Page 66 of Modern Romance Collection May 2024 Books 1-4

He lied through his teeth. ‘Nothing is wrong. We should go.’

That evening’s event was on yet another nearby island—an open-air art exhibition of some of the world’s most famous modern artists. All of Ajax’s family were there again, but there were other people too, and it was nice to have a sense of the normal world around her. People laughing and chatting.

Erin was delighted to see Leo and Angel Parnassus, and only too happy to let Angel spirit her away from Ajax temporarily. He was in a funny mood. She kept catching him looking at her as if she was someone he didn’t know. Suspicious. Accusing.

But if it kept some sort of distance between them then she welcomed it. Because increasingly around him she felt as if she was losing sight of what was important. To keep herself and Ashling safe from harm. From betrayal. From being rejected. Dumped again.

So how does that explain how you gravitated into his bed like a wanton last night?

Erin ignored that and let Angel distract her. She was telling her how this whole social scene was a circuit, which happened every summer for members of Greek’s high society, when they decamped from humid Athens to their various island boltholes and then spent a couple of months island-hopping on planes, helicopters or yachts.

It made Erin’s mind boggle...the sheer wealth.

Leo and Ajax joined them, and Ajax put an arm around Erin’s waist. She tried to stiffen against the inevitable urge to relax into him, but once again it was easier just to...cleave.

Ajax’s parents hadn’t come with them to this event. Andromeda had actually said that she would help Damia with Ashling. So when they got back to the villa that night it was just them, and a silent villa.

Wordlessly, Erin read Ajax’s intent. He took her hand and waited for her to take off her shoes, then led her upstairs to her room. They both went in and checked on Ashling, who was asleep.

Erin was torn between wanting an excuse not to go where they were inevitably headed, and wanting to drag all of Ajax’s clothes off him there and then.

He led her out, down to his room. He shut the door behind them and Erin stood with her back to it. He put his hands either side of her head and just looked at her.

Erin said, ‘What is it? You’ve been glaring at me all evening.’

Ajax shook his head. He fingers traced her jaw, his touch gentle, belying the fierceness of his expression.

He said, ‘You. You’re killing me. I—’

Erin reached up and put her hands on his face, touching her mouth to his, cutting off his words, as if she knew he was going to say something she didn’t want to hear.

She broke away after a long moment and said, ‘No words. We don’t need to talk.’

Ajax was mocking. ‘I forgot...this is just sex.’

Erin nodded as she pushed Ajax’s jacket off his shoulders to the floor, then tackled his bow tie and shirt. ‘Yes, it’s just sex.’

For the next couple of hours itwasjust sex—and Erin pushed away every internal voice or twinge of conscience and tried to convince herself of that.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Two weeks later, Athens

AFTERERINHADcleared a further absence from work—unpaid—it was as if she and Ajax had entered into a tacit agreement to stay in Greece and indulge this desire until it burned out.

At night she would steal into his room, where they would communicate with a primal ferocity that left her breathless and desperate, wondering why their chemistry wasn’t waning. The opposite, it felt like.

She was aware of Ajax looking at her more and more as if he wanted to say something, but she would invariably make an excuse to walk away or distract him. Instinctively she knew she didn’t want to hear what he might say.

But she felt as if a net was slowly closing around her. She couldn’t keep avoiding Ajax for ever. A decision would have to be made. They had to return to New York and get on with their lives. As it was, Erin’s firm had been more than generous allowing her all this time off, but she couldn’t take advantage for much longer if she expected her job to still be there for her.

And now there was a further potential complication in the mix—one that Erin couldn’t even bring herself to fully contemplate. She’d looked at herself in the mirror that morning, after a sudden bout of vomiting, and a feeling of dread coupled with absurd excitement had mixed in her gut—prompting another bout of sickness.

It mightn’t be anything, assured an inner voice.

But this was exactly what had happened with Ashling—except she’d ignored it until the point where she hadn’t been able to ignore it any longer.

Ashling handed Erin the toy she’d been playing with as they sat under the shade of one of the trees on the lawn in the gardens of Ajax’s Athens villa.

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