CHAPTER NINE

‘WE’LL HAVE TO see how the next few months play out.’

It hurt Imogen’s soul to say the words to Noah.

Hurt even more that she had no clue what her own marriage held in store for her. Would Zeph forgive her if and when he regained his memories?

Would he still hold her to the six months once he remembered the true state of their marriage?

‘Can I get you a drink?’ Noah asked, noting her empty hands.

‘I’ll take care of it,’ Zeph slid in smoothly from beside her, his voice clipped.

She glanced at him, confirmed that the voice matched the look on his face. ‘Noah is resigning. He’s got offers he claims he has to consider.’ Her smile was bittersweet. She’d enjoyed working with him.

‘Ah, then I’m sure there are other people you’d like to introduce yourself to now that you’re window shopping.’ From Zeph’s tone of voice, one could easily swap introduce for intrude.

Noah took his cue from that and beat a hasty retreat.

‘I’m not sure why you dislike him so much.’

His mouth twisted. ‘Are you truly that oblivious?’

‘What?’

‘He’s in love with you,’ Zeph supplied, quiet fury brimming the words.

‘What? No!’

His nostrils flared. ‘It would probably crush him to hear your hot denial.’

Another tiny rip in her chest made her breath catch. ‘Is he the one you care about?’

His eyes gleamed. ‘I’m perfectly capable of ensuring your young puppy doesn’t sniff around what’s mine and also ensuring my wife isn’t blind to what’s happening around her.’

‘Right. Consider me adequately warned.’

For the longest time, he held her gaze. When he nodded it was with pure masculine satisfaction and in the assurance that whatever message he wanted to give had been delivered.

And it had. Not that she needed it.

Because somewhere between falling into Zeph’s bed and arriving in Italy, she’d lost the last ounce of fight where protecting her heart was concerned.

She was in love with her husband.

The rip turned into a tear, oozing panic and desperation. Old or new Zeph, she knew her feelings would most likely not be welcome. Just as she knew trying to contain them would rip her apart.

‘I just left you. Did you want something?’ she asked, striving to keep her voice even and a smile pinned on her face.

He opened his mouth, then at a bark of laughter from behind them, his jaw tightened. His gaze drifted over her, lingering on her belly and hips before, a fierce light in his eyes, he shook his head. ‘Not now.’

‘Okay. I need... I’ll be right back. I need to check on a couple of things.’

He gave a brisk nod but didn’t move. After a moment, she turned and hurried away, aware his gaze was pinned on her.

Had he seen? Did he know her fresh, raw feelings?

How could he when she’d only just discovered them herself?

But remember who you’re dealing with.

Her panic escalated as the unnecessary checks were done, assurances given by the planner that all was in order.

Then she had no choice but to return to Zeph’s side.

He took her hand immediately, openly kissing her knuckles before clamping a hand on her hip to keep her at his side.

Together they watched the spectacular fireworks over the lake before the strong hints that Zeph wanted them gone quickly dispersed the guests.

When Apostolos deliberately straggled to catch Zeph’s attention, and then skilfully cornered him, Imogen took the opportunity to seek another breather.

She’d already fallen into bed with a husband who hadn’t wanted intimacy with her at the start of their marriage. How on earth would she manage to keep her love a secret when every look, every gesture made her heart ache and sing in the best and worst ways?

Like Zeph, she hadn’t yet toured the house because she’d been too busy ensuring their guests would be fully catered for. So she was discovering darling little gems at every turn as she went through the villa now. Bypassing the organised chaos in the kitchen, she stumbled into a small, charming courtyard with a large olive-green door leading outside.

Two small benches were situated in front of a fountain, with a tidy vegetable patch on one side and a compact rose garden on the other.

She perched on the edge of one bench, her hands bunched in her lap. She was abstractly glad she wasn’t freaking out on the outside because on the inside, Imogen reeled. Did she offer up her feelings and hope this new Zeph would welcome this...development?

She couldn’t call it a gift because her love, so far in her life, had been seen as a burden.

