Marriage Of Convenience: The Andreou Marriage Arrangement / The Replacement Wife. HELEN BIANCHIN

she had panicked and fought against him with a desperation born of fear. Hardly the action of someone who’d sought counselling and emerged whole.

      It was a while before he slept, and he came sharply awake at a soft beeping sound that had him reaching for the security sensor unit.

      The glass door leading onto the terrace was unsecured, and the heat sensor detected a human form occupying a chair.

      He moved quietly to his feet, checked the adjoining bed and discovered it empty.

      The luminous dial on his watch showed it was several minutes past three.

      Alesha? It had to be, and he extracted jeans and pulled them on, then added a tee shirt, before going in search of her.

      With sure movements he crossed the gallery and ran lightly downstairs.

      Subtle garden illumination provided sufficient light for him to see the slight feminine form curled up on one of four cushioned cane sofas nestled around a glass-topped table.

      He made a point of ensuring she heard his approach, and he caught the quick movement of her hands as she brushed each cheek before turning towards him.

      Tears?

      Somehow the thought of her needing to retreat out here to cry alone touched a place in his heart he’d previously considered beyond reach.

      The night air held a faint chill, and he sank down onto the sofa beside her.

      ‘Unable to sleep?’ He kept his voice light, and caught the slight shake of her head.

      ‘I didn’t mean to wake you.’

      ‘The security sensor,’ Loukas corrected. ‘It beeped an alert when you opened the external door.’

      His features were shadowed in the half-light, and in the distance the city breathed life with its coloured neon billboards, street-lighting…casting a dappled reflection over the dark inner harbour waters.

      In a few hours the indigo sky would begin to lighten as dawn emerged, providing colour and substance to the new day.

      ‘It’s peaceful out here,’ Alesha offered, aware her voice was edged with tiredness. Hardly surprising since she hadn’t slept at all. Yet she didn’t feel inclined to move.

      Nor did she particularly want to converse. The silence of the night, the solitude it offered, acted as a soothing balm, and most of all she simply wanted to close her eyes and let it wash over her, cleanse a little and ease the ache deep inside.

      There was a psychological process she needed to travel, a series of steps that would lead her from the dark back into the light, and it was better she took them alone. Then she could sleep.

      ‘Go back to bed,’ she said quietly. ‘I’m fine.’

      Sure she was.

      ‘Please.’

      It was the please that reached him, but he merely looked at her. ‘I’m not going anywhere.’

      Okay, so she’d pretend he wasn’t there.

      Difficult, when his presence acted as a compelling entity impossible to ignore. He radiated innate strength and vitality…a dramatic mesh, even in repose, that made her incredibly aware of him.

      Fool, she denounced in silent self-castigation. Why…why did you go into orbit, when you’d mentally conditioned yourself to have sex with him?

      Now you’ve created a wedge…oh, call it as it is…an emotional physical chasm so deep and wide, it’ll be almost impossible to breach.

      There was a part of her that felt inclined to urge him to take her to bed and…just do it.

      Sure. Like he was going to risk her freaking out again? What man would be willing to risk rejection after being so convincingly repelled?

      How could she explain that as much as she’d wanted his possession…somehow at the crucial moment Seth’s angry image had superimposed Loukas’ own.

      ‘Did your ex rape you?’

      His voice was quiet, steady…yet she flinched from the words, and it took a few long moments to gather herself together.

      ‘Rape conjures up a picture involving violence.’

      Loukas took hold of her hand and threaded his fingers loosely through her own. ‘Sex between consenting adults should be consensual. Not a demand or used as a punishment.’

      The shadows helped. His closeness provided security. And he deserved to know some of it. All of it, eventually, but for now some of it would be enough.

      ‘Seth played a convincing part,’ she began quietly. ‘He fooled me, but not my father, who was against the marriage from the start.’ She couldn’t look at him. ‘It began almost as soon as we were married, with insults at first—about my lack of spine in demanding a substantial salary package, perks. When I refused to comply, he became…rough.’

      Loukas kept his voice even, in spite of the anger building inside him. ‘He hit you.’

      ‘Yes.’

      ‘More?’

      ‘Some,’ she admitted, and heard the breath hiss between his teeth.

      That any man could hurt her…dammit, harm her physically and emotionally enraged him. Yet if he showed any sign of it, she’d retreat even further behind the barrier she’d erected in self-protection.

      She needed time to trust him, and he could give her that…even if it killed him to do so.

      Meanwhile, it wouldn’t be difficult to discover the date of her first marriage, and uncover any hospital records…if any of her injuries had required hospital attention.

      It became a matter of importance he discover as much as he could about what had transpired during her brief marriage. Better that, than push her for details she was reluctant to share.

      For how else could he help resolve her issue with intimacy without all of the facts?

      ‘If it’s okay with you,’ Alesha managed quietly, ‘I’d prefer not to go into it any more tonight.’

      This morning, he amended.

      So where did they go from here?

      With extreme care on his part.

      The immediate agenda had to be a return to bed.

      Soon the sky would begin to lighten, the birdlife stir and twitter with sound, and car engines would herald workers begin their trek to commence an early shift.

      Dawn’s break would bring men and women out for their early morning run, and the day would begin.

      Sunday indicated recreation and relaxation for some. The beach, time spent cruising the inner harbour waters, following cultural pursuits, entertaining guests, sporting activities.

      Maybe she’d give Lacey a call and suggest they share part of the day together. Shop a little, linger over a latte at one of their favoured cafés.

      There was pleasure in the thought, and a sense of encroaching drowsiness…something she fought, unaware of Loukas’ thoughtful gaze as her eyelids slowly drifted down.

      For several long minutes he viewed her softened features, noted her even breathing, then he rose quietly to his feet and carefully lifted her into his arms.

      She didn’t stir, and he carried her easily into the house, reset security, then he took her upstairs to their room.

      He breathed in the clean smell of her hair combined with the soft drift of her perfume, and tamped down the stirring of desire.

      Feelings he hadn’t expected to experience, born from an emotion he consciously chose not to explore.

      The covers were thrown back on the bed Alesha had occupied, and she uttered a faint protest