PAGAN ADVERSARY (10 page)

'You make the decisions, and I agree without a murmur. Has it never

occurred to you that I might not want my life turned upside down?'

He shrugged. 'Are you saying that it is entirely to your satisfaction?

That you have everything you want?' His eyes held hers mercilessly.

'Well?'

'Does anyone have that?' Harriet shifted nervously. 'But that doesn't

mean I want to—-to throw away everything I've worked for.' She

sighed. 'But I can't expect you to understand. Compared with the

Marcos Corporation, my efforts must seem totally pathetic. But

they're important to me.'

'More important than the wellbeing of your nephew,' he said

flatly..'You know that isn't true!'

'Then there must be some other reason.' He paused. 'Is there, after all,

some man you cannot bear to leave?'

'There's no one,' she said, and could have cursed herself for the

hastiness of her reply. That was an excuse he might have accepted.

'Then I fail to understand what problem exists, except in your

stubborn little mind,' he said. He was frowning again. 'You saw how

Nicos was last night. It cannot be good for a small child to be so

deeply disturbed.'

'And I can't see how my going to Greece with you would improve the

situation.' Harriet stared down at her hands—slim but capable, the

nails neatly manicured, a working girl's hands. 'Won't it make matters

worse when Nicky and I do part eventually?'

'I do not think so.' Alex shrugged off his jacket, throwing it on the

sofa behind him, and loosened his tie before lowering himself almost

wearily on to the cushions. 'I shall take Nicos to my home on Corfu.

My mother lives there, and her sister. You would stay there for a

while and then, as Nicos began to settle, you could perhaps take a few

trips—cruise round the other islands—visit the mainland. Gradually

he will become used to his new surroundings, and to your absences.'

'Yes,' she said. 'That's—quite practical. And how would you pass me

off to your family—as his English nanny? I can hardly suppose I'm

going to be very welcome.'

'No.' His mouth twisted wryly. 'But there will be no pretenoe "that

you are anything but Nicos' aunt. Any other suggestion would be an

insult.'

Harriet sighed again swiftly. 'And how long would you want me to

stay?' she asked in a low voice.

If he was pleased at her capitulation, the enigmatic dark eyes gave no

sign of it. 'For as long as it takes, Harriet
mou.
No more, no less. How

soon can you be ready to leave?'

'I don't know. I'll need a passport.. ..' Her voice trailed away.

He looked at her, frowning incredulously. 'Then you have never been

out of England?'

'Never,' she acknowledged. 'Even package tours cost money, Mr

Marcos.'

'Alex,' he said autocratically. 'This continued formality of yours is

absurd, and will stop now.'

'Yes, sir,' she muttered, and he laughed suddenly.

'You will be the most reluctant guest I have ever entertained! And yet

I promise you that you will like Corfu. It has a beauty all its own.'

'So I've heard,' she said. 'Don't they say it's the island that

Shakespeare wrote about in
The Tempest?'

'I believe so.' His smile was slightly ironic. 'Does that increase its

charm for you?'

'It doesn't have to charm me,' Harriet said stonily. 'I'm simply going

there to do a job. It's Nicky you'll have to sell it to.'

The amusement died from his face. 'Of course.' He was silent for a

moment. 'Nicos will need clothing— lighter than you would provide

for an English summer, I think.'

'Yes,' she said. 'I won't bring him in rags.'

His mouth tightened in exasperation. 'Harriet
mou,
were you ever

slapped as a child, because if you were not, it is a deficit I could

gladly repay!'

She was going to say, 'You wouldn't dare,' but as their eyes met, she

knew that wasn't true at all. He'd dare all that and more, and her heart

lurched suddenly in panic and an odd excitement which stilled the

defiant words on her lips.

She said stiffly, 'I'm sorry. I'll buy him whatever he needs, of course.'

'Yes, do that,' he said smoothly. 'I will have Philippides advance you

sufficient money.'

She began, 'I can afford. . . .' then subsided, with a weary shrug of her

shoulders. 'Just as you wish.'

'You mean that?' he said with soft mockery. 'Another miracle?' He

paused. 'Philippides will help with everything you need. Go to him

with any problems that you have—understood?' She looked at him,

her expression mutely questioning, and he shook his head. 'No, I shall

not be here. You will be relieved to hear that I am returning to Athens

tomorrow. But I shall try to get to Corfu in time for your arrival.'

'Yes,' she said. 'I think it would be important for Nicky to find you

there.'

He smiled faintly. 'Of course.'

In the corner the telephone rang imperatively, and he sighed

impatiently as he got to his feet to answer it, stretching a little as if he

was dismissing some lingering tension now that the battle was over

and he had won again.

'Only a minor battle,' Harriet thought, her eyes drawn involuntarily by

his movement to the lean muscular length of his body. But even so his

victory had. to be complete. She shivered, watching him cross the

room, moving as lightly and gracefully as some big cat. For a man

who spent his life directing a huge corporation, he was in good

physical shape, she acknowledged, doubting whether he was as much

as an ounce overweight. Probably that restless, dynamic energy that

seethed in him kept him slim, she thought. Certainly he made the

executives in her own company look pale and flabby in contrast.

He said a brusque, 'Yes?' as he lifted the receiver, and then she saw

his face change, begin to smile. His voice deepened to a husky drawl,

'
Kotigla mou,
how delightful of you to call me! No, of course I hadn't

forgotten— how could I?' He listened, his smile widening, then said

drily, "You flatter me, my lovely one. As you say—until tonight.'

