Читать книгу The Holiday Escapes Collection - Сандра Мартон - Страница 43

IT WAS only as Charlotte handed Damon’s cheque over at the bank in her lunch hour the next day that she realised something was amiss. Her brow creased in a worried frown as she watched the teller process the transaction, the young woman’s fingers flying over the keys as the funds were deposited into Charlotte’s credit card account.

Why did Damon have an Australian bank account if he was only here for a month? But then she wondered if he’d made some arrangement with the bank after his wallet was stolen, for although his wallet had now been returned, she assumed he would have cancelled his cards when first realising what had happened.

She pushed aside the disturbing thought that he might be here for longer than a month.

That was just too terrifying to contemplate…

She left the bank and called her friend Caroline on her mobile as she walked through the park back to the museum.

‘Emily was an angel as usual,’ Caroline said once they had greeted each other. ‘How was your cocktail party?’

‘It was…stressful.’

‘Well, you were thrown right in the deep end,’ Caroline consoled her. ‘I would hate to have to step into someone else’s shoes like that at the last minute.’

Charlotte chewed her bottom lip for a moment before asking, ‘Caroline, I have some…er…work stuff to see to this evening. I know it’s a terrible imposition, but do you think you could mind Emily for another night? Something’s…cropped up.’

‘Of course,’ Caroline said. ‘Hey, you sound upset. Is everything OK?’

Charlotte hated lying to her friend but there was no way she could tell Caroline about Emily’s father being in Sydney, or at least not yet.

‘I am a bit,’ she said. ‘You know how I told you my boss Julian Deverell is having a heart procedure done?’

‘Yes, that was a shock, wasn’t it? Is he going to be all right?’

‘As far as I know, but as a result of him being out of action I’ve been handed a whole lot more responsibility for the next month. I have to put in some extra hours and…and attend one or two functions in the evenings.’

‘You know I am always happy to help, Charlotte. Us single mums have to stick together,’ Caroline said. ‘Janie loves having Emily here and, to tell you the truth, two is better than one. You know how only children can be so demanding at times. The girls play so well together it gives me time to catch up on my dressmaking.’

‘So you really don’t mind?’

‘Of course not! But if you don’t want to disrupt Emily’s home routine night after night I could always get my mother to come over to your flat to babysit,’ Caroline offered. ‘You know how much she adores Emily and she certainly won’t expect payment, so you needn’t worry on that score.’

Charlotte wished she could have taken up the generous offer, but with Stacey coming and going from her flat in various states of disarray, she couldn’t bear the explanations that would be necessary, especially to a woman of Caroline’s mother’s generation.

‘I wouldn’t want to bother your mum,’ she said. ‘Besides, it’s only for a few nights and, as you say, Emily loves being with Janie. I’ll pop over before I leave for my…er…function tonight to tuck Emily in, OK?’

‘Don’t worry about a thing,’ Caroline said. ‘You just concentrate on the job at hand. I’m sure you’re going to totally wow them at your thingy tonight.’

Yeah, right. Charlotte grimaced as she stuffed her mobile back into her shoulder bag. The last thing she wanted was to wow anybody and certainly not Damon Latousakis.

‘I can’t believe you’re doing to this to me,’ Charlotte was close to screaming at her sister as she was rushing to get ready for her meeting with Damon.

She was going to be late as it was, having spent time with Emily before she’d raced back to her flat to tidy herself up a bit. Her little daughter had been over-tired and a bit tearful and Charlotte had felt so torn, having to leave her when it was clear Emily wanted to be with her. Stacey turning up on the doorstep with a yet another plea for money had been the last straw.

‘I just want fifty bucks.’ Stacey pouted at her.

Charlotte turned from the mirror where she was trying to insert an earring. ‘Yes, but for what?’

Stacey gave a shrug. ‘Food and stuff.’

‘There’s food in the kitchen, help yourself.’

‘Come on, Charlie. I’ll pay you back.’

Charlotte glared at her in fury. ‘If you so much as dare to hand me money you’ve earned by sleeping with…’ She stopped, suddenly realising how hypocritical she was sounding.

‘What’s with you this evening?’ Stacey asked with a surly look. ‘You’re like a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.’

Charlotte straightened her spine. ‘I’m going out.’

