The Passionate Greek (17 page)

In the taxi to the restaurant he held her
hand. The waiters greeted them like old friends and they were led
to their usual secluded table. Melanie wanted this last evening in
London to be perfect. It had been a wonderful week and nothing
could spoil it now, she thought.

Mellowed by the wine she dared to ask him,
‘So who do you think won?’

‘The competition? Me, of course, I always
win,’ he said decisively.

‘You did not win. It’s a tie,’ she said
indignantly.

‘There you are, you see. You just argued
with me. So I’ve won.’

‘You cheated,’ she complained, laughing.
Leaning forward he whispered in her ear. ‘I’m claiming my prize
tonight.’ His breath against her bare neck shot a thrill of nervous
expectation through her. His tongue licked gently at her ear.

‘Don’t do that,’ she protested. ‘People can
see.’

‘They can watch if they want,’ he said.
‘They will see a beautiful woman and a man who can’t keep his hands
off her.’ But he leaned back in his seat, and casting an amused
glance around the room and said, ‘Every man in this in this room is
jealous of me.’

Melanie looked sceptical. ‘That’s your clue
to say “and every woman is jealous of me”. he said mock
indignantly. Melanie laughed. She loved Nicos in this mood. He was
fun to be with, light hearted and carefree.

As if reading her mind he said, ‘We’ve had a
good week haven’t we?’ She nodded

. ‘You have nothing to stay in London for,
have you?’ he continued. Melanie looked at him with a puzzled
frown. ‘Why don’t you stay on Skiapolos for a while longer?’

Melanie’s heart skipped a beat. All week she
had constantly had to dismiss from her mind that these golden days
with Electra were coming to an end. Was Nicos really promising an
extension? She looked at him hopefully.

‘My office has heard from Gabby. Her arm is
completely better and she is asking when she should return to work.
If you agree to stay longer we can put off her return.’

If she would agree! Melanie’s heart soared.
It was a dream come true. A part of her couldn’t help but hope that
it wasn’t just for Electra’s sake that he was asking her to
stay.

‘You’ve said yourself we’ve had a very happy
week,’ she risked saying. ‘Perhaps we could go on like this.’ But
his next words were a rebuff. ‘It’s better that you take care of
Electra for the trip on the Athena,’ he said, his tone practical.
‘You are used to the sea. It might be better for Gabby to start
looking after the baby again at the villa. rather than on the
boat.’

Melanie's hopes deflated but she quickly
recovered at the joyful thought that she had precious extra time
with her daughter. What did she expect from Nicos? Capitulation?
No, he wasn’t going to change his mind so why did she keep hoping
he would?

Her thoughts travelled back to their last
evening on the island when Nicos had said they would talk when they
got back from London. Perhaps this is what he was thinking of.
Foolishly she had presumed he meant their relationship.

She shook the thought off and resolved to
enjoy this last evening and the happy expectation of the weeks to
come. He interrupted her train of thought. ‘Well, will you
stay?’

‘You don’t need to ask,’ she said. ‘Do you
think I would give up any opportunity to be with my daughter?’

‘Even if it means having to spend a week in
close confinement with her father?’ Seeing her expression he added,
‘I’m not suggesting we share a cabin if that what’s your
thinking.’

‘I’d hardly call the Athena close
confinement,’ she said, thinking of the motor yacht’s 200 feet of
luxurious expanse. Nicos laughed. ‘It’s not just baby care, you
know. Wouldn’t you agree we’ve had a great time together? We could
extend the non-agression pact for a further week.’

He plays my emotions like harp strings, she
thought. Up one minute, down the next. I wish he'd stop.

‘I won’t fight with you if you won’t fight
with me,’ she said. ‘As long as you don’t say anything to make
me.’

‘I think you will be fine. I’ve noticed that
being sea makes you more mellow. He darted her a mischievous
look.

‘Oh, just add water,’ she said indignantly,
but she was experiencing an unexpected spurt of pleasure. Nicos was
owning up that he wanted her with him.

‘All strong spirits need a dash of water;
otherwise they can make you do things you might later regret.’ He
looked meaningfully at her. ‘They can make your heart race and your
temperature rise.’

