The Greek Tycoon's Reluctant Bride

Kate Hewitt

The Greek tycoon’s marriage demand! Darkly handsome Demos Atrikes wants a wife to provide heirs to his fortune. No emotions, no complications… Catching sight of stunning, intriguing Althea Paranoussis, he has to have her. She may be a society party girl, but he believes she’s perfect wife material – and their wedding is arranged.The chemistry between them is all-consuming. But, once married, Demos discovers the painful truth of Althea’s childhood. She needs more from him than he’d ever planned to give…

‘What the hell is wrong with you?’

Althea turned slowly from the window. Demos stood in the middle of the room; he’d shed his jacket and loosened his tie. He looked beautiful, virile, and utterly furious.

‘Nothing’s wrong with me,’ she said slowly.

‘You’ve been acting like a ghost since we married,’ Demos accused. ‘Did I marry a woman, Althea, or a shell?’ He raked a hand through his hair.

‘It’s too late to back out now, if that’s what you’re thinking.’

‘Yes, it’s too late,’ he agreed, his voice pitched low, a parody of pleasantness. ‘No one’s going to back out now.’

Althea knew what he meant. She’d been preparing for this moment. ‘What are you saying?’

Demos’s smile widened, although his eyes stayed hard and unforgiving. ‘I want my wedding night.’

Kate Hewitt discovered her first Mills & Boon® romance on a trip to England when she was thirteen, and she’s continued to read them ever since. She wrote her first story at the age of five, simply because her older brother had written one and she thought she could do it too. That story was one sentence long—fortunately they’ve become a bit more detailed as she’s grown older. She has written plays, short stories, and magazine serials for many years, but writing romance remains her first love. Besides writing, she enjoys reading, travelling, and learning to knit.

After marrying the man of her dreams—her older brother’s childhood friend—she lived in England for six years, and now resides in Connecticut with her husband, her three young children, and the possibility of one day getting a dog. Kate loves to hear from readers—you can contact her through her website, www.kate-hewitt.com

THE GREEK TYCOON’S RELUCTANT BRIDE

BY

KATE HEWITT

www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)

Dedicated to Lydia.

Thanks for being a great editor

and giving me a year of fantastic feedback

and support.

—K.

PROLOGUE

‘DO YOU need help?’ Edward Jameson asked, pausing in the act of untying the rope that moored his yacht at Mikrolimano harbour. He raised one questioning eyebrow at the skinny determined boy standing by his boat.

‘No.’

Edward pursed his lips and surveyed the still waiting boy-man in front of him. He couldn’t be more than ten or twelve, and he looked like a scarecrow. His shirt and ragged trousers were too short for his long, scrawny arms and legs; it appeared he’d grown quickly and a lot. He also looked hungry, although from that determined glint in his silvery eyes he would never admit it.

‘Do you want something, then?’ Edward asked mildly. He spoke in Greek, for he doubted a Piraeus gutter rat like this one knew any other language. He looped the rope around one weathered wrist and waited.

The boy took a breath, puffing his thin chest out, and said, ‘Actually, I was wondering the same thing about you.’

Edward let out a short admiring laugh. ‘Were you?’

‘Yes. I can do lots of things.’ The boy spoke in a determined rush. ‘I can wash your boat, carry messages, pump out the bilge water… I don’t charge much.’

‘Really?’ He shook his head slowly. ‘Shouldn’t you be in school?’

Without a flicker of guilt or regret, the boy shrugged. ‘I’m done with that.’

‘How come?’

Another shrug, and this time there was a flicker of something… sorrow? Fear? ‘I have a family to support.’

Edward choked back an incredulous laugh as he realised the boy was serious. ‘What kind of family?’

‘A mother and three sisters. The youngest is just a baby.’ He folded his arms and gave Edward a level look. ‘Now, are you going to hire me?’

The