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‘Very…lively.’ She smiled back at him and went over to the dressing table where she began untying her long hair, running her fingers through the braid to separate the strands of flaxen blonde. ‘Your mother’s wonderful, so friendly. I’m not sure what I expected. Mothers can be a little possessive when it comes to their sons.’ Their eyes met in the mirror and he grinned at her.
‘Ah, but I am not the first born, thank Heavens. The heaviest expectations are on Theo’s shoulders. Not that he doesn’t live up to them.’
‘You do too, Michael.’
‘Hardly.’ The smile dropped for a minute but then he relaxed and moved behind her, massaging her shoulders until some of the tension eased away from her. ‘You can see why it helps so much that I have brought you along…Abby, you’re the only person I trust and I can’t tell you how much it means to me…’
‘Don’t say it.’ She swung around to face him and pulled him down so that he was kneeling in front of her. ‘I trust you too…we’re good for each other, Michael. It cuts both ways. I only hope…’
‘What?’
‘Your brother doesn’t seem to like me,’ Abby said bluntly. ‘Did you notice? I got the feeling that he was looking at me, I mean really looking at me. When everyone was at the table and he offered that toast to our engagement, he just leaned towards me after everyone else had carried on talking and said something about it being a very speedy engagement.’
‘Don’t worry about Theo,’ Michael said reassuringly. ‘He’s just an older brother. He’s always been like that. We didn’t go to the same schools. He went to England to board, but I can remember him coming back for holidays and he would always be there, at my school gates, making sure that everything was all right.’ A smile of affection lit up Michael’s attractive face. ‘He knew about me being bullied, you see. I didn’t want Mum involved, but Theo wasn’t standing for any of it. He only had to show up a couple of times, and it never happened again. He is like that, Abby. Always there for the family.’
‘Yes, but…’
‘But nothing. Do not worry.’ He stroked her arm fondly. ‘He will be able to see that we are very happy in each other’s company and that will be enough.’
Abby wasn’t too sure. Two hours later her mind was still worryingly focused on Theo, on that dark, sexy face staring at her, considering her, trying to get inside her head.
In the opaque darkness she could make out Michael’s shape on the long, elegant sofa by the window, could see his chest gently rising and falling. Michael would never see the darkness behind the light, he was just that sort of person, but she could see it. Theo Toyas unsettled her. There was a still watchfulness about him that had made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end, and even now, in the sanctuary of their room, she could still feel that shiver of apprehension just thinking about him.
Things didn’t seem so bad in the morning.
She woke early, missing the comforts of her own place and missing her son. Michael was still sleeping and she smiled fondly at the figure curled under the blanket. He could have shared her bed, he knew that, but he had chosen the sofa and she had been quietly relieved. The only body she was accustomed to sharing her space with was that of a five year old, and it would have been uncomfortable having Michael in bed with her, even though he would have kept to his side. He was not a restless sleeper.
Abby clambered out of bed. Dozing had become a thing of the past. Ever since she had had Jamie her body clock seemed to have been reset to waking up early and collapsing in bed by ten.
She tiptoed across to Michael and gently shook him until he had surfaced into a state of groggy wakefulness.
‘I need to phone Rebecca and speak to Jamie,’ she whispered, stroking back his hair, which was sticking up in odd directions. ‘Where’s the phone in this place? I don’t want to burst into anyone’s bedroom but I might as well call now while everyone’s still asleep.’
‘Out of the bedroom…hmm…’ He half sat up and frowned. ‘God, it’s been so long since I’ve been here…Why don’t you use my mobile instead? You can go down to the pool and call. Out through the front door and then turn right and keep going. Want me to come with you?’
‘And deprive you of your beauty sleep?’ Abby grinned. ‘Wouldn’t dream of it.’ She spent a scant fifteen minutes washing her face and brushing her hair, then she changed into a pair of cropped jeans and a T-shirt and headed out with Michael’s phone.
This was the first time she had been away from her son and she was missing him as much as she had known she would, even though she knew that he would be fine back in England. He was at school during the day and he adored Rebecca, who had moved in for the duration of the week to look after him.
She was already dialling the number as she made her way outside to the pool area, which was a way away from the front of the house and surrounded by protective foliage. She glanced up once and almost faltered at the beauty of the spot.
Although the gardens were lush, the natural glory of the caldera was in its rocky magnificence, sloping downwards to the still, flat water of the volcano.
