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His lips firmed angrily, looking as though they might have been chiselled out of granite. His eyes assumed that brittle hardness that gave them the appearance of polished jet. He was again that man of stone.

‘Insolence does not become you, Miss Martyn, nor will I tolerate it under my roof.’

She glared. ‘If you were more kindly disposed towards me, my reactions would be different. I can’t meekly submit to being called a gold-digger when there’s not a shred of truth in it. If you would only let me speak to Georgios we could sort things out. I did marry him, you must believe that!’ Her liquid eyes were wide and pleading. ‘Perhaps he didn’t tell you? Perhaps he was afraid to tell you, knowing what your reaction would be. Why don’t you let us all get together and talk it over? I’m not after Georgios’s money. I love him, I really do.’ And I’m going to have his baby, she added silently. But that, for the moment, was her secret.

Theo looked at her for several long, heart-stopping seconds. Again Miranda felt the electric vitality of him, the powerful waves that were reaching across and binding her to him. When her heart began again it was loud and painful, like a hammer inside her ribs, echoing deafeningly in her ears.

‘You claim to love my brother,’ he said slowly, his voice low and sensual, ‘but your response to me yesterday told me otherwise. I think, Miranda, you’re in love with the idea of being in love. I think that Georgios is a picture-image. He fulfils your idea of the perfect lover. But is he capable of giving you that love? That is what you must ask yourself.’

‘Would he have married me if he wasn’t?’ Miranda clenched her fists tightly in her lap, wondering how she could make this man accept the truth.

‘Georgios says he has never met you.’

‘Because you told him to,’ she snapped.

‘I have put no words into my brother’s mouth. Whatever he says to you is what he firmly believes to be the truth.’

‘So what you’re saying is that I’m lying?’

‘Like you lied about Salamis,’ he snapped. ‘Was there any need for it?’

Miranda looked at him impatiently. ‘Eleni worked it out that way. She thought I’d mistaken Salamyndros for Salamis, thanks to you telling her I’d got lost, and deduced that Georgios had a double there who was my husband.’

‘Which you didn’t dispute?’

‘We were with your mother at the time,’ she returned sharply. ‘I thought it best to go along with that story until I’d spoken to Georgios.’

‘Yes, Georgios!’ he said wearily. ‘But I don’t intend to spend the whole evening arguing about your supposed relationship with Georgios. Since you’re leaving tomorrow I should like to make your last hours here pleasurable ones. I should hate you to harbour harsh thoughts about the Alexidis family.’

‘Not the whole family, just you,’ returned Miranda bitterly. ‘I never thought it possible to loathe a person so much!’

There was nothing on his face to suggest that her words hurt, but there was a stillness about him that was more frightening than any show of anger.

The only sound in the room was the ticking of a French clock on the mantelpiece, and the uneven beat of her own heart. It was impossible to drag her eyes away from his face, even though his piercing stare unnerved her.

The magnetic quality of the man was amazing. He had the uncanny ability of being able to command your full attention without saying a word. Even when he rose and walked towards her, she was still unable to look away.

When he stood over her her chin automatically lifted, and when he held out his hands she put hers into them so that he could pull her to her feet.

It was a mistake, and had she been in control of her senses she would never have made it. The tingling sensation that ran up her arms reminded her all too vividly of her total response to him yesterday, and she asked herself for the hundredth time how she could react like this when it was Georgios she loved.

There was no denying the fact that she was confused, and it became more important than ever that she talk with Georgios and sort out this whole puzzling affair.

Once she was standing Theo let her go, but the damage had been done. Miranda’s entire body reacted to his nearness, to the virile male animal sheathed in this exciting, powerful body. Her pulses raced in response to his total dominance and she stood submissively waiting for his next move.

‘I am tempted to make you change your mind. It is not a pleasant feeling when a woman tells you that she hates you. In fact I cannot recollect ever having it said to me before.’

The spell was broken by his words. The feelings were still there, quivering emotions, and an awareness of his ability to destroy any defensive shield she erected, but she was temporarily in control of herself.