‘Among other things.’ She couldn’t resist
the innuendo. Nicos burst out laughing and still laughing called
for the bill.

They rose from the table and made their way
out on to the pavement. It was late and the crowds had thinned.
Afterwards what happened next ran like a film over and over in
Melanie’s mind. As if on a loop her mind re-ran and re-ran the look
on Nicos’s face as it turned from stunned to cold fury.

He was looking for a taxi. He didn’t see the
man who rushed up to Melanie until she was caught in an exuberant
embrace.

‘My darling girl, I’ve missed you so much,’
the man who was a stranger to Nicos swept Melanie off her feet and
swung round. Breathless, she turned to Nicos and said, ‘I think you
two should meet. This is Mark.’

Nicos’s face darkened dangerously as the
name burned into his consciousness. He looked from one to the
other. He took in the man’s jut jawed blond good looks, his rangy
height, his carefree air and slightly dishevelled appearance.
Turing to Melanie, his tone poisonous, he said ‘So this is the man
you went to jail for.’

His eyes bored into Melanie’s shocked face;
his own a mask of fury. ‘I have absolutely no wish to meet him.' He
snarled the words out before swinging away from them and striding
off down the street.

'Nicos, don't. Come back. Let me explain.'
Distraught, Melanie's voice cracked, as she called out to him. But
he was jumping into a taxi and slamming the door. He didn’t look
back.

Melanie barely remembered how she got back to the
house. She stood on the steps looking dumbly at the closed front
door. She had no key. She couldn’t bear the thought of Nicos coming
to the door. She didn’t know how to face him. She stared in misery
at the bell. She’d rather sleep in the park than ring it. Her
attention snagged on a lower button marked “basement”. Maybe one of
the staff was still up. She gave a tentative push and waited. A
light went on in the hallway and the peephole in the centre of the
door darkened. A moment later the manservant opened the door.

With head averted and a muttered ‘Thank you.
I’m sorry to have disturbed you so late,’ she fled up the stairs to
her room. She didn’t sleep. Misery enfolded her. What was she
supposed to do now? A few short hours ago she had been so happy at
the thought of the time she was going to have with her daughter.
Happy that Nicos seemed to want her with him. Now he had looked at
her as if he never wanted to see her again. And if he didn’t want
to see her there was precious little chance of her seeing her
child.

She wondered whether she would ever see
Electra again. The thought filled her with so much dread that she
jumped to her feet in alarm and sped silently down the corridor to
her sleeping daughter. Looking at her she felt her heart would
break. Suitcases packed by Maria silent testimony to the fact that
Electra was leaving her. What would Nicos do? Would he leave
instructions to the staff to bar her from saying goodbye?

Unwilling to leave her for a moment she sat
by her daughter’s side till light began to filter through the
closed curtains. Before long Electra stirred and woke. Melanie
lifted her and held her close. Carrying her down the corridor to
the little kitchen she was almost floored by the memory of that
earlier morning when Nicos had sung a nursery rhyme invitation to
them. He was two different people, she thought sadly. One caring,
loving and utterly endearing. The other immoveable and
unforgiving.

She would wring every last bit of time with
Electra now. She wouldn’t be going back to Skiapolos with her and
the two of them wouldn’t be sailing on the “Athena”. So make every
moment count now, she told herself. She hardly dare think what her
life was going to be from now on without her baby.

Maria, sleep in her eyes and full of
apologies, appeared at the kitchen door. Melanie assured her she
had been up early so had seen to the baby. ‘I packed everything,’
the girl told her. ‘The car is coming for us at eleven to take us
to the airport.’

Not for me, Melanie, wanted to say, but
Maria would find out soon enough. Returning to her room to fetch a
baby brush she had left there, Melanie, searching around for it,
was surprised to see her packing had been done. The cupboards, the
drawers, the antique chest were all empty of her belongings. Even
the bathroom had been cleared of her toiletries. ‘It’s as if I was
never here at all,’ she thought sadly to herself. She was
interrupted by the housekeeper, a woman with none of the warmth of
old Anna.

‘Mr Nicos has left instructions that you are
to leave with Miss Electra and Maria for the airport at eleven
o’clock, but that he will not be accompanying you.’