She could admire later, she thought, turning her back on both the pool and the view and finding a little spot of privacy on a chair by the side. Right now she needed to get through to her son before he headed off to school.
His voice, when she finally heard it down the end of the line, after a few minutes of chatting to Rebecca, brought an instant smile to her lips. She drew her legs up and leaned back, eyes closed so that she could picture his little face, her long hair tumbling over the back of the chair.
He had a secret. He wasn’t supposed to tell. It took all of ten seconds for him to gleefully inform her that Rebecca had tucked a chocolate bar into his lunch-box. But there was some fruit too, he hastened to assure her. He babbled on, with Abby interjecting here and there, content just to listen to his childish ramblings. In her mind, she could picture him with his toffee-coloured hair rumpled, dwarfed in his uniform, which she had sensibly bought one size up so that it could last a bit longer. His thin legs would be dangling from the kitchen stool and his grey socks would be pushed down because all the other boys wore theirs like that.
‘I’ll call again later,’ she promised, hearing the catch in her voice and taking a deep breath to steady herself. ‘Don’t forget to draw me a picture for when I get back. We can put it up on the notice-board next to the one of the dinosaur.’
From the veranda Theo watched silently as the telephone call was ended and she remained where she was, her face soft, lost in her own private thoughts.
His mouth tightened as he considered her. There was only one thing that could make a woman look like that and it was a man. And there was only one reason why she would have slunk out of the house at the ridiculously early hour of six-thirty to make a call, and it was because she couldn’t afford to make the call in front of Michael.
With the fluid, soundless movements of a panther, he fetched his towel from the bathroom and took the roundabout route to the pool.
Abby, still pleasantly absorbed in thinking about Jamie, was unaware of anyone approaching until he spoke and then she jumped, spinning around in shock.
‘I’m sorry,’ she stammered, half rising as he emerged to stand in front of her. ‘I didn’t hear you coming.’
She felt her skin start to prickle with a mixture of fear and awareness as she took him in.
The full force of his male beauty hit her like a sledgehammer. He was more bronzed than his brother and vibrated with a powerful masculine attraction that Michael somehow lacked. The light of day did nothing to diminish the impression. If anything, he seemed more imposing with the harsh early sun accentuating his strong, hard features and those cold, fathomless eyes that were now boring into her with as little warmth as they had done the night before.
‘I have never developed the habit of sleeping in,’ Theo drawled, ‘even when I am taking time off work. And neither, I gather, have you. I could not help but notice that you were making a phone call.’
‘You mean you were spying on me?’ Abby asked, wondering wildly how long he had been standing behind her before making his presence known. Had he overheard her conversation? She and Michael had agreed that they wouldn’t mention Jamie just yet. One step at a time, he had said, and step one would be to introduce her to his family.
For different reasons, Abby knew that it would be a huge mistake to breathe a word about her son to the man carefully and insolently looking down at her.
‘Now I find that a very odd remark,’ Theo said speculatively. She had looked young and vulnerable last night, in her baby-pink dress, and she still looked young and vulnerable now, even though she was in figure-hugging faded cropped jeans and a T-shirt that barely skimmed her top half, leaving a slither of flat stomach visible. Her hair, he could now see, was a streaky blonde colour, the sort that most women would pay to attain, though he doubted she had been one of them. Young, vulnerable and one hundred per cent natural. Vital ingredients when it came to trapping a man, because what man could resist the charm of the untouched?
‘Why do you imagine that I would be spying on you?’ he asked. ‘Surely that would imply that I might think you have something to hide. And you haven’t, have you…?’
Abby felt telltale colour spread slowly across her cheeks. She was sitting bolt upright; their eyes locked together and she opened her mouth to laugh off his remark but nothing emerged for what seemed like the longest time.
Something to hide. Where to begin? she could have asked. The thought that he might find out anything at all made her skin crawl.
‘I should be going back in,’ she finally said, standing up on trembling legs.
‘Why? No one will get up for at least another hour or so. I’m about to have a swim. Why don’t you join me?’ Theo could have kicked himself. The first rule of making the kill was to avoid scaring off the prey. So what did he do? Jump right in and start with the accusations.
‘Join you?’ Abby asked, aghast. ‘No, really, it’s very kind of you to offer but I’ll leave you in peace…’ She took a couple of steps backwards, and then he smiled. It was a smile of such devastating charm that it almost knocked her sideways.
‘I am a man who finds peace very hard to deal with,’ he murmured persuasively. ‘Is that very sad, do you think?’
