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‘He sounds a bit shady to me.’
Hearing the very proper and fairly prim Harvey Reynolds, QC described this way made Katie smile; she felt she had to defend his good name.
‘Well, he isn’t, he’s one of the top criminal lawyers in the country. I’ve known him since I was a little girl.’ She caught her full lower lip between her teeth and gnawed gently on the soft pink flesh. ‘I can’t see that there will be any problem getting a quickie divorce…?’
Sadie’s eyebrows lifted to a satirical angle. ‘I’m probably not the best person to be asking about amicable divorces,’ she responded drily.
‘It’s not like it was a real marriage or anything.’ Surely that made a difference.
‘Have you really not seen him since the ceremony?’
Katie shook her head, she wasn’t surprised at the incredulity in her friend’s voice. Who wouldn’t be shocked about someone marrying a total stranger? Heck, she was herself. Sometimes it seemed to her as if it had happened to someone else.
‘No, not for seven years. My only link is Harvey. It always was.’ The assistance of her mother’s patient, but ultimately unsuccessful admirer had only been forthcoming when Katie had convinced him that she would go ahead with her plan with or without his help.
‘If you’re thinking about recruiting someone whose visa is running out and wants to stay in the country, forget it,’ Harvey had told her in the plush surrounding of his City chambers. ‘Unless, that is, you want to expose yourself to criminal prosecution.’ He pushed his metal-framed half-moon glasses up his thin nose and looked at her severely.
‘I hadn’t thought of that,’ Katie admitted with wide-eyed dismay.
‘Seems to me you haven’t thought much at all.’
‘If you’re going to try and stop me…’
‘If I thought I had any chance of succeeding I would,’ the legal brain admitted with engaging candour. ‘For your mother’s sake I want to make sure you think this thing through properly—if such a thing is possible?’
‘She was very fond of you too.’
Poor Harvey; there had only ever been one man for her mother and she had given up everything to be with him. Katie had wondered whether she’d ever find a love like that—one that didn’t think of consequences, one that lasted for ever. She wasn’t actually sure she wanted to. The idea of falling victim to such a blind, relentless passion was actually rather scary.
‘You do appreciate that it’s very unlikely that the sort of man who would marry you for a one-off payment would be satisfied with that?’
‘How do you mean?’
‘I mean there’s a strong possibility that a man like that would have questionable scruples. He’d be back for more,’ Harvey explained bluntly. ‘And then there’s the question of making yourself vulnerable to blackmail.’
‘But there won’t be any money, I’m giving the rest away.’ Katie couldn’t help but think that dealing with hardened criminals had made Harvey a little overly suspicious.
‘That’s another thing—is it really wise to give up your entire inheritance too?’
‘Non-negotiable,’ Kate interrupted abruptly.
‘In that case—’ the lawyer sighed ‘—how do you feel about raising the amount you’d pay the groom?’
‘By how much?’
Harvey told her and she gasped. ‘You’ve got to be kidding…?’
‘It might seem a lot, well, actually it is a lot,’ he conceded. ‘But in the long run I really think this is your safest bet. As it happens I know of a person who needs an injection of cash and for reasons I can’t go into he prefers not to approach the usual sources…’
‘Five hundred thousand pounds is quite a big injection,’ she began doubtfully.
‘True, but the capital left over would still be more than enough to provide a very generous income for the Grahams, and there would be no question of this man ever demanding anything else of you or troubling you in any way. I’d personally guarantee that.’
‘Why does this man need so much money?’ she asked bluntly.
‘I’m really not at liberty to discuss that, the choice is yours. All I can say is that I will personally guarantee this person’s integrity.’
Even if this man was shady, what were her alternatives? She could advertise in a personal column but, Harvey was right, what sort of weirdos would respond to an ad for a husband?
‘All right, then.’
‘Excellent. All I have to do now is persuade N…him…’
‘Persuade him…?’
‘Don’t worry, dear, I’m sure he’ll come around,’ Harvey soothed.
He had come around and up until now Katie had had no reason to regret her decision.
‘So this man you married, he could be anywhere, doing anything…he might even be dead. Oh, that would be convenient.’
Her friend’s joking words jolted Katie back to the present. ‘Sadie!’
