The Misplaced Bride: Boundless Billionaires, #2

1

Being married wasn’t so bad. In fact, most of the time Ajax forgot he had a wife .

That is, until now.

Now he found himself sitting in an off-campus flophouse. His wife, nowhere to be seen, had a roommate who glared daggers at him. The woman had introduced herself as Callie and informed him Tamara was at graduation. Callie directed her bad attitude at him from the moment she opened the door. She was rude, and he didn’t understand his wife’s need to have a roommate at all.

Theos! He wasn’t a cheap man, as any of his former dates could attest to; his lawyer had been instructed to give her any amount she asked for. There was no need for a roommate, nor to live in this substandard house.

He glanced again at his watch. He had been sitting on the lumpy couch for almost two hours, staring at peeling paint, and still no sign of Tamara.

Having a secret wife had served Ajax Pappas well for the past eight years. And now that his mitera was using his father’s health to push for him into a marriage, it was time to introduce his wife to his family.

Ajax had been hoping to be back on his plane and in the air by now, but he could not leave without his wife. Unfortunately, Phoenix, his usually efficient PA, had failed to notify Tamara of his impending arrival. So when his hired car pulled up in front of the old Victorian, she was not there waiting for him as he had requested. So here he sat with the glaring Callie.

Jax reached into his jacket pocket for his mobile, only to realize he didn’t have his wife’s number. He would have to ask the taciturn Callie for it when she next stuck her head through the door.

He had to wait another five minutes before Callie walked through the door holding two glasses of a yellow liquid.

Here. I found a powdered mix in the cabinet and made you lemonade. I thought you might want a cold drink while you’re waiting for Mara. I figured you Greeks have a lot of lemon trees growing everywhere so you must like lemonade. She handed him a glass and then sat on the reclining chair placed near the other end of the couch. She kicked off her shoes and picked a remote up from the table. I thought we could watch some TV while you wait.

The television came to life and Ajax cringed when a familiar female voice simpered from the speakers. Valerie Simpkins, a woman rumored to be his mistress, fluttered her fake lashes at the camera as she showed off a pair of diamond earrings she claimed were a gift from her Greek lover. He had escorted the woman for a brief time, but she had found a richer field to harvest . . . his brother Kolya. His older, married brother.

Oooh. Don’t you just love watching Valerie? She looks so good since she got a booty reduction and her new boob job. Is it true she did it because you liked the way that English girl looked in her bridesmaid gown?

It was clear that Tamara’s taste in friends left something to be desired. He once again reached into his pocket for his mobile and started going through his address book. For some reason Tamara’s number is not saved. What is her number? I need to contact her and have her return here promptly.

Callie snorted. Hey, buddy, who are you trying to kid? You haven’t been in contact with Mara since the day of her father’s funeral seven years ago. I’d be shocked if you had her number.

Ajax’s jaw tightened and he could feel a drop of sweat rolling down his back. He took a sip of the vile drink the woman tried to pass off as lemonade and doubted a lemon had ever gone near the liquid.

Is that what she has told you? he asked in a clipped voice. His usual genial humor had deserted him after he had been summoned to attend his father’s hospital bed.

You don’t remember me, do you? the woman asked.

He suddenly felt like a school boy being asked to explain his misbehavior to the headmaster. Should I?

Other than a couple of lawyers and Mara’s father, I was the only other person at your wedding. Her disdain was clear in her voice and eyes.

You were the school friend that came to the hospital with her that day? A vague memory of a girl with black plaits was called up from the files in his mind.

Yeah, I’m the friend who comforted her after her father was buried. I was the one to wipe her tears away when her new husband rejected her and flew out of her life without an explanation or a goodbye. Callie slammed her glass down without taking a sip while Valerie’s voice squawked nonsense from the television across the room. It was my dad who picked her up and took her home with us. My mom and dad gave her a home and family when you didn’t.

That is how it was supposed to be. That is the arrangement her father and I made. Ajax didn’t understand why he suddenly felt defensive. He hadn’t done anything wrong. He had abided by the contract.

Nobody told Mara that. She didn’t know about any arrangement or the terms of it. Callie stared him in the eyes.

She was a brave woman; she didn’t flinch at his raised eyebrow.

She was devastated at the loss of her father, and then you abandoned her, too.