‘Yes, yes I do, actually,’ Abby replied breathlessly, and he frowned.
‘Why?’
‘I’ve got to go.’
‘You can’t possibly. It would be cruel of you to call me sad and then run away without bothering to elaborate on it.’
‘Oh, no, I didn’t mean…what I meant was…’
‘Go and get your swimsuit. We can finish this conversation in the pool. Or perhaps you would be happier just to sit by the side of the pool while I swim? Hmm?’
‘Yes! I mean…no!’
‘Besides,’ Theo said lazily, ‘Michael would like us to get to know one another, I am sure. He and I may not have grown up together in the normal fashion, what with me being sent to board from thirteen, but we are still close. He would be appalled if he thought that I…intimidated you…’
CHAPTER TWO
OF COURSE, that was what did it.
The implication that he intimidated her, that she wanted to run away from him.
Abigail thought of herself as something of a fighter. She had brought up Jamie on her own, had gone through the entire pregnancy without the support of anyone, and had been almost mortally wounded by the spectacular collapse of her relationship with her son’s father. She herself had no parents on whom to fall back and no handy network of caring relatives who could rush to her clarion call when she needed them. The only two weapons in her armoury had been her resolve to bring this baby into the world and her determination to give him all the love she was capable of giving.
To have Theo Toyas insinuate that she was running scared was like a red cloth to a bull.
Michael, as she expected, was soundly asleep when she quietly entered the bedroom to get her hat, her sun-cream and her book. The restaurant and nightclub business meant that he kept unsocial hours and could never resist the temptation to lie in whenever he could. She decided against breaking into his deep slumber for the second time to tell him where she was going, and instead headed back out towards the pool.
Just as Theo had predicted, no one was as yet up.
An hour ago it would have sent her into a tailspin to think that she was going to be alone with the man, who she was beginning to think of as a bully whatever Michael had to say on the subject, but now she strode out with the bit very firmly between her teeth.
It was to find him already in the pool, cutting through the water with the fluidity of a fish. She watched for a few minutes, fascinated by the movement of muscle, and then slowly walked towards one of the sun loungers.
She tried to take in the breathtaking view, to relish the illusion of the pool leading straight out on to the horizon, but time and again she found herself staring at the body scything through the water until finally she stuck her hat on and relaxed back, linking her fingers lightly together.
This time she was aware of his approach even though her eyes were closed. She heard him emerge from the pool and then the slap of his feet as he dragged a chair over to her and sat down.
‘I didn’t think that you would take up my invitation to join me,’ Theo said, looking down at her, at that slither of pale skin where her top ended and her jeans began. Her breasts were two small mounds pushing against the thin cotton of her T-shirt.
‘Why shouldn’t I? Besides, you’re right; Michael would want us to be friends or at least to make an effort to be amicable.’
Women didn’t usually view him as an object of dislike with whom effort was needed to be amicable but he let it go.
‘Is this your first visit to Greece?’ he asked instead, keeping his voice even. Her eyes were still closed and he found himself looking, unobserved, at those small, rounded breasts. A handful, no more. With some effort he looked away.
Abby opened her eyes and reluctantly looked at him. His hair was wet and slicked back and his body had that still damp sheen from the water. Frankly, she wished he would put his shirt back on because that hardened, well-muscled torso was just a little too much in her face for her liking.
‘My first visit to Santorini,’ Abby said coolly, averting her eyes and staring straight ahead, which was a far more calming view. ‘I’ve been to Athens. A few years ago.’
‘With your family?’ Theo asked.
‘No.’
Since she obviously didn’t want to expand on her answer, he sat back and waited in silence. Sooner or later she would fill it. People were predictable. And, since he wanted to find out as much about her as he could in the limited time at his disposal, he would wait for her to supply the details that would eventually bury her.
‘I don’t have any family. At least not in England,’ Abby eventually said irritably. ‘My parents went to Australia to live seven years ago. We don’t see one another very often, I’m afraid.’
‘You went with friends, then?’ Theo prompted. ‘Athens is a beautiful city, but I’m surprised you would have chosen that as a destination with friends. It lacks the rampant night-life of some other places, like Ibiza. Isn’t that where most young English people go to have a good time?’
‘Most,’ Abby agreed, resisting the bait. Athens was just one of those things she had no intention of talking about. Actually, even thinking about that long weekend there made her feel slightly sick. It had been the last time that she had known complete, innocent happiness. She had been in love, or so she had thought, and the world had been a very rosy place. Looking back on the person she had been then was like looking back at a stranger.
