LITMIR.BIZ

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around for a moment. ‘Not here …’

      Lucy’s arms tightened again. She shook her head fiercely. Go back to Greece? He had to be kidding. The thought of being in close proximity to this man was about as dangerous as sky-diving without a parachute.

      He registered her reaction and Lucy saw something flicker in his eyes.

      ‘Lucy, please.’

      Something in the quality of his voice made her stop, but still she shook her head. Nothing on this earth would persuade her to set herself up to be hurt again. She crushed the treacherous need to know answers: why did he want her to go to Greece? Why wasn’t he sweeping in here and demanding to know why she hadn’t taken the job? It was what she might have expected. Why wasn’t he acting like the proud, arrogant man she knew? And—the worst question of all—why had it taken him two weeks to come after her?

      Ari’s jaw clenched and something trickled down Lucy’s spine. She saw a glimpse of the man she knew. Hard and implacable.

      ‘Very well, if the only way I can persuade you to come is by threatening to reveal to the press that your mother is here, then so be it.’

      Lucy gasped and went icy cold. On some level she was certain that Ari would never do such a thing, but on another level she wasn’t absolutely sure, and the fact that he was even threatening such a thing made her feel acutely disappointed, and if she was disappointed what did that say about her own pathetically skewed judgment?

      ‘You absolute bastard.’

      He stepped forward and she stepped back, seeing colour flash through his cheeks. He held out a hand imperiously, and when she didn’t move he just dropped it and said, sounding utterly defeated, ‘I don’t know where that came from. I’m sorry. Of course I wouldn’t do that to you or your mother. I just want you to come with me so that I can show you something and talk to you … I promise that if you want to return after you’ve seen it and we’ve talked, I’ll bring you straight back here.’

      Lucy looked at him for a long moment. She was already starting to drown in those green depths. The real and awful truth was that she’d go to the ends of the earth if this man asked her. A very weak part of her was saying, Go, go, go, and she could already feel resistance washing away. He was confusing her with his behaviour, with the vulnerability she’d glimpsed but couldn’t quite believe. Even so, she had every intention of keeping him to his word.

      She said tightly, ‘You promise? Then you’ll leave me alone and let me find another job?’

      He nodded. ‘I’ll make sure nothing stands in your way.’ Lucy waited for what seemed like an interminable moment, and then finally said, ‘I’ll get my jacket and bag.’

      A scant few hours later they were landing at Athens airport, and Lucy still felt slightly winded at knowing that she’d been sitting at her mother’s bedside just hours before. The steward opened the plane door and Ari stood and held out a hand. Lucy looked at it. They hadn’t spoken a word on the flight. Ari had been sternly cold.

      Feeling intense trepidation, she put her hand in his and let him pull her up. He led her out, and then they were climbing into a nearby helicopter, which was lifting into the clear blue sky within minutes.

      Lucy’s hands were tightly clasped in her lap, and she avoided looking at Ari as much as possible. After a while Lucy could see that they were circling an island, and she recognised Paros. A mixture of sheer pleasure and intense pain gripped her. If he’d brought her here just to—

      But the helicopter was landing, and then they were out, and it was just Lucy and Ari, standing by the same Jeep they’d used the last time. Memories were too intense.

      Lucy backed away and mocked herself inwardly for having such a weak and delayed reaction. He’d got her here by barely saying please. She was pathetic.

      ‘Ari, if we’re just here so that you can—’

      He came and stood close—too close. ‘Lucy, please, just trust me. A little further, that’s all.’

      Where could she go anyway? Lucy looked around. They were miles from anything. Silently she got into the Jeep. Ari got in too, and then they were driving. When she recognised the signs for his mother’s tiny village Ari turned and went eastwards. After another ten minutes he took a sharp left turn down towards the coast, and they stopped at a set of ancient wrought-iron gates, nearly overgrown with vegetation.

      Ari came round to meet Lucy. He helped her out but when he saw her open her mouth as if to speak he put a finger to her lips. He’d never been so terrified in his entire life; his heart was hammering painfully.

      ‘This is what I wanted to show you.’

      The feel of her soft lips against his finger nearly undid him, but he controlled himself.

      He led her in through the gate, which was hanging off its hinges, then down an overgrown path and out into a huge clearing where an old and rambling villa, clearly dilapidated, stood on a bluff overlooking the sea.

      Lucy’s hand tightened reflexively in Ari’s. It must have been stunning in its heyday, and the view was priceless. Already she could imagine what it might be like if it was done up, restored to its former glory.

      ‘What is this place?’

      Ari brought her over to the other side of the house and an unimpeded view of the sea to where a trail led down to a private beach.

      ‘I bought it … signed the papers just yesterday.’

      Lucy felt a little bewildered. He’d brought her here to show her his latest acquisition? ‘Oh … well, congratulations.’

      He turned and looked at her intently. ‘You like it, don’t you?’

      Lucy frowned, feeling very vulnerable. ‘Well, of course I like it. It’s beautiful, idyllic, but what does it matter what I think about it?’

      He didn’t say anything for a long moment, and then he said, ‘Because I bought it for you … for us.’

      Lucy tried to make sense of his words, feeling a little spaced-out. ‘You mean …?’ Something struck her then, and anger flowered deep down. She took her hand from his. ‘Ari, if you’ve bought this as some kind of … of love-nest, just so that I can be your mistress—’

      He was shaking his head, a curious light in his eyes. ‘No. I want it to be a home—a place where we can come … perhaps even with a family …’

      Lucy was starting to flounder badly. His words were making all sorts of things bloom in her heart, making it beat faster. How could he know of her deeply secret daydreams? It felt as if he was looking straight into her head. ‘Ari—I don’t … What are you talking about …?’

      He brought a shaking hand to her face, his eyes so intense it nearly hurt to look at them. ‘Lucy, I brought you here because here is the only place I know how to be me, where I can say what I need to say. I’ve been going crazy these past two weeks. At first I told myself I didn’t need you, that I wasn’t devastated beyond belief when I found out you hadn’t taken the job with Theo. And then one night, at three o’clock in the morning, when I found myself driving to your flat and sitting outside like a stalker, I had to face up to myself.’

      He took a deep breath. ‘I think I fell in love with you when you appeared like a whirling dervish to defend me against Helen. I’ve never had anyone stand up for me before—care about me before. I’ve never needed it. But you made me realise how lonely I’ve been all my life.’

      His mouth twisted. ‘I thought I had it all figured out. I’d keep you on in the company if you insisted on working, but essentially I wanted you as my mistress. It was only when I said the words out loud I realised what an insult it was—especially to you, after all you’ve been through. And it was then that I knew I wanted much, much more than that. I wanted everything. A life together. A marriage.’

      He laughed harshly.

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