What The Greek's Wife Needs - Dani Collins Page 0,12

could enjoy it more, but her stomach was really unsteady. Maybe it was the coffee. She hadn’t had any in a while and it was pretty strong, but it was such a treat she refused to let the cup she’d made for Leon go to waste.

Maybe her tummy’s protests were anxiety. Now that she was awake again, a tidal wave of apprehension was creeping up, threatening to drown her. Was there a Canadian consulate in Malta? She’d had three stopovers on her way to Istuval and doubted there were direct flights back. That meant she’d have to show a passport in Munich or Paris or some other country. Officials would want to be sure that Illi—who didn’t look anything like her—was really hers.

Would her credit cards work? Tanja hadn’t had internet access in ages and had failed to turn up for her first day of work at the accounting firm, even when they extended her job offer to accommodate her. Her last paycheck from her previous job had been twenty weeks ago and her sublet had only been confirmed for the three months she was supposed to be gone. That meant rent would have come out of what scarce savings she had left...

She sighed. Zach would scrape up what he could to get her home, but he wasn’t flush with cash, given the new house and new wife and expected baby. Did she have a niece or nephew, she wondered? She would have to ask Leon if she could use his phone. Hers had been traded for food weeks ago. Which meant she would have to get a new phone and why did that feel like the most daunting task of all?

Then there was Leon. She glanced at his shins. How was he going to react when she asked for a divorce? When he realized what she’d done?

She had built him into such a sleazeball in her head. Too handsome. Smarmy. A horrible womanizer, a liar and an all-around reprehensible excuse for a human being.

Part of that had been defensive anger. She knew she was as much to blame for their rushed marriage. It hadn’t felt like a hurry at the time, though. She had mooned after Leon for weeks as he came and went with Zach. Her brother had raced with Leon and had nothing but admiration for him, but when their father had decided to retire, Zach had come home to take over the marina. That’s when Zach had cooked up a plan for Leon to invest in the expansion.

Leon had agreed to invest once he turned thirty and Zach had quickly been caught up in the excitement of purchasing more oceanfront property, chasing permits and rezoning bylaws, hiring engineers and architects. He’d borrowed heavily, expecting to pay it all down once Leon injected capital and the real work started.

Tanja had still been doing the books for the business. She’d tried to warn Zach against moving too fast, but she hadn’t tried very hard. She’d been excited, too. In some ways more. Each time Leon came into the office, her entire being had sprung to life in the most mind-scattering way.

She had known it was only chemistry. Sexual attraction. Infatuation. She hadn’t really known him as a person, but she had wanted to. When he finally flirted back, claiming to be too old for her even as he bent to kiss her, she had been over the moon.

Once they were intimate, her crush had bloomed into full-on enchantment. How could it not? Leon was gorgeous and led a glamorous life. For such an incredible man to look twice at her had been enormously flattering.

Then, a week into their affair, he’d proposed. Of course she had said a captivated and breathless yes. Their marrying would be perfect for everyone.

Given all the activity around the marina and Leon’s travel schedule, they’d had a marriage commissioner come out on his yacht for an afternoon with just her father and brother in attendance. Leon hadn’t wanted his parents to find out through online gossip so they’d kept the whole thing on the down low, tentatively planning a honeymoon in Greece to introduce her to them.

The honeymoon hadn’t happened. Leon’s father had died suddenly. Leon left and his promised investment money had never manifested. The marina her father had built had spiraled into bankruptcy. They had all felt duped.

Tanja hadn’t wanted to admit she was married to the man who had ruined them. She’d gone back to school because she was enrolled, but