LITMIR.BIZ

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returned cuttingly. ‘Jill and I don’t know you or your family from Adam! All we do know is that, for some reason, you all fell out with Theodore years ago and there’s been no meeting point until now.’

      ‘You cannot lay that at my parents’s feet. My mother was inconsolable when he left Greece and would have done anything to bring about a reconciliation.’ He glared at her, only moderating his expression when Michael called to them impatiently. ‘And there was no “falling out” in the way you have suggested. My brother left Greece because he wanted to and in the same way it was Theodore who cut his family out of his life.’

      ‘He had a family, Jill and Michael,’ Sophy snapped back quickly. ‘And, from what I can gather, the fact that he married my sister was the final nail in his coffin. Well, let me tell you that he was lucky to get her! Darn lucky, in my opinion. Jill is worth ten of any high society girl he might have had paraded in front of him by your parents.’

      ‘Now, look here—’

      ‘I don’t have to look anywhere, Mr Karydis. Jill might be inclined to give you all the benefit of the doubt, but I tell you here and now that my sister and Michael are my only concern. I don’t have to like you, any of you, and I intend to make sure that Jill’s good nature is not taken advantage of. Now, you promised Michael a look at the pool and the cars, so I think we should get on with it.’ She glowered at him, her eyes shooting blue flames, before she turned to face Michael fully and arranged her features into a more harmonious whole.

      As she went to walk away, she felt his hand catch her wrist again and she shot round to face him, grinding out through clenched teeth, ‘You touch me once more, just once, and so help me I’ll forget Michael is standing there watching us and give you the sort of come-uppance you should have had years ago.’

      The stunned outrage on his face almost made her smile—almost—but she was too angry to fully appreciate that it was probably the first time Andreas Karydis had ever been well and truly castigated. And by a mere slip of an English girl at that.

      As his hand dropped from her arm she swung round and made her way to Michael—who was hopping about with fretful eagerness—sensing Andreas was just behind her, and then they were all entering a long corridor leading off the hall. The kitchens were on one side and—according to Andreas’s terse voice—the resident housekeeper and the maid’s private quarters on the other.

      Andreas stopped to poke his head round the kitchen door and ask that their refreshments be served in the pool area, and then they continued to the end of the corridor and passed out of that door into the grounds of the estate and into hot bright sunshine.

      Sophy let Andreas and Michael walk in front of her once they were outside for two reasons. One, she wanted to let Andreas establish a nice easy rapport with Michael for the little boy’s sake and for the atmosphere to lighten generally, and two, she found she needed to dissect all that had been said and determine if she had been hasty at all. The truth of the matter was that she was feeling slightly guilty about some of what she’d said, and the more she went over their conversation in her mind the more she acknowledged she had gone too far.

      She bit her lip as she glanced at the tall powerful man and small boy in front of her, the blistering afternoon sun beating down on one jet-black head and a smaller golden-brown one. Oh, darn it—what a way to set the ball rolling!

      She had only been in Greece two minutes and she’d already dug a big deep hole for herself as far as Andreas Karydis was concerned! Not that it bothered her personally, if she was being truthful—he was a hateful, arrogant pig of a man and she thoroughly loathed him—but she was here as Jill’s sister and Michael’s aunt, and Andreas was Jill’s brother-in-law and Michael’s uncle. Unfortunately, the family connection was close.

      They had almost reached the Olympic-sized swimming pool which glittered a clear blue invitation in the sultry heat but, although the magnificent surroundings and acres of landscaped grounds were breathtaking, their beauty was curtailed by her thoughts. Which had become clearer in the fresh air.

      It was a less than auspicious start to their two weeks in Greece! Sophy groaned inwardly. But maybe Andreas wouldn’t be around much anyway? They’d established earlier in the car that he had his own property some miles away, so apart from an odd call or two to be polite he probably wouldn’t waste his time calling on his brother’s widow and her sister.

      But then there was Michael. And the two of them seemed to be getting on very well. Which was good—great, in fact. Of course it was. Or it would have been, if Michael’s uncle had been anyone rather than Andreas! Oh, she didn’t know what to think any more and she had a headache coming on. And it was all Andreas’s fault.

      ‘Why don’t you sit down in the shade?’ Andreas suggested as they reached the pool area and he turned round to look at her, his voice expressionless as he pointed to the far corner of the tiled surround where the dark shade produced by an overhanging and thickly blossomed tree was broken into patches by dappled sunlight. ‘The sun can be fierce to the uninitiated.’

      ‘Thank you.’ It was stiff but the best she could do. The whole area was scattered with plump sun loungers and several tables and chairs, and she could see a vast brick-built barbecue in one corner and a pretty wooden sunhouse in another. Sophy glanced about her and then forced herself to say, ‘This is very pleasant, idyllic in fact.’

      He nodded, leading the way to a table and four chairs, and they had no sooner seated themselves than Christina, the plump little housekeeper, appeared, pushing a trolley containing an iced jug of lemonade and three glasses, along with a plate of sweet pastries and another of small rich cakes. A large bowl of fruit and several smaller bowls of different kinds of nuts and dried fruits was also placed before them, Christina smiling and nodding at them all before she ruffled Michael’s curls and waddled back off to the house. It was some snack, Sophy commented silently.

      ‘I like her.’ Michael was blissfully unaware of the tense atmosphere as he helped himself to a nut-filled and honey-flavoured pastry. ‘I like everything here.’ He took a big bite of the sugared pastry before adding, ‘Don’t you, Aunty Sophy?’

      Sophy sipped her lemonade and her voice was carefully neutral when she said, ‘Yes, it’s lovely, Michael.’

      Andreas was looking at her, one eyebrow raised provocatively and she couldn’t believe anyone could say so much without uttering a word. ‘This is good,’ he said gravely, ‘as you have two whole weeks to enjoy everything.’

      If there was one thing she loathed it was sarcasm, Sophy thought militantly, glaring again before she could stop herself.

      As soon as Michael had finished his pastry he made his way to the pool edge, sitting down and removing his socks and shoes and dangling his feet in the water as he hummed a little tune to himself, completely happy for the moment as only children can be.

      Sophy had had to restrain herself from stopping the child’s move, but Michael’s departure had somehow heightened the tense atmosphere to breaking point. She was almost relieved when Andreas said quietly, ‘He seems remarkably well adjusted already to the loss of his father,’ as he turned to look at her.

      Sophy made the mistake of meeting the dark eyes trained on her face, and the way they all but pinned her to the spot brought a thudding in her chest which made her hand tremble slightly. ‘They…they weren’t close,’ she said stiffly, wrenching her gaze away with some effort. ‘Theodore spent most of his time working.’

      In actual fact she had always felt Theodore was a severe father and that Michael feared rather than loved him, but she wasn’t about to tell Andreas that. Besides, she could be wrong. She had only seen the two of them together a few times.

      ‘You didn’t like my brother.’ It was a cool observation.

      Surprised into looking at him again, she saw the intense eyes were narrowed and thoughtful but not hostile. Nevertheless she wasn’t about to trust him an inch, and she stared at him for a moment before responding, ‘What makes you say that?’

      ‘Am I wrong?’ he asked smoothly.

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