‘So you don’t know much about our island.’ Theo could barely contain the impatience in his voice. ‘Or do you? Did Michael tell you anything about it? I can’t remember the last time he was here.’
‘Oh, no. He didn’t discuss it much. Just said that the villa was your grandfather’s holiday home and that he was having his birthday celebrations here.’
‘And has the villa lived up to your expectations?’ he enquired silkily.
Abby stiffened. ‘I didn’t really think what to expect.’
‘Come now, surely that’s not true. Everyone has a vision in their mind when they’re heading off somewhere on a holiday.’ He omitted to mention the word free to describe her one week stay but it was on the tip of his tongue.
‘It’s a magnificent house,’ Abby said neutrally. She turned towards him and gave him a long, cool look. ‘Is that the right answer or is there something else I ought to say? I’m surprised by its size but only insofar as it seems big for one person to use as a holiday home.’
She might look like a girl of nineteen, he thought, but there was nothing infantile about her mind. Had he really expected that there would be? Any gold-digger worth her salt would have the shrewdness of a fox and would be clever enough to know how and when to use it. Of course she wouldn’t have tried to squeeze too much information out of his brother about where they were going. That would lead to suspicions. Even his trusting brother would be wary of the third degree, no matter how skilfully handled.
‘It was built at a time where there were far more family members around to use it. My grandmother was still alive and all their children were still at home. Then, for a short while, there were grandchildren. Times have changed but my grandfather’s affection for the island is still the same and he still chooses to come here every so often so that he can appreciate the peace of the surroundings. Naturally, Santorini is far more touristy than it used to be, but he contents himself with staying in the house and has very little idea of the shops and boutiques and hotels that have gone up in the past couple of decades.’
‘Doesn’t he get lonely, coming here by himself to relax?’ Abby was drawn into the conversation against her will. It was safe enough, she supposed, and besides, like it or not, he had a mesmerising voice, dark and deep like velvet.
‘My mother accompanies him whenever she can and usually brings some of her friends.’ Theo sat back in the chair and gazed out towards the endless landscape. ‘My grandfather is old. It would be more stressful for him to start taking holidays in a hotel some place he didn’t know than to come back to what he knows. Timos and Maria, who look after the place when it’s empty, have been here for ever. They are almost as old as he is and they are as familiar with him as old friends. Often, if he is here by himself, he will share his meals with them.’
‘And do you ever come here on holiday?’ Abby asked curiously.
‘I don’t tend to have holidays,’ Theo informed her flatly.
‘Why not?’
‘I beg your pardon?’
‘Why don’t you take holidays? Are you one of these people who thinks that relaxation is some kind of sin?’
Theo looked at her incredulously. The way she addressed the question was very nearly bordering on insolent. Insolence was not a quality he ever encountered, not in the people he met in the line of work and especially not in the women with whom he came into contact. And the way she was looking at him, big brown eyes wide and steady and ever so slightly disdainful, made his pulse accelerate with anger.
A gold-digger, he thought, a common little gold-digger daring to cross verbal swords with him!
‘I run a vast and complex empire, Miss Clinton, and, crazy though this may seem, rushing off on holiday every two weeks is not a key ingredient to my success.’
‘People always think they’re indispensable but they never are. Michael often says that he may have opened two restaurants and a nightclub, and they may be doing well, but the most important role he could play would be to ensure that they carried on running well even if he wasn’t around. A bit like having a child, I guess. You put everything into bringing them up and of course they need you, but in the end, if the parenting is halfway decent, they’re confident enough to spread their wings and find their own destiny.’
‘And what would you know about children?’
Abby could have kicked herself. Theo Toyas was dangerous. She should have had her guard up instead of finding herself lulled into meaningful conversation. ‘I’m just saying that never looking up from the grindstone seems a pointless way of life.’ She shrugged, which sent his anger levels rising. To top it off, she actually turned away from him, dismissing him from her line of vision so that she could stare out towards the horizon.
His plan to find out about her had well and truly back fired and if he wasn’t so stunned he would have been substantially angrier with her.
He decided to postpone his inquisition for a little while longer. ‘Naturally I have highly dependable and talented people but I control the reins of my organisation. Call it doing things the Greek way.’ Her face, like her body, was neat. Small straight nose, sprinkling of freckles, surprisingly dark eyebrows for someone so blonde. He caught himself staring and gritted his teeth in exasperation.
‘Okay.’
‘Okay what?’ Theo grated.
