The 34th Degree

57

H e cut a dashing figure, and for a moment the sight of Chris Andros in the flesh had left Aphrodite breathless. The same dark, wavy hair. The same handsome face. The same mischievous grin that had won her over when she was a teenager and now made her fear for their lives.

“I’ve missed you, Aphrodite,” he told her as they turned to the music. “It’s been too long.”

His voice was so calm, so matter-of-fact, as if nothing had changed in the years between his marriage proposal to her at the World’s Fair and tonight.

“Four years this summer,” she told him in a cool tone, hoping Chris could comprehend the hell she had been through.

His hazel eyes seemed to be searching for something in hers, something familiar, some sign of the girl he once knew. That girl, she feared, no longer existed, and thus neither did the luster that so captivated him in his youth.

“I’m sorry for the delay,” he apologized. “I would have gotten here sooner, but a funny thing happened on my way to Athens. I think we call it the war. Better late than never, don’t you think?”

She didn’t answer him. She was overwhelmed with shame that he had seen her with Ludwig. Everything she had hoped to hide from him, as futile as that hope might have been, had been exposed.

“That’s a lovely dress you’re wearing,” Chris went on. “I thought the next time I’d see you in white would be at the altar. Are those pearls a gift from the Baron, too?”

Her shame dissolved into rage. He had left her in the cold through no fault of his own, she realized. But he was also the kind of man who could never accept anything but angelic purity from her. Now that that was plainly lost, she feared he would consider her unacceptable. Once a goddess, now a slut. She would rather have him hate her than be disappointed in her-or worse, get himself killed by the Baron.

“You were a fool to come back, Christos.”

“Call me a fool for love, but I’ve come back for you, just like I promised. Now we will be wed before God and married by the archbishop. I’ll make an honest woman out of you yet.”

His eyes seemed to be full of genuine love. But it was too much to believe he had come back to Greece on her account. “I know you, Christos. You’re not here just for me.”

He sighed in exasperation. “All right, then, I’m here to do business with your boyfriend, Ludwig.”

Her heart sank in disappointment. “What sort of business?”

“You’ll find out soon enough, but it would help tremendously if you could tell me where he keeps important documents. I’m looking for an ancient text, in particular. Have you seen anything?”

“So that’s why you’re here.” She was angry at him because she was scared for him, scared at what the Baron might do to him, like he did to Karl or any man who came near her. She had to get rid of him, get him out of Athens. “I haven’t seen any text. I see none of his papers. He keeps them locked away.”

“But, of course, your father’s safe is in the library. The Baron’s study now, I presume.”

Dear God, Chris, she thought, please stop. “Don’t, Christos.”

“Still hidden in the bookcase?”

She felt faint, and her knees seemed to buckle, but Chris held her up.

“Any spare keys?” he asked, relentlessly moving forward with his questions.

“He changed the lock,” she found herself saying. “It’s a combination. Only he knows. The locksmith who installed it…he died. Ludwig trusts nobody. Please, Christos, leave now while you can. Already you’re in danger.”

“Am I?” he asked in an almost mocking tone. “What about you?”

“I tell you, he doesn’t want to involve me.”

“How kind of him. You seem involved enough to me already. Are you sleeping with him tonight?”

The question, coming from Chris’s lips, shocked and enraged her. “How dare you!” She slapped him in the face, tears streaking down her own. “How dare you throw this shame at me after you went to America and left me to this!”

Suddenly, she realized the music had stopped and she was in the middle of a sea of staring faces. She looked up at Chris and saw his surprise even as Ludwig emerged on the terrace to complete the picture of humiliation. Unable to stand there any longer, she fled the gardens and ran inside the house.