Thanking the woman Melanie did her best not
to betray her shock. The housekeeper left and alone once more
Melanie wanted to give way to floods of tears. Exhaustion and
emotion were catching up with her. What did this mean? Had the
housekeeper got the message right? Did Nicos really intend for her
to return to the island?

Suddenly stiffening her resolve she told
herself, ‘I don’t care if it’s a mistake, I don’t care whether he
wants me there or not. I’m going.’

At the small airport she had a moment’s
panic when Nicos’s chauffeur who had driven them asked for her
passport. But it was only for Customs clearance and Melanie
breathed a sigh of relief. Aboard the private jet there was no sign
of Nicos but Melanie did not relax till the jet had lifted off the
runway and was safely airborne.

They landed without incident in Greece where
a car waited to take them to the port and the island’s motor
launch. It was early evening as they approached the home harbor and
the sun was setting behind the white walled villa.

Fatigue caught up with her and she almost
dragged herself up the path to the villa where Anna was waiting.
The old lady cast a shrewd look at her. ‘I’m not feeling well,’ she
excused herself. ‘I’ll go straight to bed if you and Maria wouldn’t
mind seining to the baby.’ But Anna would already know that Nicos
had not come back to the island. What else she knew Melanie could
only guess.

The next morning she awoke to a bright,
clear island day. Refreshed and clear-headed by her long sleep she
came to a decision. When next she met up with Nicos Chalambrous he
was going to find a very different Melanie, she vowed. No more
being taken in by his charm. No more emotional seesaws leaving her
raw and heavyhearted. She was taking control.

She didn’t have long to wait. The sound of
the motor launch two evenings later heralded his arrival. She heard
his voice greeting Anna but he didn’t appear on the terrace for
dinner. She ate a lonely dinner in her room. In spite of her new
demean she admitted to herself that after the scene on the pavement
she was nervous about seeing him again. She would go about her
usual routine with Electra and if she bumped into him somewhere
then so be it.

It didn’t work that way. The next morning
Anna came to the nursery looking sombre. ‘Mr Nicos want to see you
in his office now.’ Melanie, spooning breakfast into Electra, found
her hand holding the tiny spoon was shaking. She debated whether or
not to ignore the summons. Was that cowardly? Yes, she told herself
sternly. Summoning the new Melanie she had told herself she was
going to be she squared her shoulders and marched downstairs.
Attack was the best defence she reassured herself.

The door to his office was closed. Melanie
decided against knocking and threw the door open, stalking across
the room and seating herself down in the chair in front of his
desk, arms folded. He had looked up as she entered, as if surprised
at the intrusion.

‘I prefer staff to knock before they enter,’
he said coolly. ‘Tough,’ said Melanie. ‘I’m not staff.’

‘As far as I am concerned you are,’ he said.
‘Unless of course you are planning to leave.’

‘I’m not leaving until I’m ready to leave
and that won’t be for some time. I’ll let you know.’ She made as if
to get up. His next words stopped her. ‘You may stay on the island
as long as you please.’ He paused. ‘As an uninvited guest, of
course. However, Electra will be going with me.’ She felt herself
pale. ‘What do you mean?’

‘As we had discussed we shall be leaving on
the ‘Athena’ at the end of the week. It was my understanding that
you would be accompanying us. But by all means, stay behind if you
would prefer it.’

‘Damn the man,’ thought Melanie furiously.
‘He had wrong footed her again. She fought for control. ‘What was
it you wanted to see me about?’ she said abruptly. ‘Merely to
discuss arrangements for the voyage,’ he sighed. ‘But of course, if
you would rather not I can make other arrangements for
Electra.’

She was sure he was playing with her. She
doubted he had intended to include her on the trip. Attack, attack,
her brain screamed at her. Don’t let him get away with it.
Inspiration struck. ‘I can’t possibly allow that,’ she said with
finality. His eyebrows rose. ‘I can’t have someone Electra doesn’t
know looking after her on the boat. It would be too disruptive for
her. She will stay here with me.’

‘She will be coming on the boat,’ said Nicos
firmly.

‘In that case, so will I,’ said Melanie, and
getting to her feet swept out of the room.