The Kyriakos Virgin Bride / The Billionaire's Bidding

Three

“It is done.”

Pandora tilted her head at the sound of Zac’s beloved voice and paused in midstep on the balcony outside his study. She’d woken to find Zac gone, only a delicate long- stemmed white rose and a note on the pillow beside her. His writing was strong and slanted and told her that something had come up to which he needed to attend and he’d see her at breakfast in the sunroom downstairs.

She’d risen, placed the rose in a glass of water and picked the discarded wedding dress off the carpet and hung it up carefully. A quick shower to freshen up, and she’d pulled the first thing that came to hand—a filmy sundress with splashes of colour that clung in all the right places— out of the large walk-in cupboard where her clothes had been hung. Leaving her long hair loose, she sprayed a dash of fragrance behind her ears and came to find Zac, still dazed and glowing from the incredible lovemaking of the night before.

Her groom was not in the sunroom, so she skipped through the open doors onto the balcony where they’d kissed last night, wondering what people—his family, his friends, his colleagues—had made of their sudden disappearance from the reception.

Oh, jeez. She shut her eyes. They hadn’t even stuck around long enough to cut the cake. Soon she’d have to face the knowing stares of Zac’s family at lunch. She shuddered at the discomfiting idea.

The sound of voices halted her embarrassing thoughts. From where she lurked on the balcony she could see two men through the French doors—Zac and another man with his back to her. It was the other man who’d spoken. As he turned and raised a fluted glass, she recognised Dimitri, Zac’s cousin. His best man. His best friend. And also his lawyer.

Dimitri had prepared the complex prenuptial contracts and been present when she and Zac had signed them three days ago. Initially she’d pushed aside her instinctive objection that legalities weren’t necessary between her and Zac. But she’d known that Zac was a hardheaded businessman, known her father would expect them. A law firm in London which her father used had vetted them for her and suggested only minor changes.

She hadn’t needed a prenuptial contract to feel secure. Zac’s love had done that.

Embarrassed, she hesitated outside, uncertain what to do next. The last thing in the world she wanted was to walk into that room and meet Dimitri’s gaze. Not after she and Zac had departed so hurriedly last night. She wavered. She longed to wish Zac a good morning, kiss him and let him see the love and joy that bubbled inside her.

Through the crack in the curtains Zac looked utterly gorgeous. She stole another look as he clinked his glass with his cousin.

“I thought I’d never find her, Dimitri,” Pandora heard him say. “My wedding is definitely cause to celebrate.”

“Vre, you have been lucky. And so beautiful, too, you lucky dog.”

Pandora grinned. Men! Love was not enough, beauty was always important. But she was touched at the relief in Zac’s voice as he’d said I thought I’d never find her. His relief in finding someone to love.

She felt the same about him.

Yesterday he’d told her he thought she was perfect. Well, she disagreed. He was perfect. She was the luckiest—

“It is done—finally. Now there is no going back.” Something about the tone of Zac’s voice interrupted her musings and stopped her from rushing headlong into the room. She paid close attention. “No one knows better than you that this prophecy has been the bane of my life.”

“I know, cousin. But it’s tradition. A tradition that haunts the Kyriakos heir.”

She listened harder, intrigued. What prophecy? What tradition? What on earth were they talking about?

Dimitri was still speaking. He’d crossed the room, his back to the glass doors. Pandora strained her ears to hear what he was saying. “It’s the twenty-first century—you would’ve thought that the family, the public, would be prepared to let it go.”

“They can’t.” Zac gave a harsh sigh. “And neither can I. The risks are too high.”

“You mean, the likelihood of Kyriakos Shipping’s share prices dipping are too high, don’t you?”

“That, too.”

Pandora cocked her head. What was all this about haunting and share prices? For an instant she considered pushing the door open, striding in and demanding an explanation. But something held her back. Something that filled her stomach with cold dread.

For a moment she considered turning, walking away, pretending she’d never heard whatever this conversation concerned. It scared her. Made her stomach cramp and apprehension swarm around inside her head like a clutch of bewildered bees.

Yes, she should pretend. She could retreat, then stamp her way back down the corridor, make an entrance that they would hear. She could look Dimitri straight in the eye and pretend that she and Zac hadn’t rushed off to consummate their wedding vows with indecent haste. She could pretend that she’d never heard a thing about the prophecy that haunted Zac. And then what?

She’d never find out….

