Free Securing the Greek's Legacy by Julia James Page B

Anatole.
    That’s why I’m doing this , she reminded herself fiercely. For Georgy’s sake!
    Yet even as she said the words in her head she knew, somewhere deep inside her, a little ache had started up, as she gazed at the man holding her beloved Georgy. What if there were no Georgy and Anatole Telonidis, with his amazing looks, his dark, expressive eyes, his lean strength and honed physique, were going to marry her not because of an orphaned baby but for herself alone?
    Even as the thought formed she squashed it flat.
    Without Georgy Anatole Telonidis would never even have looked her way...
    That was what she had to remember. Only that— however crushing the knowledge.
    With a silent little sigh, she got on with drinking her tea.

CHAPTER SIX
    O VER THE WEEKEND she slowly got used to Anatole being in such close quarters with her. She took Georgy out into the park a lot, now the weather was more clement, leaving Anatole to work, as he told her he must, for he had a lot to catch up with. The apartment had an office, and Anatole disappeared in there, focusing on his laptop and phone. The plan was, he told her, to go to Athens as soon as Georgy had his passport issued and was cleared to leave the country with his foster carer.
    ‘Hopefully,’ Anatole had said over dinner that first night, ‘my legal team will be able to put sufficient pressure on the authorities to expedite matters. As for Timon—he’s now starting treatment, and we must hope that it takes effect. He’ll stay in hospital for the time being, since these drugs have side effects he may find it difficult to tolerate and he is an old man in his eighties. But soon—within a few weeks, I very much hope—he will be discharged and able to come home again. And once he’s home...’ he smiled at Lyn ‘...we can get on with getting married.’
    He paused, looking at her. Her expression was tense again.
    ‘Lyn,’ he said, with deliberate lightness, ‘this is your wedding we’re planning—’
    ‘It’s not a real one,’ she said, and then wished she hadn’t. She hadn’t wanted to imply that she wanted a real wedding to Anatole Telondis! It would be excruciatingly embarrassing if he thought that!
    But all he said was, ‘Well, it’s going to be a happy occasion, anyway. It will secure Georgy’s future, and that is what we want.’ He took a breath, his expression changing somewhat. ‘That said, it can’t be a large wedding, as I’m sure you’ll understand. That would be...inappropriate, given how recently Marcos died.’
    ‘Of course,’ Lyn said immediately, and knew she was grateful not to have to face some huge society bash. That would be as embarrassing as Anatole thinking she wanted her marriage to him to be a real one.
    This is all about Georgy—only about Georgy! That’s all I have to remember!
    Even so, until they were able to divorce she would have to go through with being in such close quarters with Anatole as she was now. It was becoming easier, she’d discovered gratefully. He was obviously making a real effort to try and get her to feel more comfortable, to draw her out and get to know her. It felt awkward for her, but she did her best to co-operate.
    ‘Tell me,’ he went on now, moving on from the subject of their wedding, ‘why did you not go to college straight after school?’
    ‘Well, it wasn’t really possible,’ Lyn answered. ‘Lindy was only fourteen, and I couldn’t leave her.’
    Anatole looked mildly surprised. ‘You were so devoted to her?’
    Lyn swallowed. ‘She needed someone to look after her. My mother—well, she wasn’t very good at doing that. She’d ended up single, despite marrying twice, because both her husbands abandoned her. After that she spent most of her time in the pub, if I’m honest about it, and I didn’t want Lindy to be a latchkey kid, so I stayed at home and did the housekeeping, cooking and so on. By the time Lindy left school Mum was ill. All the years of heavy smoking and drinking