Her heart skipped a beat. Then another. She waited, her
breath held, not sure what he was going to say, not sure what she wanted him to say, knowing only that she had a very familiar feeling of standing on the edge of a precipice, wondering if she should jump or not.
‘Yes?’ A whisper.
‘Whatever happens today, this weekend, thank you.’
Alice’s heart squeezed, her stomach churned. ‘What for?’
‘For this. For your help. For understanding how much this means to me and why.’
Her smile felt heavy on her face—there was a pervasive sadness clouding her heart, one she didn’t fully comprehend. ‘It’s your company,’ she said, gently. ‘And you’re the right man to run it.’
* * *
When the marriage had first been suggested, Alice had felt a little anxious about the idea of performing her role for Kosta Carinedes. After all, pretending to be a joyously happy newly-wed was one thing, but doing so in the man’s home, under his scrutiny, would require a whole new level of attention to detail.
Except, in reality, it didn’t.
Nothing about it felt forced or unnatural.
In fact, as she and Thanos walked, hand in hand, towards Kosta’s Greek paradise, Alice found it difficult to process how bizarrely right it felt.
‘Don’t be nervous,’ he said, sotto voce, as they reached the wide timber door and pressed a button on the buzzer. ‘It will be easier than you think.’
Alice lifted her gaze to his. ‘I’m fine. This will be fine.’
The door was drawn inwards and Kosta stood there, a man Alice had now met three times in the space of a month.
‘Ah, the happy couple.’ He beamed, and the greeting sounded genuine enough.
She smiled easily, and when he wrapped her in a warm embrace and kissed both her cheeks, Alice returned the greeting. Thanos shook his hand, his manner a little more reserved, so she reached down and laced her fingers through his, squeezing them with a smile on her lips.
It was a beautiful day—blue sky, warm sun and a sea breeze—and Kosta enjoyed providing them with a leisurely tour first of his house and then the gardens that surrounded it. Despite the fact he must have been in his eighties, he moved with alacrity, spry and confident as he strode up the steep steps towards a cave that provided shelter and incredible views of the sea.
‘We used to come up here for the sunsets,’ he said nostalgically.
‘We?’ Alice prompted, quite naturally.
‘Helen. My wife.’
Alice didn’t need to ask if she was still with Kosta—his grief was evident in the lines of his face. Within the space of seconds he’d gone from an athletic, confident older man to someone who appeared completely broken by sadness.
But he made an effort to cover it, pasting a heavy smile on his face. ‘She loved it here.’
‘In the cave?’
‘Yes, and on the island.’ He waved his hand around the wide space. ‘We had many homes, but this was our favourite.’
‘I can see why,’ Alice said, sincerely.
‘She grew up in the slums of Barcelona. She’d never seen anywhere so open and untamed.’
He blinked, as if clearing the memory. ‘There are rock pools down there.’ He nodded towards the other side of the cave, where a clearing gave way to another set of steps. ‘You might enjoy a swim.’
‘Definitely,’ Alice agreed, lifting her face to Thanos’s and startling silently. Because the man beside her was Thanos Stathakis—her pretend husband—but he was now, also, the formidable businessman tycoon, and she felt his determination emanating from him in tidal waves.
And in that moment, his worries were hers, his desires hers, and she wanted to do everything she could to help him get whatever he wanted in life. She wanted him to have P & A.