Page 176 of Modern Romance September 2026 Books 1-4

Which was all that mattered. Being legally bound to this woman would have been disastrous.

‘It was legal. I checked.’

‘So did my team. It was the first thing they did when I ordered them to make sure you didn’t bother me again.’

Dido opened her mouth then shut it. Finally she said, ‘You’re saying you believed it was a sham marriage from the first, but you went through with it anyway?’

He hadn’t realised at the time that the ceremony wasn’t binding. It seemed remarkable now that he’d actually been on-board, eager in fact, to marry this woman. But he wasn’t going to admit that to her. She’d pulled the wool over his eyes with her faux innocence. Let her think he’d known the truth from the first. He didn’t enjoy being anyone’s fool.

Her eyes narrowed, her expression morphing from apparent shock to searing contempt.

‘You really are a complete bastard, aren’t you, Panayiotis Diamandis?’

It was a lifetime since anyone had called him by his full name. He had a dim memory of his first guardian, his venal relative, using it when Panos had done something of which he disapproved. It had had no impact on him then, but strangely he felt a flicker of discomfort now. He felt it for a second and brushed it aside.

‘Do you really want to start name-calling, Ms Jones?’

Her chin jerked up and she straightened, moving away from the window and into his personal space.

There it was again, that prickling awareness of her proximity, every nerve ending jangling with something akin to anticipation.

‘I don’t care what story you concoct,’ she spat out. ‘It happened. It was real and you can’t pretend it wasn’t. Chiara needs to know.’

‘What do I need to know?’

Panos watched Dido’s eyes widen as she looked past him. He turned with a sinking feeling, to see his fiancée standing just inside the open door. So much for handling this neatly and swiftly.

‘It’s okay, I’ll deal with this, Chiara.’

But Dido spoke at the same time, her voice breathless but determined. ‘That he can’t marry you. It would be bigamy.’

‘Bigamy!’ Chiara’s hand went to her throat, her gaze searching his. ‘You’re married?’

What sort of man did she think him? ‘Of course not!’

But his nemesis, Dido Cressida Jones, butted in before he’d even finished speaking. ‘Yes, he is. To me! And we never divorced.’

After that there was no chance of a reasonable conversation.

CHAPTER FOUR

DIDO KEPT HER head up and her spine straight as she closed the glossy black door and descended the steps to the street. In this part of London even the traffic sounds were hushed.

Despite the sunlight, she drew her tailored jacket closer around her body, though it didn’t counteract the ice frosting her vital organs. But she wouldn’t allow herself to panic. Not here, not now.

No matter how desperate she felt.

On either side of her the row of elegant Georgian houses extended in a gentle curve. Across the street a beautiful private park drew the eye from behind its wrought iron fence. Outsiders weren’t welcome there.

Just as she was no longer welcome at Weddings by Gilette.

Her mouth dried and her stomach roiled.

It had been a last-ditch attempt, coming here to see Graydon in person. She’d known it probably wouldn’t save her job, but she’d clung to the possibility.

To be fair, Graydon didn’t have much choice. Chiara was well-connected and very angry. While there was no doubt she’d keep the details of exactly what had happened in Tahiti private rather than look foolish, if she learned Dido was still employed by the firm, Graydon would lose valuable custom. He’d worked too hard to let anything or anyone mar his success.

There was no question of a reference either because, as he’d explained, he couldn’t be associated with her in any way.