Stacey’s eyes popped. ‘With a man?’

Charlotte pursed her lips. ‘Yes, just the one actually, nothing quite like your turnover, I’m afraid.’

Stacey whistled through her teeth. ‘So who is he?’

‘I don’t have time to go into details—I’m running late as it is.’

‘You should be careful who you go out with, Charlie,’ Stacey said. ‘There are some real creeps out there. I wouldn’t want you to get into any trouble.’

Charlotte rolled her eyes. ‘I know what I’m doing.’ She stuffed her feet into her heels and smoothed down her simple black dress, her stomach growling with nerves.

Stacey got up to follow her out of the bedroom. ‘And don’t accept any drinks from anyone unless they have been opened by you or you’ve seen them poured in front of you. You could get spiked with a drug.’

Charlotte swung around to look at her sister. ‘Why? In case I get addicted just like you?’

There was a tense little silence.

Stacey turned away, the stark outline of her thin shoulder blades beneath her close-fitting top making Charlotte’s insides twist with guilt.

‘I’m sorry…’ she began.

Stacey turned and gave her a grim look. ‘No, you’re right. You’re absolutely right. I’m an addict and I wish to God I wasn’t. I just can’t seem to get on top of it. I try and try but it’s so hard…’

‘Will you go to the clinic I suggested?’ Charlotte urged. ‘I’ve downloaded the details from the web and I’ve got the money to pay for it on my credit card.’

Stacey rolled her lips together without answering.

Charlotte decided it was time for a bit more pressure to be applied. ‘I had a conversation with the man whose wallet you stole,’ she said.

‘That arrogant pig.’ Stacey screwed up her face in disgust. ‘How’d he find you?’

‘That’s immaterial,’ she said. ‘But he said he was going to press charges.’

Stacey’s chin went up to a pugnacious height. ‘Let him. See if I care.’

‘Stacey, six weeks in prison, let alone six months or, God forbid, six years would kill you. You know it would. Look what it did to Dad. I want you to get out of town as soon as possible. You were lucky the police didn’t find you last night. The clinic is totally confidential and totally remote and secure. No one will find you there. I’ll make sure of it.’

Stacey let out a little sigh, her thin shoulders slumping in tired resignation. ‘I guess I have no choice.’

‘You don’t unless you’re ready to face the consequences of what you did. This way you can get away while the dust settles and detox at the same time. In a month you’ll be a new woman, I guarantee it.’

‘All right…’

Charlotte’s heart leapt in relief. ‘Really?’

Stacey looked down at her bruised pin-pricked arms and gave a rueful grimace. ‘Yeah…I’m ready to get sorted out. Besides, I’m running out of veins.’

Charlotte gave her a bone-crushing hug and released her to press a soft kiss to her forehead. ‘I’m proud of you, Stacey. I know you can beat this. And you don’t have to face it alone. I’ll be with you every step of the way.’

Stacey gave her another twisted little smile. ‘I don’t know why you’ve stuck by me this long. Most sisters would’ve given up long ago.’

Charlotte held her sister’s cold, claw-like hands in hers and gave them a gentle squeeze. ‘I would do anything to get you well again, Stacey. Do you understand? Absolutely anything.’

Stacey nodded, tears shining in her light blue eyes. ‘Thanks…’ She gave a big sniff and added gruffly, ‘Now look what you made me do. You made me cry.’

Charlotte gave her another quick hug. ‘I’ll see you later. Have something to eat and watch some TV or something. You can share my bed or sleep in Emily’s as she’s staying with Caroline and Janie tonight. That way we can get you to the clinic first thing in the morning.’

‘Thanks. I hope your date goes well,’ Stacey called out as Charlotte bolted for the door. She gave a teasing smile and added, ‘But don’t let him kiss you, got that? I don’t want you turning into a slut or something.’

Charlotte stretched her mouth into a smile that felt like an amusement implant. ‘Got that,’ she said and closed the door.

The hotel bar was crowded but Charlotte could feel the magnetic tug of Damon’s gaze as soon as she entered. He was standing head and shoulders above everyone else, a drink of some sort in his hand and his usual inscrutable look on his face.