Heart squeezing, she shut her eyes, only to open them again when the sound of heavy footsteps alerted her to Zeph’s presence.

He prowled into the courtyard like a man with battle on his mind. Whether it was for her or against her was another matter.

His eyes zeroed in on her, and her heart thudded harder. ‘Zeph...’ she started, not really sure what came next. Her doom? Her ecstasy?

The hard shake of his head dried her attempt. ‘Apostolos just told me some things. Things I would like answers—’

She stared at him as he suddenly froze. But he wasn’t looking at her.

His gaze was fixed over her shoulder, his colour a sickly ash in the bright courtyard light.

‘Zeph?’

A shiver-inducing sound ripped from his throat. Shaken, she turned to see what had provoked such a reaction. But there was nothing there.

She watched him stumble forward, his arm lifting to point. ‘This. This is the door.’

Imogen gasped, her gaze whipping from his face to the door and back again. ‘The door from your dreams? Are...are you sure?’

‘Yes,’ he breathed.

‘H-how do you know?’

‘Because I’ve lived that moment a million times. This was how my father would come in. He rarely used the front door because my mother was always in the kitchen with my grandmother. He would park the car around the back and come in that way. He would stop in town to pick up something because she was always forgetting some ingredient or other.’

His mouth twisted, his face a shattered painting. ‘She was...impatient. He told me it was always best to appease her quickly if he wanted peace of mind.’

The eyes that rose to meet hers held a bottomless depth of bleakness.

‘But you knew all of that. Didn’t you?’ he said with chilling finality.

And that icy condemnation in his voice?

It was pure Zephyr Diamandis.

The man she’d married almost two years ago.

‘You remember!’

His face was a mask of cold, Stygian fury. ‘Oh, yes, dear wife. I remember. Everything.’

Imogen willed herself to stop shivering. And failed.

She searched his face frantically for signs of softness. And failed to find any.

They’d relocated to the thankfully empty living room. By some unspoken signal the household and waitstaff had disappeared, leaving her alone with Zeph.

Who prowled back and forth in front of the giant fireplace like a caged animal.

‘If you’re struggling for somewhere to start, maybe I can help?’ she offered, a desperate part of her wanting this to be over and done quickly so she could retreat to lick what wounds were inflicted. Because she knew they were coming.

Would she return to the States?

No. There was nothing left for her there. Hell, there was nothing left for her anywhere in the world. She’d dared to step out of her cold, lonely existence, to reach for light and warmth. Now she was about to be mercilessly flung back.

His hand slashing through the air stilled her frantic thoughts. ‘I think you’ve done quite enough, don’t you?’

‘Have I? I’m sure you’ll explain when you’re ready.’ She gave herself a little congratulatory pat for sounding remotely calm.

He stared her down from across the room, eyes like fired gems filled with accusation. ‘You were quite clever, weren’t you? You stormed into that church making me think you were reclaiming your husband. But you were saving yourself the inconvenience of having to wait around while I extricated myself from possibly bigamy?’

‘Ah, I see we’re back to that being my fault.’

‘And you were very quick to inform me that my parents were dead. To intimate that I had no one else. No one besides you. You preyed on the off chance that I would want to keep you close. As my wife you were the natural, sensible choice to have at my side. Was that why you put up a token protest before agreeing to staying on the yacht? Because you didn’t want me around anyone or anything that might trigger my memory returning?’

‘What are you talking about? Where in all the things you’ve listed is my sin?’

‘Your sin, dear wife, was not telling me that my so-called saviour was also my worst enemy. The daughter of the man directly responsible for me growing up with nothing!’

That shattered her cobbled-together calm. It pulverised her heart to unrecognisable pulp. But she had her voice. The fury in her soul. And she used them both.

‘You know what? I expected all this.’ She dashed away the shocked tears that filled her eyes, but more filled their place immediately. ‘You were always going to find a way to blame me for everything. For not telling you about our rocky history. For what my family did to yours. Does it even matter to you that I was trying to protect you? That I didn’t want to cause you pain for as long as I could prevent it?’