Sadie grinned sheepishly. ‘Well, it would. I’m just being practical.’
‘I want to divorce the man, not put out a contract on him!’
Sadie normally respected the younger girl’s reserve but at that moment her curiosity got the better of her. ‘So all you know about this man is his name?’
Katie had never elaborated beyond saying that marriage had been the only way she’d been able to inherit the money from her Greek grandfather’s estate. Which begged the question why was Katie flat broke these days?
Katie nodded. ‘Nikos Lakis.’ She found herself strangely reluctant to say the name.
‘Is he Greek?’
‘I assumed so.’
‘Nikos Lakis…mmm. Did he look as sexy as he sounds?’ Sadie giggled huskily. ‘Or was he short, fat and balding?’
‘I can’t remember,’ Kate replied shortly. She wasn’t quite sure why she lied. Many of her memories of that day were hazy, but not the face of the man she had stood beside and exchanged solemn vows with.
She didn’t know what she’d been expecting but it hadn’t been Nikos Lakis.
Harvey, watching her face anxiously as the tall Greek had arrived, must have seen the spasm of shock that had passed over her features.
‘I suppose there is a little resemblance to your brother,’ he murmured, intuitively sensing the source of her distress. ‘I should have said…’
Katie shook her head. ‘He’s not really like him.’
She wasn’t just saying this to make Harvey feel better. Peter’s face had been extremely attractive, but stood next to this man he would have been invisible. Her twin hadn’t possessed the sheer physical presence that this stranger had in abundance.
As the stranger she was about to marry inclined his dark head in acknowledgement of Harvey and turned his attention briefly to her, Katie saw there was none of Peter’s petulance in this austerely beautiful face, nor any of the warmth. In fact, she saw as he came closer that he wasn’t anything like her twin at all.
This man was ice.
Seven years later she was helpless to control the little shudder that slipped down her spine or the nervous flutter in her tummy as she visualised those silver-shot midnight-dark eyes fringed by decadently dark lashes set in an otherwise starkly uncompromising bronzed face.
Even if he hadn’t been an attention-grabbing six feet five of solid bone and muscle and moved with the natural grace of a top-class athlete, who could forget those eyes…? She hadn’t. They’d even featured in some disturbingly erotic dreams that had disrupted her sleep over the years.
‘He’s alive.’
Sadie raised her eyebrows at her friend’s emphatic tone.
‘Actually I’ve never seen anybody quite so alive.’ His vitality had been like an electric current. His brief touch had made her skin tingle and she’d been relieved he hadn’t prolonged the contact more than absolutely necessary.
‘I thought you couldn’t remember what he looked like.’ Sadie watched the distant, almost dreamy expression cross the younger woman’s face.
‘I can’t, it was just an impression,’ Katie replied a little quickly, too stubborn to admit even to herself the impact her bought bridegroom had made on her.
‘Quite a coincidence you both being Greek.’
Katie’s soft lips firmed and her eyes filled with scorn. ‘I’m half Greek.’
It was a half that showed in the contours of her oval face with its proud, high forehead, straight classical nose, delicately sculpted lips and long, swan-like neck. It was also a half she was always ready to deny. The half that had heartlessly cast off the daughter who had offended their precious family honour.
Not even after her husband had died and she’d been left to bring up two young children on the small salary she’d earned working part-time as a legal secretary had Katie’s mother tried to contact her family who had rejected her on her wedding day.
Katie and her twin had been brought up with very little knowledge of their mother’s culture, which suited Katie fine. She had no time for people who could punish a woman for falling in love outside her class and culture. No, as far as she was concerned she was all British.
CHAPTER TWO
KEPT late by an unexpected emergency at work, Katie rang Tom to arrange to go directly to the hotel where they were having dinner. She dashed home, fed the cat, a particularly evil-tempered ginger tom called Alexander, and got changed in record time. As she emerged from the taxi nothing about her demeanour hinted at the breathless haste with which she’d got ready.
High heels crunching on the gravel, Katie hurried across the forecourt unable to dismiss the nagging feeling she had forgotten something. Walking into the brightly lit foyer, she smoothed down her freshly washed hair, which she hadn’t had the time to blow-dry properly; it fell river-straight almost to her waist, gleaming like the finest spun silk under the bright lights, which picked out the rich chestnut highlights in the deep glossy brown strands.
