bump of her abdomen. They’d all been exceedingly kind to her, and she feared leaving their kindness to venture into the unknown.
When the nurse was finished, Chrysander grasped the handles of the wheelchair and began pushing Marley down the hallway toward the entrance. She blinked as the bright sunshine speared her vision. A sleek limousine was parked a few feet away, and Chrysander walked briskly toward it. The driver stepped around to open the door just as Chrysander effortlessly plucked her from the wheelchair and ushered her inside the heated interior. In a matter of seconds, they were gliding away from the hospital.
Marley stared out the window as they navigated the busy New York streets. The city itself was familiar. She could remember certain shops and landmarks. She possessed a knowledge of the city, but what was missing was the idea that this was home, that she belonged here. Hadn’t Chrysander said they’d lived here? She felt like an artist staring at an empty canvas without the skills to paint the portrait.
When they pulled to a stop in front of a stylish, modern building, Chrysander bolted from the limousine while the doorman opened the door on her side. Chrysander reached inside and carefully drew her from the vehicle. She stepped to the sidewalk on shaky feet, and he tucked her to his side, a strong arm around her waist as they walked through the entrance.
A wave of déjà vu swept over her as the lift opened and he helped her inside. For the briefest of moments, her memory stirred, and she struggled to part the veils of darkness.
“What is it?” Chrysander demanded.
“I’ve done this before,” she murmured.
“You remember?”
She shook her head. “No. It just feels…familiar. I know I’ve been here.”
His fingers curled tighter around her arm. “This is where we lived…for many months. It’s only natural that it should register something.”
The lift opened, and she cocked her head as he started forward. His phrasing had been odd. Had they not lived here just a short time ago? Before whatever accident had befallen her?
He stopped and held out his hand to her. “Come, Marley. We’re home.”
She slid her fingers into his as he pulled her forward into the lavish foyer. To her surprise, a woman met them as they started for the large living room. Marley faltered as the tall blond young woman put a hand on Chrysander’s arm and smiled.
“Welcome home, Mr. Anetakis. I’ve laid out all contracts requiring your signature on your desk as well as ordered your phone messages by priority. I also took the liberty of having dinner delivered.” She swept an assessing look over Marley, one that had Marley feeling obscure and insignificant. “I didn’t imagine you’d be up for going out after a trying few days.”
Marley frowned as she realized the woman was implying that Chrysander had been through the ordeal and not Marley.
“Thank you, Roslyn,” Chrysander said. “You shouldn’t have gone to the trouble.” He turned to Marley and pulled her closer to him. “Marley, this is Roslyn Chambers, my personal assistant.”
Marley gave a faltering smile.
“Delighted to see you again, Miss Jameson,” Roslyn said sweetly. “It’s been ages since I last saw you. Months, I believe.”
“Roslyn,” Chrysander said in a warning voice. Her smile never slipped as she looked innocently at Chrysander.
Marley glanced warily between them, her confusion mounting. The ease with which the woman moved around the apartment that Chrysander called home to both of them was clear, and yet Roslyn hadn’t seen Marley in months? The proprietary way his assistant looked at him was the only thing currently clear to Marley.
“I’ll leave you two,” Roslyn said with a gracious smile. “I’m sure you have a lot of catching up to do.” She turned to Chrysander and put a delicate hand on his arm once more. “Call me if you need anything. I’ll come straight over.”
“Thank you,” Chrysander murmured.
The tall blonde clicked across the polished Italian marble in her elegant heels and entered the lift. She smiled at Chrysander as the doors closed.
Marley licked her suddenly dry lips and looked away. Chrysander was stiff at her side as though he expected Marley to react in some way. She wasn’t stupid enough to do so now. Not when he was so on guard. Later, she would ask him the million questions whirling around her tired mind.
“Come, you should be in bed,” Chrysander said as he curled an arm around her.
“I’ve had quite enough of bed,” she said firmly.
“Then you should at least get comfortable on the sofa. I’ll bring you a tray so you can eat.”
Eat. Rest. Eat some more. Those dictates seemed to compose Chrysander’s sole aim when it came to her. She sighed and allowed him to lead her into the living area. He settled her on the soft leather couch and retrieved a blanket to cover her with.