His head went back as if the very idea offended him. ‘No. You knew about the door from my damned nightmares because I told you the first day you found me. And you said nothing because you were protecting yourself.’

‘From what, exactly? From you thinking I was a gold-digger? As bad as or worse than my father and grandfather before me? I already knew that. You made it abundantly clear when you dragged me from America to a dingy little office in a town hall to marry me, then all but ignored me for the first year of our marriage.’ Her voice threatened to crack. She held it together by sheer willpower, surging to her feet to meet him toe for toe.

‘But the guy who I met in that church on Efemia? He had crumbs of decency about him. He smiled. He was courteous and considerate of other people. He cared. If you want me to think he was a figment of my imagination, fine. I’ll wipe him from my memory. I’ll pretend that the man who made love to me and brought me to tears of rapture doesn’t exist, shall I? Go back to Athens, to your business acquaintances and everyone out there who hangs onto your every word and thinks you’re Zeus reincarnated. I don’t give a damn.’

A sound roared from him. Indecipherable and animal-like. A sound torn from his soul.

If he even had one?

Imogen was done trying to read this man. She’d relied on her emotions and got it wrong.

Hell, she’d done far worse.

She’d allowed herself to fall in love with a ghost. A fantasy replica of a monster.

‘I saw you searching those faces tonight. And I know it hurt when you didn’t find what you wanted. Believe me, I’ve had that all my life. But, Zeph, why won’t you see what’s right in front of you?’

‘Another trick?’

Something shattered in her chest then. Her love might have been new and precious. But it was also deep and abiding. Until it’d twisted beneath his rejection.

‘No. Not a trick. But I fear you won’t recognise it until it’s too late. Maybe never. You’re just too blind. Your acolytes have paid their respects. You can sleep soundly tonight knowing you’ve been welcomed back with open arms.’

She turned away, heading blindly for the door. His cold voice stopped her.

‘You’re not walking away that easily. Not when there’s the very real matter of you possibly carrying my child.’

Every cell in her body froze. ‘What?’

‘Last night, when we woke up in the middle of the night, we had sex. Without a condom. It skipped my mind until this evening.’

Her knees sagged and she reached for the nearest chair back.

They’d both been half asleep, had reached for each other with that blind, all-consuming hunger that sparked to life with very little effort on their parts and had fallen into a wild coupling that had left them panting for breath in the aftermath. It’d been glorious.

And it might be the one mistake that would spell her doom.

‘Okay, thanks for letting me know,’ she managed to bite out.

‘Excuse me?’ he roared.

She lifted her chin. ‘You heard me. I’m not going to stand here and let you denigrate my character any longer. You’re probably looking for a way to blame me for the lack of protection, too. Go back to Athens, Zeph. Do your worst. It’s not like I’m not used to it. I’m sure you’ll let me know the consequences of my actions in due course.’

She whirled away from him.

He caught her wrist, detaining her. ‘Don’t walk away from me, Imogen. We’re not done.’

‘You may not be. But I am. I’m tired of being everyone’s punching bag. No more, Zeph. No more.’

His face slackened for a nanosecond before he caught himself. Reasserting that formidable tycoon aura that left men quaking.

But she was done shaking in her shoes for this man. She was done, period. ‘What are you going to do, Zeph? Take Callahan from me? Go ahead. I fought for it because it was the last real thing that meant family to me. But it was just a pipe dream. I never really had much of a family for you to ruin in the first place.’

He held her gaze for several long moments, before his eyes dropped deliberately to her belly. As he’d done earlier this evening.

‘What about the family you might be carrying? Does that not matter to you either? If not, I’d like that in writing so there’s no dispute when the time comes.’

She gasped, the blood draining from her head when she grasped his meaning. ‘When the time... You’d take a child away from its mother?’

‘I’d fight heaven and earth to keep what’s mine. As I always have.’