How could she ask later? How could she just drop it into conversation? Oh, by the way, Zac, tell me about the prophecy. You know—the one that you thought would never be fulfilled?

She’d married a man whose deepest secrets she didn’t know.

No.

She wanted—needed—to hear more. Even if it was not all good. After all, Zac loved her. She had nothing to fear. He’d married her very publicly. Made the love he felt for her clear to the world. The apprehension started to recede.

She was being silly letting the men’s lowered voices build a terror of conspiracy within her.

When the footsteps came closer, Pandora shrank away from the door, panicking for an instant at what she would do if they found her standing out here, eavesdropping. Then she forced herself to get a grip. For goodness’ sake, there was nothing ominous about what they were discussing.

If only this stupid, ridiculous chill in the pit of her stomach would go—

“To find a virgin, a beautiful virgin…my God, cousin, the odds were against you. But I envy you this morning.”

A virgin? What did Dimitri mean a virgin? They were talking about her.

Then it hit her between the eyes. Jeez, she’d been so blind. This was the reason Zac had married her. Not because he loved her. Because he needed a virgin bride.

“That’s my wife you’re talking about, Dimitri. Be careful.” The warning growl in Zac’s tone did nothing to assuage the bile burning at the back of Pandora’s throat.

She’d heard enough. No way could she walk in there and confront Zac and his cousin. Not about something as intimate as her virginity.

She ducked her head and wheeled around, walking faster and faster until she broke into a run.

The third door Pandora rattled was unlocked and opened into a bedroom. Pandora rushed in, pulled the door shut behind her and locked it before leaning her aching forehead against the hard door.

What was she to do?

“Can I help?”

The sweet voice came from behind her. Pandora straightened and spun around. The too-thin brunette in an ice-blue dress watching her with a questioning smile was a total stranger. Then the smile faltered and lines of concern etched into the other woman’s forehead.

“Is everything all right?”

Pandora nodded jerkily. She wasn’t ready to reveal what she’d learned to anyone, especially not a stranger. “I’m fine. Really.”

Really, I’m not.

My world has just crashed down around my ears.

But she couldn’t say that—she had a facade to maintain. A position as Zac Kyriakos’s virgin bride. “I’m sorry…I’ve intruded,” she said instead, and grimaced.

The brunette flapped a hand. “Don’t worry about it. I’m Katerina—but most people call me Katy.”

Katerina…Katy.

Pandora stared into familiar green eyes, warmer for sure but still the same hue. “You’re Zac’s sister.”

“Yes. And you’re Zac’s wife.” The bright smile was back. “You’re beautiful. My brother has fabulous taste. And I know he’s never going to forgive me for missing the wedding—” Katy’s smile wavered “—but I hope you will. I’ve been dying to meet you. I only arrived in Athens this morning.”

“Of course I’ll forgive you.” Pandora noticed the faint dimple beside the woman’s mouth—just like Zac’s. “And I’m sure Zac will, too.”

“Maybe.” The dimple deepened. “You’re lucky, Pandora. I tell you, he’s the best brother in the entire world. I hope we’ll be friends.”

Pandora instantly liked this warm woman. “Of course we’ll be friends.”

“Great!” Katy extracted a tube of lipstick from a small sequined bag, popped off the lid and ran it over her lips. “That’s better.” She eyed her reflection in the mirror. “My husband never understands why us women always want to look perfect all the time.” She threw Pandora a wicked, laughing look. “He insists on kissing it all off.”

“Is he here?” Pandora glanced around but saw nothing to evidence masculine occupation. Zac had said that Katy’s husband was a difficult man to be married to. Had he not wanted Katy to attend Zac’s wedding? Greek families were so close that would certainly add tension.

“I wish he was.” Katy sounded wistful.

Was the problem between Katy and her husband? Or did the real source of tension lie between her brother and her husband? Pandora couldn’t help wondering if Katy was caught between two dominant Greek men—the juicy bone between two alpha dogs. Katy clearly adored her brother and it was obvious she missed her absent husband.

Katy was fortunate. She was loved. For a moment Pandora felt envy blossom inside her, green and ugly. She thrust the unwelcome emotion away and ruthlessly suppressed a pang of self-pity.

“I’ll call you in a week or so, we can meet for lunch,” Katy was saying.

Pandora nodded. Her heart lifted. The lost feeling started to recede. “That will be lovely.”

