“Lara…” he whispered. “Wait there… Don’t move…”
An involuntarily moan escaped her and Christophe spun fluidly around. But by then Lara had already fled, her sole desire to escape. She raced down the steps that led into the gardens, her breath sobbing in her throat.
“Lara!” she heard Christophe’s voice calling.
Powerful lights came on, illuminating the outdoors. But Lara kept on running blindly, heedless of the shrubs that tore at her. The heel of one of her shoes snapped when she stumbled. She kicked it off and then bent to rip off the other one.
She headed for the steps that would take her to the beach, down and down and down again, far too fast for safety but truly not caring whether or not she fell and hurt herself.
“Yes… I can see it…” she murmured and felt shivers down her spine.“Perfect! And now you can watch me fall asleep... Such incriminating stuff… Oh, get ready! Meghan makes her entrance in about half an hour…”“Meghan…” Lara echoed weakly.“I could’ve had all this material cut and rearranged, but I didn’t want to spare you a single second of the entertainment.” Swallowing hard, Lara dutifully watched Christophe falling asleep, the most awful suspicion beginning to assail her.“You can fast forward if you like,” she mumbled in a small voice.“Are you sure, chérie?”“Quite sure…” With a sinking heart, Lara watched Meghan creep in and stand gazing down at Christophe. A litt
“I’ll tell you what I don’t enjoy now. Your jealousy, chérie,” Christophe replied to her with blistering derision. “At least Meghan knows when to shut up and be feminine and warm...”“Seriously?” Lara went white, lowering her lashes over shocked and wounded eyes.“I can’t believe you just said this…” Christophe had turned on her with biting cruelty unfamiliar to her.“All I wanted tonight was the sweet oblivion of your body…”So that’s my mission tonight after you being away for so long… To provide sex,” Lara countered with a shudder of mingled rage and pain.“Why not? You’re my wife,” he slung back at her harshly. Dear God
Lara shivered in spite of the heat. Demis had left careful instructions for his burial and he had chosen to come back to Greece to the sunbaked hillside where his own parents had been laid to rest. The funeral was small, strictly family but the press was just beyond the graveyard, a sea of hungry wolves, restrained only by the strong police presence.“It’s time to go.” Francine briefly leaned on Lara’s extended arm for support and then straightened again. Lara felt deserted and superfluous to requirements. For days she had told herself not to be childish, not to be selfish, not to expect Christophe to find time for her when his every waking moment was filled with ceaseless demands for his attention. Lara had innocently expected to make
There was just one detail she needed to ask him about… something she had always wondered about…“Chris… What did you do with that shoe I left behind three years ago?” He looked at her and smiled.“Well, dear Cinderella… It’s somewhere safe.”“Oh…”“Did you think I might have had it dipped in pure gold and placed in a glass case?” Christophe teased her.“Until that day it was one of my favorite pairs of shoes.”“What did you do with the one you had left?”“Dumped it.”“There you are, then,” Christophe mocked. “I was more sentimental than you were.” Lara became serious once again.“I thought you’d laugh about
Christophe stilled. His fiercely narrowed gaze slewed at speed back to Lara and simply stayed there.“Gay? Anderson was gay?” he practically whispered in disbelief. Lara unfroze and whirled out of the room. She was outraged and devastated at one and the same time. Demis Agelastos must have had her investigated. Where else could Meghan have obtained such information? All along Christophe’s father had known all about her background. She felt invaded and violated, horrified that such information should have fallen into Meghan’s grasping hands, cheap fodder for her spite. Christophe caught her back on the landing before she could head for the sanctuary of their bedroom. A far from gentle hand closed around her forearm.“Pull yo
Her strained smile glazed over. Oh, God, Christophe had laid on the ‘I-love- your-daughter’ routine with a trowel. Very impressive indeed.“Christophe’s a rather more complex character than I ever appreciated,” Kenneth admitted. “I always thought of him as very cool and controlled. He is in business. But in love... he’s all emotion and reaction. So, now you tell me how you feel.” Lara took a deep breath.“I’m… Uh… I’m crazy about him, of course.”“Oh… You’re much more reserved than he is... Hmm… Did your mother and I do that to you?” he sighed regretfully. “I’m sorry, Lara… Both Linda and I ruined everything for you. And Randall…”“Daddy, stop,” she begged him and put her loving arms around hi