There was a stiffness about him that puzzled her, but then she supposed if the roles were reversed and he’d forgotten her, she wouldn’t be very sure of herself, either. He left the room, and several minutes later returned with a tray that he set before her on the coffee table. Steam rose from the bowl of soup, but she wasn’t tempted by the offering. She was too unsettled.
He sat in a chair diagonally to her, but after a few moments, he rose and paced the room like a restless predator. His fingers tugged at his tie as he loosened it and then unbuttoned the cuffs of his silk shirt.
“Your assistant…Roslyn…said she left work for you?”
He turned to face her, his eyebrows wrinkling as he frowned. “Work can wait.”
She sighed. “Do you plan to watch me nap then? I’ll be fine, Chrysander. You can’t hover over me every moment of the day. If there are things that require your attention, then by all means see to them.”
Indecision flickered across his handsome face. “I do have things to do before we leave New York.”
A surge of panic hit her unaware. She swallowed and worked to keep her expression bland. “We’ll be leaving soon then?”
He nodded. “I thought to give you a few days to rest and more fully recover before we go. I’ve arranged for my jet to fly us to Greece, and then we’ll take a helicopter out to the island. My staff is preparing for our arrival as we speak.”
She stared uneasily at him. “Just how wealthy are you?”
He looked surprised by the question. “My family owns a chain of hotels.”
The Anetakis name floated in her memory, what little of it there was. Images of the opulent hotel in the heart of the city came to mind. Celebrities, royalty, some of the world’s wealthiest people stayed at Imperial Park. But he couldn’t be that Anetakis, could he?
She paled and clenched her fingers to control the shaking. They were only the richest hotel family in the world. “How…how on earth did you and I…” She couldn’t even bring herself to complete the thought. Then she frowned. Had she come from such a family?
Fatigue swamped her, and she dug her fingers into her temples as she fought the tiredness. Chrysander was beside her in an instant. He picked her up as though she weighed nothing and carried her into the bedroom. He carefully laid her on the bed, his eyes bright with concern. “Rest now, pedhaki mou.”
She nodded and curled into the comfortable bed, her eyes already closing with exhaustion. Thinking hurt. Trying to remember sapped every ounce of her strength.
Chrysander slumped in his chair and ran a hand through his hair. He fingered the list of phone messages as his gaze lighted on the one from his brother Theron. There was a message from his other brother, Piers, as well.
He shifted uncomfortably and knew he wouldn’t be able to put them off for long. They would have gotten his messages by now and be curious. How he was going to explain this mess to them and also explain why he was taking the woman who had tried to damage their business home to Greece was beyond him.
With a grimace, he picked up the phone and dialed Theron’s number.
He spoke rapidly in Greek when his brother answered. “How did the groundbreaking go?”
“Chrysander, finally,” Theron said dryly. “I wondered if I was going to have to fly over to beat answers from you.”
Chrysander sighed and grunted in response.
“Do hold while I get Piers on the phone. It’ll save you another call. I know he’s as interested in your explanation as I am.”
“Since when do I answer to my younger brothers?” Chrysander growled.
Theron chuckled and a moment later Piers’s voice bled through the line. He didn’t bandy words.
“Chrysander, what the hell is going on? I got your message, and judging by the fact you never showed up in London, I can only assume that you’re otherwise occupied in New York.”
Chrysander pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingers and closed his eyes. “It would appear that the two of you are going to be uncles.”
Silence greeted his statement.
“You’re sure it’s yours?” Theron finally asked.
Chrysander grimaced. “She’s five months pregnant, and five months ago, I was the only man in her bed. This I know.”
“Like you knew she was stealing from us?” Piers retorted.
“Shut up, Piers,” Theron said mildly. “The important question is, what are you going to do? She obviously can’t be trusted. What does she have to say for herself?”
Chrysander’s head pounded a bit harder. “There is a complication,” he muttered. “She doesn’t remember anything.”
Both brothers made a sound of disbelief. “Quite convenient, wouldn’t you say?” Piers interjected.
“She’s leading you around by the balls,” Theron said in disgust.
“I found it hard to believe myself,” Chrysander admitted. “But I’ve seen her. She’s here…in our—my apartment. Her memory loss is real.” There was no way she could fake the abject vulnerability, the confusion and pain that clouded her once-vibrant blue eyes. The knowledge of her pain bothered him when it shouldn’t. She deserved to suffer as she’d made him suffer.
