When Christakos Meets His Match

by Abby Green

  Alexio took some of her hair between his fingers and caressed it, saying, ‘Such a pity...but if you’re positive...?’

  Mock resolute, Sidonie said, ‘I’m positive.’

  Joking aside, Alexio lifted one shoulder and said, ‘It’s really not that exciting.’

  ‘I’m intrigued. It’s not many people who would turn their back on an Onassis-sized inheritance.’

  Alexio grimaced. ‘The size of the inheritance was vastly exaggerated...’

  Sidonie stayed quiet.

  With clear reluctance Alexio told her, ‘I am my father’s only son. Even though my half-brother grew up with us, my father used to taunt him every day that he would not receive a cent from him. I always resented my father’s lack of generosity and the way he wielded his power over everyone else. But I saw how it forged in my brother a will to succeed and prosper on his own. I envied him because he wasn’t constrained like I was. Bound to my father’s expectations. My father used to pit us against each other all the time, me and my brother.’

  Alexio grimaced.

  ‘Obviously this didn’t do our relationship much good, and by the time my brother left home it’s safe to say we hated each other’s guts. My father just assumed I would be joining him in his empire. He never listened to me long enough to know that I had no interest in his shipping business. I rebelled against that expectation. The business wasn’t even his—not rightfully. He was the second son and his brother had died at a young age, leaving him in line to take over. His own father hadn’t wanted it for him, but my father grabbed it with both hands and ousted my grandfather as soon as he could.’

  Sidonie’s eyes grew wide. ‘But that’s so...’

  ‘Ruthless?’ Alexio interjected with a grim smile.

  Sidonie nodded.

  ‘That’s my father’s way. To grab at things. Take them. He wanted me to inherit and join him—but not as an equal, as someone he could control.’ He sighed. ‘In the meantime I saw Rafaele, my brother, single-handedly resurrecting his own family name and business out of the ashes. All those years of rivalry were still in my blood—if he could do it so could I.’

  Sidonie spoke softly. ‘So when your father expected you to follow in his footsteps you said no?’

  Alexio looked into Sidonie’s clear eyes and felt in that moment as if he could just spill all the secrets in his guts and keep spilling. It was dangerous. Too dangerous. He stifled the impulse with effort.

  ‘I said no. And walked away. He disinherited me and now here I am.’

  ‘Probably more successful than he is...’

  Alexio was surprised that she’d surmised that but it was true. What he didn’t tell her, though, was how his success hadn’t given him any measure of satisfaction where his father was concerned. It had never been about besting his father. It had been about distancing himself from a man who had made him fear he had the same lack of emotional control in his own make-up. Fear that he might be similarly greedy and never experience the thrill of making it on his own as his brother had. Fear that he’d never get away from that sterile house full of tension and hatred. Violence.

  He felt cold inside all of a sudden.

  Just then Alexio’s mobile phone beeped on the nearby bedside cabinet. He reached for it and saw the text message icon winking. He opened it and saw it was from his solicitor.

  I have information about your Miss Fitzgerald. Call when you get a chance. D.

  Instantly something cold slithered into Alexio’s gut.

  ‘What is it?’ Sidonie asked with obvious concern.

  Alexio put the phone back, face down, and looked at her. ‘Nothing important.’

  Guilt warred with something much deeper inside him. Superstitiously he wanted to pretend he hadn’t just seen that text and that there wasn’t something dark lurking in the wings.

  He came up and hovered over her, feeling that familiar heady rush of desire when he looked at her body, breasts bared and tempting. Her mouth was enticing him ever downwards, where he wouldn’t have to think about anything...for a little longer.

  * * *

  ‘What did you just say?’ Alexio asked faintly.

  He was stunned. The sun was high outside his villa’s office. His body was still humming in the aftermath of seriously pleasurable lovemaking and he couldn’t really compute this information.

  His solicitor repeated himself. ‘Her mother went to jail for two years.’

  Alexio went cold all over. ‘Jail? Why?’

