For the longest time we remained frozen, our gazes locked in a silent exchange I didn’t want to examine or define. Soon it morphed into something else. Something equally intimate. Twice as dangerous.

Perhaps it was in the molten depths of his eyes, or in the not so secret wish to relive what had happened upstairs ramping up that ever-present chemistry. Whatever it was, we’d brought it alive on that sofa and now it sat between us, a writhing wire ready to sizzle and electrify and burn at the smallest hint of weakening.

Forcing my brain back on track didn’t help. Hadn’t we been discussing childbirth? The product of what had happened in a bedroom the last time we were both present in one.

‘I’ll let you have the recording after lunch,’ I blurted, then picked up my water glass and drank simply to distract myself.

From the corner of my eye I watched him lounge back in his seat, although his body still held that coil of tension that never dissipated.

After a moment he picked up his glass and drained it. ‘Efkharisto,’ he murmured. ‘Now, on to other things. Arrangements are being made to equip you with a new wardrobe. My mother tells me the things you left behind are hopelessly out of date.’

I frowned, the change of subject from the soul-stirring miracle of Andreos’s birth to the mundanity of high fashion throwing me for a few seconds. ‘I don’t need a new wardrobe.’

‘Perhaps not—but might I suggest you let the stylists come anyway? Who knows? You might find something you like for our first engagement on Saturday,’ he replied.

The last tendrils of yearning had left his voice, to be replaced by the cadence I knew best. One of powerful mogul. Master of all he surveyed. Despite the pleasant heat of the sun a cool breeze whispered over my skin, bringing me harshly back to earth.

‘What’s happening on Saturday?’

‘It’s been four days since you returned. It’s time we presented you properly to the world. My mother has organised a party in your honour. She was unwell when we married last year, and couldn’t make it to the ceremony. She’s anxious to meet you. And, of course, she’s yet to meet her grandson. Call this a belated welcome, if you will, but several business acquaintances will be there, so it’s imperative that everything goes smoothly.’

‘Is it really necessary to parade me before your friends and family?’

‘I think it’s best to put the rumours to rest once and for all. Then we can concentrate on our son.’

While his attention to Andreos warmed my heart, the prospect of being paraded before his family and business didn’t. ‘And how do you propose we do that? Is there a storyline I need to follow, chapter and verse?’

He smiled as if the thought of playing out a role so publicly was water off his back. ‘Leave that to me,’ he stated cryptically. ‘All I require from you is to present a picture-perfect image of loving wife and mother. I trust I can count on you to do that?’