them simmered with tension. Thanos could not bring himself to look at Tahlia as guilt at the way he had misjudged her surged through him. Far from being an immoral slut, like his father’s mistress, it seemed that she was a devoted daughter who had been desperate to help her parents. her motivation in agreeing to be his mistress had not been to ensure her own financial security but to prevent her parents from being evicted from their home. And she had made the ultimate sacrifice, he thought bleakly. She had given him her virginity, aware that his motivation for taking her to bed was to seek revenge for a crime she had not committed.
He closed his eyes, shutting out the image of her pale, tear-stained face. In the name of heaven, what had he done?
‘How did you meet James Hamilton?’ he asked abruptly.
Tahlia shot him a startled glance. ‘A friend of mine was starring in a play, and James was a member of the cast. We got chatting when I went backstage after the performance, and he…swept me off my feet.’ She shook her head, remembering the buzz she had felt when James had singled her out. ‘He was handsome, charming, funny…My mother was desperately ill, and I was sick with worry about her, but when I was with James he made me forget my fears for a few hours. I hadn’t dated anyone in the years since Michael died,’ she explained quietly. ‘I was devastated by his death. He was so young and vibrant. We weren’t lovers, but our friendship had been developing into something deeper, and I was heartbroken to lose him. For a long time after he died I blamed myself. I had thought he was suffering from the flu virus that was going around the university campus, and by the time I realised that it was something much more serious it was too late. Michael died a few hours after being admitted to hospital.’ Her eyes darkened with pain as she remembered the horror of that day.
‘When I met James, he was so energetic and full of life—just as Michael had been—and I felt that nothing bad could happen while I was with him.’ She bit her lip. ‘It never crossed my mind that he could be married. He even took me back to his flat a few times, and it was a typical bachelor pad—there was no sign that Melina lived there.’
‘She didn’t,’ Thanos said heavily. ‘I bought her and James an apartment in Athens for a wedding present, and she remained in Greece while he went to England for two months to star in that play. When his contract was extended Melina flew to London to join him. She was immediately suspicious that he was being unfaithful, but instead of confiding in me she read the text messages he’d sent you on his mobile phone, discovered that James had arranged to spend the weekend with you at a hotel, and decided to confront you.’
In her mind Tahlia saw Thanos’s sister, standing in the doorway of the hotel suite, the look of shock on her face mirrored in James Hamilton’s eyes. But where Melina’s expression had been one of utter devastation, James had simply looked annoyed that he had been caught out.
‘Poor Melina,’ she whispered. ‘She must have been distraught. I understand why you blamed me. I would have become James’s lover that night,’ she told Thanos, forcing herself to meet his gaze. ‘He’d told me that he loved me, and I thought I loved him. Mum’s illness had cast a shadow over everything, and James was the one person who could make me smile. I needed him, and I overlooked things like the fact that he always wanted to borrow money from me.’ She swallowed. ‘I was a fool, and because of my naïveté Melina almost lost her life. No wonder you hate me,’ she said thickly. ‘I will always feel guilty that I didn’t go after her.’
No one could fake the level of emotion evident in Tahlia’s voice, Thanos brooded. The pain she felt at James’s treachery was as genuine as her sympathy for Melina. Shame burned like acid in his gut at the way he had treated her. He should not have brought her to Mykonos and forced her to share his bed, and now that he knew what a terrible mistake he had made he should send her back to England immediately. But hard on the heels of that thought came the unsettling realisation that he did not want to let her go.
Guilt filled him with a sudden restlessness, and he stood up and strode over to the window, staring out at the black sky and the silver moonlight dancing on the sea.
‘You have nothing to feel guilty about,’ he said gruffly. ‘James duped you and Melina, and clearly he broke your heart as well as hers.’
Tahlia’s heartbeat quickened. ‘You believe me?’ she asked shakily, shocked by how much his answer mattered.
He swung round from the window, the glow from the bedside lamp casting shadows over his hard-boned face, making his expression unfathomable.
‘Yes, I believe you,’ he said heavily. ‘I’m sorry I misjudged you so badly. But when I first saw Melina in the hospital and learned the extent of her injuries I wanted to kill the two people I believed were responsible for her accident. Now I know you were not to blame, and I bitterly regret forcing you into this damnable deal.’
He walked back over to the bed, his mouth twisting when he saw Tahlia stiffen. Theos, he must have terrified her, he thought bleakly, remorse tearing at his insides when he recalled the demands he had made on her untutored body. Her hesitancy should have warned him of her innocence, but she had responded to him with such intense passion that he had believed she was as sexually experienced as the newspaper stories about her had suggested.
As Thanos came closer Tahlia was startled by the almost haggard expression in his eyes, and she felt a pang of compassion for him. How awful it must have been for him to come so close to losing his sister, who was his only living relative. He had cared for Melina since she was a small child, and she could understand how angry he must have felt that she had been hurt. It was understandable that his anger had turned into a quest for revenge.
‘You didn’t force me into anything,’ she said softly. ‘You simply offered me the opportunity to ensure my parents can keep their home and I took it. I knew what I was getting into.’
Thanos gave her a level look. ‘Patently you did not,’ he murmured, and a feeling he could not define stirred deep inside him when her cheeks flooded with colour. ‘I deeply regret that I did not know I was your first lover. My impatience to take you to bed made me brutal, and I probably scared the life out of you.’ He paused, and then said in a low tone, ‘But, in all honesty, I cannot say I am sorry for making love to you. The sexual alchemy between us was obvious from the moment we met at the art gallery, and despite knowing who you were, the role I thought you had played in my sister’s accident, I desired you more than I have ever wanted any woman.
‘I still do,’ he said harshly. ‘The deal we made still stands. I am prepared to buy out Reynolds Gems and save your father from financial ruin in return for your agreement to remain here on Mykonos as my mistress until the end of the month.’
He wanted her to stay with him. Tahlia was shocked by the heady relief that swept through her, but it was quickly followed by a hollow feeling of despair. Making love with Thanos had been an incredible experience that she would never forget; not simply because it had been her first time, but because the feel of his satiny skin beneath her fingertips and the exquisite brush of his mouth caressing every inch of her body were imprinted on her brain for all time. One night was all it had taken for her to be utterly captivated by him. What would she be like after a month as his mistress—when he dismissed her from his life?
Surely it would be better for her to leave him now? To walk away with her pride restored and forget the deal that had turned her into the wanton creature she had become in his arms? But her father’s financial problems still remained, and until the buy-out of Reynolds Gems was completed Carlton House was still at risk of repossession. Nothing had changed—except that Thanos was no longer looking at her with contempt in his eyes.
He sat back down on the bed and trailed his finger lightly over her cheek, the sudden warmth in his eyes making