Nerves fluttered like a handful of moths in her stomach as she walked to where he was standing, her tongue sneaking out to run over her lips as she met the twin black pools of his gaze.

‘Would you like a drink?’ he asked without so much as a greeting, his eyes running over her possessively.

She raised her chin in pride. ‘I would like you to greet me as if I was a normal date. I do have a name, you know.’

His dark eyes held hers for a moment. Then, placing his glass to one side with an exactitude she found a little unnerving, he took her by the upper arms and, tugging her towards his hard body, planted a hot, moist brandy-flavoured kiss to her mouth.

‘Kalispera, Charlotte,’ he drawled.

She stumbled backwards when he released her, her face aflame. ‘I didn’t mean like that!’

He raised his brows. ‘Would you have preferred me to caress you as well?’

She let out a hissing breath and ground out in an undertone, in case the nearby drinkers could hear, ‘I would prefer not to be here at all. Having you paw me in public would be the ultimate in degradation.’

A warning flickered in his black eyes as they locked with hers. ‘Careful, Charlotte,’ he said. ‘I wouldn’t want to have to spoil this evening by calling the police. Where is your sister, by the way?’

‘I don’t know where she is,’ she lied. ‘I haven’t seen her.’

‘Well, when you do see her, perhaps you can give her this message,’ he said. ‘Her attempt to use one of my credit cards earlier today has left a trail a mile wide for the authorities to follow. When my wallet was stolen I cancelled all but one of my cards. Of course I lowered the limit available on it, but I wanted to see if she would take the bait and—just like you four years ago—she did.’

Charlotte felt her heart lurch sideways in her chest. Was there to be no end to this torture?

‘But of course I am willing to overlook that little indiscretion if you behave yourself,’ he added smoothly.

‘I can only apologise on my sister’s behalf,’ she said, shifting her gaze from the steely probe of his. ‘She has…some emotional problems and I’m doing my best to help her through them.’

‘What sort of emotional problems?’

Charlotte could feel the weight of his gaze as she fixed her eyes on the woodwork of the bar. ‘Depression…that sort of thing…our mother died three years ago. She’s still missing her terribly.’

Damon signalled for the bartender’s attention. He didn’t want to have his heart-strings pulled by what was very probably yet another outright lie. As much as he was familiar with grief, he’d seen her sister when she’d propositioned him and she hadn’t looked too depressed to him. She’d been bouncy, flirtatious and carefree, her eyes even brighter than her smile.

‘What would you like to drink?’ he asked again as the bartender approached them.

‘Soda water,’ she answered without looking at him.

‘Nothing stronger?’

‘No.’

‘You want to keep a clear head so you can keep track of your lies, eh, Charlotte?’

Her eyes flew back to his in a startled glance. ‘No…I—I just don’t want to drink and drive.’

‘You should have caught a cab.’

‘I can’t afford it.’

‘I just gave you a considerable sum of money. Surely you haven’t spent it already?’

Not until I get home and book my sister’s clinic stay, Charlotte thought with another rush of relief that Stacey was actually going to get clean at last. It would be worth every moment of agony Damon put her through to see her sister put her addiction behind her and develop her full potential, perhaps even return to her studies. Stacey had shown such promise as a young university student. She had topped all of her grades in the science degree she had enrolled in, but it had all come to a grinding halt once she had tasted the compulsive poison of heroin.

‘No,’ she said into the little silence. ‘But it intrigued me when I deposited the cheque as to why you would have an Australian bank account. I don’t see why you’d go to that bother if you’re only here for a month.’

‘I have some business interests here,’ he informed her. ‘This trip, though short, will not be my last.’

Charlotte nearly choked on her sip of soda water. ‘Business interests? Here?’

He twirled his brandy for a moment. ‘Yes. Apart from my own investment firm in Athens and helping my mother with the Eleni Foundation and the gallery in Oia, I have some investments in an Australian company.’

‘What sort of company?’ She curled her lip and added, ‘Shipping?’

He smiled at her sarcastic expression. ‘Now that would be too clichéd, ne?’

‘I thought all Greek billionaires had an interest in shipping one way or the other,’ she said, staring back at the bubbles in her glass.