The words flayed her open, but she was damned if she would let him see her gaping wounds. ‘Don’t hide behind double meanings. Say what you mean.’

‘Very well. If you are carrying my child, then you won’t be going anywhere. Forget six months. Forget three-year agreements. Our marriage will be permanent. Is that plain enough for you?’

‘Yes, I understand. Welcome back, Zeph. And congratulations. You’re officially still a Grade A monster.’

He nodded as if taking it as his rightful due. ‘But I’m a monster who gets what he wants. And what he wants is for his wife to return to Athens with him in the morning. You will smile and cling to my every word. Because, baby or no baby, Imogen, we’re still married. And you still have an agreement to fulfil.’

In all corners of his life, Zeph relished being proved right. A well-placed ‘I told you so’ was even warranted here and there, when a point needed driving home further.

Right in this moment, he wished every one of his senses to hell for the repeated warnings he’d hoped wouldn’t come true. For the suspicion that whatever Imogen was withholding from him would be monumental. For the even greater suspicion that only she held the key to freeing him from the haunting loneliness in his life.

The bone-deep addiction to her. And not just to her body. Her beautiful mind, her generous spirit.

And that unmoored sensation he’d suspected wouldn’t go away even when he regained his memories.

He despised every last one of those revelations. Because it meant in this most important battle of his life, he would not win. Unless...unless...

‘Spyros!’

His PA rushed in, his features tense. Ne, he was setting everyone around on edge. And he wasn’t entirely sure he was sorry. A problem shared and all that.

But he wanted to share his problem with only one person.

‘Where is my wife?’ he demanded without looking up.

When she’d thrown that livid ‘like hell I will’ at him two weeks ago after he’d ordered her back to Athens, he’d laughed, certain she wouldn’t be so foolish as to call his bluff.

Well, she’d called it. She’d left. Then turned the dark light of his life a new shade of obsidian with a simple text a few days later.

I’m not pregnant.

He hadn’t believed he could locate a lower level of desolation until that text had arrived.

His eyes felt scratchy, and he was sure they were bloodshot. The headache Imogen was so adept at soothing was pounding at his temples, a relentless reminder of what he’d thrown away.

Theós, he needed her, dammit!

You know what you have to do.

He released a low growl when Spyros continued to remain silent. ‘Did you not hear me? I asked where my—’

‘She asked that her whereabouts not be disclosed to you, sir.’

He sucked in a deep breath. ‘What?’ he bellowed.

‘I’m sorry, sir.’

‘I don’t want an apology. I want to know where my wife is,’ he breathed, fury boiling in his stomach. How dared she disappear when...when...?

He froze. Dear God, was she paying him back for leaving her for almost a year?

No. The woman he’d spent the last several weeks with wouldn’t do that.

She wasn’t...

He surged to his feet, unable to contain the growing realisation that he might have got a lot of things wrong. ‘Spyros,’ he tried again, striving to keep his voice steady. He failed. Cringed when he heard it crack right down the middle. ‘Tell me where my wife is.’

He suspected he’d hit rock bottom when his assistant stared at him with something eerily close to pity. ‘I don’t know, sir. But...might I suggest you explore the possibility of device-tracking with your head of security?’ Spyros said.

Zeph was lunging for his phone when the other man calmly exited and shut the door.

Scotland.

His wife was in Scotland. Upon hearing it, he’d panicked and instructed his security to look into who his wife was staying with. Why, of all the places she could’ve fled to, she’d chosen the rugged but unwelcoming Highlands. Of course, he’d felt like a heel for believing her capable of that too.

But had that stopped him from jumping on his jet and chasing her down?

Absolutely not.

That was not to say he wasn’t in a foul mood by the time he located the love of his life, striding down the side of a mountain with fire brimming in her eyes as she glared at his departing helicopter. The majority of the foulness was directed at himself though. It would be for a very long time, he suspected.

‘What are you doing here?’

