that in love stories the hero had to admit his love first. This wasn’t a story, this was real life—
and Nikos’s life had been far from a fairy tale. The worst he could do would be to tell her that he
would never love her in return, she told herself, feeling a flutter of fear in her stomach at that
very likely prospect. Since he had married her he had shown her kindness and respect, and his
faith in her ability to head the charitable foundation he had set up in honour of the woman who
had befriended him had been a huge boost to her self-confidence.
Lost in her thoughts, she did not notice that Sotiri had come out onto the terrace with her
breakfast until he halted by the table and gave a low whistle.
‘Anastasia!’
Kitty followed his gaze to the portrait of Nikos’s mother that had been delivered to the
apartment that morning and was now propped on a chair. ‘Was that her name? I didn’t realise
you knew her, Sotiri.’
‘Sure thing—Nikos and I grew up on the same streets. His mother was a lovely lady; everyone
liked her. It broke Nikos’s heart when she died,’ Sotiri said gruffly. ‘Where did you get the
painting?’
‘I took a copy of the little photo on his desk and sent it to an artist on Aristo who has painted all the recent portraits of the royal family,’ Kitty explained. ‘Nikos had told me that the photo was
his only memento of his mother, and I thought it would be nice to have a proper painting of her.
The artist has done a good job and caught her likeness perfectly,’ she murmured as she studied
the painting. ‘I was planning to give it to Nikos when he arrives home on Sunday—which I also
happen to know is his birthday, although he hasn’t mentioned it. Do you think he’ll like it,
Sotiri?’ she queried, doubts forming when he continued to stare at the picture with a curious
expression on his face.
He turned to her and gave her an intent glance. ‘I think he’ll be speechless, Miss Kitty.’ He
hesitated and then said quietly, ‘He does have a heart, you know; he just keeps it well hidden.’
Kitty spent the whole of Sunday torn between excitement because Nikos would soon be home
and dread because he might not like the painting, or her reason for giving it to him. She had
learned from his secretary that his flight was due to land in Athens late in the afternoon. Sotiri
had prepared a special dinner, and had left it ready for her to serve, and she set the table, added
candles and flowers and placed the wrapped portrait on his chair.
After a long debate over what to wear she chose a simple gold silk gown, which was cleverly cut
to disguise the pregnancy weight she’d gained on her hips and stomach, and had a low-cut
neckline that she knew Nikos would approve of. She left her hair loose, the way he liked it, put
on the diamond necklace that had been his last gift to her, and sprayed perfume to her pulse
points, and then paced the apartment impatiently, her heart thudding.
But he didn’t come home. As the evening ticked by her tension grew, and finally, when it
seemed unlikely that his flight would be this late, she phoned his mobile.
‘Angelaki,’ he answered just as she was about to cut the call, and she frowned at the background
sounds of music and female voices.
‘Nikos, I was expecting you home hours ago.’
‘Were you?’ He sounded dismissive and vaguely surprised. ‘I don’t remember saying what time
I would be home.’
‘No, but I thought…’ She trailed off. ‘Are you back in Athens? Where are you?’
‘The casino—I bumped into a couple of friends at the airport.’ A woman laughed close to the
phone. No doubt she was some blonde bimbo who was hanging onto his arm, waiting for him to
finish his call to his wife, Kitty thought furiously. ‘Don’t wait up for me, agape . I could be a while.’
‘Fine.’ Her hands were shaking when she ended the call, and tears burned her eyes. She had
spent the whole week looking forward to him coming home, but he couldn’t have emphasised
more clearly that he hadn’t given her a second thought while he had been away, and was in no
rush to see her again.
He had never given any indication that he wanted her to be anything more than his convenient
sex partner and the mother of his child, she reminded herself bleakly. It was not his fault that she had fallen in love with him, and he would be astonished if he could see her now, with tears and
mascara streaking her face as she threw herself on the bed and cried until her heart ached.
Nothing much had changed, Nikos brooded as he glanced around the casino. It was the same old