Her father insisted that she be allowed to stay with Mr. Tillman and complete her schooling. Ajax was quickly losing patience. It would not do to offend Tamara or her friend before the woman had agreed to return to Greece with him and pose as his happy wife.

You rejected her on your wedding night!

Callie’s scathing voice made his ire rise.

She was sixteen years old. I do not have sex with children. Jax couldn’t believe he was having this discussion. I was a grown man. I did what was right.

You knew how old she was. Why did you marry her if you didn’t want her?

It was her father’s dying wish. He wanted to protect Tamara and her money from ‘the mother from hell,’ as he had called her. I did as he requested. His jaw was as a tight as a drum as he responded to the woman’s accusatory tone.

You didn’t have to be so cruel to her. Accusation blazed in the woman’s blue eyes.

I wasn’t cruel to her. I left her with her friends. Wayne Tillman assured me she would be treated like family.

"She wasn’t treated like family, she is family, Callie’s voice was firm. Buddy, I’m putting you on notice; if you are here to hurt my sister any more than you already have, you’ll have me to deal with."

Ajax looked at the compact figure of the woman in front of him. She wasn’t very tall, but she had a militant look in her eyes and a deadly air about her. He suddenly realized that before him stood a Valkyrie who would hunt him down to defend her friend.

I have done nothing to hurt Tamara. His refusal to be seduced by a sixteen-year-old girl could not be considered damaging. It was done to protect her.

No, you only rejected her, and the very next week your picture was all over the tabloid covers with some bleached blonde model. Callie shot him another venomous look. There have been so many over the years that we have lost count of your conquests. Can you remember them all?

Jax sincerely hoped Tamara wasn’t as crazy as her friend. His father’s health was too vulnerable to insert a lunatic into the family. His father wanted him married before he died, and his child bride was the only wife he could produce. If or when his father’s health recovered, he would give Tamara her freedom. If she wished him to continue administering her money, he would see to it, but it was time they both moved on with their lives. In the meantime, he would not be censured by his wife or her friend on how he had lived his life. Not now, not ever.

H ey, Callie, what’s with the fancy car and chauffeur out front? Is Nollie here already ?

Mara, you’ve been scalped! Callie exclaimed.

Mara pirouetted. Do you like it? I actually felt the breeze on my scalp as I walked down Brattle Street. It was a wonderful feeling; sent thrills up and down my spine.

But all your beautiful hair is gone!

It had to go . . . Mara stopped talking as her attention was drawn to a man rising from the couch. Her heart stuttered for a moment before breaking into high speed.

She had to be seeing things. He couldn’t really be here. Ajax Pappas, the man who had broken her heart eight years before, couldn’t be standing in her shabby living room. Her husband couldn’t be here.

She ignored the vision. The loss of her hair must be making her lightheaded, causing her to hallucinate. Perhaps there had been something funny in the shampoo. There was no reason for her to have a nervous breakdown. She wasn’t stressed or anything.

I decided the best way not to have a repeat of last summer was to lose the hair, Mara pretended the apparition was not there, taunting her, and picked up the thread of conversation that dangled in the air.

Maybe losing the weight of her hair had uncovered a brain tumor or something. If she didn’t acknowledge the hallucination, then Callie wouldn’t worry about her and they could go their separate ways for the summer. Even though they both had jobs with people depending on them, Callie was a loyal friend and they had been best friends forever. When they were nine years old, they became blood sisters and nothing had come between them in all those years. If Callie thought she was sick, no power on earth would move her from Mara’s side.

Well, Mr. High and Mighty Playboy, aren’t you going to welcome your wife home?

Callie’s snide voice addressing Mara’s hallucination almost had her dropping to the floor. She was a certified genius-didn’t they say geniuses were subject to mental breakdowns? But that didn’t explain Callie going over the edge with her.

This is Tamara? Did the apparition have to sound so startled? I thought she was a pudgy girl with mousy coloring?

You are as much of a prig as you were the last time I saw you, Mara muttered before she could clamp her tongue between her teeth. Then she had to stifle the sudden urge to giggle. She was a college professor. College professors didn’t do anything as undignified as giggling.

The handsome jackass in front of her looked flabbergasted. It made the wounded sixteen-year-old girl inside of Tamara Pappas gloat. Just a tiny bit.

I will forgive your use of that tone this time, but in the future I would advise you to be more circumspect in your attitude when you speak to me, Ajax Pappas glared at her.