Zeph knew poets wrote reams about this place, and, while the rolling mountains were decent enough, in his eyes the woman standing in front of him was the most beautiful sight he’d ever seen.

The russet hair that had gained highlights during their time on the yacht glinted beneath the Highland sun, and her face glowed with health and beauty. Did it disgruntle him a little that she looked so spectacular when he was suffering? Maybe. But he deserved that too.

‘I could ask you the same question. Why here?’

She shrugged her despondency, leaving him a fraction more desolate, a feat he wouldn’t have believed was possible before it happened. ‘I don’t have a company any more so I’m thinking of becoming a sheep farmer. What do you care?’

He sucked in a long breath. ‘Did you think placing an infuriating number of mountains between us was going to stop me coming after you?’

‘I don’t care. Just...please, go away.’

The sliver of desperation in her voice triggered another spark in him. Because he recognised it as his own, multiplied by a million. But her desperation didn’t mean she was experiencing similar feelings. Perhaps it was because he’d burned every last component in the bridge leading back to her.

‘How did you even find me?’ she cried when she realised he wasn’t going to budge.

Did she know he was incapable of it? Taking a step away from her would end him. ‘I used every resource I had at my disposal and I don’t apologise for it.’

She opened her mouth to condemn him some more.

But he hurried to speak before she could. ‘I had to find you, agape mou.’ He shook his head. ‘I fought an ocean and survived but I’ve come to realise that I won’t survive you not taking me back, Imogen. Parakalo. Please hear me out?’ There was that infuriating crack in his voice again.

Out here in this frigid middle of nowhere for the sheep to hear. They bleated their indifference as his wife’s eyes widened.

She’d heard it too no doubt. Was readying to send him away for the fool he was.

His breath tangled in his lungs when she took a step. But it wasn’t away from him, it was towards him.

His hands shook at his sides, every fibre of his being fighting to remain still and not reach out for her.

‘No. Please go away,’ she repeated. ‘I don’t want you here.’

His heart lurched but he bounced back almost immediately. ‘I don’t want to be here either.’

She stiffened, her nose tilting upward in that affronted way that made him want to sweep her into his arms. ‘You shouldn’t have sent your pilot away, then. No matter, the road to town is that way.’ She pointed over his shoulder.

‘I don’t want to be here because I want us both back on that yacht with nothing between us but laughter. And conversation. And sex.’

Her eyes clung for a moment before dismissing him again. ‘That was a dream. A few weeks suspended in time until the real you came back. Remember?’

He flinched. ‘The real me.’ He laughed. ‘I don’t know who or what that is any more.’

She hesitated and he snatched at the opportunity.

‘How can I still be the man hell-bent on revenge when without you I would still be lost?’

Imogen shook her head. ‘You would’ve regained your memories eventually. It was only a matter of—’

‘I don’t mean my lost memories, Imogen. I mean myself. The man I am here.’ He thumped at his heart. ‘You showed me who I was without me even knowing I was on a journey of discovery. You opened my eyes to better, far better than I’d ever known, agape mou.’

She nodded wretchedly. ‘Oh, yes. I did all of that. And you still threw me away. So easily.’

His throat closed and he had to swallow several times before he could speak. ‘I was terrified how much I craved you. All my life I’ve relied on no one but myself. The family I loved was taken from me in the blink of an eye. I had to learn to exist as a lone wolf. I held you at arm’s length when we married because I didn’t know any other way to exist. I’ve lived with loneliness and anger for so long, I couldn’t separate the fact that your father and grandfather were the ones responsible, not every Callahan that lived and breathed.’

He gritted his teeth, despising himself but unable to stop confessing the truth. ‘Maybe I picked you to fulfil that agreement because I was envious that you’d had a family when I’d not. It was wrong but I wanted you to have a...taster of what I went through. And then you came and reclaimed me in that church. I suddenly...belonged to someone. I was falling in love with someone. I was no longer alone. It felt incredible. And far too good to be true. So I pushed it away. I pushed you away. For that, I will always regret it and beg your forgiveness.’

