PAGAN ADVERSARY (22 page)

pretending to be asleep, closing her eyes and steadying her

constricted breathing to a quiet rhythm.

She heard the engine roar to a stop and men's voices speaking in

Greek, some laughter. They were approaching, walking up the beach

and she felt a mass of tensions, and had to make herself relax.

But when the first cool drops descended on her back, she could

maintain the pretence no longer, her eyes flying open as she propped

herself up slightly and looked over her shoulder.

She had assumed it was Spiro, perhaps with a handful of seawater,

but it was Alex,' and he was holding her bottle of sun lotion in his

hand. As their eyes met, he crouched lithely beside her and again she

felt that delicious coolness on her warm skin, and realised that he was

using the lotion on her. She moved restively.

'Keep still,' he ordered, it's a fool's trick to fall asleep in the sun. You

could have been badly burned.'

She was burning now. As his hand stroked across her flesh, tiny fires

were igniting all over her. And as his fingers moved downwards and

began to apply the lotion to her lower spine and the gentle curve of

her hips above her line of her bikini briefs, she had to sink her teeth

into the soft flesh inside her lower lip to prevent herself from crying

out.

Oh God, what kind of a state was she in, that his lightest touch could

produce such pleasure and such pain at the same time? she wondered

wildly.

When he had finished and was re-capping the bottle, Harriet,

jnurmured an awkward 'Thank you,' avoiding his gaze, aware that her

cheeks were hectically flushed. Aware too that Spiro was standing

only a few yards away, brows raised as he assimilated what was going

on.

Her blush deepened. She said inanely, 'Hello. Did you catch

anything?'

'Enough, I think,' he said drily.

Alex had turned, dropping the bottle of lotion on to the sand beside

her lounger, and moving away to speak to Andonis, who was

unloading the fishing gear from the boat at the small jetty.

Spiro walked across to the lounger and looked down at her. 'So we'll

eat at the villa tonight,
ne?
'

'Yes,' she agreed brightly, fixing her eyes on him, rejecting the

impulse to look round for Alex.

Spiro grinned at her, and his hand snaked down towards her catching

her completely off guard. She had lifted herself on to her elbows, and

before she could stop him he had twitched the bra of her bikini away

from under her body and walked away with it.

'Spiro!' She sat up, wrapping her arms round her half-naked body.

'Bring that back here at once!'

His grin widened. 'Come and get it,
kougla mou.'
With teasing

precision, he hung the strip of material from the branch of a

convenient olive tree.

Angry and embarrassed, she hesitated, measuring the , distance, and

wondering if Spiro intended to allow her to retrieve the bra or

whether he would simply make off with it again, forcing her to

follow. The thought of perhaps having to chase after him through the

gardens with only her hands to cover her -had no appeal whatsoever.

She said entreatingly, 'Spiro—please?' and heard him laugh

tauntingly.

Alex's shadow fell over her. She glanced up at him, her heart

thudding with sudden apprehension as she registered the cold rage in

his face. He looked almost murderous as he glared at Spiro, snarling

something at him in Greek.

For a moment Harriet thought Spiro was going to defy his cousin, and

she tensed as Alex took one long stride towards him, then Spiro

shrugged almost ruefully, unhooked her top from the branch, and

tossed it to him.

Alex turned and almost flung it at her. 'Cover yourself!' he ordered

furiously.

She wasn't uncovered. Her folded arms hid more than the few inches

of top had ever done, but she sensed that now was not the time to

argue, and she turned her back while she fumbled the bra back into

place, and fastened its clip.

When she turned back, Alex had gone, but Spiro was still there,

gazing up the path with an odd, reflective little smile playing round

his mouth.

She said sharply, 'Are you out of your mind? What possessed you to

do such a thing?'

'It was an experiment, that is all.' He laughed at the outrage in her

face. 'Oh, my poor Harriet, don't look like that! There is no need for

you to be angry. Alex has already been angry enough for both of you.'

'I thought he was going to kill you,' she said with a little shiver.

'So did I,' he admitted candidly, and she caught a glimpse of that odd

smile again.

Harriet sighed. 'I suppose you know best, Spiro, but as you work

for—for your cousin, perhaps it might be better not to—to upset him.'

'I promise not to make a habit of it.' His voice sounded almost

lighthearted. 'But perhaps we would be wiser to go without the

delicious fresh fish that Alex's chef will be serving tonight, and eat

out after all. What do you say?'

She said, 'Yes.' She wasn't hungry. That little incident had deprived

her of appetite, but she couldn't bear the thought of encountering Alex

again in that mood, and letting Spiro take her to dinner would be the

best way she knew of avoiding him.

He Jiad no reason to look at her like that—with such a blaze of

contempt in his eyes, she thought stormily, particularly when only

minutes before he had been putting lotion on her back, and

presumably quite well aware that she wasn't wearing her top.

He operates a hell of a double standard, she thought fuming,

wondering how many girls he had seen not merely topless but totally

nude. And what would he have done if she'd been one of the confident

beauties she'd seen parading at Dassia and Sidari on some of her trips

with Spiro? Probably exactly the same, she acknowledged with a

sigh.