Where was the famous devilish smile he was so well known for?

Especially in front of others.

Mara’s insides raged and roiled. The man had the audacity to reprimand her in front of her best friend for copping an attitude towards him! She wanted to give him a piece of her mind, but over the past ten years she had learned how to deal with spoiled rich boys. It was always best not to argue with them. Mara wasn’t about to give him the satisfaction of a rude answer. He was probably hoping for a childish outburst so he could say something else nasty to her. Instead, she drew an imaginary shield around herself. The next idiotic thing the man said would not dent her armor.

However, Callie didn’t mind voicing her outrage.

Watch yourself, Greek. Mara may be your wife, legally, but in this country that doesn’t entitle you to abuse her.

A deep red flooded Ajax’s handsome face. If he expected to find the shy and innocent girl he had left on their wedding night just sitting at home biding her time, waiting for some dumbass man to remember she existed, he was in for trouble. That girl no longer existed. But she didn’t have to show him that yet.

It is not abusive to expect my wife to show me respect.

He spoke to Callie, but his eyes never left Mara.

She has shown you more respect than you deserve, you philandering fool! Mara could see that Callie was close to losing it After all the years she had spent in the same household with the hot-headed Tillman’s, she knew what would happen if she didn’t calm her friend down. If Callie let loose with her famous temper, the contractors that were supposed to start tearing out walls on Monday wouldn’t have much to work with after Callie threw Ajax Pappas through one of them.

Callie, Mara said softly, but firmly, isn’t Nollie supposed to be picking you up soon?

She’ll wait. Right now protecting you is more important. Callie never took her eyes off Ajax. Her readiness to defend, or protect, was clear in her stance.

In the nick of time a musical voice chimed from the screen door behind Mara. Yoo-hoo! Anyone home?

Relief made Mara’s knees weak. The cavalry had arrived and the end of the conflict was at hand. All she had to do was get Callie out of the house and into Nollie’s car.

Fast.

Nollie, come on in.

Mara was engulfed in a mass of long blonde hair as Magnolia Breslan wrapped her in an exuberant hug. Mara, if it weren’t for your voice and those ugly cargo shorts and even uglier boots I wouldn’t have recognized you. All your lovely chestnut hair is gone.

I thought it was a good day for a change, Mara smiled at her friend and snuck a peek out of the corner of her eyes at Ajax. Did he recognize Nollie? Ajax was a connoisseur of women. If anyone would recognize Nollie as the infamous rock star Breezy, it would be him.

Sorry to kiss and run, but we need a potty! Nollie held a hand out behind her.

I’m going potty first, Auntie Mara, the little boy next to Nollie’s knee informed her with a big smile.

No, I’m going first, another little voice spoke more stridently from in back of Nollie.

Mommy, I gotta go really bad.

The little princess had pushed past them all and whined from the bathroom door. Mara wasn’t surprised by the maneuver since the triplets were masters at distraction, infiltration, and one-upmanship.

If Mara had a vote in this, she thought Harper should be the first to go. The little darling was clearly doing the pee-pee dance with her legs crossed. It was obvious to her fond aunt that her need was the most urgent.

Mommy . . . chorused all three children.

Ahhh, the joys of motherhood, Nollie smiled as she walked to the little princess. The call of nature must be answered before courtesies can be observed.

I’ll take the boys upstairs, Mara offered. She was surprised Callie hadn’t offered since she was kid crazy and usually made up excuses to help out whenever she could. Mara regretted the offer as she started to think of the things Callie could do to Ajax while she was taking care of the boys.

Thanks, Mara, Nollie called from the doorway. Atticus works from a standing position, but Elijah still likes to sit.

Oh boy. What had she gotten herself into? Little guys were not really her thing. She was used to dealing with the big guys. Mara was about to draft Callie into taking the boys, but then she saw the look in Jax’s eyes and decided retreat was in her best interest.

Callie could deal with Jax for a few more minutes. Callie was ruthless. If Jax pissed her off enough she would put the cretin into a sleeper hold and then they could all escape while he slept the effects off.

The dumpy house was becoming a madhouse. Were they running a child minder service ?

Leave before Mara comes back downstairs. That damn Callie woman hissed.

I am here to take my wife home, Ajax said calmly. These women were confused if they believed they could order him around. This was his house and his wife.