‘Possibly because most girls would have their eyes on your money which would blind them to the hard, ruthless man you are,’ she said coldly. ‘I have no interest in your riches, therefore I can quite clearly see the man that lies beneath the surface charm. I’m not impressed.’

‘You’re not giving yourself chance to find out.’ His hands fell heavily on her shoulders, moving down her arms, gripping them firmly, imprisoning them at her sides.

‘I don’t want to. I have no interest in you. You’re Georgios’s brother, and as such I am forced to accept you, but that doesn’t mean I have to like you. I shall tolerate you, for his sake, and your mother, whom I like very much, but that’s as far as it will go.’

Theo drew in a swift breath. ‘You talk as though you are already a member of the family! It is not so, Miss Martyn, and you would do well to remember it.’ The pressure of his fingers increased until she felt as though her bones would snap.

What was the point in arguing when he persistently refused to accept the fact that she and Georgios were married? ‘I’d like to go to bed,’ she said quietly. ‘Please release me.’

‘You don’t mean that.’ There was a smile now on his lips, although his fingers had by no means relaxed. ‘Your body responds to me, even though your tongue denies it. You want me to kiss you, Miranda, why don’t you admit it?’ His eyes gleamed wickedly as he lowered his head, and she knew there was no escape.

It
was two in the morning, yet Miranda was wide awake. Sleep had never been farther away. Her body still vibrated with sensation. Theo’s kiss had left her hungering for more. She was appalled and ashamed of the feelings he was able to arouse and could not imagine why she responded with such treacherous abandon.

It made a mockery of her love for Georgios, unless it was possible to maintain an emotional love at the same time as she experienced this physical attraction towards his brother.

Even now she could feel Theo’s lips over hers, moving expertly until he felt the beginning of her response. Then his kiss had deepened until he possessed her mouth completely and she was arching her body against him, clamouring for more.

The taste of him was still on her mouth, the musky odour of his skin still teased her nostrils, and she moved sensually beneath the sheets imagining his arms around her, the feel of those strong-boned limbs pressing against her soft responsive body.

She touched her breasts where his hands had cupped their fullness, and gave a soft moan in the darkness. ‘Why are you doing this to me, Theo?’ she asked silently. But even as she put the question she knew the answer. It was his way of telling her that she was not in love with Georgios. That she never had been, nor ever would be. He was spoiling her for any other man, because who could possibly match up to him?

What would he say, she wondered, if he knew about the baby? There would be no point then in him attempting to lure her away from Georgios. Her hands moved to her stomach. It was perfectly flat now, but in a few weeks there would be no disguising the fact that she was pregnant.

She must talk to Georgios. She must put an end to this unrealistic situation once and for all. Tomorrow— no, today, Theo was taking her to Athens in his helicopter, where he would put her on a plane for London. He had told her this before they came to bed. He knew her idea was to find Georgios, although he had not said it in so many words. She had to find a way of escaping him.

Katie woke her early and she guessed Theo had sent the maid in, even though he had declared there was no hurry, that he would wait all day if necessary.

Her limbs were heavy as she dragged herself out of bed, but as she stood beneath the refreshing jets of the shower, lathering her body with the pink expensively perfumed soap, she experienced again the sensations which Theo’s hands and lips had aroused.

It made her all the more reluctant to face him this morning. She had revealed too much of her inner self, had given away the fact that she was responsive to his touch, that he had the ability to make her feel deliciously feminine in his arms. She had in fact made a perfect fool of herself. She decided to go and see his mother first, before Theo reduced her to yet another state of quivering nerves.

In readiness for her departure she put on a cream linen suit and a moss-green blouse, the collar of which was hand-stitched in cream to match the skirt and jacket. Mrs Alexidis looked surprised to see her in this more formal style of dress. ‘You’re not leaving us already?’

For once Miranda could speak the truth. ‘I must find my husband.'

‘Ah, yes, Eleni told me you were married. You naughty girl, keeping it a secret!’ But she was not cross, more amused. ‘Is it to someone we know, I wonder? We have lived in these islands for many years. There are not many people who we do not know. I’ve been trying to think who lives on Salamis. It’s not one of the Angelopoulou family, is it? They have several sons of marriageable age.’

