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endless compliments. It had made her feel a bit uncomfortable, actually, the way he always stared at her so hungrily, telling her over and over that she was perfect. She knew she wasn’t perfect. But she’d told herself he had many years to understand her better after she became his wife.
    If she even was his wife.
    No! Rose pushed away the gnawing fear growing inside her. She couldn’t—wouldn’t—allow Xerxes to make her doubt Lars! She couldn’t trust this brutal, powerful man who’d kidnapped her, her husband’s enemy who’d just kissed her against her will.
    Xerxes’s words were lies. They had to be.
    She would have faith. Lars would save her and prove she was his true and legal wife. She wouldn’t allow Xerxes to make her doubt everything she believed in—not even for an instant!
    Slowly, she rose to her feet, holding the torn bodiceof her wedding gown tightly together over her chest. “As long as I have your word you won’t harm me.”
    He gently brushed hair from her cheek. Lowering his head, he whispered in her ear, “I will not harm you.”
    He drew back, looking down at her. Then he held out his hand, steady and strong and confident.
    She stared at it. Then, not touching him, she brushed past him regally, as if she still wore a tiara on her head. A baroness in exile.
    Her gown still covered her body decently well, as long as she held together the bodice at the jagged, gaping rip over her heart. But she had to hold it tightly. The tulle skirts were heavy and wide, pulling behind her like a train as she went down the steps to the tarmac.
    Several cars were waiting, including a black Bentley. As she approached, a uniformed driver opened the passenger door.
    “If you please,” Xerxes said quietly, pressing his hand gently against her back. She shivered at his touch, then jumped forward as if he’d burned her.
    Silently, he followed her.
    The black car drove through the dark night along the edge of a coastal road. She looked out and saw moonlight shimmering across black water. Strange, she thought, to think it was that exact same moonlight shining down on Trollshelm Castle right now.
    “Are we near Athens?” she asked to break the silence.
    “On an island in the Aegean.”
    “Which island?”
    “Mine.”
    Shocked, she turned to face him. “ Your island?”
    He shrugged.
    “You own the whole island?”
    “I own several.”
    Her mouth fell open. “Why on earth would you own several islands? Or even one, for that matter!”
    “I loan the others out to friends who want to relax without the glare of media attention.”
    “So your friends can be alone with their mistresses or something?”
    He shrugged.
    Grinding her teeth, Rose folded her arms. What else would she expect from a man completely without morals? “How many islands do you have? Or have you lost count?”
    “Three now. I recently sold the fourth in exchange for a palace in Istanbul.”
    A palace in Istanbul?
    “Oh,” she said faintly, trying to act as if that were a normal sort of trade.
    “Officially,” he amended, “our trade was an office building in Paris for a few hundred million euros.” He shrugged. “The palace, and then the island, were just tossed in later as extras.”
    “Right. Extras.” She swallowed, thinking of her own recent trade of a box of homemade chocolates to an upstairs neighbor in her apartment building in exchange for a macaroni-and-cheese casserole. “Um. Your friend must have really wanted a private place to hide his mistress.”
    Xerxes snorted. “I wouldn’t exactly call Rafael Cruz a friend. ” He looked away and added softly, “Anyway, I was glad to be rid of that island.”
    “Sure.” Rose held up her hand airily. “Owning private Greek islands gets so very dull. I’ve sold all mine recently for Japanese tea houses.”
    His lips quirked, then he shook his head. “I grew up on that particular island. My grandfather was a fisherman. Even after my grandparents were dead and I replaced