Piers made a rude noise.
“What do you plan to do?” Theron asked.
Chrysander braced himself for their objections. “We’re flying out to the island as soon as I feel she’s well enough. It’s a more suitable place for her recovery, and it’s out of the public eye.”
“Can’t you install her somewhere until the baby comes and then get rid of her?” Piers demanded. “We lost two multimillion dollar deals because of her, and now our designs are going up under our competitor’s name.”
What he didn’t say but Chrysander heard as loudly as if his brother had spoken the words was that they had lost those deals because Chrysander had been blinded by a woman he was sleeping with. It was as much his fault as it was Marley’s. He’d let his brothers down in the worst way. Risked what they’d spent years working to achieve.
“I cannot leave her right now,” Chrysander said carefully. “She has no family. No one who could care for her. She carries my child, and to that end, I will do whatever it takes to ensure the baby’s health and safety. The doctor feels her memory loss is only temporary, merely a coping mechanism for the trauma she has endured.”
“What do the authorities have to say about her abduction?” Piers asked. “Do you know why yet, and who was responsible?”
“I spoke briefly with them at the hospital, and I have a meeting with the detective in charge of the investigation tomorrow,” Chrysander said grimly. “I hope to find out more then. I’ll also tell them of my plans to take her out of the country. I have to think of her safety, and that of the baby.”
“I can see you’re already decided in this,” Theron said quietly.
“Yes.”
Piers made a sound as though he’d protest but was cut off when Theron spoke once more. “Do what you have to do, Chrysander. Piers and I can handle things. And for what it’s worth, congratulations on becoming a father.”
“Thanks,” Chrysander murmured as he pressed the button to end the call.
He set the phone aside. Instead of making him feel any better about the situation, his discussion with his brothers had only reinforced how impossible things were. He didn’t doubt that Marley didn’t remember him or the fact that she’d stolen from him. Her confusion couldn’t possibly be that feigned.
Which left him with the only choice he had, one he’d made the instant he’d known she was pregnant with his child. He would keep her close to him, take care of her, ensure she had the best care possible. He’d hire someone to stay with her when he couldn’t be there and to provide the more intimate details of her care. It would enable him to keep her at arm’s length while still keeping a close watch on her progress. And he would set aside, for now, the anger over her betrayal.
Chapter Four (#ulink_a04b0e7e-cb9f-5c91-842a-2b115393e3e0)
The next morning, Marley sat across from Chrysander as he watched her eat breakfast. He nodded approvingly when she managed to finish the omelet he’d prepared, and he urged her to drink the glass of juice in front of her.
Despite her anxiety and uncertainty, it felt good to be taken care of by this man. Even if she wasn’t entirely sure of her place in his world. He was solicitous of her, but at the same time he seemed distant. She wasn’t sure if it was out of deference to her memory loss, and he had no wish to frighten her, or if this was simply the normal course of their relationship.
She caught her bottom lip between her teeth and nibbled absently. The idea that this could be ordinary bothered her. Surely she hadn’t desired marriage with someone who treated her so politely, as though she were a stranger.
And yet, for all intents and purposes, they were strangers. At least he was to her. A flood of sympathy rolled through her. How awful it had to be for him to have his fiancée, a woman he loved and planned to marry, just forget him, as though he never existed. She couldn’t imagine being in his shoes.
He’d watched her closely through breakfast, and she knew she must be broadcasting her unease, but he said nothing until he’d cleared their dishes away and taken her into the living room. He settled her on the couch and then sat next to her, his stare probing.
“What is concerning you this morning, Marley?” Chrysander asked.
His gaze passed over her face, and his expression left her faintly breathless.
“I was just thinking how perfectly rotten this whole thing must be for you.”
One eyebrow rose, and he tilted his head questioningly. He looked surprised, as though it were the last thing he’d expected her to say.
“What do you mean?”
She looked down, suddenly shy and even more uncertain. He reached over and touched his fingers to her chin. He slid them further underneath and tugged until she met his gaze.
“Tell me why things are so horrible for me.”
When put like that, it sounded ridiculous. Here was a man who could have, and probably did have, anything he wanted. Power, wealth, respect. And yet she presumed to think it was so terrible that his mousy fiancée couldn’t remember him. It would have been enough to make her laugh if she hadn’t felt so forlorn.
