The Wealthy Greek's Contract Wife Read Online Free PDF Page A

suit his mood to allow her any escape route—especially now that his cousin had increased his fury by continuing to plot against him. Ilios wanted repayment, he wanted retribution, he wanted vengeance—and he would have them. Ilios hated cheats, and he hated even more being forced to let them get away with cheating.
    ‘My cousin has no assets and is heavily in debt. The Rainhills, as I am sure you have discovered yourself, have disappeared. And, whilst you might only own twenty per cent of the apartment block’s value, the partnership agreement you signed contains what is called a joint and several guarantee—which means that each partner is both jointly and severally liable for the debts of the whole partnership. That means that I can claim from you recompense for the entire amount owing.’
    ‘No, that can’t be true,’ Lizzie protested, horrified.
    Ilios looked at her. There was real panic in her voice now. He could see that she was trembling.
    An act, he told himself grimly. That was all it was. Just an act.
    ‘I assure you that it is,’ he told her, ignoring her obvious distress.
    ‘But I can’t possibly find that kind of money.’ She couldn’t find any kind of money.
    ‘No? Well, I have to tell you that I intend to be fully rec-ompensed—not just for the money I am owed, but also forthe potential damage that could have been done to my business. A business for which I have worked far harder than someone like you, who lives off the naïveté of others, can ever imagine. You own your own business?’
    ‘Yes,’ Lizzie acknowledged. ‘But it is almost bankrupt.’
    Why had she told him that when she hadn’t even told her sisters just how bad things were? That every spare penny she had had been placed into their shared joint account to ensure that the mortgage was paid, the household bills met, and food put on the table at home.
    She looked really distraught now, Ilios could see, but he refused to feel any sympathy. Showing sympathy was a sign of weakness, and Ilios never allowed himself to be weak.
    ‘You have a property? A home, I assume?’ he pressed
    ‘Yes, but it is mortgaged, and anyway I share it with my sisters, one of whom has two small children and is dependent on me.’
    Lizzie didn’t know why she was admitting all of this to him, other than because she was in such a state of shock and panic. She wasn’t going to let herself think about the last few months of long nights, when she had lain awake worrying about how she would manage to protect her family and continue to provide for them financially. They knew that things were bad, she hadn’t been able to hide that from them, but they did not know yet just how bad.
    ‘Your sister does not have a husband to support her and her children? You do not have parents?’
    ‘The answer to both those questions is no. Not that it is any of your business, or relevant to our discussion. There is no way I can find the money to repay you. The only thing I own that is my own is my body…’
    ‘And you wish to offer that to me in payment?’
    Lizzie was horrified.
    ‘No! Never!’
    Her immediate recoil, coupled with her vehemence, inflamed Ilios even further. Was she daring to suggest that she was too good for him? Morally superior to him? Well, he would soon make her change her tune, Ilios promised himself savagely.
    ‘You deny it now, but the offer was implicit in your declaration that your body is the only thing you have.’
    He was determined to humiliate her. Lizzie could see that. Because he had somehow sensed her sexual reaction to him?
    ‘No. That is, yes—but I didn’t mean it the way you are trying to suggest. I only meant that I do not own anything via which I could raise the money to pay you.’
    ‘Except your body.’
    ‘I didn’t mean it like that,’ Lizzie repeated, mortified. ‘I just meant that…’ She lifted her hand to her head, which was now pounding with a mixture of anxiety and despair. ‘I can’t pay you.’
    Ilios