Bought For The Greek's Bed. Julia James

glass on the table but never taking his eyes from her. ‘Staying with your uncle and appreciating, perhaps for the first time, just how very different your life would have been had your father not been of the philanthropic disposition that he so abundantly was. In the light of that, therefore, and in respect of the sum of money I alluded to, which in the event of a normal marriage would remain with me, I am prepared, since I am proposing a highly limited marriage, to release this sum to you on the dissolution of the marriage.’ His veiled gaze rested on her. ‘Additionally, I am willing to make you an advance on this sum at the outset of our temporary marriage. The figure I have in mind is this.’

      He named a sum of money that made Vicky swallow. It was about three times the amount of the grant that Jem had just failed to apply for.

      Her mind raced. With that money they could…

      She dragged her thoughts away from all the things that Freshstart could spend that kind of money on, and back to the man sitting opposite her, in his superbly tailored business suit, with his dark, sable hair and his opaque, unreadable eyes that nevertheless seemed to send a frisson through her that went right down to her bones.

      ‘Well?’

      She opened her mouth, then closed it again.

      ‘The final sum released to you when our marriage ends would be twice as much again,’ he said, into the silence.

      Twice as much?

      What we could do with such a sum!

      She stared, unseeing for a moment, ahead of her, oblivious even of the disturbing figure opposite her. What would her father have done? She could not remember him, but her mother had told her so much about him.

      ‘He gave away his inheritance to those who needed it. He didn’t think twice about it.’

      Her mother’s well-recalled words echoed in her head. She felt her throat tighten. What should she do? If she went ahead with this insane idea she could not only save her uncle’s company, but inject into her father’s charity a sum of money that would help so many children blighted by poverty and wrecked families…

      But I’d have to marry Theo Theakis…

      Slowly her eyes refocussed on the man sitting at the far side of the table. The familiar frisson went through her.

      If he were just an ordinary person I could do it…

      But he wasn’t—that was the problem. He was a man like no other she had ever encountered, and to whom she reacted as she had never done in her life before.

      It’s too dangerous…

      The words formed in her mind and etched into her brain cells.

      No—it didn’t have to be dangerous! In fact—she pressed her lips together determinedly—it was absurd to even think of that word. Absurd because it didn’t matter that she reacted so strongly to Theo Theakis. The point was that he was not reacting to her at all! It was all on her part, and if she just succeeded in keeping a totally tight lid on the way he affected her then she could just go ahead and…

      She inhaled sharply. Good God, was she really thinking what she was thinking? Was she really, seriously thinking that she could go ahead with this insane scheme? Surely to God she couldn’t be?

      Yet she could feel her mouth shaping words, hear them sounding low across the table, coming from somewhere she didn’t want to think about.

      ‘How long would we have to stay married?’

      The phone on her desk was ringing, and Vicky heard it from a long, long way away. Sucked down into the past. Painfully, she dragged her mind back to the present—the present in which frustration and bitter anger warred in equal proportions.

      ‘How long would we have to stay married?’

      The fateful question she had posed that day over lunch reverberated in her head. It had been the moment that she had mentally acceded to the idea of entering into the kind of marriage that Theo Theakis had outlined to her. She’d known that even at the time.

      And he’d started to cheat her from that very moment! Because the kind of marriage he’d outlined had been nothing, nothing like it had turned out to be!

      He cheated me right from the start—and he went on cheating me right to the end! The brutal, merciless end…

      Anger buckled through her again. Oh, Theo Theakis might have paid out upfront all right—the money he’d said was an advance on what he would make over to her when they were finally free to end their marriage—but as for the rest of it…

      It’s mine! He promised it to me—it’s not his to keep!

      He’s got no business hanging on to it! Just because I…

      The insistent ringing of the phone finally broke through her angry reverie. She snatched it up.

      ‘Yes?’ she said tersely.

      The voice that answered was accented, formal, and studied.

      ‘This is Demetrious Xanthou. I am aide to Theo Theakis. He has instructed me to inform you that he will receive you this evening. If you will be so good as to give me your address, I will arrange a car for 8:00 p.m.’

      For ten seconds Vicky went totally still. But the emotions that warred in her were not tranquil. Turmoil seethed in her. Haltingly, hardly able to concentrate, she gave her address. Then, hand shaking only very slightly, she set the phone down.

      She stared ahead blindly for a moment. Then her face set again, and a grim, ruthless expression entered her eyes.

      She was finally going to get her face-to-face with the man who had rent her limb from limb with his savage words. Well, she wouldn’t care about that now—she had one thing only in her sights.