  Demetrius sighed. ‘I really wish I didn’t have to tell you this. Her mother was prosecuted for stalking and blackmailing her married lover. She’d been doing it for years, in ever increasing amounts. It would appear that her husband, Miss Fitzgerald’s father, wasn’t making enough to keep her in the style to which she wanted to be accustomed. Even though it also appears he did his best to try and keep both his wife and daughter in comfort and relative luxury.’

  Alexio struggled against the shock. This information was not pleasant, but it hardly condemned Sidonie.

  His friend continued, ‘When her mother was released they moved to another part of the country to avoid the scandal and Miss Fitzgerald’s father’s business started to boom. Sidonie went to one of the best local schools, had a pony...the works. Her mother was a regular on the social scene...designer clothes and jewellery. They managed to keep her past a secret for the most part. When the property market collapsed so did her father’s business and they lost everything.’

  Alexio was feeling increasingly uncomfortable. ‘Demetrius, is that it? I think I’ve heard enough.’

  ‘Well, not quite. I think you should hear the rest. After Mr Fitzgerald died his wife went back to Paris to move in with her younger sister.’

  ‘Demetrius—’

  The man butted in. ‘Alexio, I did some more digging via some colleagues in Paris and you need to hear this... Sidonie’s mother persuaded her sister to take out a mortgage on a flat her husband had bought and paid for years before. She also maxed out credit cards in her sister’s name. She died leaving the woman in so much debt that she’ll never recover.’

  Alexio felt angry now and gritted out, ‘What does this have to do with Sidonie?’

  ‘You met her when she was on her way home from Paris?’

  ‘Yes,’ Alexio agreed curtly, regretting having ever involved his friend like this.

  ‘She’d just signed an agreement to accept responsibility for all those debts on her aunt’s behalf. Now, let me ask you this—has she given any hint at all that she’s a woman with a huge financial burden on her shoulders? If not,’ his friend went on heavily, ‘you have to ask yourself why she’s acting as if nothing is wrong.’

  * * *

  When Sidonie woke again she was alone in the bed and for some reason her belly went into a ball of tension. Something was wrong. She could feel it.

  She lifted her head and looked around. No sign of Alexio. Maybe he’d gone for a swim? He was a powerful swimmer and liked the sea as opposed to the pool.

  Muscles protesting pleasurably as she sat up, Sidonie got out of bed and went to the bathroom, tying her hair up so that it wouldn’t get wet in the shower.

  When she came out again she rubbed her body dry with a towel and looked at the vast array of clothes hanging in the walk-in wardrobe. Something bitter struck her again to think of his other women, but Sidonie shoved it down. She didn’t have the right to feel jealous, possessive.

  She found some shorts and a green halterneck top and stuck them on and then went to find Alexio, still with that odd feeling of foreboding in her belly. Before she could leave the bedroom, though, she heard the sound of her phone ringing. She kept it on mainly in case Tante Josephine was looking for her, and when she located it at the bottom of her bag she saw that it was her aunt.

  Expecting nothing m
ore than her aunt wanting to chat, Sidonie sat on the edge of the bed and answered warmly in French. Her smile faded in an instant, though, when all she could hear were racking sobs from the other end of the phone.

  Instantly Sidonie stood up. ‘Tante Josephine, what is it? Please try to stop crying...’

  Eventually her aunt was able to calm down enough to start talking, after Sidonie had encouraged her to breathe slowly. Her aunt was prone to panic attacks and Sidonie didn’t want one to happen before she could find out what was wrong.

  Through fits and starts it transpired that someone on her vacances had heard about Tante Josephine’s financial woes and put the fear of God into her by telling her all sorts of horror stories about repossessions and jail sentences for not paying debts. No wonder her aunt was hysterical.

  But no matter what Sidonie said it didn’t seem to have any effect. Her aunt was working herself up into another bout of hysterics. Desperate, Sidonie racked her brains for what she could say that might calm her down. Tante Josephine didn’t understand nuances, and Sidonie knew that if she tried to placate her with reassurances that the debts were now in her name it would have no effect. Her aunt still believed the debts were hers.