‘I have a yacht, as you may recall from your stay on Santorini,’ he said. ‘But no, I prefer to keep my investments on solid ground. I have bought a small Queensland island from a private owner. I plan to develop an exclusive Greek-style resort.’

‘This is Australia, not Greece,’ she reminded him with an arch look. ‘Anything you do here will be a cheap imitation of the real thing.’

‘It will certainly not be cheap,’ he said with a wry smile. ‘Not for me in terms of development or indeed for those who wish to stay there once it is completed. It will be a haven for the very rich, no one else need apply.’

Charlotte looked away from his handsome features. When he smiled like that it stirred memories she didn’t want stirred. The first thing she had loved about him four years ago had been his smile. It had brightened his eyes with a warmth that had melted her completely—the very same warmth her tiny daughter had exhibited less than an hour and a half ago when her little arms had wrapped around her neck, her soft little mouth pressing loving moist kisses to her cheek.

‘Perhaps I will take you there when it is done,’ he said, lifting his drink to his lips, his dark eyes still on her.

She blinked at him in alarm. ‘You’re not serious, surely? I mean…this month…this thing we’re…er…doing…it’s only for a month, right?’

He tilted his head at her as if eyeing her worth. ‘I have been doing some thinking. What if we were to see each other every time I came to Australia?’

Her eyes flashed back at him. ‘What if I told you to go to hell?’

He laughed and drained the rest of his drink. ‘Then I would have to think of a way of convincing you to change your mind.’

Charlotte put her glass down with a clunk on the bar. ‘We agreed on a month and that’s all you’re getting.’

He placed his empty glass right next to hers, the frosted sides touching. ‘Then let’s get on with it,’ he said and, reaching for her hand, pulled her to her feet.

She had no choice but to follow him. His fingers were like steel around hers, the underlying strength reminding her against going head to head in battle with him, especially in such a public place.

Panic began to claw at her insides. She couldn’t do this. Not now. Not ever.

She couldn’t sell herself to him.

Not like this.

How on earth did her sister do this with perfect strangers? she wondered sickly. Charlotte at least had loved Damon once…but it still didn’t make it right, especially when he had no idea he had fathered a child.

In her escalating dread she considered telling him—perhaps then he would think twice about sleeping with her. But then, she reminded herself, he would think nothing of removing Emily from her custody. He had already demonstrated his ruthlessness; how much more ruthless would he become once he found out he had a child?

The lift arrived with a chiming ping and he ushered her in with a firm hand in the small of her back.

‘I—I’m not ready for this,’ she said, trying to ease out of his hold. ‘It’s too soon.’

‘It’s not soon enough,’ he contradicted. ‘I should have let you service me in the limousine last night. I was thinking of your dancing little hot breath and flicking tongue all last night. I hardly slept at all.’

His words set off an erotic response in her body she couldn’t control. She felt the seeping nectar of need between her thighs and her breasts started to prickle against the lace of her bra.

The lift opened on his floor and he escorted her into his penthouse, closing the door once they were inside with a finality that terrified her.

‘Please, Damon…’ She struggled to contain her emotions. ‘Please give me some time…I’m not…I’m out of practice. I haven’t had a lover since…I mean, for a long time…I don’t even know if I can…you know…do it any more…’

Damon had to fight his urge to laugh at her paltry attempt to hoodwink him. Hadn’t she done this little routine before? The virginal shyness had all been a ruse and he wasn’t so foolish as to fall for it a second time.

‘I am sure you will quickly recall the necessary steps,’ he said. ‘You were a fast learner in the past—that is, in fact, if you were indeed learning as you claimed.’

‘Please…’ Her eyes were bright with moisture. ‘Please give me tonight to just talk with you…to get to know you again…before we…do anything else…’

Damon compressed his lips, torn between wanting her and feeling something he didn’t want to feel. She was so very beautiful, her skin like smooth cream, her shoulder-length curly chestnut hair like silk, her striking blue eyes luminous and her body a temptation he found hard to resist. She had lost the youthful coltish look she’d had when she’d been in Greece. Her body now at the age of twenty-five, almost twenty-six, was riper, more mature, but, if anything, even more feminine. Her breasts were fuller and her soft curves so alluring he could feel himself hardening just thinking about sinking into her hot slippery warmth.

