She’d finally agreed to be his wife. They’d had a romantic, perfect wedding. So why was he suddenly acting like a man who despised the thought of her existence?
She rubbed her head wearily, causing more tendrils to tumble from her chignon. It didn’t make sense. Was her confusion caused by her amnesia? Why couldn’t she understand him?
The flight attendant carefully set down her tray on a nearby table. “Mr. Xenakis thought you might wish to have a snack before we land.”
Eve saw a nice selection of cut fruits and bread and cheeses, as well as sparkling water and juices. She glanced at her husband across the cabin. “He didn’t want to join me?” she said, trying—and failing—to keep the hurt from her voice.
The flight attendant gave her a sympathetic look. “Sorry, madam.”
As the flight attendant departed, Eve tried furiously to think, to understand. Talos couldn’t have married her for her money, since her fortune, nice as it was, was just a fraction of his. Then why?
Because she was pregnant with his baby? He’d said he wanted to give their baby a name. Was that the only reason?
No, she told herself desperately. He’d married her because he loved her.
Although he’d never said the words, had he?
She drank the water and ate the fruit, though she had no appetite as the plane landed. Talos, in spite of her hurt glances, continued to ignore her long after the plane had landed on the tarmac. After the plane door opened and they came down the stairs, she took a deep breath.
Athens at midnight.
His assistants and various bodyguards were waiting for him on the tarmac, along with two cars to whisk their entourage into the city. They were swiftly and seamlessly escorted through customs. Within minutes, she was seated next to her husband in the back of a black Bentley as the chauffeur drove them on the six-lane highway into the city.
She stared at him until he finally looked at her.
“Talos, why are you acting like this?” she asked quietly.
“Like what?” he demanded.
“Like a jerk.”
Clenching his jaw, he looked out at the darkness of the passing city. “I’m sorry if you are so needy and insecure that you fe
el you must be the center of my attention at every moment,” he said in a low voice. “But unlike you, I am not content just to sponge off an income earned by someone else. Unlike you, I own a business and must run it. The fact that we’re married does not mean I intend to spend my every hour worshipping you.”
She gaped at him, openmouthed.
He’d ignored her for the hours since their wedding, he’d rudely insulted their friends, he’d dragged her from Italy to Greece without explanation…and now he was trying to make her think she was the one with the problem?
Biting back an angry retort, she took a deep breath and tried to see things from his position, tried to see if there was a possibility she was being unreasonable.
Nope.
Clasping her hands together, she took another deep, calming breath. She was his wife now. She wanted to be loving and understanding. They were on their honeymoon. She didn’t want to start a fight over something so small as his strangely irritated mood.
On the other hand, she wasn’t a doormat, and he’d best learn that right now.
“Of course I understand you must work,” she tried in her kindest, most understanding voice. “But that doesn’t explain why you’ve been so cold to me all night. Or why you dragged us away from Tuscany.” She swallowed. “After your friends went to such trouble, we could have at least spent the night there…”
His dark eyes stabbed daggers at her. “It didn’t interest me.”
She flushed, feeling humiliated as she sat unwanted in her wrinkled, sad little wedding dress. All night long she’d felt a thrilling ache, a twitter in her belly as she’d imagined their wedding night, thinking of him kissing her, yearning to experience what it felt like when he made love to her.
Apparently the same thought interested him not at all.
“Why are you pushing me away like this?” she whispered. “You’ve done it since the moment I became your wife. Do you—do you regret marrying me?”
He stared at her for a moment, then turned away, pulling his laptop from his leather briefcase. “We’ll be home soon.”