  Her aunt only understood right now—and right now, she was panicking. Sidonie knew that in her aunt’s mind the threat was as real as if gendarmes had just turned up to arrest her.

  Tante Josephine needed to hear something concrete, even if it was a white lie. ‘Okay, look, Jojo—are you listening to me? I need you to listen because I’m going to tell you why you don’t have to worry about a thing.’

  To Sidonie’s relief her aunt stopped crying abruptly at the use of the nickname that had come about when, as a toddler, Sidonie hadn’t been able to pronounce Josephine. She hiccuped softly. Sidonie’s heart ached for this poor, sweet and innocent woman who did not deserve this stress.

  ‘Jojo, everything is going to be fine...I promise you.’

  Unbeknownst to Sidonie, who stood facing away from the view and the open terrace doors, a tall dark shape had approached and stopped.

  ‘But Sidonie...how?’

  Sidonie could hear the hysteria approaching again and cursed the distance between them. ‘I’m not going to let you go through this alone, Jojo, do you hear me? Didn’t I promise to do everything in my power to get us out of this mess?’

  Her aunt sniffled and Sidonie pressed on, seizing the advantage, knowing how fragile her aunt was mentally.

  ‘You don’t have to worry about a thing because I’ve...’

  Sidonie faltered. She’d been about to say she had everything in hand, but she knew that would sound vague to her aunt, so she mentally crossed her fingers, squeezed her eyes shut and said, ‘I’ve met someone, Jojo...and he’s really, really rich. One of the richest men in the world. And you won’t believe how we met—it was on a plane, and he owned the plane.’

  Immediately her aunt, who was always enthralled by stories like this, perked up. ‘Really, Sidonie? Truly? Is he your boyfriend?’

  Sidonie opened her eyes. ‘Yes, he is. He’s crazy about me. And I’ve told him all about you and he’s promised to take care of everything.’

  As much as Sidonie hated using Alexio like this, she knew it would resonate with her aunt, who was simplistically old-fashioned. After her father had bought the apartment for Tante Josephine she’d believed all men had the power to sweep in and make magic happen.

  Her aunt’s voice quavered, but this time it sounded like relief. ‘Oh, Sidonie...I’m so happy... I was so worried—and then when Marcel told me those things and—’

  Sidonie cut her off before she could work herself up again and behind her the tall, dark shadow melted away, unnoticed.

  ‘Jojo, don’t talk about this to anyone again—and if Marcel says anything just know that you have nothing to worry about.’

  Sidonie felt awful, lying like this, but she knew that her physical presence would reassure her aunt when she got back to Paris. She could then tell her that something had happened with the ‘boyfriend’. The idea was laughable. Alexio was no boyfriend.

  ‘Oh, Sidonie...is he handsome?’

  Sidonie felt ashamed, but she was relieved to hear her aunt’s natural effervescence return—she loved stories about people meeting and falling in love. Sidonie tried to gloss over the details about Alexio as much as possible, and before her aunt terminated the conversation she made sure to have a chat with one of the supervisors, to warn them that she was particularly vulnerable at the moment. She castigated herself for not thinking of doing it before the holiday.

  When she put her phone down she felt drained, but at least happier that Tante Josephine should be okay until the end of her holiday. The supervisor had promised to keep a close watch over her.

  Sidonie turned round and her eyes widened when she saw the tall figure of Alexio, standing with his back to her at the railing of the terrace outside. He was dressed in faded jeans and a T-shirt. That feeling of foreboding was back but Sidonie tried to shake it off. And also the sudden fear that he might have heard some of her conversation.

  She padded out on bare feet and went to stand beside Alexio at the railing. He didn’t look at her. Sidonie forced her voice to be bright. ‘Hey, you...I was wondering where you’d got to.’

  * * *

  Alexio was trying to hold in the cold rage that had filled his belly when he’d overheard her poisonous words: ‘He’s crazy about me...he’ll take care of things...’