‘You are very convincing,’ he conceded. ‘But I am not fooled. You are buying time. What do you hope to achieve, Charlotte—another attempt at stealing from me?’

‘No, of course not…’It was only as she said the words that she realised how incriminating they sounded. ‘I—I mean I didn’t steal from you in the first place.’

She could see that he didn’t believe her. The suspicion glittered in his eyes as they held hers.

‘All right, we will do things your way,’ he said with a hard set to his mouth. ‘But I am only doing so to see what deceitful little ploy you come up with next.’

‘Thank you…’ She choked back a sob and rummaged in her bag for a tissue.

He frowned at the relief in her tone. It didn’t sit comfortably with him to have her so stricken at the thought of his touch, especially when last night she had responded to him with such heated fervour. He had temporarily unleashed the passionate woman she was, but now she was hiding it from him, shrinking away from him as if she had something to hide…or something else to gain, he reminded himself cynically.

Charlotte blew her nose and, pocketing her tissue, sniffed once or twice to get herself back in control. ‘I’m sorry, Damon…this is not what you paid for in terms of company.’

‘No, but you and I both know it is only a matter of time before we both get what we want,’ he said with arrogant confidence.

Charlotte watched as he moved across the room to pick up the room service menu. It was hard to believe he had given her a reprieve, but for how long? She couldn’t hope to hold him off for more than a night or two at the most.

‘What would you like to eat?’ he asked, handing her the menu.

She looked down at the items without reading a single word. ‘I don’t know…I’m not very hungry at the moment; why don’t you choose?’

He took the menu back from her and reached for the phone by the king-size bed. ‘Do you still like seafood?’ he asked as he pressed the room service number.

‘Yes…I love it…’ she answered, privately amazed that he’d remembered that about her. What else had he remembered?

He put an order through and replaced the receiver. ‘What about a drink?’ he asked. ‘The mini-bar is well stocked. Surely one glass of wine won’t compromise your driving record?’

But it might compromise my resistance, Charlotte reminded herself. ‘No, I’m really happy with soda or mineral water,’ she said. ‘I have to start early in the morning now that Julian is in hospital.’

‘How is your boss, Mr Deverell?’

‘He’s doing well,’ she said. ‘I called his wife this afternoon. He came through the angioplasty well but it will be a week or two before he’s ready to return to work.’

‘He spoke very highly of you,’ Damon said, pouring himself a glass of red wine. ‘In all of my correspondence with him over the last few months, he has been glowing in his praise.’

Charlotte decided that silence was her best armour.

He turned to look at her. ‘I found it hard to believe we were speaking about the same person.’

‘I told you before I haven’t changed, Damon.’

‘No, that is something I am very sure of,’ he said, his gaze hardening with bitterness. ‘You are still the same person you were when you came to Santorini.’

‘I did not steal those sculptures or indeed anything else from your mother.’

‘So you keep saying, but you were the only one who could have done so,’ he said. ‘If you remember, you were given on that day and the ones preceding it, the total responsibility of the gallery. My mother trusted you implicitly. You betrayed that trust.’

‘I don’t know how that sculpture came to be in my bag, but I swear to God I didn’t put it there. As for the other things found in my room at the hostel…’ she gnawed at her lip as the memory of that shocking time returned ‘…I wasn’t responsible.’

‘Are you forgetting the surveillance cameras we had placed strategically in the gallery?’ he asked. ‘You were caught on film putting something in your bag on the day in question.’

She blew out a breath of frustration. She had told him all this before. Why wouldn’t he believe her?

‘I was putting my mobile phone away! My mother had texted me and I heard the phone beeping. I checked my messages but then a customer came into the gallery and I had to wait to put my phone back. That’s what you saw on your stupid cameras. Why don’t you run a check on the customer? Maybe they did it.’

‘The customer in question was a tourist from Scotland. I have already done the necessary checks. She is a grandmother from Fife who attends church every Sunday. She didn’t steal the statue, Charlotte.’

