The Greek Billionaire's Innocent Princess

Two crowns, two islands, one legacy

A royal family, torn apart by pride and its lustfor power, reunited by purity and passion

The islands of Adamas have been torn into two rival kingdoms:

TWO CROWNS

The Stefani diamond has been split as a symbol of their feud

TWO ISLANDS

Gorgeous Greek princes reign supreme over glamorous Aristo Smouldering sheikhs rule the

desert island of Calista

ONE LEGACY

Whoever reunites the diamonds will rule all.

THE ROYAL HOUSE OF KAREDES

Many years ago there were two islands ruled as one kingdom – Adamas. But bitter family feuds

and rivalry caused the kingdom to be ripped in two. The islands were ruled separately, as Aristo

and Calista, and the infamous Stefani coronation diamond was split as a symbol of the feud and

placed in the two new crowns.

But when the king divided the islands between his son and daughter, he left them with these

words:

“
You will rule each island for the good of the people and bringout the best in your kingdom. But

my wish is that eventuallythese two jewels, like the islands, will be reunited. Aristo andCalista
are more successful, more beautiful and more powerfulas one nation: Adamas
.”

Now, King Aegeus Karedes of Aristo is dead, the island’s coronation diamond is missing! The

Aristans will stop at nothing to get it back but the ruthless sheikh king of Calista is hot on their heels.

Whether by seduction, blackmail or marriage, the jewel must be found. As the stories unfold,

secrets and sins from the past are revealed and desire, love and passion war with royal duty. But

who will discover in time that it is innocence of body and purity of heart that can unite the

islands of Adamas once again?

T G B

I

P

HE

REEK

ILLIONAIRE’S

NNOCENT

RINCESS

CHANTELLESHAW

www.millsandboon.co.uk

For my husband, Adrian,

with love and thanks for all your support.

NIKOSANGELAKIstood at the edge of the ballroom and surveyed the five hundred or so guests

who were dancing or sipping champagne beneath the ornate chandeliers. The men were uniform

in black tuxedos, while the women—dressed in couture gowns and flaunting a spectacular array

of diamonds and precious gems—flitted about the dance floor like gaudy butterflies. He flicked

back the cuff of his dinner jacket, glanced at his Rolex, and then began to make his way across

the room—aware of the interested glances he received as he passed. At thirty-two he was used to

the attention his looks and the rumours of his wealth attracted. An attractive blonde in a daringly

low-cut dress caught his attention, and his gaze lingered on her fleetingly before he stepped into

the lobby.

It was the first time he had attended the royal ball or visited the Aristan palace, and he was

impressed by the elegant splendour of the rooms where the silk-covered walls were lined with

priceless works of art. The ruling family of the House of Karedes was one of the wealthiest

families in Europe, and the guest-list included members of the aristocracy and heads of state—

grand people who had no idea that the Prince Regent’s honoured guest tonight had grown up in

the slums of Athens.

Nikos wondered cynically if the butler who had escorted him to the state drawing room to greet

Prince Sebastian would have been quite so obsequious if he’d known that Nikos’s mother had

once worked as a lowly kitchen maid at the palace. However, that was something he hadn’t even

revealed to Sebastian, despite the close friendship that had developed between them.

He strode across the hall, pushed open a door, and found himself in the banqueting suite, which

was empty, apart from a waitress at the far end of the room who—unlike the other palace staff

who seemed to be rushed off their feet tonight—was idly folding napkins.

The guests had eaten earlier, but Nikos’s delayed flight had meant that he had missed the buffet

supper, and as he glanced at the mouth-watering selection of canapés he was aware of a hollow

feeling in his stomach. Business first, he told himself firmly. It was evening in Aristo, but early

afternoon on America’s east coast and he had arranged to call a client in New York. He strolled

towards the waitress who had her back to him and was still oblivious to his presence.

‘Can you tell me if there is somewhere I can be uninterrupted? I need to make an urgent

business call.’

The deep, gravelly voice was so innately sensual that the tiny hairs on Kitty’s body stood on

end, and she turned her head, her heart crashing in her chest when she stared up at the man who

had come silently into the room. She had recognised him instantly when he had walked into the

ballroom earlier in the evening—Nikos Angelaki, billionaire shipping magnate, notorious

playboy, and in recent months one of her brother’s closest confidants. Sebastian had explained

that he had met Nikos at a business function in Greece, and since then the two men had

discovered a mutual liking for poker and the roulette wheel in the nightclubs of Aristo and

Athens.

The photographs Kitty had seen of him in the tabloids had triggered her interest, but nothing had

prepared her for the impact of Nikos in the flesh. He was suave, sophisticated and spine-

tinglingly sexy. Taller than average; his tapered black trousers emphasised his long legs and taut

thighs, while his impeccably tailored dinner jacket cloaked formidably broad shoulders. But it

was his face that captured her attention. Handsome was a barely adequate description of the

chiselled perfection of his features: the slanting, razor-sharp cheekbones and square chin, the

heavy brows arched above midnight-dark eyes, and a wide, sensual mouth.

In the silence that stretched between them Kitty sensed his arrogance and devil-may-care

confidence, and she felt an unbidden and shockingly intense tug of sexual awareness that sent a

quiver down her spine. He was gorgeous, but she suddenly realised that she was staring at him,

and she blushed.

‘There is a small sitting room through there,’ she mumbled, indicating the door at the far end of

the room.

‘Thank you.’

His eyes skimmed over her, making a brief inspection of her unexciting black cocktail dress, and

Kitty wished fervently that she had bought a new outfit for the ball—something slinky and low-

cut that would have made him look at her with male appreciation, rather than dismiss her without

a second glance.

But she had never been very interested in clothes, preferring her research work for Aristo’s

museum to shopping, and it had only been when she had flicked through her list of preparations

for the ball and seen the words ‘buy dress’ that she’d realised she had nothing suitable to wear to

the palace’s most prestigious social event.

She lacked the confidence to wear sexy outfits, anyway, she acknowledged dismally. And she

certainly wouldn’t stand a chance with a man like Nikos. He had given no sign that he

recognised her, but palace protocol dictated that she should make the first introduction.

Immediately she felt tongue-tied by the crippling shyness that had afflicted her since childhood.

Not for the first time she wished she shared her sister Princess Elissa’s self-confidence and

sparkling personality. Liss always made socialising look so easy.

She was Princess Katarina Karedes, fourth in line to the throne of Aristo, Kitty reminded

herself. She had been trained practically from birth to deal with social situations, but she had

never found meeting new people easy, and she was still steeling herself to offer her hand to

Nikos in formal greeting when he spoke again.