  Here was the very unpalatable proof that his solicitor had been right to make Alexio question why Sidonie hadn’t told him about this before.

  Forcing his voice to sound neutral, he asked, ‘Who were you on the phone to just now?’

  He couldn’t look at her. His hands tightened on the railings.

  Sidonie was evasive. ‘Er...just my aunt. She’s away at the moment, on holiday...’

  Alexio felt a hard weight settle into his belly. Everything from the moment he’d met her unspooled like a bad film in his mind. All the little moments when she’d appeared shy, naïve, mocked him now.

  So this was how she was going to do it: she was going to bide her time, wait to catch him in a weak moment and then launch into her sob story, seducing money out of him. And maybe even more. Maybe he’d be so weak by then he’d offer to buy her a place, set up her and her aunt completely? He felt dizzy at the thought.

  He thought of how weak he’d felt in the aftermath of their lovemaking—how he’d blithely allowed himself to spill his guts, how he’d almost spilled more, telling her everything. How close he’d come to making a complete fool of himself.

  Thank goodness he’d had the sense to investigate her. When he thought of how guilty he’d felt to have instigated such a thing, the conversation he’d heard just now taunted him. Where had his cynical shell gone?

  Sidonie touched his arm. ‘What is it, Alexio? You’re scaring me.’

  Alexio jerked his arm from her as if burnt and stepped back, finally looking at her. He saw her go pale and welcomed it. He couldn’t hide his disgust and despised the way his body reacted to seeing her in short shorts and that sexy halterneck top.

  ‘You really think I’m that stupid?’ he sneered.

  Sidonie looked at him and blinked. He could see something like fear flash in her eyes.

  ‘What did you hear?’

  Alexio felt murderous now, because her guilt was obvious.

  ‘Enough,’ he spat out. ‘Enough to know that you and your aunt think that you can use me to clear your debts.’

  Sidonie just stood there, looking a little shell-shocked. No doubt because she’d been found out.

  She said faintly, ‘You speak French.’

  ‘Of course I speak French—along with two or three other European languages.’

  He was dismissive.

&nbs
p; Sidonie’s eyes seemed to clear and she reached out with a hand that Alexio stepped back from. ‘You don’t understand. I didn’t mean a word of it. I was just saying what I could to reassure her—she was upset.’

  Alexio could have laughed at her earnest expression, which was a travesty now that he knew everything was twisted and black and nothing had been real. He felt betrayed, and that made him even more incandescent with rage. He never let women get close enough to do this to him.

  ‘You expect me to believe a single word from the daughter of a criminal? You obviously learnt well from her—but not well enough. If you had had the decency to tell me about this—come to me and merely asked me for help—I might have given it. Instead you insisted on this elaborate charade. Maybe you got off on the drama?’

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  FOR AN AWFUL second Sidonie thought she might faint. She couldn’t actually believe that Alexio had just said those words...daughter of a criminal.

  She went icy cold, despite the heat, and forced words out through numb lips. ‘What do you mean, the daughter of a criminal?’

  His voice flat, he admitted, ‘I know all about your mother, Sidonie. I know that she blackmailed her married lover and went to jail.’

  The words fell like shattered glass all over her. The old shame rose up to grip her vocal cords so she couldn’t speak, much in the same way as had happened when she’d been eight years old in the schoolyard and her classmates had surrounded her, jeering, ‘Your mother’s going to jail...your mother’s going to jail...’

  Sidonie could not believe she was hearing this. It had to be a nightmare. Perhaps any minute now she’d wake up to Alexio saying, Sid...wake up. I want you.

  She blinked. But nothing changed. Alexio was still standing there. A stranger. Cold and remote. Condemnatory. She felt dazed, confused.

  Somehow she managed to get out, ‘How on earth do you know about that?’ Something else struck her. ‘And how do you know about my aunt’s debts?’

  Alexio crossed his arms and now he looked completely forbidding. ‘I had you investigated.’