He let out a silent sigh of relief. “Thank you. You won’t regret it.”
“I hope not.” There was a fevered glitter in Pandora’s eyes that stirred remorse in him. Hurt sparkled in the clear depths—or were those tears? Hell, he’d never intended for her to find out.
Lunch was finally over. Pandora glared at the five-tier wedding cake, her fingers clenched around a large silver knife. Zac’s hand, large and warm, rested over hers.
“Your hands are cold,” he murmured in her ear.
Her hands? What about her heart? It thudded painfully, cold and bleak in her tight chest. Just thinking about Zac’s betrayal made her poor heart splinter into tiny, painful little pieces. Zac didn’t love her—had never loved her—had only married her because he thought her a perfect little virgin.
Perfect.
God, how she hated that word. How—
“Make a wish,” Zac whispered, his breath curling into her ear. The familiar frisson of desire ran down her spine. His hand tightened around hers and pressed down.
Please, God, let this mess sort itself out, she prayed, and the knife sank through the pristine white wedding cake.
“Later I’ll tell you what I wished for,” Zac’s voice was warm and husky against her ear.
Later? Jeez, but he was arrogant! He sounded so sincere, so loving. And there would be no later for them. Not anymore.
Pandora half wished she could go back to that blissful state of ignorance, before she’d learned the truth. Instead of this emptiness that filled her now. But what use would that be? She’d only be kidding herself. Pretend, Zac had said, and that’s exactly what she was doing.
“Smile,” his voice crept into her thoughts, and a second later a burst of silver-white light exploded in her face.
She looked wildly around at the throng, the people. Katy grinned at her from behind an oversize camera. Pandora struggled to smile back.
No, this was not her life. This public pretence. The glimpse of what her life married to Zac would be like was devastatingly sad. Nothing more than a series of hollow pretences for public show from one day to the next—if she stayed. But she didn’t have to stay trapped in a marriage to a man who wanted her only because she was a virgin.
Pretend?
Never. Zac was about to discover the extent of the error he’d made.
“Good, you are packed.”
Pandora glanced to where Zac loomed in the doorway, immaculate in a lightweight suit over a white T-shirt worn with fashionable European aplomb. “I’m leaving, Zac. The fairy tale is over.” She hefted a suitcase off the bed. “I think it would be best for all concerned if this marriage was annulled.
“Annulled?” Zac stared at her. “Annulled? This marriage can never be annulled. It’s already been consummated.”
Pandora raised her chin a notch. “Then I want a divorce. I’m not staying in a marriage with a man who doesn’t love me.”
A shadow moved across his face. “Pandora—”
She took a step toward the door … toward him. “No, I gave you the two hours of pretend you wanted. You’re not going to sweet-talk me out of this—”
“There can be no divorce.”
Stopping short of the threshold, she looked up at him. “What do you mean there can be no divorce? You’re not the man I married. That man would never have pretended to love me. I want a divorce.”
His face hardened. But instead of taking issue with her challenge, he spoke to the man behind him. “Take the bags, Aki.”
“Hey, wait a minute. Those are my bags and my—”
“You said you were going. Aki will take your bags downstairs for you.”
Was that all he was going to say? Pandora stared into his inscrutable face. Hard. Distant. A world apart from the man she’d married. Her mouth moved, but no words came out. She swallowed.
Was it over so easily?
She’d expected some resistance. A challenge. A huge wave of disappointment rocked her. Aki hoisted up her bags and headed down the stairs. Turning away from Zac, she moved back into the room and crossed to the dressing table to pick up the rainbow-hued silk scarf and designer handbag she’d so nearly left behind with all the turmoil stewing inside her. A quick check inside the bag revealed her wallet, her cell phone and her passport.
She tried not to let her shoulders sag. There was a thick knot at the back of her throat, but she wasn’t going to let Zac see her cry.
The last thing she wanted was for him to know how much she cared—how much she’d loved him. How much his silent surrender to her demand for a divorce had devastated her. Fiercely she said, “I need to call the airport to book a seat.”
There was a pause. Then Zac said, “Everything is being taken care of.”
“Already?” She spun around to find him right behind her.
“I’ll take you to the airport if that’s what you want.” His hand touched her elbow. “But first we talk. Alone, without interruption.”
“We can talk on the way to the airport.” She shrugged his hand off and glanced around the immense bedroom—the room where he’d made such devastating love to her and taught her about the power of being a woman. Stuff she’d never known.
Last night … no, she wasn’t thinking about last night. About the tender passionate lover whom she’d stupidly believed loved her with all his heart.
With a jerky movement Pandora swung on her heel and made for the door. She charged through the sitting room in a blur of tears. Furiously she blinked them back.
Downstairs there was nobody to be seen. A sense of desolation overtook her. No one in the huge mansion cared that she was going, no one cared enough to say goodbye. She thought of asking to see Katy, then shook the thought away. What did it matter? She’d never see Zac’s sister again.
Outside, the paved sweep of drive was empty. No one strolled in the parklike grounds, Mount Pendeli rising up in a solid mass of green beyond.
The only person to be seen was Aki crossing the driveway 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