The Holiday Escapes Collection. Sandra Marton

      ‘I’m not.’ Charlotte knew she had answered far too quickly. She could see it in his eyes as they studiously assessed hers.

      ‘My mother has invited guests this evening,’ he informed her after a small pause. ‘Iona and her husband, Nick Andreakos, will be joining us for dinner. My mother is keen to show off her granddaughter; I hope you do not mind.’

      ‘Why should I mind?’ she said, affecting a disinterested tone.

      ‘I just thought you should know.’

      ‘Thank you for telling me. I’ll make sure I brush off my besotted bride smile so it sparkles convincingly.’

      He trailed a fingertip down the creamy curve of her cheek, coming so close to her mouth she could feel her lips tingling all over again. ‘You do that, agape mou,’ he said. ‘Who knows who might be watching?’

      Charlotte heard the guests arriving later that evening but purposely stalled in order to get control of her nerves. She took her time dressing and applying a small amount of make-up, trying not to notice the shadows both in and underneath her eyes.

      ‘Charlotte?’ Damon opened the door after the briefest of knocks. ‘Iona and Nick have arrived.’

      ‘I’ll be down in a minute.’

      He closed the door behind him. ‘I will wait for you.’

      She put down her eyeliner. ‘They’re here to see Emily, not me.’

      ‘You can hardly hide yourself away indefinitely; besides, Emily is asking for you. She is getting tired and insists on you putting her to bed once she spends a few minutes with our guests.’

      Charlotte accompanied him downstairs, a false smile plastered to her face as they entered the sitting room.

      ‘Ah, here she is now,’ Alexandrine said with a smile. ‘Nick, this is my daughter-in-law, Charlotte. Charlotte, you remember Iona, don’t you?’

      Charlotte’s gaze moved from the warmth of Nick Andreakos’s to the cool reception of his wife’s. ‘Hello, Iona, congratulations on your marriage,’ she said politely, trying to chip away at the ice.

      ‘You too,’ Iona replied stiffly.

      ‘Mummy?’ Emily came trotting over with a huge grin on her face. ‘Look what Uncle Nick and Auntie Iona gave me!’

      Charlotte looked at the beautiful baby doll in her daughter’s arms. ‘Wow, isn’t that a gorgeous baby?’ she said, bending down to Emily’s level. ‘What have you called her?’

      Emily rolled her tiny lips together before looking up at her father for inspiration. ‘What do you fink, Daddy? Do you know any good names?’

      Damon gave her a tender smile. ‘How about we talk about it while I put you to bed, hmm?’

      ‘Is Mummy coming to tuck me in too?’

      ‘Of course,’ he said as he scooped her up in his arms. ‘Say goodnight, little one.’

      Emily smiled shyly and gave the guests a tiny up and down movement of her fingers. ‘Night.’

      Charlotte excused herself and followed Damon out of the room, but it wasn’t until Emily was tucked in and asleep before he addressed a single word to her.

      ‘Iona seems to be a little cold towards you.’

      ‘Yes, well, I did snatch her intended husband away from her four years ago,’ she said. ‘Perhaps she thinks I might have a go at her new one—Nick.’

      He frowned at her tone. ‘Do not take too much notice,’ he said. ‘She is newly pregnant and no doubt feeling a bit touchy.’

      ‘Don’t worry,’ she assured him brusquely. ‘I do know how to conduct myself. I too was pregnant once, you know.’

      His eyes held hers for a pulsing moment.

      ‘Are you currently using any form of contraception?’ he asked.

      She lowered her eyes and began to twist her hands together. ‘Um…’

      ‘Is that a yes or a no?’

      ‘It’s an I sometimes forget to take my pills regularly,’ she confessed as she met his probing look. She nipped at her bottom lip before adding, ‘I take a low dose pill to keep my periods in some sort of order. They went out of whack after Emily was born but I’m not very good at remembering to take them. I restarted them when we…you know…’

      His eyes were suddenly very dark and intense. ‘Has it occurred to you that you might be carrying my child?’

      She found it hard to hold his gaze. ‘I’m sure I’m not.’

      ‘We have had unprotected sex several times and the pill might not have worked in time.’

      ‘It doesn’t necessarily mean I’ve conceived.’

      ‘Dr Tsoulis will no doubt be able to verify it one way or the other. I have asked him to call me as soon as he gets the results of the tests he ordered.’

      Her expression took on an ironic twist. ‘I am the person he should be contacting, not you.’

      ‘You are my wife and therefore my responsibility. If you have a health issue, including pregnancy, then I want to be the first to hear of it, not the last.’

      Charlotte wanted to argue the point but she could tell by the set of his jaw it would be a wasted effort. She could see the glitter of bitterness in his dark eyes at being shut out of his child’s life before.

      ‘I don’t want to be pregnant,’ she said, but as soon as the words came out of her mouth she regretted them.

      ‘That is a lousy form of contraception,’ he said as he held the door for her. ‘Wishing and hoping just do not cut it, I am afraid.’

      ‘I meant not yet…’

      His eyes bored their way into hers. ‘Are you saying you will consider it?’

      ‘I would like things to be more stable between us.’

      ‘We are married.’

      ‘That’s not enough.’

      ‘What do you want from me, Charlotte?’ he asked.

      She brought her gaze back to his, her vulnerability on show for the first time. ‘I want you to care for me like you did in the past.’

      The seconds ticked by heavily as he stood looking down at her, his face an expressionless mask.

      ‘I do not think I am capable of such feeling any more,’ he said.

      ‘Because you don’t trust me?’ she asked.

      He stroked a fingertip down the curve of her cheek. ‘I think it is myself I do not trust, agape mou,’ he said with a cryptic smile.

      She grasped at his hand and held it tightly in hers. ‘Damon…I want you to know I have never stopped loving you.’

      She could see his surprise and suspicion having a drawn-out boxing match in his eyes, but it was clear that suspicion won the final round.

      ‘We have guests to entertain,’ he said as he pulled his hand out of her hold. ‘They will be wondering what has become of us.’

      What has become of us, indeed? Charlotte wondered sadly as they walked in silence down the stairs…

       CHAPTER FIFTEEN

      IT WAS a long drawn out dinner and for every minute of it Charlotte was conscious of Iona’s gaze flicking warily to hers. She did her best to ignore it at first but after a while she started to resent the way the other woman was