Page 45 of Reclaimed By His Billion-Dollar Ring

He gave a forbearing mental shake. Well, that was to be expected. She had nearly lost her father—his health was still a major concern to her—and she had been rushed into marriage because of it.

His words to her—the promise that he had made when she had finally accepted the necessity of their rapid marriage—came back to him.

He had, indeed, had no time to woo her.

His wooing, as he had promised, would come after their wedding.

He felt anticipation flush through him.

Starting tonight...

The celebrant was speaking again. Solemn, binding words. Uniting them in matrimony. Binding them together—he to her, she to him.

And it was done.

He turned towards her, smiled down at her. She was as pale as her dress, her expression unreadable. But he did not mind. Nerves were understandable on a bride’s wedding day.

He murmured her name—a caress in itself. Lowered his head to brush her lips with his.

They were as cold as marble.

Anticipation flared within him. Soon... Ah, soon he would warm those lips. And all that he had rediscovered on that glorious night at the beach house would be theirs again.

He could not wait.

Calanthe kissed her father goodnight. They had dined at home, after the wedding. Her father and Nikos would have far preferred dining out, but she had put her foot down, claiming it would be too tiring for her father after the exertion of attending the wedding.

It had been a strained affair—both the wedding itself and dinner à trois—but she had coped. Most of the conversation over dinner had been between her father and Nikos, and she had been relieved. She had only been able to pick at her food and had hardly touched her wine.

Nerves had racked her, and now, as she bade goodnight to her father, they racked her even more.

She was trying not to think—not to let any thoughts into her head at all. Keeping her mind as blank as she could. Trying, above all, not to let the one question that clamoured to be released pound in her head.

What have I done? Dear God, what have I done?

Because there was no point letting it out.

She knew what she had done.

She had married Nikos Kavadis.

The man who had broken her heart eight years ago was now her husband.

Nikos could feel the tension in him mounting. The car was pulling up outside the modern apartment block...the driver was getting out to open the door for them. He got out first, nodding at the driver, holding out his hand to help Calanthe. She got out without taking it, murmuring her thanks to the driver, then walked to the apartment block entrance.

Nikos dismissed the car, extracting from his jacket pocket the key card that would open the doors for them. They slid aside and he stepped in with Calanthe, the air-con in the lobby chill after the external temperature.

He was glad they were repairing straight to his apartment. There was no need to fuss with wedding nights in flash hotels, and because of Georgios’s poor health a honeymoon away right now was out of the question.

Besides, now that he was officially Georgios Petranakos’s son-in-law there was a great deal of work to be done in stepping fully into the CEO’s shoes. A honeymoon could come later—the Maldives, the Seychelles, maybe even the South Seas...

Until then...

His eyes glinted, his gaze going to Calanthe now as she stood beside him in the elevator. It was carrying another passenger—a neighbour, Nikos presumed—so conversation between himself and Calanthe was absent. They got out at his floor, and Nikos readied the key card.

Calanthe was already familiar with the apartment—he’d brought her here before the wedding, to show it to her. He opened the door for her now, and she stepped inside. She seemed, he thought, on edge. Well, so was he. But his weeks of tortuous self-denial were about to end...

‘Coffee?’ he said to her now.

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