moment you would make Tom happy I would give you this divorce.â
âI will make Tom happy. I love himâ¦â she declared loudly.
A scornful sound vibrated in Nikosâs brown throat. âI watched you together; you do not love Tom,â he announced calmly.
âAnd youâd know, I suppose?â
âI know how a woman in love acts, and you were not that woman. There was no passion in your eyes when theytouched his; you act as if heâs your brother,â he sneered scornfully.
âWe donât all wear our hearts on our sleeves and there is a lot more to marriage than sex!â
âBoth these things are true and I agree that many successful marriages are based on more pragmatic reasons; I have no problem with that, so long as both parties enter into the arrangement with their eyes open.â
âLike us.â
âUnless you are planning on not sharing Tomâs bed there are some very obvious differences, but, yes, on your part there are very obviously similarities. However, unlike Tom, I was not madly in love with you,â he ground out sarcastically. âIt is your hypocrisy in pretending you are marrying for some pure and elevated reasons that I despise. The thing you love is the idea of being married to someone who can buy you diamonds and keep you in your expensive clothes.â
âHow dare you act as if you know me? You may have married me, but you donât know me at all!â
âBut we are married and, while we are, Tom is safe from making the worst mistake of his lifeâ¦â
âAnd you canât marry your girlfriend.â Surely that consideration had to carry weight with him.
âShe will wait.â His faintly startled tone suggested no other possibility had even occurred to him.
For a brief moment Katie allowed herself the indulgence of imagining Nikos Lakis left at the altar, a shattered man. The bride leaving him in this happy vision bore a startling resemblance to herself. As pleasant as this fantasy was, Katie had to think of some way of dealing with Nikos in the real world, and denying him her favours was hardly going to do itâ¦what would?
It was so obvious she didnât know why she hadnât thought of it earlier.
âSo maybe youâve got a girlfriend who will let you walk over her and wait for you until doomsday, but the press area different kettle of fishâthey donât have so much tolerance for rich playboys.â
Katie sensed his big body tense behind the wheel. âMeaningâ¦?â
Katie refused to be put off by the menace in his silky voice. â Meaning that some sections of the press would have a field day if they found out a member of the Lakis family had gone through a fake wedding ceremony so he could get the money to maintain his lavish lifestyle.â
Greek billionaire, young and more beautiful than any man had a right to be⦠Katie didnât know much about such things, but she was betting the press would have files several feet thick on Nikos Lakis and more than a passing interest in his wedding plans past, present or future! Of course she would never actually go to the press, but he didnât have to know that. On this occasion, him thinking she were some avaricious cow definitely worked in her favour. She flickered a cautious glance at his profileâ¦and swallowed; she had definitely made her point.
âI can just see the headlines nowâ¦â she breathed airily. Even though she was staring fixedly out the window she was aware of the explosive tension in the tall figure beside her. The silence between them lengthened until Katie could no longer bear it; she swivelled in her seat and shot a look at him.
If Nikosâs expression was any indication, he was seeing those headlines sheâd spoken of too. Katie salved her troubled conscience by reminding herself she would not have had to resort to these sort of tactics if he hadnât played dirty
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