Katy patted her hand. “You looked so unhappy when you came in—don’t let anyone spoil what you and my brother have.”

Instantly reality came crashing back. What did they have? At worst, a sham of a marriage based on a pack of lies. At best, it was an illusion built on her naive assumption that Zac loved her.

What good would running do? She needed to find Zac. To get to the bottom of what she’d heard. To find out whether he’d married her because he loved her or because he needed a convenient virgin bride.

“No,” Pandora said slowly. “I won’t let anyone spoil what we have.” But she couldn’t help thinking it had been spoiled…ruined…already. By Zac’s Academy Award-deserving deception.

The study was empty. Pandora found Zac in the elegant sitting room, reclining in the leather armchair positioned under the Chagall painting she’d admired when she’d first seen this room. With one knee crossed over the other, Zac perused the morning paper. Her heart started to thump.

“I need to talk to you.”

He glanced up and a lazy, intimate smile softened his strong features. “Good morning, wife.”

“Is it? A good morning?” She raised her brows and gave him a pointed little smile.

His mouth curved wider until white teeth flashed irresistibly against his tanned olive skin. Masculine satisfaction gleamed in his eyes. “You tell me.”

“I’m not so sure.”

“You’re not sure? Come here, I’ll show you. Last night…” His voice trailed away as he leaned over and caught her behind the knees and swept her onto his lap. “Last night didn’t convince you? I’ll have to do something about that.”

In his arms, Pandora turned to marshmallow. The sexy, suggestive timbre of his voice in her ear, the hard-muscled chest pressing against her side were almost enough to convince her to abandon the answers she sought. Almost.

“You are so beautiful.” He pressed a kiss against her cheek and hugged her closer. “A good-morning kiss will have to do for now. We don’t have enough time to make it to the bedroom, not with my family due to arrive any minute for lunch. Come closer, let me adore you with my lips, let me—”

“Stop it, Zac!” She turned her head away just before his lips landed on her mouth. “There’s no need for such reverence.”

He stilled. “What do you mean?”

She sat straight, no easy feat given that she sprawled across his lap, her colourful sundress bunched around his legs. “I know, Zac.”

His eyes suddenly wary, he asked. “What do you know?”

Gauging his response, she peered at him from behind her fringe. “I know everything.”

“Everything?”

“I know about the prophecy, about your need to marry a virgin bride.”

“And?” He prompted, his astute eyes suddenly hooded. “What else do you know? Surely that can’t be all.”

She took a deep breath. “I know you don’t love me.”

He flicked her a quick upward glance. “And why do you think that?”

“Because you never told me. And I never realized…”

“But I—”

“Let me finish.” She brushed her bangs back and glared at him. “You did such a great job of it that I never even realized you’d never told me you loved me. Jeez, I’ve been stupid.”

“I told you—”

“Yes, let’s revisit exactly what you told me. You’re so beautiful, Pandora. I love your hair. The pale gold reminds me of—”

“Sea sand.” Zac stretched out a hand and brushed the strands away from her face. “It does. It’s so soft, so pale.”

Pandora pushed his caressing hand away and stood. “Then what about I love your energy—like quicksilver, huh?”

“You never stop moving, it’s intriguing. Your hands are so small, so fine-boned, yet they move so swiftly, even when you talk. Even now when you’re mad.”

She clenched her fists and put them behind her back. “And you love my laughter, too, huh?”

He nodded slowly, his eyes watchful. “A sense of humour is important in a marriage.”

“And then there was I love the way you make me feel.”

“Definitely.”

“But you know what? You never said I love you, Pandora. And given all these things you told me, I never thought anything of it.” Until now. “It never crossed my mind that it was a clever way of getting out of—”

“Hey, wait a moment…” Zac straightened and pushed his hands through his hair. She’d never seen him look anything but coolly and good-humouredly in control. Now his hair stood up in all directions and a frown snaked across his forehead as he perched on the edge of the armchair.

“So say it, Zac.”

He looked at her in disbelief. “You’re kidding me, right?”

“I’m not kidding. I’m waiting, Zac.”

He gave a short, unamused laugh and shrugged. “This is about three little words?”

“I overheard you talking. I heard that you need to marry a virgin. Right now I need those three little words.”

“What the hell do they matter?” He stood, towering over her. “We’re married. We’re compatible. On every level. Do you know how rare that is? You understand my world—something that’s very important to me. We share interests, a sense of humour. And as for sex…well—” he blew out “—that’s better than I ever hoped for.”