She collected her things together and went slowly up to the villa. She

found Nicky in his room, and he welcomed her with an exuberant hug

and a kiss sticky with lemonade and honey, and she stayed with him

while he had his evening meal, unwinding as she listened to his

excited and not always intelligible chatter. He was a bright child, and

each day he seemed to pick up more Greek words. By the time he

went to school, he would probably be bi-lingual, and farther apart

from her than any distance could ever achieve. She had to treasure

these moments when she was alone with him, because his new family

were beginning to close him in with them, and there was no place for

her in that small tight circle of wealth and power.

She bathed Nicky herself that, evening, and he squealed and splashed

with all the old delight as they played once familiar games under

Yannina's benevolently smiling gaze. As she wrapped the bath sheet

round his small dripping body, Harriet held him very close for a

moment, aware of a terrible tightness in her throat, as if she was

already saying goodbye to him. The moment he began to struggle a

little, alarmed by the confining pressure of her arms, she let him go,

tickling him through the folds of towel, and playing 'Round and round

the garden' and 'This little piggy' until he relapsed into his usual

happy giggles.

She sat by his bed, waiting for him to fall asleep, and only when his

eyelids had finally drooped did she relinquish her post and go to her

own room to get ready for her dinner with Spiro.

She had replenished her small wardrobe in Corfu town, buying

several of the inexpensive cotton dresses falling in masses of pleats

from a brief crocheted yoke, but tonight she decided to wear one of

the few dresses she had bought that she hadn't put on before. It was
a

favourite of hers, and she supposed she'd been saving it for some

special occasion. Well, tonight was probably going to be about as

special as she was likely to get, she thought, throwing it across the

bed. It was made from fine floating Indian cotton in shades of blue

and gold, full-skirted and wide-sleeved. The bodice fitted closely,

and the deeply slashed neckline was fastened at the throat and

halfway to her breasts with delicate blue cords, finished off with tiny

gilded tassels.

It was a romantic dress, a dress for a girl with happy dreams in her

eyes—not the look of strain that she could disguise behind dark

glasses during the daytime, but which made her totally vulnerable

when evening came.

She applied her make-up with a light hand—a dusting of shadow for

her eyelids, and the merest touch of colour on her mouth. The natural

glow which the sun had bestowed on her skin needed no extra

embellishment.

She had intended to wear her hair up in a coil, or at least tied back, but

at the last minute she decided to leave it loose on her shoulders.

She was spraying scent on to her throat and wrists when there was an

abrupt knock on the door and Androula came in.

'I'm asked to say the car is at the door,
thespinis.''
Her voice was as

unfriendly as her face.

Harriet swallowed as the woman's gaze flickered disapprovingly over

her. 'Please tell the
kyrios
that I'll be down right away.'

Androula nodded silently and vanished.

Harriet gave herself a last searching look, decided it was all the best

she could do, and started downstairs. Halfway along the corridor she

met Madame Constantis. She was surprised to see her, as the older

woman's room was in a different part of the house, and she had rarely

encountered her on the upper floor.

She glanced at Zoe Constantis, expecting the acid twitch of the lips

which passed for a smile with her, but not even that was forthcoming.

The look which reached her from under the heavy lids was pure

venom—no longer even a pretence at friendliness and acceptance,

and Harriet almost recoiled physically as if an actual blow had been

aimed at her. She glanced back over her shoulder as she reached the

corner, watching the thin upright figure move out of sight, like some

kind of ancient Fury in her black dress, and had to pause for a

moment to try and recover her composure.

She had never been wholly convinced about Madame Constantis'

apparent change of attitude towards her, but she hadn't expected to

have her suspicions so blightingly confirmed either.

Not for the first time, she wondered how such a grim woman could

ever have given birth to such a pleasant easy-going son as Spiro.

The car was parked just outside the circle of light which spilled from

the villa's open doors, and as Harriet crossed towards it, she heard in

the distance the first rumble of thunder. It seemed the storm she had

predicted was on its way.

The passenger door was already open, and she slipped into her seat,

tucking her skirt protectively away from the door before she closed it.

The engine was already running, she realised, purring like some big

cat. Spiro was in a hurry to be off. Perhaps he had also had an

encounter with his mother, and wanted to escape.

She said with a little gasp as the car moved forward, 'I'm sorry I'm

late. I've been putting Nicky to bed and .. .' Her voice stopped

abruptly, as she turned and looked at her companion for the first time.

Alex smiled sardonically at the frank shock in her. eyes. 'And as

always, Harriet
mou,
you are worth waiting for.'

'What are you doing here?' she demanded heatedly. 'Where is Spiro?'

'On his way back to Athens. His holiday is over for a while.'

For a moment she was unable to speak, then she said, 'Was that really

necessary? What happened on the beach was only a joke, after all.'

His laugh had a bite to it. 'You flatter yourself! Spiro's tasteless

horseplay has no connection with his departure. A minor problem has

developed in the Athens office which I hope he can deal with before it

blows up into a minor crisis, that is all. I am sorry he did not have time

to explain in person, or say goodbye to you in the manner you would

wish.'

'There's no need for that.' Her voice was stiff. 'A simple message

telling me that the evening was off would have been sufficient.'

'But you're my guest, Harriet
mou
,
' he said silkily. 'And a good host

would not allow you to be deprived of an evening's pleasure when it

is in his power to fill the inevitable void which Spiro's departure must

create.'

'That's very kind of you,' she said woodenly. 'But I'd really prefer to

go back to the villa, if you don't mind.'

'But I do mind,' he retorted. The car seemed to leap forward and