All thoughts were knocked out of his head when a little body banged into his knees and squeezed his legs in an exuberant hug.

Pick me up.

Without thinking, Ajax obeyed the imperious order. He had been well trained by his nieces to respond to their commands.

You’re pretty. Will you marry my mommy and be my daddy?

Harper! The long haired blonde beauty blushed a becoming shade of pink. You have to stop asking strange men to marry me.

But, Mommy, me and Cus and Lijah wants a daddy.

The little girl had an enchanting pout.

The fun loving playboy the world knew surfaced and Ajax found himself feeling compassion for the pretty blonde mother. "I am sorry, mohroh . . ."

"I’m not a baby. I’m three years old and I go potty."

You speak Greek? Ajax was surprised by the little girl’s response.

One of her nannies is Greek. She picked it up from her, Nollie answered with a saccharin smile.

Harper, I am already married to your aunt Mara. He knew Mara didn’t have any siblings old enough to have the little beauty in his arms, but if these women chose to use the title ‘aunt’ as an honorary, he had no objection. "I am your thios Jax."

He barely heard the blonde’s gasp over the child’s enthusiastic shriek. Harper threw her arms tightly around his neck and said, Auntie Mara is going to have a baby.

What? His shock was so great, he almost dropped the child.

I’m so sorry. One of the roadies just got married because he knocked someone up over the break, so now the kids think everyone who gets married is pregnant. The mother pulled her child out of Ajax’s arms. She didn’t mean to scare you or anything. We’re just surprised because we didn’t know Tamara was seeing anyone special. She cast a glare at Callie.

"She hasn’t been. This is the husband," Callie responded.

The blonde’s big blue eyes widened. The long-lost, cheating husband?

One and the same, Callie’s hostile voice answered.

What’s he doing here? What does he want? The blonde clutched the child close to her chest.

Don’t know. He wouldn’t tell me, and Mara just walked in a minute ahead of you, so he hasn’t told her anything either.

Crap. We have to be at the airport in less than an hour. You can’t leave Mara alone with Casanova.

What did that mean?

I can’t leave her and you can’t stay. You have to be on that plane in less than an hour, Callie mumbled.

Did the women think he couldn’t hear them in this miniscule room?

You’ll have to go without me. Andrew can fill in until I catch up with you.

And leave you to fly commercial? No way! I think I should stay. Between the three of us we should be able to rout him in no time. The blonde cast him a suspicious glance. I think we should call Dad.

Callie groaned. Can’t. He’s in D.C. with the Senator’s wife and the boys are all around the world on jobs.

The blonde pulled her mobile out of her jeans pocket. I’m calling Gallagher. Jen will have to cancel Sydney. We need to stay here and protect Mara. She’s just a babe in the woods when it comes to men like him. She jutted her pretty little chin towards Jax.

Magnolia Blossom, put that phone away right now! You are not staying here, neither one of you. You both have to work. I am neither a ‘babe in the woods’, nor am I incompetent.

Magnolia Blossom? Ajax had to grind his teeth to keep from chuckling at the absurdity being played out in front of him. He did see a resemblance to a magnolia blossom with the golden hair, the soft white skin, the hint of blush in her cheeks, and the exotic tilt to her eyes. Although they were of similar height, his poor wife with her closely cropped brown hair looked like a little brown mouse next to the glowing beauty.

Mara, this cretin hurt you badly. We’re not going to give him another chance to do so. Magnolia stated firmly.

Nollie, Callie, I appreciate your concern. Really, I do. Tamara’s voice was quiet and calm. It didn’t have the frantic edge her friends’ voices held. I haven’t seen Mr. Pappas in eight years. I hope we have all grown and matured in that time. I’ll hear him out, sign whatever he needs signed, and then I’m off to catch my own flight. She released the hands of the two boys at her side and waved them towards the door. Shoo. Summer vacation has started. Tick tock, we’re already on the countdown to the start of the fall semester.

Fall semester? Did you not just graduate? Ajax questioned. His syntax and tone slipping into a Greek accent caused him almost as much consternation as the thought that his wife was some kind of halfwit party girl that couldn’t complete her college degree in six years. Perhaps he should abandon his plan of making his marriage real. Surely the woman his mother had picked out for him would at least have a brain and be ready to start a family.

Perhaps it would be easier to go along with his mother’s plan and hope it would work out. He could insist on a long engagement. After all, even his mother could not force him to marry a woman so quickly, especially since he would have to obtain a divorce first.

