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“Of course it’s our business! I married you to her,” Khristos pointed out. “We chose her because we trusted her not to take advantage of you or this situation. It didn’t occur to me you’d turn that around.”

“I’m not taking advantage of her,” Spiro snapped. He would provide for her and their child. He would give her everything she asked for.

“I told her she would be safe here,” Julian said. “She trusts me to protect her, not throw her to a wolf.”

“Be careful how you speak to me,” Spiro warned. “I accepted your interference in my life once. Once.” He glared at his brother to emphasize that. “Now this marriage is mine.” Yes, there was a wolf in him, one who would draw blood to keep his mate. “You will not get between me and my wife.”

“Spiro.” Khristos raised a calming hand. “We’re not trying to take her from you. We’re only reminding you that you have to be careful with her.”

Khristos was trying to defuse things, but Spiro’s hackles only went up further. He felt very transparent in that moment. Threatened at an elemental level. Khristos could see he was reacting from that possessive place inside him, where his inner beast snarled, but guilt lurked there, too. Alia was vulnerable. She did want love. She was afraid to be alone.

He hadn’t preyed on that, though. This was a win-win for both of them. They were both getting what they wanted.

A light tap on the door was all the warning Alia gave before poking her head in. Her bright expression clouded as she read the charged atmosphere.

“I don’t see a No Girls Allowed sign, but why do I feel like you’ve hung one?”

“Not at all.” Spiro held out his arm in the way that had become a habit. Come to me. I need to touch you. “You look lovely.”

“Thank you.” She had changed into a pale purple dress and a pair of heeled sandals so she was all tanned legs and bare shoulders. When she arrived beside him, he discovered her lower back was exposed by the style and whatever bra she wore had plumped her breasts so there was an eye-catching valley between them.

He caressed the skin of her back and she shivered. So he bent and kissed her. Because he wanted to. Because he could. Because she was his.

Her lips clung to his for an extra second, then she dropped back onto her heels, blushing and speaking into his shirt.

“Julian said he would visit Yaya every day while we’re in Asia. That way I won’t worry so much about being away from her.”

“Thank you, Julian. That would bring us both some peace of mind.” Spiro moved his hand to the warmth of her neck, under her hair, keeping her close and looking over her head directly into his brother-in-law’s eyes.

Try to take her from me. I dare you.

CHAPTER TEN

“It has an indoor pool,” Alia said in her video to Julian from their suite in Singapore.

She angled the camera to show the pool as its plexiglass cover retracted. The doors to the terrace opened to the night sky while a magnificent structure of pinpoint lights, sculpted to mimic the Milky Way, came down.

“I’ve been so busy sightseeing, I haven’t had a chance to show you this or even use it. Now it’s our last night. This is what I’m wearing tonight.”

She switched the camera onto herself and panned down the gown she wore. Not the sequined one she’d brought from Athens, but something by a local designer in hand-dyed silk. The neckline plunged, but it fit like a dream and fluttered around her legs when she walked.

“Give Yaya my love and tell her I’ll be home soon.” She added a couple of photos from today’s sightseeing and hit Send.

Spiro had arranged for a veritable army to wait on her. Along with the suite’s staff—which included a butler, a chef, two maids and a dedicated driver—he had hired her a companion, Joi, who was a stylist and personal shopper, but had also been playing tour guide.

“I have meetings while we’re here,” Spiro had said of the number of people at her beck and call. “I didn’t want you left alone during the day. Let Joi take you shopping.”

He had slipped into effortless Mandarin and the exquisitely dressed woman with sleek black hair had told her later that he had said Alia should buy whatever she wanted. It truly felt as though she could buy anything here.

They had spent the bulk of their mornings in spectacular gardens and art galleries, moving outside to admire architecture and ancient temples when the weather allowed, but Joi had also taken her into exclusive boutiques, each one more quietly luxurious than the last.

Alia had thought she understood how rich Spiro was, and why Lambros would play so dirty to get his hands on his company, but it came into sharper focus as she perused handbags she had never dreamed of owning, and tried on shoes that made her feel like Cinderella. There was bedding and artwork and designer tableware like she had only ever seen on celebrity cooking shows.

When she told Joi she wanted to get something for Julian, to thank him for visiting Yaya while she was away, Joi had brought her to a fancy watch dealer.

That’s when Alia had an idea. She texted Florian and, a short time later, the dealer was able to match the watch in the photo she received.

She hadn’t asked the price, fearful her heart would seize if she did. But once she glimpsed this particular watch, and confirmed it was the same as the one Spiro’s father had owned, her desire to give it to Spiro had outweighed all her misgivings.