Miranda shook her head, inwardly squirming. ‘I’d rather keep it to myself—until we’re reunited. I hope you don’t think I’m being rude, but it is very important to me.’

‘I understand.’ The thin blue-veined hands restlessly plucked the folds of the Greek woman’s skirt. ‘It upsets me when a marriage does not work out. I think it is perhaps because the two people do not work hard enough to understand each other, and you, my child, would need to work harder than most. Marrying into a Greek family is not the easiest of things. I believe my grandmother had the greatest difficulty in getting herself accepted. Naturally in those days it was worse. No one today would condemn such a marriage. The essential thing is that no member brings shame or dishonour to their family group.’

It was almost as though she knew, as though she was trying to tell her something. Miranda felt distinctly uncomfortable and glanced apprehensively into her face. ‘I want to patch up my marriage, Mrs Alexidis, more than anything else. Thank you for having me here, and I hope I will see you again one day.’

The thin smile was brave, her back ramrod straight. ‘I wish for you what I wish my own children— particularly Georgios.’

There was no hint on her face that she meant anything by these last two whispered words, and Miranda hadn’t the nerve to ask. The whole set-up was peculiar, and the sooner she got to the bottom of it the better.

It was not until she reached the breakfast room and joined Eleni and Theo that she realised her hands were trembling. She responded to their joint, '
Kalimera,'
with a, ‘Good morning,’ of her own, pouring herself a glass of fruit juice, glancing nervously at Theo from beneath her lashes when she spilled some on to the tablecloth.

A satisfied smile hovered about his lips. ‘You slept well, I hope!’

Miranda eyed him resentfully, noting how his blue denim-look shirt faithfully followed the muscular curves of his chest against which she had been crushed last night. She had felt the strong beat of his heart, had known what it was like to feel the power in that body flow through to her. And now this morning he was mocking her, knowing full well that she had slept hardly at all.

‘I have much on my mind.’

‘Worrying about your husband, I expect?’ Eleni fixed her wide brown eyes on Miranda. ‘I hope things turn out all right. You must bring him here to meet us.’

‘I will come back,’ said Miranda confidently, glancing obliquely at Theo. As she expected there was a glacial hardness to his eyes and the usual deadpan expression on his face.
‘And
bring my husband.’

There was no flicker of emotion to suggest that her last, almost defiant, words had had any effect on him, though she felt quite sure that he must think it an ambiguous statement. So far as he was concerned, she was leaving the islands today. There would be no opportunity for her to see Georgios again.

‘We’ll have a party to celebrate if you do.’ Eleni looked excited. ‘It’s about time we had some new faces here. Has your husband any brothers?’

‘That will do, Eleni!’ Theo’s curt tones were meant to cut his sister down to size. ‘I trust you’re not still looking for suitable husband material? Nikos is waiting only for you to say the word.’

‘Nikos, pooh!’ declared Eleni strongly. ‘I don’t want to marry Nikos, and you know it.’

Theo treated her to a hard stare that made Miranda tremble even watching. ‘There is no man more suited than Nikos. And he loves you. There is no reason why you should not be happy together.’

Eleni was not daunted by her brother’s attitude. ‘Would you marry a woman you did not love?’

‘My feelings do not enter into it,’ he returned harshly. But it made Miranda wonder why he had not married. Perhaps there was no woman who could put up with his arrogance? He would be a difficult man to live with. He would be very much the head of the household, making all the decisions, and expecting no one, not even his wife, to question them.

Not like her Georgios. He had been content to let her choose their house and the furniture. She had even done all the arranging for the wedding. It had not struck her as odd at the time, it had been a labour of love. But looking back, it did emphasis the flaw in Georgios’s character. There was not one occasion when she had suggested something that he had not immediately and willingly agreed. He was as different from Theo as it was possible for two brothers to be. Even now he was under Theo’s influence, afraid to admit that he had for once made up his own mind, and got married.