“Lucky you! Because I feel like I’ve been cheated.” At her angry words, his head went back and his eyes flashed. “So when were you planning to tell me, Zac?”

His gaze dropped away.

“You weren’t, were you? You were planning to let me live in the clouds, to think this was the love match of the century.” She turned away, not wanting him to see what the realisation had cost her.

“Wait—”

“Wait?” She gave an angry laugh and spun to face him. “Why? For you to make a fool of me all over again?”

Zac stared into her furious countenance. Underneath the tight-lipped anger he thought he caught a glimpse of hurt in her stunning pale eyes. Those eyes that had held him entranced since the first moment he’d seen her.

She wanted him to say that he loved her.

He gulped in air. God, what was he to do?

“My family will be here soon. Let’s discuss this later.” And saw instantly it had been the wrong thing to say. Her fury grew until her eyes glimmered an angry incandescent silver.

“Your family? What do I care about your family? I’ve hardly even met them! For almost a week I’ve been trying to get you to introduce me to them. Every time you put me off. Stupid me, I was flattered. Thought it meant you wanted to spend all your free time alone with me. But I was deluding myself, wasn’t I? You just didn’t want me to meet them in case someone let slip that you needed to marry a virgin.”

“It wasn’t like that,” he replied lamely.

“So what was it like? Explain to me, Zac. In little one- syllable words that even a fool like me can understand. Or are you incapable of using those one-syllable words like I love you?”

Zac blinked at the unexpected attack. “You’re not a fool—”

“Oh, please! Don’t give me that. You’ve played me like a master. Convinced me you loved me. Jeez, I can’t believe how naive I’ve been. Why would you fall for me, a—”

“Because you’re young, beautiful and—”

“And a stupid, pretty little virgin?” She gave him a tight smile. When he failed to respond, she added, “So what if I’m young and beautiful. What do appearances matter anyway? It doesn’t say anything about the person I am inside. Good. Terrible. Or didn’t you care as long as I was a pretty stupid little virgin?”

The urge to laugh in appreciation at the clever way she’d twisted her own words rose in him, but one glance at her face convinced him that she would not appreciate it. “Pandora.” He took her hand. “I wasn’t—”

The door swung open. “Zac, people are starting to arrive,” Katy said anxiously, then put her hand over her mouth as she took in their obviously confrontational stances. “I’m out of here. But, brother, you need to get to the crowd downstairs.”

“Katy, I want to introduce you to—”

But Katy was already gone.

“Don’t worry, I introduced myself to your sister all by myself. Tell me, does she also know I’m a virgin?”

Zac took a deep breath and forced himself to ignore the inflammatory remark. “My family is here. I don’t want them embarrassed. Humour me. I need you to pretend everything is fine between us. Please?”

“Pretend? You mean, like you pretended you loved me?”

Zac winced as her bitter words hit home. “My family mean a lot to me. I don’t want them to see this discord between us—not when we only exchanged vows yesterday. We can talk it all out later, I promise you.”

“Later?” She gave him a searing look of suspicion. “When?”

“As soon as my family are gone. Act out the charade for two hours, that’s all I ask.”

“Two hours?” Zac held his breath as she gave him a killing look. “Fine! I’ll pretend for two hours and then we talk.”

He let out a silent sigh of relief. “Thank you. You won’t regret it.”

“I hope not.” There was a fevered glitter in Pandora’s eyes that stirred remorse in him. Hurt sparkled in the clear depths—or were those tears? Hell, he’d never intended for her to find out.

Lunch was finally over. Pandora glared at the five-tier wedding cake, her fingers clenched around a large silver knife. Zac’s hand, large and warm, rested over hers.

“Your hands are cold,” he murmured in her ear.

Her hands? What about her heart? It thudded painfully, cold and bleak in her tight chest. Just thinking about Zac’s betrayal made her poor heart splinter into tiny, painful little pieces. Zac didn’t love her—had never loved her—had only married her because he thought her a perfect little virgin.

Perfect.

God, how she hated that word. How—

“Make a wish,” Zac whispered, his breath curling into her ear. The familiar frisson of desire ran down her spine. His hand tightened around hers and pressed down.

Please, God, let this mess sort itself out, she prayed, and the knife sank through the pristine white wedding cake.

“Later I’ll tell you what I wished for,” Zac’s voice was warm and husky against her ear.