Callie and Magnolia stopped speaking to stare at him. Then Magnolia burst into musical laughter while Callie sputtered.

The scrawny young woman on the stairs smiled at him and said cockily, No, I did not graduate today. I was only there to support my friends who are graduating.

He read the dare in her eyes to say something derogatory. He would not do it. He may be tempted, but he would not give her the satisfaction. She and her friends were already deriving too much entertainment from this situation. He had to get this woman on his plane and back to Greece immediately. Time is clicking away. We must settle this.

Do you mean time is ticking away? Like a time bomb? Callie’s snarky voice interrupted.

You two had better hit the road. His wife smiled at her friends as she waved them toward the door. Go. You know the longer you delay the more hyper the demons are going to get.

"I’m not going to leave you here alone with . . .him!" Callie’s lip curled in what appeared to be disdain.

You’re the best of friends, but think about it. He’s only here to tell me he is finally ready to get a divorce. That is not a good enough reason for you guys to delay your departure to Sydney.

I am not here for a divorce. Ajax felt honor bound to interject.

See? He has something nefarious up his sleeve. Callie pointed at him.

You’ve been reading Gothic romances again. Tamara said to her friend as she tossed him a pointed glare. You’re not really helping here, big boy. She finished walking down the stairs and stood next to her friends. It’s okay, Callie. There is nothing that he can do or say that I can’t handle.

The last time he came around he left you devastated, her friend growled.

I was barely sixteen then, and my daddy had just died. I’ve grown up quite a bit since then, and I’ve learned how to deal with spoiled little boys.

Ajax didn’t like the sound of that. Where and how had she gained all this experience? He was also tempted to tell her that he had never been a spoiled little boy. There was something about his wife that put him on the defensive.

"She does do a fine job with mine," the gorgeous blonde pointed out as one of her boys careened into Jax’s leg.

2

Finally, Tamara’s infernal friends and the three little fiends they called children were gone. The two women were like clucking hens guarding their little chick from the big bad wolf. However, they had nothing to worry about. Pixies were not his type. He preferred his women to be more . . . robust .

Where was his legendary good humor when he needed it to wheedle cooperation out of this little tomboy? Flirting with women was second nature to him, but now he couldn’t dredge up a compliment for all the baklava in Greece.

Look, I have to catch a flight in two hours.

Tamara looked at the ugliest wristwatch he had ever seen. It was too large for such a fragile little wrist, with a wide leather band and a large face. It had a clock face, not a digital display, and it also had a compass. The women he knew preferred their watches to be delicate pieces of jewelry that graced their arms with style and grace rather than something that looked like it was made for a ditch digger.

I had hoped to snag a ride with Nollie, but now I’ll have to call a taxi. Just give me whatever it is you need signed and then we can both be on our way.

There is nothing to sign. I’ve come to take you back to Greece with me. Slick. He had meant to explain the situation in a rational manner and then hope she had the good sense to realize that she needed to attend his father’s sickbed with him, but instead he heard his voice issuing a statement that was sure to offend an American woman like her. He could imagine the reaction he would get if she were anything like Theron’s new wife, Cassiopeia.

He was surprised to find he was disappointed when she barely blinked at his bald announcement.

And why, may I ask, do you wish to take me to Greece?

No fireworks. No explosions. No refusal. Just a calm voice asking a reasonable question. He could handle that.

My father was rushed to the Onassis Cardiac Surgery in Athens. He is going to need an operation and he wants to see me settled down and married before the operation. Her eyes widened a bit, but she didn’t say anything. Since we are married, I cannot marry another woman, nor do I wish to be saddled with another wife. I plan to placate him with the wife I do have.

That’s quite the plan you have there, buddy, but I’m afraid I already have plans for the summer. I’m sure if I sign a few papers you could pick up a quickie divorce somewhere. Las Vegas is well known for the overnight division. Then you can marry a new wife by tomorrow morning.

He looked at her calm face. There didn’t appear to be any rancor or sarcasm in her voice. Perhaps she didn’t understand the gravity of the situation. He calmed his own impulse to shake some sense into her. He reminded himself that her brain didn’t seem to be fully loaded. After all, she had just spent six years in college and she still hadn’t graduated.

"My father is in serious condition. I am asking that you act as my wife and return to