he had been taken aback by her fierce refusal.
‘So, still no sign of a husband on the horizon, then, Kitty?’ Vasilis taunted, coming to stand so
close to her that she found herself trapped between him and the low stone wall that encircled the
terrace. ‘You should have married me while you had the chance.’
‘I’d sooner swallow poison.’ Kitty tried to edge away from him and tension knotted her stomach
when he leaned closer still and rested his hands on the wall on either side of her, effectively
caging her in. Five hundred guests were packed into the ballroom less than six feet away,
including her three overprotective brothers. She had nothing to fear from Vasilis but she detested
his cocky smile and the way he was looking at her as if he was mentally undressing her.
‘Is that so?’ Vasilis gave a sneering laugh. ‘Perhaps you shouldn’t be so hasty, my prim little
princess. I was talking to Sebastian just the other day and he confided his concern that you’ll end
up on the shelf; a lonely spinster with only her books for company.’
‘I’m twenty-six, not ninety-six,’ Kitty snapped. ‘And I don’t believe for a minute that Sebastian
would discuss my private affairs with you.’
‘He’d have great difficulty; you don’t have affairs.’ Vasilis laughed again, clearly proud of his#p#分页标题#e#
wit. ‘I bet you’re still a virgin, aren’t you, Kitty? Of course, a lot of people think you’re a
lesbian,’ he added conversationally. ‘Maybe that’s why Sebastian would like to see you married.
With rumours that the Stefani diamond is a fake, and Sebastian delaying his coronation, the
gossip is that your Calistan cousin Zakari is laying claim to the throne. The people of Aristo are
already unsettled. The Karedes family don’t need another scandal.’
‘There is no scandal! Sebastian is the rightful king and he will be crowned as soon as possible,’
Kitty said fiercely. ‘Zakari Al’ Farisi is the King of Calista but he has no right to Aristo’s crown, or to be the one ruler of the Adamas Islands.’ Kitty wasn’t sure how Vasilis had heard the news
the diamond was a fake, but she certainly wasn’t going to confirm the rumour. ‘The people of
Aristo have nothing to worry about.
‘As for me ever marrying you—hell will freeze over first!’ Using all her strength, she pushed
against Vasilis’s arm until she broke free. ‘Leave me alone, Vasilis. You sicken me. I never told
my family about what happened between us out of respect for the affection my father felt for
yours. But now Papa is dead and if you ever come near me again I’ll tell my brothers what kind
of a man you are, and you will no longer be welcome at the palace.’
‘It’ll be your word against mine,’ Vasilis muttered, but his bravado was short-lived. The
Karedeses were a tight-knit family who he knew would close ranks around one of their own.
‘Anyway, do you really think I’d want to marry a woman who’s as sexually responsive as a lump
of ice?’ he demanded spitefully. ‘You’ve got some serious hang-ups about sex, Kitty. Maybe you
should see a therapist.’
‘I don’t have any hang-ups…’ Kitty ground her teeth in impotent fury as Vasilis grinned and
sauntered through the French doors. She stared after him, knowing she should return to the
ballroom, but simply unable to face it. Vasilis’s cruel jibes played over and over in her head,
compounding her misery that she was a hopeless failure.
She was a princess and she was supposed to be beautiful and glamorous. She was supposed to
sparkle at social events and impress everyone with her sophistication and wit, but instead of
being the belle of the royal ball tonight she had been mistaken for a waitress. She had never been
any good at the whole royal thing, she thought drearily—the pomp and ceremony and waving at
crowds—and it had been easier to leave the socialising that was a necessary part of royal life to
Liss, and bury herself in the library with her books.
Was that going to be her life? she wondered desperately. Was she going to end up a spinster as
Vasilis had prophesied—without love or passion, clinging to the memories of the night a
gorgeous, sexy Greek tycoon had almost kissed her? Tears blurred her eyes and misted her
glasses, and the sound of music and laughter from the ballroom made her feel lonelier than ever.
With a choked cry she raced down the terrace steps, away from the ballroom, and flew across
the lawn. Tonight, when she’d stood at the edge of the ballroom and noted how everyone else