Harriet stared down at the carpet, listening with a pang to the note of

lazy intimacy in his voice. Vicky Hanlon, she wondered wildly, or

someone else. Where other men had little black books, Alex Marcos

probably had a computer! she thought angrily.

She glanced up and found him .looking down at her, his eyes amused

as if he could read her thoughts. Her face burned.

She said hurriedly, 'Will Yannina be very long? I really ought to take

Nicky home. He—he usually has a nap in the afternoon, and he'll be

getting tired and cross.'

'He could rest here,' he suggested softly.

She shook her head, it would really be best if we left.' She looked

away. 'You have other plans—we'll be in the way.'

'My—other plans are for much later,' he said. 'Why are you in such a

hurry to run away, Harriet
mou?

'I'm not.' The denial sounded weak even in her own ears.

'There will be nowhere to run to on Corfu.' The dark eyes gleamed

wickedly, it is a much smaller island than this one.'

'Yes, I know.' She bit her lip. 'You're determined not to make this easy

for me, aren't you?'

His smile was grim suddenly. 'I am just preparing you, little one,

because on the island it will not be easy at all—not for any of us.

Neither my mother nor her sister Thia Zoe have ever forgiven Kostas

for—his marriage. You must not expect to hear your sister's name

mentioned, Harriet
mou,
and for yourself—I regret that you must

anticipate resentment—perhaps even hostility. Are you prepared to

suffer these things— for Nicos' sake?'

No, she thought, for yours. Because although it's insanity, and gall

and wormwood to have to admit it, even to myself, I'd face a pit full

of snakes if it meant seeing you again.

She said quietly, 'Yes—for Nicky's sake.'

And wished with a kind of agonised intensity that it could really be as

simple as that.

As the plane swooped over the lagoon towards touchdown, Harriet

found she was clutching the armrest of her seat until her knuckles

turned white. On her lap, Nicky whimpered fretfully, pressing a damp

sticky face against her, and she hugged him reassuringly, wishing

wryly that there was someone to hug her.

But she could hardly call on Mr Philippides for that, kind and helpful

as he had been over the past few weeks. In her heart, she supposed she

had hoped that some insuperable obstacle would be discovered that

would keep Nicky and herself safely in London, but each minor snag

had been smoothed away, almost before she was aware of them. Mr

Philippides had been cautious at first, perhaps fearing a repeat

performance of that first stormy interview, but gradually his manner

had softened, and it was clear he found Nicky enchanting.

Harriet's mouth curved tenderly as she looked down at the small

plaintive figure on her lap. He had been incredibly good during the

flight, crying only during take-off and touchdown because of the

pressure in his ears, but she had been warned to expect this. Apart

from that, he had been in his element, and although Harriet had found

her first flight frankly an ordeal, she had been careful to conceal this

in the face of Nicky's wide-eyed excitement.

Although of course the flight was as nothing to the ordeal which

awaited her once they actually landed, she thought ruefully. Mr

Philippides in the past couple of days had mellowed sufficiently to

drop a few very discreet hints about the kind of difficulties Harriet

might be expected to encounter, and Harriet guessed that his guarded

comments represented merely the tip of the iceberg.

He was clearly puzzled too about why Alex Marcos had changed his

mind about separating Harriet from Nicky. Although he never

actually said so directly, he obviously felt that Harriet would have

done better to have accepted the generous financial settlement offered

by Kyrios Alex, and resigned herself to the loss of the child.

Harriet was touched by the real concern in his eyes as he skirted

delicately round the subject, but it did little to support her teetering

morale.

She felt very much as if she was being sent into a cage of tigers

without even the usual chair and whip to defend herself with.

All over the world, people were marrying other people that their

parents neither liked nor approved of, but who were making the best

of it, not reacting with the kind of senseless bigotry the Marcos family

had displayed towards Kostas and Becca.

She had once tried to broach the subject openly with Mr Philippides.

'But if they feel like that, why do they want Nicky so badly?'

Mr Philippides had shifted papers on his desk in an embarrassed

manner and muttered something about 'a male heir'.

'What a pity he wasn't a girl.' Harriet's eyes blazed suddenly. 'Then

they might have left us in peace!'

Peace, she thought as the ground rushed up to meet them, routine,

monotony. All the things people groaned at and dismissed as boring.

She had done so herself, but now she was beginning to realise how

precious they could be, how safe and secure.

With a slight thump, the plane was down, and in spite of the warnings

to remain seated until it had come to a complete halt, people were

already shifting, reaching for hand luggage, preparing themselves for

disembarkation, and a fresh babble of chatter had broken out, now

that the inevitable tension of the landing had dissipated.

Harriet tumbled in her bag for her sunglasses before she joined the

file of people in the aisle. It had been a cool, grey day in London, and

here at Corfu airport, the brilliance of the sunlight and the rush of heat

once the aircraft doors were opened seemed disturbingly intense and

alien.

It was a short walk across the tarmac to the Immigration buildings,

and Nicky insisted on walking, giving small excited skips. Harriet

wondered if they were being observed from the buildings ahead of

them, and moistened dry lips with the tip of her tongue. She had to

restrain Nicky from running on ahead, and he wriggled crossly,

saying, 'Thio Alex,' as he looked up at her reproachfully.

She hoped he wouldn't be disappointed. Mr Philippides had come

with them, she knew, to ease their arrival in case Alex Marcos was

too involved in business matters elsewhere. Only the day before they

left he had been talking worriedly of problems in New York and. Rio

de Janeiro.

Immigration could not have been simpler. It seemed to Harriet they