LITMIR.BIZ

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      ‘Thank you,’ Jemma responded curtly, finally tearing her gaze away from his, and not believing him for a second. She was too shocked to say anything more. Luke Devetzi had angered her so much that she had blurted out in public that Alan was dead—something she had rarely had the strength to do before—and it scared her.

      ‘Forgive my grandson for being so crass. I know exactly how you feel,’ Theo cut in, and she was grateful for the old man’s intervention. ‘I have also lost my wife, but let me assure you it does get easier.’ After giving her a sympathetic smile he looked back at his grandson. ‘But Jemma is right, Luke, perhaps I was a bit hasty in coming out tonight.’ Suddenly rising to his feet, with more agility than Jemma would have thought him capable of, he grasped Luke’s arm—just as Jan appeared.

      ‘Luke, darling, is everything all right?’

      Looking from Theo to Luke and back again, Jemma had the oddest feeling some silent communication had passed between them.

      Jan placed a proprietorial hand on Luke’s shirtfront.

      ‘No, my grandfather isn’t feeling too well, so I am going to take him straight home. Sorry we have to leave early, but it is necessary,’ Luke said smoothly.

      ‘Oh, must you?’ Jan pouted ‘Surely you can stay, even if your grandfather has to leave? I’ll call him a cab.’

      ‘No, I couldn’t possibly allow him to go home alone.’ Luke removed Jan’s hand from his chest, his tone hard, and Jemma had a feeling that Jan had just made a big mistake with this man.

      ‘Oh, but you don’t need to,’ Jan gushed, and turned a pleading look on Jemma. ‘Do Luke and I another favour and take Mr Devetzi home, please, Jemma? You know you don’t really like parties and he’ll be fine with you. Plus, Luke hasn’t had the chance to properly speak to David yet.’

      Jemma almost laughed. Jan’s barefaced cheek never failed to amaze her. She’d opened her mouth to make some non-committal answer when Theo intervened. ‘No, thank you, Miss Sutherland. I wouldn’t feel happy imposing on your sister in such a way. It’s time I left.’ And, taking Luke’s arm, he apologised for dragging his grandson away. ‘I am feeling rather weak.’

      Luke wasn’t feeling so great himself. For a man who was always in control, it was galling to have to admit he had been completely blindsided by the evening’s events. He wanted to talk to Jemma. Who was he kidding? He wanted to do a lot more than talk to her. But now wasn’t the time or the place. She would keep, he decided, and the quicker he got away from this disastrous party the better.

      ‘Sorry, ladies, but we have to leave,’ Luke said. ‘Give my apologies to your father and I’ll call you later, Jan. No doubt I’ll see you again, Jemma.’

      Not if I see you first, Jemma thought. Then, while Jan monopolised Luke’s attention once more, she leant forward and kissed the old man’s cheek. ‘You take care, Theo.’

      ‘I will. You’ve been very kind to me, Jemma. And, disappointed as I am about the villa, I would like to repay your kindness by taking you out to lunch tomorrow, before I return to Greece.’

      ‘I can’t tomorrow,’ Jemma refused, glad she had a genuine excuse. She had already lied to Theo about not having met Luke before, and she’d rather not have to lie to him again. But as it happened she was lunching with Alan’s parents in Eastbourne—something she did every month. ‘I’m lunching with my parents-in-law tomorrow; although it’s over two years since I lost my husband, we still keep in touch. So some other time, perhaps,’ she said quietly.

      Much as she liked the old man, she wanted nothing whatsoever to do with his grandson, and the quicker the Devetzi males left, the better she would like it. Jemma heaved a shaky sigh of relief as she watched Theo follow Jan and Luke out into the hall.

      ‘Thanks a bunch,’ Jan said sarcastically five minutes later, having returned from escorting the men out. ‘You could have insisted on taking the old bloke home, and then Luke could have stayed longer.’

      ‘Maybe—you know Luke Devetzi better than I do,’ Jemma said, shrugging. ‘But he strikes me as a man who does what he wants, and gets what he wants—women included—and I doubt he would be the faithful type.’ It was as near as Jemma felt she could go in warning Jan just what an inveterate womaniser Luke Devetzi was. ‘I hope you know what you’re getting into.’ Jan was selfish, but harmless, and she would hate to see her get hurt.

      ‘That’s the problem,’ Jan said with her usual bluntness. ‘I haven’t succeeded in getting into him yet, and I’m dying of frustration. According to the magazines he’s been dating Davina Lovejoy, that top New York designer. But he’s in London now, and I’m here and she isn’t, and surely Luke must be feeling the same. He’s notorious for the number of women he’s bedded, and for his prowess as a lover.’

      It was a lot more than Jemma needed to know, and she burst out laughing. If there was a touch of hysteria in the sound, Jan never noticed.

      Two hours later Jemma was back home in the small terraced house in Bayswater she had shared with Alan, curled up in bed.

      In his penthouse across town, Luke Devetzi studied Theo with some frustration. His grandfather had never said a word on the drive home. On arriving back at the apartment, Theo had poured them both a nightcap and simply said the villa was not for sale and he was no longer bothered. Now he was sitting on the sofa, his leg once more propped up on a footstool. His dark eyes lacked their usual sparkle, and the expression on his face was one of resigned acceptance.

      ‘Let me get this straight: after all the fuss you have made trying to buy the villa on Zante, now you’re telling me you don’t care any more?’

      ‘I do care. It’s just that I have finally realised it’s impossible,’ Theo said quietly. ‘Jemma explained to me tonight that she can’t sell it because her aunt left it in trust for her and her children, and her children’s children.’

      ‘Trusts can be broken,’ Luke suggested. ‘You don’t have to give up yet.’

      ‘Maybe.’ Theo sighed. ‘But it can take years to wade through legal red tape, and even if I live long enough—well, you’ve met Jemma—can you honestly see a beautiful, compassionate woman like her being a widow for much longer? I can’t. She is young, and her husband has been dead for over two years.’

      Luke sat down suddenly and almost choked on his whisky. So Jemma had not been married when he’d slept with her! ‘Two years, you say? Are you sure?’ he queried. He had made enough mistakes with Jemma, and he was determined to make no more. He could almost laugh at how wrong he’d been about her—except that it wasn’t funny. His grandfather had lost his dream, and he had bedded and then insulted the sexiest woman he had ever met.

      ‘Yes, she told me tonight as we were leaving. She may not realise it yet, but she has done her mourning. Unless all English men are blind, some guy will snap her up and she will almost certainly be married and with child long before the trust can be broken. It’s hopeless, and I am going to bed.’ Picking up his stick, he rose to his feet and hobbled up the steps. Stopping at the top, he turned and said, ‘Milo and I are going back to Greece in the morning. Goodnight.’ And he left.

      Luke saw the defeated droop to Theo’s shoulders as he left the room. He hated that his grandfather had been disappointed, but he had to admit the old man’s assessment was right—getting the villa did look pretty hopeless now.

      He saw again in his mind’s eye the beautiful Jemma, so calm and considerate with Theo, but so cool with him. His body hardened as he recalled her naked body in every minute detail—the silken softness of her skin, the sweet taste of her rose-tipped breasts, the almost dreamlike quality of their lovemaking which had grown into a white-hot, all-consuming passion.

      Restlessly he stood up again, about to pour another whisky. But he stopped. He didn’t need a drink; he needed to think. Maybe if he approached Jemma personally and offered her an enormous amount of money to break the trust she would agree. With

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