Greek Tycoon, Wayward Wife(39)

And because she finally had the proof that he was the inherently good man she’d fallen in love with after all.



Rion stood at the front of the main hall beside Stephanos and stared bleakly into the glass of champagne he’d just been handed.

Libby was gone, long gone, he had no doubt about that. She’d known he was poor, that he had no connections, but the horror in her eyes when he’d told her the sordid details of his past had been palpable. If her plan earlier had been to walk away, she’d probably sprinted halfway back to Athens by now.

Anger burned in his throat. Anger at her—for leaving him. Twice. Anger at himself for believing deep down he might be able to seduce her into staying, for even wanting to try. Most of all for jeopardising everything by supposing this could ever have worked.

Stephanos stood beside him, anxiously leaning back to look for her through the crowd as Georgios ascended the podium. Out of the corner of his eye Rion could see Spyros’s fat stomach protruding from either side of his scarlet cummerbund as he did the same, only the expression he wore was one of glee.

Georgios tapped a fork against his wine glass and the room fell silent.

‘Good evening, ladies and gentleman, and thank you all for coming. It’s a great pleasure to see so many of you here on the eve of what is set to be the closest and without a doubt the most exciting election we have seen in Metameikos for many years.’

‘Hear, hear,’ Rion heard a female voice which sounded a lot like Eurycleia’s call out from the crowd. Spyros’s face turned to thunder.

‘Over the course of their campaigns both candidates and their teams have worked tirelessly in new and innovative ways to listen to your views and broadcast their policies, and I’m delighted to be able to say that when I stand before you tomorrow with the results I am sure that, no matter what the outcome, you will be guaranteed a leader who will give his all to Metameikos.’

But all of what? That was the question, Rion thought grimly.

‘Which leaves me, without further ado, to raise a toast to the candidates, and to their wive—’

Georgios looked down to pick them out in the crowd, and spotted immediately that Libby was missing. Rion’s heart stopped beating in his chest. Excuses hovered on his tongue—she’d been taken suddenly ill, there’d been a family emergency—but he couldn’t bring himself to utter any of them. Because he couldn’t stop recalling the accusation of dishonesty that Libby had levelled at him earlier. Wanting her by his side hadn’t been a lie, but saying any one of those excuses aloud, however well-intentioned, would be. And if he won the election based on deceit, wouldn’t that make him just as reprehensible as Spyros?

But just as Rion was about to open his mouth and declare the truth he noticed that the heads of the crowd were all turning towards the door. And then they parted.

Libby.

She looked so nymph-like as she floated in in her pale blue dress that for a moment Rion was convinced that what he was seeing was actually an apparition.

But then she spoke. ‘My apologies, Mr Tsamis. For a moment the events of this evening were a little overwhelming.’

‘Completely understandable, my dear.’ Georgios smiled as she went to stand beside her husband. ‘No need to apologise.’

Georgios turned his focus back to the crowd. ‘And now that we are all present and correct, it gives me great pleasure to raise a—’

‘You were busy forming an opinion on your husband’s policies, perhaps?’ Spyros suddenly interrupted, turning viciously on Libby. ‘For I hear that the last time you were asked you declared you needed more time to make up your mind. I’m sure I’m not the only one here who thinks you should be given a fresh opportunity to express your views.’

Libby was so startled by his breach of etiquette that it took a few seconds for his hypocrisy to hit home. But no longer than that. She took a deep breath, suppressed the urge to share with the crowd what she’d witnessed in the passageway earlier, and turned on her well-pefected, sickly-sweet voice instead.

‘Why, thank you, Spyros. Whilst I’m not sure that now is the time—’ she lowered her head respectfully towards Georgios ‘—I’m pleased you feel so strongly about people’s views being heard.’ She caught the eye of Eurycleia a few rows back. She clearly hadn’t missed the note of sarcasm in her voice and was grinning jubilantly.

‘You are correct that when I arrived just under two weeks ago I’d had little time to consider my feelings on any policies. What was more, I believed that no one could know what Metameikos needed better than its people themselves. I still believe that. But now I’m certain of one thing. Orion Delikaris is not the man you think he is.’ She paused, and heard him suck in a breath beside her. ‘Orion is one of the people. He hasn’t just flown in from Athens with a bunch of policies he’s plucked out of thin air because he thinks they’re the ones that will gain him the most votes; this is his home. His policies are born out of the same desire for a better, fairer Metameikos that everyone here—’ She stopped and looked directly at Spyros. ‘That almost everyone here shares. They’re more than just policies; they’re the promises he’s already made to himself.’