Her mouth dropped open. ‘Y-you’re in love with...me?’

‘So, so much.’ Admitting it felt...sublime. Like a second...third rebirth. ‘After the party, I planned to ask you to forget the agreement, the stupid six months. Everything. I said once that I should marry you again. I meant it then although the delivery could’ve been better. Maybe I sensed deep down that I’d gone about it the wrong way the first time.’

‘Zeph...you love me?’ she repeated, her eyes filling with tears.

He ventured close, despising the wind that picked up, whipping her hair into her face so he couldn’t see her beautiful eyes. When she lifted her hand to tuck her hair away, he saw the wedding rings still on her finger. And it almost dropped him to his knees.

‘I love you, Imogen Diamandis. It took the gift of memory loss for me to discover that I couldn’t live without you. If you take me back I vow to never leave your side. Bind me to your side and let me love you until the world stops turning. Please.’

She burst into tears. He scooped her up and held her to his heart, this treasure he’d so foolishly discarded. Twice. The shock of that near loss made him seek her lips, to rabidly reaffirm and reawaken the heart he’d feared would stop beating without her.

And his heart soared when she kissed him back.

When they parted, she passed a despondent hand over her stomach. ‘I’m sorry the pregnancy test was negative. I didn’t know how much I wanted to be pregnant until I was not.’

We can fix that. Immediately.

He swallowed the words before they damned him. He still had a lot of work to do. One of those chilly mountains to climb. ‘That’s the way hard lessons are learnt, isn’t it? Denying what’s right in front of us until it’s taken away. Then we’re exposed for the utter fools we are.’

‘You did not just call me a fool,’ she threw back, her beautiful eyes snapping with fire. And something else that made his heart stutter with hope.

‘Oh, no, agape mou. That honour is reserved only for me.’

Something leapt in those eyes he adored so much. ‘You can call yourself all the names in the world. As long as you keep loving me half as much as I love you.’

His grateful, triumphant roar scared the sheep, who went scattering across the hills. He didn’t care. Or he cared only if Imogen did.

Right now, all he wanted to do was kiss her again.

So he did. Until they were both breathless and clinging to one another.

‘I need you, agape mou. As for Callahan, I fear I have a mini mutiny on my hands. None of the clients are happy dealing with me. They want you back. Hell, even my board have been overheard saying you’re a much more amenable CEO to deal with than me.’

‘Only because they think they can call the shots.’

He dropped a long kiss on her lips. ‘Not any more. They dragged their feet but forcing them to admit how invaluable you’ve been in my absence has made them see the light. Diamandis needs you back. I need you back, Imogen. By my side, where you belong. I’ve been entirely miserable without you.’

‘Oh, Zeph. Me too.’

He looked around and grimaced. ‘As much as I would like to seal our love immediately, I don’t think I can quite reduce myself to seducing you with the sheep watching.’

She laughed, and his heart soared.

When it came close to settling, Zeph realised that the ache had evaporated. Accepting love, opening his own heart in return, had healed them both.

He wanted to drop to his knees in humbled thanksgiving. But his wife had other ideas. When her hand snuck beneath his coat, searching, caressing, his breath caught.

‘I’m renting a cottage about a mile away,’ she murmured against his lips.

Zeph’s heart, and other parts of his needy body, jumped, even as he shook his head and reached into his pocket. ‘I have a better idea. I can have our chopper here in two minutes.’

She gasped. ‘I thought you sent him away?’

‘Only over the hill. Your husband is no fool. I will buy you this mountain if you desire, but for what I have in mind we will need solid walls and indoor plumbing.’

She laughed again, flinging her arms around his neck.

‘I can’t wait for our next adventure to start, Zeph. I love you.’

His throat closed. Again. And it took until the rotors of his helicopter drew near for him to reply. ‘I was lost, and you found me. You saved me, my love. I belong to you now, eros mou. For ever.’

Read on for an extract from THE ITALIAN’S INNOCENT CINDERELLA by Cathy Williams