The Secret Wife

His mouth curled with distaste and impatience. ‘You really are a terrible liar. Had Anton been related to you in any way, his lawyers would have been well aware of the fact.’

Rosie stared blankly back at him. It had never occurred to her that the truth might be greeted with outright contempt and instant dismissal. ‘But he didn’t tell anyone—’

‘And the proof of this fantastic allegation?’

‘Look, it was Anton who traced me—’

‘Let me relieve your fertile imagination of the belief that the nature of your relationship with Anton has any bearing on the size of the cheque I will write,’ Constantine broke in with withering bite. ‘And now please stop wasting my time with ridiculous fairy stories!’

Rosie dropped her head, a surge of distress making her stomach churn. Proof? She had never had any proof! Anton’s name was not on her birth certificate and Constantine was so full of himself, so convinced that she was an inveterate liar, that he wouldn’t even listen to her. For the first time she realised that with Anton’s death she had been dispossessed of any means of proving that he had been her father. And even though she had never planned to do anything with that knowledge that reality had a terrible, painful finality for her.

‘Let’s get down to business,’ Constantine suggested drily.

Utterly humiliated by his disbelief, Rosie wanted very badly to simply get up and walk out. Only the grim awareness that he would follow her and fierce pride kept her seated.

‘With your agreement, arrangements will be made for the marriage ceremony to take place as soon as possible. The legal firm I use in London will liaise with you. When this matter has been dealt with, you will be most generously compensated,’ Constantine assured her smoothly before going on to mention a sum which contained a breathtaking string of noughts. ‘All I ask from you is discretion and also the return of the Estrada betrothal ring’

Rosie looked up, her face drawn and empty of animation. ‘No.’

‘It is a family heirloom. It must be returned.’

‘No,’ Rosie said again.

‘In spite of its age, the ring has no great financial worth. The stone is flawed.’

Rosie flinched, nausea lying like a leaden weight in her over-sensitive stomach. ‘There must be some other way that the will could be sorted out.’

‘If there was, do you seriously think that I would be here demanding that you secretly go through such a ceremony with me?’

The harsh, derisive edge to the question made Rosie flush. No, Constantine Voulos had no other choice. His very presence here told her that. Nor could she fail to see how deeply and bitterly he resented the necessity of being forced to ask for her co-operation.

‘But Thespina seemed to like me,’ she began awkwardly. ‘And she already thinks we’re engaged. Is there any need for all this secrecy?’

‘If she knew who you really were, do you think she would like you?’ Constantine breathed scathingly. ‘She’d be furious. As for the engagement...I’ll tell her it was a soon regretted impulse on my part. There is no need for her to know about the marriage. I don’t want you meeting her again.’

Rosie’s eyes fell uneasily from his. She might not have been Anton’s mistress but even as his daughter she would be no more welcome an advent in Thespina’s life. And if she agreed to a secret marriage of convenience Constantine would inherit and Anton’s business interests and presumably his employees would continue to prosper. Thespina would have no reason to become suspicious again... indeed, everything would go back to normal, just as if Rosie herself had never existed.

Rosie lifted her head, green eyes veiled. ‘You keep your money, I keep the ring.’ Pulling on her jacket, she stood up. ‘Now if you don’t mind I’d like to leave.’

‘I prefer to pay for favours. Have I your agreement?’

‘I’m agreeing only out of respect for Anton’s memory... just you understand that. But how could you understand it? You only think in terms of financial gain,’ she completed in disgust, and spun on her heel.

‘I think only in terms of the well-being of Anton’s wife,’ Constantine countered with icy emphasis.

Contempt froze her fragile features as she turned back to him. ‘That sounds so impressive coming from a male who sleeps with another man’s wife whenever the fancy takes him!’

Taken by surprise, Constantine Voulos sprang upright. ‘Christos...’

Rosie widened her huge green eyes, revitalised by the shock stiffening his darkly handsome features. ‘Your long-running secret affair with the actress, Cinzia Borzone. So don’t go all pious on me!’

As Rosie walked away, head held high, she heard the ground-out surge of explosive Greek that followed that revelation. The depth of her knowledge about his private life had come as a most unwelcome surprise to Constantine Voulos.

Certainly Anton had lamented long and hard on the topic of that unsuitable relationship. In his opinion, Constantine had, at the tender age of twenty-five, fallen live into the paws of a designing married woman with a husband who was perfectly content to turn a blind eye to his wife’s infidelity if the financial rewards were great enough.

And although several times over the past four years Anton and Thespina had been encouraged to hope that the affair had run its course Cinzia had ultimately appeared to triumph over every other woman who entered Constantine’s life. Maybe that situation had even been on Anton’s mind when he’d changed his will, Rosie reflected ruefully.

Anton had had the optimistic hope that marriage would cure Constantine’s desire for another man’s wife. And long before his death Rosie had known that her father cherished a happy daydream in which she and Constantine met, fell madly in love and married, thereby bringing his daughter into the family by the only possible route that would not hurt his wife.

Maurice frowned in surprise when she rejoined him. ‘Don’t tell me you walked out on Voulos again.’

‘No. I agreed... OK? I even told him who I was this time.’ Rosie gave her friend a grim little smile. ‘Only he didn’t believe me.’

Taken aback, Maurice stared at her. ‘Why not?’

‘Why should he have? I don’t even look like Anton. I don’t have any evidence of who I am either. In fact, sitting there with Constantine Voulos, those four months started feeling like a rather embarrassing juvenile fantasy,’ Rosie confided thinly, tucking herself back behind her stall. ‘So, if you don’t mind, I’d rather not discuss it any more—’

‘But Anton had all those photos your mother sent him and he must have had other things.’

‘If he did he never mentioned them and heaven knows what he did with those photos.’ Tired and drained of emotion, Rosie shrugged. ‘It doesn’t matter much now, does it?’

Late that night, the front door slammed noisily. Half-asleep on the sofa after an evening of exhaustive cleaning, Rosie sat up with a start. Maurice burst into the lounge looking excited and tossed a glossy but somewhat dog-eared magazine down on her lap. ‘Lorna had this. She was able to tell me all about Constantine Voulos.’

‘What are you talking about?’ Rosie mumbled drowsily.

‘My sister has a stack of magazines about the rich and famous. The minute I mentioned his name it rang a bell with her and she looked that out for me. Voulos is a genuine Greek tycoon,’ Maurice informed her impressively. ‘He’s loaded! The guy was born into a fortune. Your father was only a small-time businessman in comparison.’

‘So?’ Rosie groaned as she stood up.

‘Rosie...you don’t want to sign anything away before or after that wedding,’ Maurice warned her. ‘Voulos doesn’t need your father’s estate. He’s already rich as sin. It’s all wrong that you should be cut out just because the guy doesn’t want you around!’

‘I’m going to bed—’

‘I’m trying to look out for you, Rosie. You have got rights too,’ Maurice told her with stark impatience. ‘Your dad would turn in his grave if he knew what Voulos was doing!’

‘Maurice, Constantine Voulos has not one thing that I want.’

But was it true that Constantine was wealthier than her father had ever been? Anton certainly hadn’t travelled around in a chauffeur-driven limo or hauled bodyguards in his wake. She shrugged. Either way, what did it matter to her? And even if Constantine was filthy rich it didn’t mean he couldn’t also be disgustingly greedy.