intimacy—for wouldn’t he interpret such a move as weakness or reliance on him?
So why didn’t he make a move instead? Why didn’t he push her back inside the villa and slide her onto the cool marble floor and take her without further ceremony in that hungry macho way of his? If he’d straddled her right there and then, she would have eagerly welcomed him into her body because she wanted him so badly it felt almost like pain.
But he didn’t do that. Instead he drew his head away from hers, although his blue eyes were almost black with lust. And although she could see the faint tremble of his hands, his voice was quite calm when he spoke.
‘I must say, Lex,’ he observed, ‘that you put on a pretty convincing performance of “caring for me”—even without the benefit of an audience. Don’t you think?’
And Lexi knew she’d walked into a trap of her own making. A stupid and cheapening trap. She’d shown him she still wanted him and that was bad enough—but she prayed that he wouldn’t guess the real reason behind her passionate response to him.
That she was still in total thrall to her husband.
‘Fifteen-love,’ she said.
‘I’d say it was closer to set point.’ His voice was dry. ‘Come on, let’s go and see Ghiaghia.’
She asked for five minutes to compose herself, to tidy her hair and smooth down her dress, and was quiet as they walked across the courtyard to the side of the house where they’d eaten dinner last night. Her heart was in her mouth as they walked into the large bedroom whose shutters were half closed and where his grandmother now lay.
Sometimes Lexi was grateful that she hadn’t had a sheltered upbringing and this was one of them. As a child she had seen things no child should ever see—shocking, brutal things—but she found herself thinking that nothing was more shocking than the inevitable approach of death.
Like her daughter, Sofia had once been a great beauty but her exquisite bones were now cruelly defined by the waxy skin stretched tightly over them. Her once-lustrous eyes were dulled by morphine and her body was as insubstantial as a sparrow’s as it lay beneath the white sheet.
Her eyes tried to focus on the couple as they walked into the room and for a moment she frowned, as if she was examining her failing memory for clues. But then came the hint of a smile as she stared at Lexi. The faintest fluttering of bony fingers as she attempted to lift her hand from the bed in greeting.
Lexi went straight over to her, wanting to hug her tightly but, mindful of her frailty, she bent down and took her hand before bending to kiss each shrunken cheek.
‘Ghiaghia,’ she whispered. ‘It’s me, Alexi.’
‘Alexi.’ The Greek matriarch struggled a little and Lexi glanced over at the nurse, who nodded, and the two women helped move the old lady further up the bed, positioning her feeble body against a deep pile of pillows. ‘I am happy to see you.’
‘And I you. Oh, Ghiaghia.’ Lexi’s voice cracked, just a little. ‘I’m...I’m so sorry that you’re sick.’
For a moment, Sofia looked into her eyes and there was a trace of humour on her face as well as sadness. ‘It happens to us all,’ she said gently.
‘Yes.’ Still holding onto the old lady’s hand, Lexi sat down on the chair beside the bed. ‘Can I get you anything? Can I do anything for you?’
There was a pause and then a croak as Sofia sucked in a breath. ‘Love my grandson,’ she said, on the outbreath. ‘As he loves you.’
For a moment Lexi felt scared. She was here because Xenon had wanted her to be and she could see exactly why. Sofia had obviously wanted to say what was on her mind and no words were more powerful than those spoken on the deathbed.
But she was also aware that she could not tell a lie—not even at a time like this. Yet the stupidest thing was that she had no need to lie. That what she was about to say came straight from the heart. She was grateful that Xenon was standing on the other side of the room and could not hear their whispered exchange as she bent her head to speak. ‘I love Xenon more than I have ever loved any man, Ghiaghia,’ she said. ‘Please know that.’
For a moment there was silence and Lexi was left wondering if Sofia had actually heard her, or whether she had fallen asleep. But then the fingers which she was holding gripped hers with a sudden fierce show of strength and Lexi saw her smile.
The old lady’s breathing grew shallow—and then she did fall asleep, though Lexi didn’t move from her place by the bed. For a long time she sat there in silence as thoughts flew through her mind. She thought of Sofia as a young bride, and then a mother. She thought how quickly a life could pass. She was barely aware that Xenon had walked from the far side of the room to stand behind her and had put his hand on her shoulder.
‘Come on,’ he said.
His voice was gentle and so was the hand which helped lever her to her feet. He moved to take her place by the bed and leaned over to kiss his grandmother tenderly on the forehead. And Lexi could feel a terrible, aching sadness.
Outside the day seemed bright—almost too bright—and the intense beauty provided an exquisite contrast to what she had just witnessed. She stood there, unsure what to do next, and when Xenon stood behind her and wrapped his arms around her, she didn’t have the strength to oppose him. She leaned against him, breathing in his distinctive scent and allowing some of his strength to flow into her.
She didn’t know how long they stood like that—maybe only for a couple of minutes, but when she tried to pull away he turned her round so that she was facing him and his blue eyes looked very bright.
‘Thank you,’ he said.
‘I was glad to do it. She is a remarkable woman.’
But she found herself thinking that he was showing emotion—real emotion. And some lingering sense of resentment began to bubble up inside her. Because he hadn’t shown emotion over their baby, had he?
‘Lex?’
She swallowed. She couldn’t go back and she couldn’t keep blaming him for the way he’d been. She guessed he had coped in the way only he knew how to cope, as had she. It was just that they hadn’t managed to cope together.
‘Lex?’ he said again. ‘We need to think about how we’re going to spend our day and you look like you could use a little sun on your face. How about a trip around the island?’ A dry, teasing note entered his voice. ‘Maybe take the bike out?’
She looked at him suspiciously. ‘You’re not still riding that clapped-out old motorbike?’
‘Actually no, I have a new one. All gleaming black and chrome and much more comfortable than the last. It’s the only way to travel.’
‘Thankfully, it’s not.’
‘Oh, come on—you know you always secretly liked riding pillion.’
She met the mockery in his eyes and told herself this was dangerous. That a sensible person would change into a bikini and take a book down to the pool and maybe spend the rest of the day reading. But then she thought about Sofia. She thought about an island she had missed and a beautiful day which might never come again.
‘Okay,’ she said. ‘Why not?’
IT WAS A long time since Lexi had been on the back of a motorbike. Not since her last visit here, just before she’d become pregnant. Before the pressure had become so intense and they’d started to treat her as if she had been made of porcelain. When she’d been made so aware of the significance of the child she carried...
Squashing the helmet over her ponytailed hair, she wriggled onto the pillion seat behind him.
‘Where