Sidonie felt devoid of all feeling except one: she hated this man. And she couldn’t believe how gullible she’d been—how naïve not to have assumed that a man as powerful as him would, of course, be suspicious and cynical by nature.
She said flatly, ‘I would prefer to swim home.’
Alexio shrugged minutely, as if he couldn’t care less. ‘As you wish. There’s a boat leaving for Piraeus this evening. My housekeeper’s husband will take you to the port.’
Sidonie welcomed that. Because right now she hated herself for automatically thinking about what it would be like to get on a plane again without this man distracting her from her fear with his charming sexy smile. With that wicked mouth.
He turned away and then turned back abruptly, his eyes dark. Something in his voice was a bit wild, but Sidonie was too traumatised to notice it.
‘Tell me...was it on the plane, when you knew who I was? Did you decide then to try and hook me by making me believe you were different from every other woman I’ve ever met?’
Sidonie just looked at him. Words of defence were stuck in her throat. She had no defence—not when this man had proved that he had suspected her of something long before he’d even had a reason to. And he still had no reason to. She had trusted him, blindly, right from the start, never suspecting for a moment how dark he was inside. How he could so easily condemn her.
She never wanted to see him again because he had just proved that she would never be free of the past. He had broken her heart into a million pieces and she’d never forgive herself for that weakness. Or him.
His condemnation would be her defence, so she said, ‘Yes. On the plane. As soon as I knew who you were.’
Alexio looked at her for a taut moment and then he turned and strode away, leaving her standing there. As soon as he was out of sight Sidonie blindly made her way into theen suitebathroom of the bedroom where they’d made love too many times to count and was violently ill.
Afterwards, when Alexio’s helicopter had left and she’d changed into her own clothes and packed her bag, Sidonie sat on a lounger outside with the glorious view unnoticed in front of her. She was still numb. Devoid of any substantial feeling. She knew it was the protection of shock.
One thing impinged, though: disgust at herself for having indulged in this fantasy. She’d wanted one night and had then grabbed for more... Had she on some level hoped that Alexio would want her for longer? Deeper? Had she ignored her own usually healthy self-protective cautious nature because she’d been blinded by opulence? The thought made her feel sick again.
Bitterly she surmised that she should have listened to him more closely when he’d told her his reasons for turning his back on his inheritance. He was driven and ruthless—had dashed his own father’s expectations and dreams to fuel his own desires.
She’d believed his reasons were justified when she’d heard them at first—she’d heard the way his voice had constricted when he’d talked about his father, as if even now he felt the unbearable yoke of expectation. She’d admired him.
But now she saw him for what he really was: an amoral, ambitious, greedy man who would step over his nearest and dearest to get ahead. She hadn’t stood a chance. He might have heard her damning conversation with her aunt, but he’d already investigated her at that stage and had clearly believed her worthy of judgement because of her mother’s criminal record.
Those two years of her mother’s incarceration were etched like an invisible tatoo into Sidonie’s skin. A stain of shame that would never be gone, but which had faded over time...until now.
Sidonie’s well-ingrained sense of responsibility rose up. She should never have indulged herself like this. She had her aunt to worry about now, and clearing the debts.
She heard a car pull up somewhere nearby. It would be the housekeeper’s husband. She stood up and tried not to let the emotion brewing within her break free. She couldn’t let it. She was afraid of its awesome power. Of how much it would tell her about a hurt that shouldn’t be so deep—not after just a few days with a man she hadn’t even known.
A man appeared, old and bent, with a weathered face and black eyes. His dour expression gave Sidonie some sense of relief. If he’d been kind she might have broken apart altogether. He took her bag and at the same time handed her a white envelope with nothing written on it.
Sidonie opened it and saw a cheque with her name on it inside. It was for an amount of money that took her breath away. Enough to halve her aunt’s debts at least. The signature at the bottom was bold and arrogant. Reeking of condemnation and disgust.
Fire filled Sidonie’s belly. She stalked straight back into the villa and went to Alexio’s office.
She took the cheque out of the envelope and ripped it up into tiny pieces. Then she put them back in the envelope and wrote on the outside.
It was never about the money.
And then she left.
Four months later...
Alexio looked down at the craggy dark island below him with its distinctive white and blue roofs. The helipad on his own villa loomed into view and tension made his gut hard. Alexio grimaced as his solicitor’s words came back to him.‘You’re heading for burnout, man. I’ve never seen you like this before.’
Alexio couldn’t remember being like this before either—not even in the days when he’d been struggling and working night and day to make a success of his business. But for the last four months he’d barely stopped to breathe. On automatic pilot.
His fortune had doubled. His acquisitions had extended to North America, making him the first European budget airline to secure such a lucrative contract. Now he was global, having taken half the time people had predicted.
But Alexio felt as if an essential fire inside him had been doused. He rejected the thought immediately. Nothing was different. He was still the same—held the same values and ambitions.
As the small aircraft circled lower and lower he foughthermemory. This was precisely why he’d avoided coming back here before now. During daylight hours he had to make a concerted effort not to think of her; that was where work came in. But in the nights she haunted him. Stopped him from sleeping. Made his body ache so badly that he had to ease it like a horny teenager.
