‘Thank you,’ I replied, my voice a husky mess.

He held out his arm. I took it, and was still in a semi-daze when we exited the limo at the entrance to the six-star luxury hotel in the middle of Athens where the party was being held.

The moment Ax and I stepped into the ballroom silence fell over the guests, every eye fixed on me.

‘I don’t know whether to smile or scowl. What’s de rigueur these days?’ I murmured.

‘Just ignore them. That’s what I do when I feel out of place.’

I laughed, mostly to hide his unabated effect on me. Besides, I couldn’t help it, because picturing Axios as a fish out of water was like attempting to imagine what the landscape inside a black hole looked like.

‘Something funny?’

‘You wouldn’t look out of place amongst a clutch of nuns in a prayer circle.’

He smiled, and just like that my body went into free fall, breaking one tension while ratcheting up another. And as I was crashing down, towards some unknown destination, it struck me that this was the first time I’d seen any semblance of a smile from the man I called my husband.

‘An unusual compliment, I think, but thank you all the same,’ he said.

‘You should’ve told me the whole of Athens would be here tonight,’ I said, a little desperate to maintain a disgruntled distance from him.

He lowered his head even closer to murmur in my ear, ‘Put your claws away, pethi mou. You look much too beautiful to pick a fight.’

‘I’m sure we can find something to fight about if we look hard enough.’

Was I really that desperate to start a fight? Simply to stop this unruly attraction in its tracks?

His amusement disappeared, to be replaced with the unwavering regard that never failed to trigger mini-earthquakes inside me. My breath snagged in my throat as he stepped closer, until there was nothing but a whisper of space between us. To anyone observing us we’d look as if we were sharing an intimate moment. But I knew what was coming even before he spoke.

‘Keep tossing those little challenges at me, Calypso, and I’ll delight in picking you up on one.’

The electric promise in those words sent a bolt through me. It lingered through all the introductions to influential individuals, A-list celebrities and even more of the Xenakis clan and it slowly began to re-energise, that spark of rebellion re-ignited.

For some reason I wanted to challenge him.

So when I found a moment’s reprieve I looked up from my untouched glass of champagne into his face. ‘Do you know what I think, Axios?’

A simple but effective hitch of his brow commanded me to continue.

‘I don’t think you will pick me up on any challenge. I don’t think you’ll do anything to risk this reputation you’re bent on protecting.’

‘Are you brave enough to test your theory, I wonder?’ he asked, and something untamed pulsed beneath his civil exterior. Something that made the glass in my hand tremble wildly.