He didn’t much want to think about that.
He kicked out of his clothes, then brought his mouth back to her womanhood, savouring the sounds she made as she moved closer and closer to climax, her body writhing on the bed, her hands digging through his hair faster, her desperation and insanity palpable. Right as she tipped over the edge, her orgasm claiming her, he brought his body higher up hers and thrust inside her, feeling her wet muscles contract almost painfully around his arousal, feeling all of her wrap around him until he was completely in her hands, utterly under her control.
But he wasn’t ready to end this—he wanted more of Alice, more of this. They had time, and, for as long as they did, he was going to make the absolute most of every single second.
* * *
‘You remind me a little of us,’ Kosta said, a glass of Scotch in his hand, his long legs sprawled in front of him.
Two days ago, they’d arrived at Kosta’s house, and he’d been an acquaintance to her then. But after a weekend in his company, exploring his home, wandering the beaches he’d enjoyed for most of his life, she felt a growing affinity to the man. She liked him.
‘Of Helen and me,’ he explained. ‘We were like you and Thanos, you know.’
‘Were you?’ Alice prompted, sipping her own ice-cold glass of wine in an attempt to wash a hint of guilt from her mouth. She didn’t much like lying to Kosta, now that she knew him. The only saving grace wa
s that the end justified the means. Kosta wanted to sell P & A and she had no question that Thanos was absolutely the best person to take it over.
‘We met and married within one month. The second I saw her, I knew I could not live without her.’
It was just how her mother had described meeting Alice’s father in all those letters. And it hadn’t worked out for Jane, because Henry Jennings had been a lying bastard. But love existed, love at first sight was real, and Kosta was living proof of that.
‘When did she...?’
Kosta grimaced. ‘Five years ago.’ He shook his head, turning to look towards the ocean. The moon shone a silvery line down its centre, broken occasionally by the rolling waves. ‘It was quick. Death, that is, not grief, not mourning. That I will do for the rest of my life.’
Alice’s features were loaded with sympathy. ‘I’m sorry. You don’t have children?’
Kosta’s smile was nostalgic. ‘We had a son. He died when he was four. My wife could not fall pregnant again.’
Tears filled Alice’s eyes. She blinked to dispel them. ‘What a tragedy.’
‘Yes.’ His own eyes showed emotion. He lifted his Scotch to his lips, sipping it slowly, his fingers trembling a little as he replaced it on the tabletop.
‘My business is a family legacy. I have no one to leave it to. No one who will carry it on in my name.’
Alice lifted her gaze to Thanos unconsciously. His expression was unreadable. ‘I want to sell it, but not because I need the money.’ He waved a hand around them, showing the terrace, and the beautiful home beyond it. ‘I need to sell it so I can see it go to someone who will treat it as I do. Who will value it as a family business, who will build it and pass it to their children and their children, as my grandparents intended.’
She swallowed past the lump in her throat. ‘You know Thanos is the right man, don’t you?’
He turned to face her, studying her intently. ‘You love him?’
The question floored Alice. She knew what she needed to say, because she was playing the part of the doting, loving wife, but the question still had the power to detonate a bomb right beneath her ribcage. ‘I...of course.’ She jerked her head to cover the stutter.
‘I can see that you do,’ Kosta said quietly. ‘And I hope he will make you happy. For many years I have wondered if he was capable of making anyone happy, himself included.’
Something like alarm was drumming against Alice’s chest. ‘Why do you say that?’
‘I knew Nicholas—his grandfather—quite well. And through him, I met Thanos, when he first came to live with Dion.’ He shook his head sadly.
Curiosity spurted inside Alice. ‘Did you?’
‘Oh, yes. He was a troubled child, driven by emotion, and I think quite insecure.’
Alice frowned, this description pulling on all her heart strings, even as she felt a desire to contradict it. Thanos wasn’t insecure. Was he?
‘You cannot blame him for that,’ Kosta continued. ‘His mother broke his heart, and his father was not worthy of that word.’ He spat that indictment with obvious disgust. ‘After the trial, Thanos began to spiral out of control,’ Kosta continued, shaking his head.
Alice’s heart squeezed tight. ‘In what way?’