eyes flickered. “It doesn’t matter whether I believe it. It’s the legend. It is what is expected. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy that no Kyriakos heir worthy of the name has seen fit to disturb for nearly a thousand years since the Fourth Crusade. That was when the first documentation appeared about the legend—in the journal of an ancestor who rescued the daughter of a silk merchant, a woman who was reputed to be as innocent as a lamb, more beautiful than Helen of Troy and more wealthy than Croesus.”
“What happened to your ancestor during the Fourth Crusade?” Despite herself, Pandora’s interest was tagged.
“He came to live in Athens—on the same piece of land where my home stands. Byzantium did not take part in the crusades. There were issues with Rome.” Zac’s jaw was tight. “War is a cynical business, and the lure of instant wealth in Byzantium caused a few of the Venetian nobleman to end their crusade long before they reached Syria. The pickings were easy, the people less fierce and the rewards didn’t mean facing an army. My ancestor saved the young woman from a marauding Venetian knight who treated her as little more than a slave—her only use to him was for ransom.”
“So your ancestor stole her for her maidenhead and her wealth. What makes you think she grew to love him?”
“When he settled in Athens—a village then compared to Constantinople—he built her a castle. And beside the castle had a church erected. The castle no longer exists, but the church that he built for her in 1205, according to the family journal, still stands. It’s now a national monument. And an inscription in the church records their love for each other.”
Infuriated, Pandora cut across him. “And because your Kyriakos ancestors abducted their brides you think that gives you justification to kidnap me? Guess what? You’re dead wrong about that. You had no right—”
“Pandora …” He moved to sit on the couch beside her. “You’re right. This is not about my ancestors. We need to talk about us.”
She froze as he came closer. Shaking her head so that her pale, long hair flew around her face, she said, “No, I don’t want to talk about us. And it is about who you are, where you come from.”
“Hell.” He raked a hand through his hair and leaned back. “You make me sound like an alien from another universe.”
“Perhaps you are.” Annoyed and frustrated, she frowned at him. “I need to understand why a modern man gives credence to ancient superstition and waits years to find a virgin bride.”
“I would never have married you if you weren’t also—”
“Tell me one thing, Zac,” Pandora interrupted him as she perched on the edge of the sofa, tension humming through her as she scanned his features. “Would I ever have merited a second look if I hadn’t been a virgin?”
There was silence. “No.” His reply was subdued. “I heard about this heiress who lived at the end of the world who was beautiful and innocent and I hoped—”
“That’s why you came down to New Zealand instead of sending a minion? Not to see my father to broker some business deal?” Pandora could hear her voice rising again and she forced herself to speak calmly. “To look me over?”
Another hesitation. “I came to meet you, to get to know you.”
“Oh, God!”
“But I would never have taken it to the next level, asked you to marry me, if I hadn’t been sure—”
“I can’t believe this!” Pandora threw her hands into the air. “It’s the twenty-first century. Most people marry because they want to get married. For love, to have children—for a whole host of reasons. And I manage to find the one guy on earth who’s not after love. He’s searching for a virgin bride because that’s what his forebears did. You know what? It’s downright archaic!”
“Stop.” Zac held up a hand and straightened beside her.
Stop? She hadn’t even begun. She opened her mouth to protest his high-handedness. “I—”
“Stop right there,” he cut across her. “Let’s talk about why you think I don’t love you.”
“Oh, come on, Zac.” She pushed up off the sofa and took a couple of steps away. “There’s no need to pretend anymore.”
“Isn’t there?” he asked enigmatically, watching her through half-closed eyes, his legs stretched out in front of him.
“No.” She threw him an assessing look from under her eyelashes. Straight talk? It was now or never. He’d have no choice but to let her go. She drew a deep breath. “Anyway, it would appear that you’ve been under a misconception.”
His gaze sharpened to a bright, brilliant green. “A misconception?”
“I was not a virgin on our wedding night.” Raising her chin a notch, she met his gaze and held her breath.
He went white. The shock reflected in his eyes made Pandora’s stomach clench. Any hope she’d had that he’d dismiss her lack of virginity with a wave of his hand disappeared.
No, Zac would never have married her if he’d known she wasn’t a virgin. That much was clear from the accusing glitter in his eyes.
He uncoiled and rose in a smooth, swift movement. The anger in his gaze devastated her. Suddenly Pandora felt tired and old and thoroughly disillusioned. “So now you see why there’s no point talking … or keeping me on this island.”
Zac’s jaw moved, but no words emerged from between his lips. And his face reverted to hard and blank. In his silence she had her answer.
“I’m right, then.” Her shoulders hunched and she drew a protective shield around the hurt inside her heart. “You don’t love me—you never did. You simply pretended that you did. You lied to me, Zac.”
“This is where I get to tell you that you’re not the only one who feels cheated.” His mouth twisted. “You haven’t been wholly truthful, either.”
“Where did I lie to you?” Pandora demanded.
“You had me believe you’d led a sheltered life—”
“I have! I spent half my life in St. Catherine’s—”
He rode over her. “And now you reveal you are not a virgin.”
“Oh, for goodness’ sake.” Pandora rolled her eyes to the ceiling. “How many virgins have you known, Zac?”
His gaze slid away from her, toward the darkening sky outside the vast sheets of glass. “That is not a question I’m prepared to answer.” A dark flush lay along his cheekbones.
“I’ll tell you how many—none.”
His head came around. “How did—” He paused, then shrugged.
“It’s obvious.” Pandora threw her arms wide. “That’s what this is all about, isn’t it? That’s why you’re in this fix. Because there aren’t any suitable virgins out there. Not unless you want to marry a fifteen-year-old and look like an utter pervert because you married a schoolgirl less