Tom was waiting. His face lit up as she appeared and his obvious pleasure made Katie glad she had decided to wear the dress Sadie had given her with a plea for her to make use of it.
Tom kissed her hard on the mouth, which was surprising; he was normally quite undemonstrative in public. ‘You look beautiful!’ he said huskily as they drew apart.
‘You sound surprised…’ Her teasing hid a secret worry. Was it entirely normal to be thinking about whether you’d remembered to unlock the cat flap while you were being passionately kissed by the man you were going to marry? ‘It must be the dress.’ Though he never openly criticised the way she dressed, Katie knew he would have liked her to dress up more.
‘I didn’t even notice the dress,’ Tom replied huskily.
‘Well, there’s not a lot to notice, is there?’ she responded, glancing uncertainly down at the midnight-blue slip dress that clung to the soft curves of her body a little too lovingly for her comfort. ‘You don’t think it’s a bit…obvious?’
The appeal made Tom throw back his head and laugh. ‘You couldn’t look anything but cool and classy if you tried, and I’m the luckiest man in the world.’
He might not think so soon.
Katie took a deep breath. There was never going to be a good time to tell him this, so now, she reasoned, was as good a time as any other.
‘Tom, there’s something I need to tell you,’ she told him urgently.
A flicker of impatience crossed her fiancé’s boyishly handsome features. ‘We’ll talk about it later, sweetheart,’ he said, grabbing her hand. ‘We’re late as it is, and Nikos isn’t used to people keeping him waiting.’
The name was so unexpected it hit her like a blow, snatching the air from her lungs and the thoughts from her head. There was a loud whooshing noise in her ears and it took several heart-thudding seconds before the room stopped spinning.
‘Nikos…?’ she faltered. ‘That’s a pretty unusual name.’
‘Not in Greece.’
No way could fate be that cruel. ‘He’s Greek…?’ she asked with extreme casualness.
Tom nodded. ‘That’s right. We were at Oxford University at the same time, though Nik dropped out before he graduated.’
‘That doesn’t sound like someone you’d know…’ Katie gulped hoarsely. Dropping out equated with someone being reckless, someone who might at a push get into debt, someone who might resolve the problem by… Stop this, she told herself sternly, you’re getting paranoid.
‘You mean I’m a boring old stick.’ Tom pouted, exploiting his boyish charm for all it was worth.
‘You’re not old…’ Katie protested, subduing a flicker of irritation. ‘Or boring,’ she added hastily. ‘You’re solid and responsible.’
‘That makes me feel a hell of a lot better,’ Tom responded, his charm fading abruptly.
Conscious she had hurt his feelings, Katie tried to soothe his injured pride.
‘Women don’t actually want to marry exciting men,’ Katie told him, believing it. ‘They’re too unreliable.’ She stopped, unhappily aware that she was only making matters worse.
To her relief Tom recovered his humour and laughed loudly.
‘No, they just want to make mad passionate love to them,’ he suggested, thinking she looked especially adorable flushed and confused.
‘Some women might, but not me,’ Katie insisted firmly. ‘Men like that are vain and shallow and only interested in looking cool,’ she sneered.
Tom winced. ‘You’ll not share that with Nikos will you, sweetheart?’
‘I shall hang on his every word like it’s inscribed in stone,’ she promised dutifully, willing to flatter his friend if it made Tom happy.
‘You’ll like him.’
Katie couldn’t hide her scepticism.
‘Women do,’ Tom assured her authoritatively. ‘Actually you’re right, Nik wasn’t in my circles of friends; in fact he was a bit of a loner. He used to ride around on this dirty great motor bike…’
Katie nodded. She was beginning to get the picture, and she didn’t find it comforting. Someone reckless, who liked danger…her imagination had no problem at all picturing Nikos Lakis in motor-bike leathers looking brooding and dangerous.
‘I was there when he swerved to avoid a kid that ran out into the road. I didn’t do much, but he got it into his head that I’d saved his life.’
Katie listened to his modest pronouncement with a tender smile. ‘Which means you probably did.’
