as he made his way to a circle of concrete set on the edge of the grassy park, where he deposited her bags.
“Where’s the taxi?” She glared accusingly at Zac.
“Christos. Do you really think I’d see my wife off by taxi—like some common …” He paused, but she got the message. And then he reached out and grabbed her hand. “Come.”
Almost running to keep up with his long, brisk stride, she crossed the drive and then she was back on the grass. The sun blazed in the halcyon sky overhead. Pandora’s heels sank into the perfectly manicured lawn. Aki had disappeared. Ahead lay the flat circle of concrete. A row of cypress trees lined the drive that led to the large electronic gates in the distance. Why had she not noticed how much those gates resembled prison bars before?
Surely he didn’t mean to dump her outside the gates of his property? No, Zac would not do that to her. She was certain of that. He’d said he wanted to talk, so where was he taking her? She dug in her heels, dragging him to a stop. “Where are we going?”
“I’m taking you away. Where we can be alone, where we can sort this—this misunderstanding—out.”
“Oh, no. I’m going to the airport. There’s plenty of time to talk on the way.”
“You’re my wife, I am—”A deafening drone drowned out the rest of his reply. He grabbed her arm. Pandora resisted, determined not to let Zac dictate to her. Through the roaring noise she was aware that Zac was shouting at her.
She glared at him. “What?”
“Get down! Get back!” he yelled close to her ear.
The huge black shadow of a helicopter swept over them. Shuddering, finally comprehending, she let him pull her out of the path of the hovering machine.
Aki had returned with another batch of bags. These must belong to Zac, Pandora realised as the helicopter settled onto the concrete helipad and Aki started passing the bags—hers, too—up into the belly of the helicopter.
Zac’s bags and her bags being loaded into the helicopter did not equate to her plan of going to the airport. She stared at the monstrous machine, its shiny white body bearing the royal-blue-and-yellow logo of Kyriakos Shipping. For the first time she saw the stylised feminine profile with long flying hair within the logo for what it was. A virgin. Then the slowing rotor blades grabbed her attention.
Pandora’s stomach clenched and a fine attack of perspiration broke out along the back of her neck. “I’m not going anywhere with you. Especially not in that—” she stabbed a finger at the helicopter “—hellishly dangerous thing. I want a taxi to the airport. I’m leaving. I want a divorce.”
“That’s not going to happen.”
Zac’s bronzed face was hard. Inscrutable. This was not the man she’d fallen in love with. This was someone else altogether. A stranger, stripped of the indulgent, cherishing mask. A man so hard she feared he’d break her.
As he’d already broken her heart.
“How could I ever have agreed to marry you? I hate you.”
Something moved across his face, a flash of darkness, and then it was gone. “That’s too bad. Because we’re going on honeymoon, to be alone—like you wanted.”
“No way!”
There was a reckless gleam in his eyes. “Well, then, what have I got to lose?”
Picking her up, he hoisted her over his shoulder and tore across the grass to the open doors of the helicopter.
“No,” she yelled, fear making her stiff.
He ignored her.
Each stride he took caused her to lurch against his shoulder, and with one hand she clung to her handbag while the other clutched his shirt.
“Put me down!” Pandora caught a glimpse of Aki’s startled face as Zac clambered into the helicopter, his arms tight as chains around her.
“Stop fighting me.”
“Never,” she vowed as she tumbled down onto his lap, her hair plastered to her face as tears clogged her eyes.
Zac shouted something at the pilot. The helicopter started to rise. Pandora hammered her fists against Zac’s chest. “Let me out!”
She pushed back her streaming hair. In a blur of horror she stared out the window. Below, Zac’s huge house was retreating, growing smaller. She let out a wail of disbelief, of sheer terror.
“Hush, you are making a scene.”
Pandora realised she was sobbing. “That’s all you can say? You kidnap me, then tell me to be quiet?”
“You’re crying.” His hand smoothed her hair.
“Of course I’m crying.” She twisted her head away from his touch. “I don’t believe you! Who the hell do you think you are?”
But she knew. He was Zac Kyriakos. One of the richest men in the world. So powerful that he could do what he liked with her. No one would stand in his way.
Four
When the descent started, Pandora lifted her face out of her hands and glimpsed the dark bronze disc of the sun glowing in the western sky against a fiery display of clouds. Out of the window she watched the darkening ground rushing up beneath the helicopter with a sense of frozen horror.
They were going to crash.
She was going to die. Panic bit into her and she struggled not to scream, knowing once she started she’d never stop.
Her fingers twisted around the soft, colourful scarf she’d rescued from her handbag and clung to like a talisman during the flight. She closed her eyes, hating the helplessness. And tried not to think about it. Not about what was happening to her now. And certainly not about the twisted metal wreck that burned in her darkest nightmares.
At last the helicopter rocked and settled on the ground. A wave of uncontrollable anger swept her. How dared Zac do this to her?
Grabbing her handbag, she stormed to the door. The instant the pilot opened the door, she shot out, her legs almost collapsing under her as they met solid ground.
“Slow down.” Zac was at her side, his hand under her elbow. She shrugged it off.
“Don’t touch me,” she snapped at him.
“You could’ve fallen.”
“I would rather fall than have you touch me.” Head bent to avoid the slowing rotor blades, she didn’t look back as she scurried away. Once safe from the blades, she straightened. The rough fingers of the evening sea wind tugged her hair and the strands whipped across her eyes.
“That’s not what you were saying last night. Then it was Oh, Zac. Yes, Zac! Last night you couldn’t get enough of my touch.”
At the taunting whisper, she turned
