‘It’s strange,’ the blonde beside her continued. ‘I was with him only a few weeks ago and he never mentioned you.’
‘I’m not surprised,’ Alice murmured, figuring there wasn’t much more she could say.
‘You must be pregnant,’ the woman continued thoughtfully. ‘That would make sense.’ She dragged her gaze over Alice’s body questioningly.
‘If I am, it would be news to me.’
‘I just think it’s weird that he never spoke about you.’
Alice’s gut lurched at the lie they were perpetuating. This woman’s confusion was easy to understand. This wedding had come out of the blue—for all of them.
‘We wanted to keep it private,’ she murmured. ‘The media can be such a pain.’
‘Don’t I know it,’ the blonde agreed, and Alice found herself softening towards the other woman a little. ‘You get used to it eventually. Sort of.’
Alice nodded, even though she knew there’d be no need to get used to it. Not in the long term. Sooner rather than later, this marriage would be ended, and Alice would go back to her real life, her real self. As much as possible, anyway, given that she’d be a millionaire.
At that moment, Thanos tilted his head and his eyes caught Alice, and everything inside her went completely off-balance. Anticipation was a tsunami inside her and it was dragging her forward and sucking her under. She was losing all of herself in that moment, losing everything she knew about herself, everything she’d ever thought. She stared at him, powerless to look away, even when the blonde began speaking again.
‘You’ll have to come away with us next time we sail.’
‘Oh?’ Alice was going through the motions of the conversation now. Her body was pulling her forward, onto the dance floor, begging her to move to her groom’s side.
He hadn’t looked away and Alice was drowning in the depths of his eyes.
‘A big group of us go a few times a year. It’s fine. Lots of champagne. Sunshine. Too much food.’ The woman—about the size of a pencil—grimaced, but Alice didn’t see the gesture.
‘Sounds fun,’ she said, wondering in the back of her mind if she’d even be around when the next trip took place.
‘He’s a real catch, you know,’ the woman said on a small sigh. Alice nodded, and in that moment she rather suspected he might be.
For someone else.
The words rushed through her body, jolting her back to reality.
Not for Alice.
Never for Alice.
He had laid all his cards out on the table. This was just business. Nothing personal. He didn’t want this to be anything more than a business transaction.
Whatever desire was zapping between them simply had to be controlled.
And it was more than just Thanos’s wishes. Alice had learned her lesson at her mother’s side and then again when she’d briefly let her own guard down, she’d paid the price with a heart that had been shattered well beyond repair. At least, well beyond a point that would allow her to trust again.
He lifted a hand, beckoning her slowly towards him, and she straightened, schooling her breath into a soft, gentle pattern, telling herself this was just a performance and that she must, as he’d said during the ceremony, play her part.
‘Excuse me,’ she murmured, turning a vague smile in the direction of the wedding guest she’d been speaking to. ‘I’m going to dance with my husband.’
CHAPTER SIX
IT WAS EVERY bit as troubling as dancing with her in the nightclub had been. More so, because now Alice was his wife. Mrs Stathakis. And despite all the promises he’d made himself over the years, his utter certainty he would never do anything so foolish as marry, he felt an odd puffing of his chest when he thought of Alice in those terms.
She moved in his arms so perfectly, her body moulded to his, and his hands roamed her back distractedly, feeling the smoothness of her skin, the ridges of her spine.
‘Do you actually know all these people?’ she murmured, looking up at him so he tilted his head down to hers. Their eyes locked and for a moment his dancing slowed.
He started moving again, swirling her around gently. ‘Most of them. Why?’