Charlotte felt her shoulders drop in defeat. There was no way of proving her innocence. It hurt unbearably that he thought her capable of such a betrayal of trust. She had loved working at the gallery; some of the items were so exquisite it had made her feel so privileged to have been left with the responsibility of looking after them. The collection of ancient and modern works Damon’s father had gathered over a lifetime had been a wonderful opportunity for her to complete her study of Minoan artefacts. The thought of stealing any item from such an amazing collection was against everything she believed in. She had no idea how and why such precious items had turned up in her bag and in her room. As far as she knew, she’d made no enemies while staying on Santorini; even the two young men at the hostel, although playful and boisterous at times, were the last people she would have expected to show that level of malice. Everyone had been so friendly and welcoming, especially Damon’s mother, whom Charlotte had considered a friend virtually from the word go.

‘I don’t care what you think, Damon. I honoured your mother’s trust in me. I would never have betrayed her or you. I was there to do some research for my degree. When I met you in that restaurant that night in Imerovigli I had no idea who you were. At first I thought you were one of the archaeologists working on the Akrotiri site. You seemed to know so much about Minoan artefacts.’

‘Which is why you set about charming me, was it not?’ he asked. ‘You were on a mission. You had a goal in sight and nothing was going to stop you from achieving it. You were systematically removing items from the collection to sell on the black market. It has been done before and much money made out of it. All you had to do was get into my family’s good books and your task was made all the easier.’

‘I can’t make you believe anything other than you want to believe,’ she said. ‘I know you think I’m guilty, but the only thing I’m guilty of is trusting you too much. I thought we had a solid relationship. I thought that even though we had met and developed strong feelings for each other in a very short time it would be enough to withstand anything. I was wrong.’

He gave her a disgusted look. ‘You were not in love with me. You pretended with the skill of an accomplished actor but I know now what wool you pulled over my eyes.’

She looked at him in despair, her voice unable to rise above a distraught whisper. ‘You really hate me, don’t you, Damon?’

His eyes burned into hers. ‘What else do you expect me to feel for you? Love?’

‘No…’ She lowered her gaze. ‘No, of course not…but hating me for something I didn’t do is so unjust.’

‘It might interest you to know that I was close to falling in love with you four years ago—the closest I had ever been with anyone before or since,’ he said. ‘I was even prepared to go against the tradition of my family, who had always married within the Greek community, and offer you marriage, but you showed your true colours just in time.’

Charlotte had been well aware of the expectation that he would marry from within his own culture when the time was right. His mother had hinted at it gently from time to time, although she had seemed quite happy for him to indulge his passion with Charlotte and had even at times encouraged it. Alexandrine had told her that a man in his late twenties needed his freedom to prepare for the long road of commitment ahead. Her husband Nicolas had been several years older than her and had enjoyed his playboy lifestyle to the full, finally settling down into the role of devoted husband and father with great happiness and fulfilment until his untimely death when Damon had been a young teenager.

Damon’s sister Eleni had been slightly less enthusiastic about Charlotte’s affair with her older brother, but to her credit she had still always remained friendly and polite. Charlotte had realised that Eleni was used to having her brother’s attention. Since their father’s death Damon had been a father figure for her as well as her brother. He clearly adored her and lavished her with attention whenever he could. However, once his affair with Charlotte became more intense, as his sister she’d had to take a back seat in his affections. But, as for her showing any sort of spite, Charlotte had never once seen or heard anything that would make her believe that Eleni was anything other than a lovely young woman who worshipped her older brother.

It was hard to believe that the young girl was now dead. As soon as Charlotte had heard Damon had set up the Eleni Foundation in her memory she had been totally shocked. Eleni Latousakis had been so vibrant, so full of life. It didn’t seem possible that she was lying now in a cold grave.

It was equally heartbreaking now to realise that Damon had been close to falling in love with her and had intended to ask her to marry him, but instead she had been accused of theft. She had not even had time to protest her innocence with any degree of conviction as Damon had made it clear she was to leave the island immediately or face the authorities. He hadn’t even listened when she had told him she thought she might be pregnant. He had dismissed her callously, claiming he never wanted to see her again and that any child she was expecting couldn’t possibly be his. His anger had been monumental and his threats so terrifying that she had decided against going through the harrowing process of facing the police and the deportment authorities. Instead she had boarded the next available flight to Athens and then on to Sydney, her heart shattered and the course of her life changed for ever when the following month it had been confirmed that she had not left empty-handed after all.

She had taken a part of Damon with her…